Thanks to COVID, living the FIRE life now

[CodingHare]

We've been very fortunate-- neither of us has been laid off and it seems like both our companies will be able to keep everyone on without pay reductions.  We're also able to work from home and have no children.

It's interesting the contrast--I am very content with working from home for the rest of my life.  I hate going into work.  I love being able to take afternoon walks and skip the commute.  I love chatting on Slack versus sitting in the office smelling everyone else's lunches.  I love being able to pet my cat during the day.  I love cooking at home more.  But I am anxious for my family who are in at risk group.  I miss being able to go outside.  I miss seeing friends.  I miss not worrying that the grocery store will have flour or meat.

Meanwhile my husband hates working from home full time.  He misses the office, the structure, the interactions.  He misses going out and doing things with his mates.  But he's more pragmatic about not spending his energy worrying about the virus.

So while I can't say this is "my ideal FIRE life", it has taught me that I prefer WFH and will probably seek out WFH full-time positions after this is over.  It taught me that there are definitely places I can cut my budget and still have a good frugal/life your life balance.  But god, I look forward to having a BBQ with friends and family when this is all over.

[waltworks]

The whole freaking world is out on the mountain bike trails that I usually have to myself!

So yes, people are experiencing a taste of FIRE. Will be interesting to see if that changes their attitudes about work going forward.

-W

[jaysee]

Got to work remote. Yay!

So now I'm moving to a much lower cost part of Australia.

Which means I'm spending significantly less than even my most conservative FIRE budget would have allowed for, and at the same time earning a decent paycheck.

If this move goes according to plan, I will be able to live off 2% of my investment portfolio, plus 15 years from my cash reserves, plus 12.5% of my current take-home pay.

Frugality is a powerful thing if you can maintain it!

[talltexan]

Indeed a big part of frugality is just not being in a place where you spend money.

[LoanShark]

Very fortunate to not be directly impacted by COVID with regard to health or finances thus far. My wife and I have both remarked that if this is what RE feels like, we want to get there as soon as possible; enjoying ourselves immensely.

[Plina]

The whole freaking world is out on the mountain bike trails that I usually have to myself!

So yes, people are experiencing a taste of FIRE. Will be interesting to see if that changes their attitudes about work going forward.

-W

Haha. My TGIM has turned into "go back to work and get off my beach on weekdays" rant.  I think I will start taking about how aweful FIRE life is from now.

It is annoying with all the people out there on the running trails. You can't keep the distance so I have been forced to avoid them and walk on the street. But this week the kids will be back in school so hopefully there are a lot less people out there on the weekdays.

[Taran Wanderer]

I’m finding the work from home setup to be difficult. When physically at work, I detach from my project backlog at home. Working from home, all I can think about is:

• must mow lawn before it rains
• must pull weeds
• boy, these windows are dirty
• darn, I still haven’t planted those new plans!
• wow, I really need to dig in those landscape stairs
• I really want a mountain biking trail there... with a sweet berm!
• I could make a really cool dry streambed there, and it would be a functional drain during heavy rains
• after I’m done with the lawn, I really need to weed-eat

It never ends...   At least if I was RE, I could plug away at them instead of looking at them every time I look up from my spreadsheet.

[Dicey]

The whole freaking world is out on the mountain bike trails that I usually have to myself!

So yes, people are experiencing a taste of FIRE. Will be interesting to see if that changes their attitudes about work going forward.

-W

Haha. My TGIM has turned into "go back to work and get off my beach on weekdays" rant.  I think I will start taking about how aweful FIRE life is from now.

It is annoying with all the people out there on the running trails. You can't keep the distance so I have been forced to avoid them and walk on the street. But this week the kids will be back in school so hopefully there are a lot less people out there on the weekdays.

The city of Oakland has closed 74 miles of streets to through traffic so that people can get out to exercise at a safe distance. It's not trail walking, but it seems like a brilliant solution.

Hey, sparty, EnglishTeacherAlex has mentioned that in Hawaii, the beaches are still open, but no one is allowed to sit down, which seems to be a wise compromise. What are they doing in your neck of the woods?

[martyconlonontherun]

Short-term - I've personally benefited from the quarantine (work reduced, unwanted travel and obligations cancelled, etc) I really enjoy the routine of walking with my life and cooking my own meals.

I'm healthier, happier and financially better.....but not sustainable. Eventually i want to see other people and my happiness isn't worth destroying 90% of the economy.

Just resolves me to be able to do this without the WFH.

I get what the OP is saying. I'm sure he/she is aware of the havoc the virus is causing but you can still take the silver lining in it.