A Facepunch and a Glimmer of Hope

[zephyr911]

This facepunch goes out to my past self.

I just turned 37 and I recently reconstructed my quarterly NW from graduation and USAF commissioning in 2000, through today. Until now, I only had actual records starting in spring of 2012.

I just figured this one out:
If I hadn't been such a dumbass for the first decade of my post-college life, I'd be FIREd by now, instead of 3-5 years out. I basically saved nothing for four years, and after an early peak (deployment), I blew it all and once again floundered for years. A full decade just to permanently get NW above six months of average income? And don't get me started on the divorces! Dog-blammit, Past Self, you're a fuckin' moron!

All that time was a ridiculous price to pay for consumer goods I no longer own and overpriced experiences I can't remember. But hey, you win some, you lose some. As is, I'm still feeling pretty good about stuff. One piece at a time, DW and I are assembling a damn good present life and an even better future. And extrapolating the last three years is looking very promising - even if the market tanks, our SR alone will propel us higher, and we will become more resilient and resourceful all the time.

Things are looking up. :)

[okits]

Nice progress! 

As for face punches to your past self, allow that some wasted money was actually spent "educating" yourself.  We'd all be filthy rich if we got everything right, right from the start.  Almost none of us are that smart.  :)  Be proud you figured it out in your 30s; you are a good decade or more ahead of most people.

[zephyr911]

I don't beat myself up... it's actually encouraging to realize how much my habits have improved.
I only use occasional harshness toward the old me because I had the FIRE idea all the way along. I just completely failed at execution. I didn't put my money where my mouth was, in the literal sense. It's much different now.

[EricL]

 The past is dead.

 – Arab saying

[fb132]

I think almost everyone here started their careers with stupid spendings and little savings, I know I am guilty of that. I would of been FIRE'd in 3-4 years if I had at least put aside 50% of my income in my 20's. Instead I spent my money on "stuff" from ebay and god knows what else. The fact I don't remember my purchases goes to show how stupid I was with money.

[protostache]

I think almost everyone here started their careers with stupid spendings and little savings, I know I am guilty of that. I would of been FIRE'd in 3-4 years if I had at least put aside 50% of my income in my 20's. Instead I spent my money on "stuff" from ebay and god knows what else. The fact I don't remember my purchases goes to show how stupid I was with money.

Yep. The first year I was living on my own I flew home (6 hour flight) five times. I don't remember what they were all for, but I'm pretty sure most of them were a complete waste. I also bought a new car, splurged on a bed (which we still have, so it wasn't a complete waste), and lived on my own in a huge fancy apartment. Stupid.

[zephyr911]

The past is indeed dead!
I'm looking at some of this month's rent in a box right now, and I'm more positive than ever that we will reach full freedom while we're still young and healthy. I thought about what would happen if I lost it all on the way to the bank - the equivalent of more than two paychecks - and felt nothing. We'd still be awesome.
That's the best thing about all of this. Not the money, but the way it changes your outlook on everything.

[wenchsenior]

That graph looks great! Ours is somewhat similar, and it makes me proud to look at it.

I sometimes get into self-punching mode over the past, mostly because I spent so much time NOT thinking about financial independence and security. I wish I'd just prioritized it more, particularly in the early 2000s when we first got stable decent incomes...but it's hard psychologically to do that when you are young, and then when we weren't so young (early 2000s) we had felt 'deprived' so long that we wanted to buy stuff like 'real adults'.

I've come to the conclusion that there isn't much point being angry at myself for college/grad school years. Yeah, we blew a lot of piddly small sums of money stupidly, but we also had cheap living expenses and didn't run up huge un-payable debt. And we didn't HAVE all the much money, so diligent scrimping wouldn't have gotten us that far in terms of additional cash.  I wish I'd bought somewhat fewer clothes, and a lot fewer meals out... Money I spent on cds and books I have a hard time regretting.

On the other hand, I DO really regret spending so damn frivolously during my junior and senior years of high school. It was my first job and it wasn't so much, but I swear that money burned a damn hole in my pockets. I ended up saving a few thousand dollars in cds, which we then used to help pay for our wedding years later, but I'd have a nice little stash of cash now if I'd put even a few hundred into a diversified stock fund. I have a vague memory that at that age, my dim understanding of earning interest off stocks made me feel like that was the cheater's way to make money LOL.

Don't you feel that some frivolous spending has helped teach you that spending doesn't always give you satisfaction, though? I really feel like I have a much better idea of what purchases will have actually improve my life now.

[fb132]

Just remember one thing, if you continue what you are doing now, you will still be one of the very financially independant before 60...and even less if you do it before hitting 50 years old. So don't dwell on the past, look more on the bright side, when you will be FI, people like you are a rare breed.

[zephyr911]

Just remember one thing, if you continue what you are doing now, you will still be one of the very financially independant before 60...and even less if you do it before hitting 50 years old. So don't dwell on the past, look more on the bright side, when you will be FI, people like you are a rare breed.

Absofuckinlutely! :D
I'm currently shooting for 42... a wonderfully auspicious number if you're into Douglas Adams' stuff ;)