Author Topic: How frugal is your FIRE?  (Read 10630 times)

ronindeniro

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How frugal is your FIRE?
« on: March 04, 2016, 01:13:12 AM »
Title.

I'm still in the first months of my FIRE and scared to death if it is really going to work or not. So I'm living my life as frugal as possible. The only expenses I have today is rent (which includes all utilities and wifi) and groceries. Still living in the same building(it is a kind of hotel, with a kitchen and laundry free for use), but moved to where it was supposed to be a janitor room, with no bathroom inside(I use the locker room for the employers).  The building has a covered common area in the rooftop, with a couch and table, so when I'm home I'm almost the entire day there.

My previous room was much larger, with built-in wardrobe and a bathtub with hidromassage. I don't need that much. It was around 60% more expensive than the one where I am now.

I still think about moving to a smaller city and rent a house for about the same price, but I would like to make sure everything is going fine before leaving to a place with no jobs for me. Also, there is the stigma of early retirement with landlords, so, lets see.

arebelspy

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2016, 03:10:38 AM »
Our FIRE spending isn't relevant, especially if you don't know how much we have.

Most relevant to you:
How much do you spend, and how much do you want to spend?
How big is your portfolio, and what is its asset allocation?
How much of a pension do you have, or have coming, and when?
How much social security will you get, and when?

Playing around with numbers on www.cfiresim.com might help you feel better. :)

Congrats on the ER!
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

arebelspy

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2016, 03:12:08 AM »

Also, there is the stigma of early retirement with landlords, so, lets see.

How to rent an apartment when you're FI:

http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/index.php?topic=49250
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

Miss Prim

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2016, 06:10:36 AM »
Are you able to live on what income you have coming in plus 3%-4% of your stache?  If so, then you will be fine.

Personally, I seem to have more money at my disposal than I really need, so I only took 2% out last year.  This year I will take out 3% because I have some work to do on my house. 

                                                                                 Miss Prim


flyingaway

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2016, 10:55:21 AM »
Title.

I'm still in the first months of my FIRE and scared to death if it is really going to work or not. So I'm living my life as frugal as possible. The only expenses I have today is rent (which includes all utilities and wifi) and groceries. Still living in the same building(it is a kind of hotel, with a kitchen and laundry free for use), but moved to where it was supposed to be a janitor room, with no bathroom inside(I use the locker room for the employers).  The building has a covered common area in the rooftop, with a couch and table, so when I'm home I'm almost the entire day there.
 

What is the point of FIRE when you have to be "scared to death" every day? I guess you were not "scared to death" when you had a job and were making money.

If I were FIREd, I would be enjoying my life without any worry.

jim555

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2016, 11:11:40 AM »
Maybe his stache isn't large enough?  Put in a few more years?

soccerluvof4

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #6 on: March 04, 2016, 11:29:36 AM »
Definitely need to answer Arebelspy's questions to give any sort of intelligent answer imho. But yea..you cant be  fire'd if you are scared to death all the time, it defeats the purpose. More details plzz to help

KittyZero

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #7 on: March 04, 2016, 08:23:38 PM »
I think in all fairness, you could potentially do all the math you want to ensure that you are ready to RE and according to the math you would be killing it in, but if this was me - no matter HOW prepared I thought I was, I would still be very nervous retiring early. I mean, really, don't people retire at a 65 for a reason(retorical)? I think that this could perhaps be just a natural reaction to taking such a large step in life - and lets face it at least for me this is huge.

I'm not FIRE ready, in fact only just beginning my planning. But what I do know is that I would be the type of person that would plan the hell out of this thing and still when it comes to RE, still be very very nervous with many many 'what if's' running through my head.

Congratulations on your ER. Maybe you just need some time to feel comfortable/confident with your new life. If after a while you still cant sleep at night, I would agree with others that perhaps you are not actually as ready for FIRE as you might have previously thought. Personally, I certainly would not be retiring early unless I was able to sleep easily at night, but understand there will be a period for me to transition. Maybe think about how you could supplement your income? I mean even if you retire, doesn't mean you cant do a bit of work here and there.

deborah

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #8 on: March 04, 2016, 08:59:38 PM »
I guess it depends upon whether you are nervous with reason (because you have a very small stash) or nervous without reason (your stash is big enough but nobody retires at your age, so you must have done your maths wrong, and your stash really must be too small no matter how many times you have done the maths).

I was nervous without reason. This is why I found MMM. I was sure I was wrong. But I wasn't - the maths was right.

And everyone lives on a different amount, so comparing your amount with anyone else's isn't really going to tell you anything. Living on your amount for several years before retirement is, as is living on your amount for several years after retirement. It is natural to tighten the belt a bit after retirement, because there are all sorts of spendipants things a lot of people seem to do as soon as they are retired - buy a beach house, a boat, an RV, go traveling... Things that they didn't do before retirement - maybe to replace work.

So, keeping a lid on expenses for the first year or so is probably a good practice. However, being afraid to spend a penny is just terrible! If you HAVE done your calculations correctly, just loosen up a bit. This is where keeping track of your weekly spending after retirement as against what you intended to spend, is probably quite important, so you don't go off the rails.

ronindeniro

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #9 on: March 05, 2016, 07:19:44 AM »
Thank you all.

Ok, maybe I was overly dramatic with "scared to death". I'm worried that something might go wrong that would mean having to go back to Corp. Inc. Ltd.

So far I spent around 60% of total income each month. I can reduce that even more if I move out to a smaller city. The other 40% is reinvested, and by my calculations I'm already beating inflation. So, in the long term, I guess my income will increase. I do play a lot with numbers in my spreadsheets and everything is pointing out to success.

I guess it all comes to what KittyZero mention. The leap of faith. I can take a job anytime, and I actually send my resume when something that gets my interest show up.

SMCx3

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #10 on: March 05, 2016, 07:41:53 AM »
Thank you all.

Ok, maybe I was overly dramatic with "scared to death". I'm worried that something might go wrong that would mean having to go back to Corp. Inc. Ltd.

So far I spent around 60% of total income each month. I can reduce that even more if I move out to a smaller city. The other 40% is reinvested, and by my calculations I'm already beating inflation. So, in the long term, I guess my income will increase. I do play a lot with numbers in my spreadsheets and everything is pointing out to success.

I guess it all comes to what KittyZero mention. The leap of faith. I can take a job anytime, and I actually send my resume when something that gets my interest show up.

You just addressed your own concerns.

You have the ability to choose where you spend time, gain new experiences, while continuing to call your own shots.  This the freedom majority of us are pursuing. 

arebelspy

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #11 on: March 05, 2016, 10:10:02 AM »
Thank you all.

Ok, maybe I was overly dramatic with "scared to death". I'm worried that something might go wrong that would mean having to go back to Corp. Inc. Ltd.

So far I spent around 60% of total income each month. I can reduce that even more if I move out to a smaller city. The other 40% is reinvested, and by my calculations I'm already beating inflation. So, in the long term, I guess my income will increase. I do play a lot with numbers in my spreadsheets and everything is pointing out to success.

I guess it all comes to what KittyZero mention. The leap of faith. I can take a job anytime, and I actually send my resume when something that gets my interest show up.

If you have income still, and are living on just over half of that, that seems to be a pretty solid place to be in FIRE, depending on how reliable this income stream is into the future.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

Jon_Snow

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #12 on: March 09, 2016, 10:49:09 AM »
Pretty darned frugal...though much could still be cut from our monthly budget. But the fact that our housing costs, in Vancouver (well, 20 minutes from downtown) no less, are under $400/month enables us to easily keep things in the budget that, while not NECESSARY, bring us a certain amount of enjoyment.

Our cheap living expenses are really one of the KEY FACTORS in my decision to FIRE as early as I did. The fact that we are living in a roomy 850 sq ft, 2BR condo (350k in equity) and not some closet-like co-op makes it even better. Buying RE in Vancouver prior to the insane run-up in prices has been like hitting the lottery for us. Had we bought in the past 5 years...I certainly wouldn't be FIRE'd.

Cassie

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #13 on: March 09, 2016, 02:59:10 PM »
WE spend more now then when we were working but semi-retired at a more usual age of 53 and 58. It sounds like you have room to spend more $ if that would make you happy. It may take you a year to adjust. We have more time to travel now so that is our biggest expense.

gardenarian

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #14 on: March 18, 2016, 01:54:15 PM »
We don't spend much money monthly, but we have a comfortable (smaller) house that is paid for and reliable (older) vehicles. I wouldn't retire if I had to live in discomfort and fear. We have a lot of interests and inexpensive hobbies. It sounds like you are almost in survivalist mode. Why is that? Aren't there things you want to do?

It's not really about the money; it's about having a life worth living.

ShortInSeattle

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #15 on: March 18, 2016, 04:26:55 PM »
I can relate! We're in our first year of living off investments and I find myself tempted to tighten the budgetary screws harder than I need to.

I figure it's a form of post-FIRE jitters. It's hard to make the mental leap from accumulating to spending.

SIS




geekette

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #16 on: March 25, 2016, 09:36:02 AM »
I have the occasional burst of fear about medical insurance.  So many here say "well, I'll just get a job", but if you've been out of the workforce for years and you're in your late 50's, finding a new job with benefits would not be that easy, IMHO.

Cassie

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #17 on: March 25, 2016, 01:14:44 PM »
I agree that this is true about finding a job later in life. Our health insurance is 10K and eats up a fair amount of our budget. Ugh!

Gone Fishing

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #18 on: March 25, 2016, 01:50:45 PM »
I'd give it a year or so and see if you adjust. If you are still worried about it to the point you are not enjoying your ER, one solution may be to take on a reasonably low stress part time job and spend the wages without fear as they are not coming out of your stache.     


a-scho

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #19 on: March 28, 2016, 11:35:22 PM »
Title.

I'm still in the first months of my FIRE and scared to death if it is really going to work or not. So I'm living my life as frugal as possible. The only expenses I have today is rent (which includes all utilities and wifi) and groceries. Still living in the same building(it is a kind of hotel, with a kitchen and laundry free for use), but moved to where it was supposed to be a janitor room, with no bathroom inside(I use the locker room for the employers).  The building has a covered common area in the rooftop, with a couch and table, so when I'm home I'm almost the entire day there.

My previous room was much larger, with built-in wardrobe and a bathtub with hidromassage. I don't need that much. It was around 60% more expensive than the one where I am now.

I still think about moving to a smaller city and rent a house for about the same price, but I would like to make sure everything is going fine before leaving to a place with no jobs for me. Also, there is the stigma of early retirement with landlords, so, lets see.

It seems you're living in a very spartan(not enjoyable?) place in order to spend as little as possible. If you are interested in living in a more spacious/upgraded housing situation, you could try house sitting. It would cost less than your current situation and could double as "traveling" depending on where you house sat. www.trustedhousesitters.com

Exflyboy

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Re: How frugal is your FIRE?
« Reply #20 on: March 30, 2016, 02:21:35 PM »
You are not alone!.. I totally overpadded my stash for the same fear that Deborah and others have mentioned.

Your going from a firehose of cash to nothing... Don't expect to feel great about doing that.

I have a hobby job that I really enjoy while I wait for my Wife to quit (in 3 to 15 months... Probably 15). Now I have not spent a single penny of the resulting salary, and even if I wasn't earning anything we'd still be saving from my Wife's salary plus the rent we make.

But I hear you.. Its a big adjustment, especially when your your whole childhood was on the hairy edge of living under a cardboard box like mine was.

Frank