Hello!
It's almost six years since my girlfriend and I FIREd and it's been six amazing years. The nine years I focused on the goal felt so long, but now time flies. The only downside, really.
In May 2018 we left Sweden and traveled around Europe, loving every moment and each other. Our spending has been in line with our SWR, about $3000 USD per month (*) and today we have about a $100k more than when we FIREd.
Before I became a mustachian my idea of how much I made was the paycheck, but then I realized the amount didn't matter if I had zero to show for it at the end of the month and “how much I made” became equivalent to how much I saved. Now, the SWR is what I consider my income.
For two years we traveled before the pandemic hit and we got stuck in an apartment in Portugal. A nice apartment for sure, and due to the sudden death of tourism we got it for a quarter of the usual rent. In quarantine I killed time cooking and I transformed from someone who viewed food just as sustenance into someone who enjoyed spending time creating a tasty meal. Having a great apartment in Algarve eating great food is probably one of the better ways to endure a pandemic, but we still got frustrated and after about a year we needed to do something different. Something completely different.
In 2021 we applied for work in northern Sweden, above the arctic circle. Despite being Swedish we had never been further north than a third of our own country and Lapland was totally foreign to us. A different culture and a different climate. We weren't sure how we would handle the darkness and the cold. It turned out to be an amazing experience and we are currently working a winter season (november-march) for a second time.
We are working at an upscale hotel / restaurant. I am working at the activity / information desk and my gf is a guest host, making sure the guests gets dressed in warm clothing, starting the fire, being an all around caretaker. Compared to my prior work as an IT-consultant, it's like night and day and there's been quite a few realizations. First, the pay is $15/hour, as close to minimum wage you can get around here, and I only work 70% which makes my net pay rather low to say the least. The guests are almost always happy, in stark contrast to the eternal complaints in my previous career. However, some conduct that would have resulted in a police report in other fields are tolerated, including staff issues. In IT, most of my coworkers personalities were somewhat similar compared to the wide range of different people I have learned to know in the service industry. At first I was a bit shocked about how disorganized everything was compared to my previous jobs, but after a season I have learned how they view the guest experience above all and things like the horrible software they use and staff issues comes a distant second. It has been interesting, to say the least. My boss actually told me I am the best recruitment she has ever done! Apparently finding mature people with life experience to work for minimum wage north of the arctic circle isn't easy. Who would have thought?
While the pay is low, the job comes with a lot of perks. The staff food (a first for me) is the same excellent food served for lunch in the fancy restaurant. I get deducted $5 for the food but I eat on paid time (another first) so I practically get paid to eat. I also am a friend with the chefs, so I often get served on off days as well. The hotel provide a small room for me and my GF with shared kitchen and while $330/month is a bit much for what you get it is still just a third of what we usually spend on lodging. Rent includes utilities and everything you'd need, the only thing I need to pay for is detergent.
Then there are the excursions. Since I sell them I get to do them for free and I use this opportunity to the fullest. I don't keep exact count but I think we have done about $8000 worth of excursions so far, and that doesn't include the fact that I get to be here and experience Lapland, which is usually not the cheapest vacation people can have.
Despite making so little money, I still manage to save about half of my income. I must say a lot more of my coworkers here seem to handle money well and saves despite their low pay, compared to my IT-friends, who spend a ton on expensive stuff. But then again, there are also plenty in the other extreme, being indebted and digging the hole deeper by gambling, drinking and doing drugs. As I said, it's been interesting!
I could probably save even more if I cut down on beer, as I really don't have any expenses at all except breakfast and detergent.
It “feels” like I make an additional $3000/month since I am not withdrawing any money. Also, due to how the taxes work in Sweden, I work so little in a calendar year that I never reach the point where I own the government any money. The taxes my employer pays goes directly into reducing my tax-debt from my capital gains, which makes it feel like I am making even more money!
Anyway, sorry for the rant. Life is great is what I am trying to say.
Cheers!
(*) I'll use USD for simplicity, trying to be as correct as possible with the exchange rate at the time mentioned. For instance, I was making about 500k SEK final year of working which then translated to ~80k USD but today sounds a lot less since the same amount in SEK gets you less than 50k USD.
Learning to cook at our roof terrace in Olhão, Portugal.
Bartendering the Ice-bar!
Feeding the reindeers!
Piloting a dogsled.
Aurora borealis, something we never get tired of seeing.
Hiking with snow-shoes.
Reindeer sledding with the Sami, the indigenous people of Lapland!
Snowmobiling. Yes, she has a proper snowmobile drivers license!
Ice-fishing.
Ice-wall climbing.
Dogsledding!
