Update: I started a journal. You can read it here:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/journals/30to40-personal-journal-danish-fi/This may be a little long-winded but bear with me. I have been a long time reader of the MM blog and the forum, but this is the first time I write anything.
About me; I´m 30 and have, for the most part, followed the path of modern society. First school, then university coupled with a nice student job in a big financial institution. In between I have dabbled in crafts, mainly metalwork, welding and such and a little woodwork. I have also worked as a salesman and basically just done what I found interesting at any point in time.
I have suffered from anxiety for most of my adult life, coupled with social phobia and have, in general, not been happy. For some reason this has never inhibited my "professional" life, and I have often found school and university easy. I have been in the same relationship for most of my twenties.
Three years ago I got sick. Very sick. The kind of sick you might not recover from if it is not found in time. I still suffer some of the after-effects to this day.
Suddenly everything did not make sense anymore. I had to drop out of university just as I was writing my master thesis. I had to quit my job, and by mutual agreement me and my fiancée went our separate ways (It was a long time coming anyway). I had no income and could barely walk.
Now I live in Denmark, and even though we have a wonderful social security system, sometimes you fall through the cracks. I did and for 6 months I was without a diagnosis. When I finally gave in and went to a private clinic, I was diagnosed on the spot and could start my recovery but it was a little too late, and I suffer some chronic discomfort.
I don´t really know why I write all this, maybe it is some sort of katharsis through relative anonymity. Maybe it will inspire some people. Insert the MM blog.
I have basically read every blog post and it really resonates with me. Life is, to be a little soppy, fragile and short. FI and ER is for me, a question of personal freedom and freedom of choice. There is work that I love to do and there are things that needs doing, but to work your entire adult life without the options that FI gives seems like the road to a life unfulfilled. There should be a choice and it should be a personal choice not ruled by debt or material things, but by the satisfaction that one gets from ones own choices and actions.
About a year ago I started my own company to get some of the freedom I want, and because that was, at the time, the only option apart from seeking government support (something that I have quite the irrational fear of). So this is my 2013 update and I throw down the gauntlet for 2014:
2013
- Started my own company.
- Bought a bike and now I bike everywhere, saving me about a 1000 dollars a year in public transport.
- Paid of all my debt that had built up during my sickness, roughly 7300 dollars worth.
- Training three times a week outside all year for the price of 0 dollars, to built up my strength again, went from 200 lb to 180 (fat loss), and am now on a solid 194 lb through muscle built up.
- Slowly let my mental capacity built up through work, without overdoing it. I can now work close to normal hours.
- Started looking at my diet (this was a very slow process). The goal is to cut out junk food completely, but I have started cooking a lot more.
- Gained two customers (both big, respectable institutions in Denmark. One private, one public).
- Yearly sales for 2013 reached 86.000 dollars.
- After taxes I will have roughly 18.000 dollars in company equity. I have been paying out a "salary" to myself every month so this is the final "savings" for the year.
- As I have had to replace a lot of things and I have basically lived well above my needs, never looking at the expenses, I have spend 32.700 dollars this year (yikes). This includes fancy drinks (20 dollars a pop), taxi-caps, gifts and lots of junk-food as well as rent and utilities. I feel like I have lived a life of hedonistic pleasure and while this may be perfectly normal after having nothing and being sick, the unnecessary spending has not made me content. Maybe a little face-punch? I mean 20 dollars a drink??
- Started therapy to get to the bottom of my anxiety.
- Did some interesting pro bono work that is close to my heart.
2014
- Continuing training three times a week.
- Biking everywhere.
- Starting to learn how to invest in index-funds.
- Double my company equity to 36.000 dollars and investing them. 2013 was a very good first year for my company so I project lower sales in 2014.
- Getting two new customers.
- Getting my spending down to 1100 dollars a month (of this 912 is fixed expenses and include rent (674), utilities, phone, internet and mandatory media taxes).
- Being able to handstand.
- Cooking my own food every day (I´m actually a very competent cook).
- Exploring my mental capacity.
Some fun facts about Denmark. Yes our taxes are really that high, for every dollar I pay myself in salary I pay roughly 1 dollar in taxes, which is why I plan to keep them in the company where taxes are 25%. We have a 25% VAT on everything. If I invest I will have to pay between 36.6 to 47 % of the increase in value (does not have to be realized) of my investment (capital gains tax) or 27 to 47 percent on stock gains. Index funds are taxed as capital gains. Pensions even have a yearly PAL taxation of 15.4 % of the gains.
And I pay it gladly :) But it makes it a little harder to invest, as compound interest has a slower start.
Any questions, advice or face-punching is welcome and thank you for all the wonderful forum posts.
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