MMM Turns 10

[dignam]

I think I stumbled on the site around 2014, forgot about it, then stumbled on it again.  Before MMM, I was kinda sorta saving for retirement, but with no real plan.  I was, however, spending more on house/car than I should have.  The two things that really changed my course was learning about the Roth conversion ladder, and the "Race from $X to $Y" threads.  I was likely around $10k net worth around MMM discovery, now pushing $400k.  GF and I could probably lean FIRE in a LCOL within a couple years if we wanted.

This site definitely changed my life for the better.

[Hall11235]

I can remember the exact moment when I found MMM:

It was March of 2013. I had ~$47 dollars in my bank account. I was sitting on the top bunk of my dorm room bunk bed, feeling dejected and hopeless that I might have to ACTUALLY spend 40 years of my comically short and valuable life working for other people. I found the article on the simple math behind early retirement.

Fast forward to now, and I am 27 with a wife who shares my FIRE obsession, a home, and 0 non-mortgage debt.

MMM has been at least as valuable to me as my college education. The attitude towards consumerism this culture is horrifying, and MMM giving me the power to just say 'NO' has been immensely powerful.

[namasteyall]

Found myself in the US.

I did not have work immediately so haunted libraries and went to lectures on money, since I had lost everything. Lurked from the beginning and then became a member to connect with others. I learned how to be frugal, to look for sales, how money can work, from all of u. Finally MMM gave me the freedom to not waste, to be frugal, without feeling mean or cheap! My tribe!

Managed to influence several others gently, successfully.

Never inflicted my frugality on others, was always overly generous, especially if someone was poor. Since I had learned not to waste, I almost always had plenty to give others. Thank you MMM, Mrs MMM and all of you.

[JLR]

Came across an old email I sent my husband in 2012, pondering if MMM looked like the guy pictured:

https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/masses-missing-out-on-millions/news-story/b9caf2dae41f93a64ba7ea210403951e

I guess this was before when we all knew what Pete looked like!

So, I guess I've been reading the blog since at least 2012. I joined the forums in about 2015. I tried joining sooner, but someone else had already taken my preferred username. I don't think they ever posted...

Earlier this year I was pondering that we must be pretty close to 10 years of knowing Pete's shockingly simple math. I felt a little sad that we hadn't pushed harder and hit a higher savings rate to be FI by now, but my husband and I agreed we couldn't pick what we would have given up.

Changes we did make after discovering MMM:
- sold our dream home, moved into a few cheap rentals
- kept our 2001 model car.
- husband tried out two different careers before going back to his original one, which has good pay and lower stress than the other two (but is currently a bit miserably stressful. Should mostly resolve in the next few weeks)
-bought what I call my MMM house. Spent about a third of what the bank would loan us. Walking distance to everything we need on a daily/weekly basis.
-Fully funded emergency fund. Putting extra into retirement accounts. Buying index funds. Now just on the grind to the finish line.

[RainyDay]

I found MMM about 3 years ago.  Before that, I was fairly good with money and just coasting to retirement at 60.  We made good decisions on major purchases but didn't optimize the small things and we weren't aggressive savers because I hadn't seen a path to early retirement.  We were already going to have plenty to retire at 60 so it didn't really matter. 

Same!  Found MMM around summer 2018.  I had always been a good saver, but without any real purpose or goal in mind.  Suddenly it crystalized and I ramped up my savings, optimized a number of areas (like selling a gas-guzzling Ford F-150!) and am planning to semi-retire in 19 months...a full 10 years earlier than I would have!  Would never have happened without MMM.