Author Topic: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself  (Read 3317961 times)

BMW Jalopy

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3700 on: June 28, 2018, 01:13:49 PM »
Hi. I'm 55, married, kids almost out of college & thus off the payroll. I really need 5 more years to hit my FIRE numbers, but my nerves are fried really bad right now, and a vacation isn't going to help much. Sadly, I never had a high paying job until recently, so every "one more year" makes a profound difference in my after-FIRE spending power. To get up to speed, I'm consuming a large amount of this forum, Mad Fientist, and the reddit people. My spending is completely out of control, so I'm concentrating on that, to increase my savings rate and reduce my FIRE number. I'm finding the effort greatly complicated by having 3 other humans that I'm financially connected to. Very excited to be here, and I see that there are other late bloomers here as well.

dtmriley

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3701 on: June 28, 2018, 03:44:08 PM »
Hi

My name is Dan, 27 years old. Trying to figure it all out, one mustache hair at a time?

Was just turned onto website from a friend who said this sounded like how I live.

I have no debt, biggest area I would say I need work/advice/knowledge is what to do with funds I do have saved, only small portion our invested in market. The rest is in checking acct lol.

I look forward to becoming more involved in this website and community.

Feel free to reach out !

Nomadic Becca

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3702 on: June 30, 2018, 07:18:40 AM »
Hi, I'm Becca and Just discovered the world of FIRE. I'm based in Berlin Germany and Devon England but am half spanish so i am there sometimes too. My life philosophy for lack of better word is to live freely, maybe in an eco house in Devon or even better sailing around the world. I'm in my mid forties and i wouldn't say I'm retired but am looking for ways to make my money last and that involves some form of work. At present I'm looking at investments, i have enough property for now.

Looking forward to meeting you all.


sanderh

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3703 on: July 01, 2018, 11:42:13 PM »
Hi, I'm Sam and have been lurking on the forums off and on for a few years. When I first discovered MMM, I read all the posts (took me days). Not exactly a Mustachian thing to do, sitting and not being productive. It turned out I was mostly living the Mustachian way already. I like hiking and outdoors, science and fiction.

Writer_Girl

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3704 on: July 03, 2018, 07:44:52 PM »
Hey all!  You may have guessed by my user name, but I'm a writer.  I work full-time and have manged to pull in some decent side-income by writing.  We'll call it freelancing, but really it's more of a second job.

Basically, I need to retire early because I have something of an invisible (but progressive!) illness and I don't want to end up on disability relying on whatever tiny amount of money the government deems that disabled people are worth.  I want to make sure I'm provided for.

And even before I was diagnosed, well, I was frugal then too, and I had saved a lot.  Thanks, parents. 

I have a little nest egg, a very nice car (I know, I know, not mustachian of me) that I bought at 0% interest, a steady, full-time job that I don't hate, a job outside of that job that gets me the extra money,  a sparkling credit score, low rent, and a single smallish student loan I haven't paid off because it's keeping my credit score sparkly.  I graduated during the recession, so my 401k COULD be a lot better better, but unfortunately the first few years of my career were "staying afloat" and "not accumulating debt" and "not living in a cardboard box" so that went well.  Every year, I up it by 1%, and I use the company match and then some.

I want to learn how to best use the stock market in order to retire early using my freelance income.  Oh, and what I get paid for the clinical trials I'm in can go in there too.   (I'm not going to die though, stop worrying.)

Basically, I told the doctors to attack my incurable ass disease with everything they got, and I'm not going to stress but also going to go for early retirement with what I have.

My one vice:  makeup.  I won't put cheap stuff on my skin. 
My other vice:  my medicine costs more than twice my income but it's cool.  'Merica.



D.O.G.

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3705 on: July 06, 2018, 07:02:34 AM »
Hello from Germany!  My name is Dirk, I'm 53 ys old, photographer and editor and live in the countryside of german Texas (= Bavaria). I have a family, a house, a dog, too many hobbies, a bend for thriftiness and - I think this qualifies me first and foremost - a big mustache :)
 
Thank you all for your interesting posts, I catch myself all the time procrastinating by constantly browsing this forum. I hope I may also contribute something worthwile reading!

Mo Geek

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3706 on: July 06, 2018, 11:10:44 PM »
Hey everyone! I stumbled across MMM about 1.5 years ago (through a link in a youtube channel, no less!) and was immediately hooked. I've been lurking in the shadows of this forum ever since and thought I'd finally introduce myself!

I'm Monique, 32 years old and live in the Pacific Northwest. My fiance and I own a very modest house, a sweet old dog, and have way too many hobbies that revolve around getting out and exploring the outdoors, whether it be in a raft, on bikes, snowshoes/boards/skies, or in hiking shoes.

I'm super happy to officially join and look forward to becoming more involved in this rad community of mustachians :-)

PurpleMinion

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3707 on: July 06, 2018, 11:35:01 PM »
Hello everyone! I've heard a lot about these forums over the last few years and I finally decided to head on over and sign up.

I'm married with two kids, and about two and a half years ago I decided to go back to school. I just graduated in May, and my dream job will be opening up next year. If I get it (which is very likely, although there are never any guarantees in life), my salary will double. Until then, I've laid out all our debts that we've accumulated and we're trying to pay them down as much as possible. Once my salary goes up, it will be much easier to do that, but until then we'll do the best we can. That's why I'm here. I can't wait to read some great tips and insight from you all!

Raymond Reddington

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3708 on: July 08, 2018, 03:12:16 PM »
Been reading the blog for a couple years now, finally deciding to be more active in terms of pursuing Mustachianism and trying to surround myself with people with similar values. As I've gotten older, I just find people so...unfulfilling by and large. All they want to do is go out to eat and drink things, or spend money on expensive "entertainment" like movies or shows. Plus they mostly want to talk, typically about depressing subjects such as politics, or what they are doing with their life (which is typically not a whole lot, which is why it's depressing). Personally, I find people who are always striving for self improvement and talking about it to be invigorating, exciting to be around, full of ideas, and happy. There is too much cynicism, and I am capable of being a perfectly good pessimist on my own without needing to surround myself with more!

I'm 32, married, living in NYC, no kids. Homeowner with a mortgage. Enjoy brewing beer at home, going to the batting cages, hiking, investing, home improvements, etc. Have great credit, no debt, a moderately high paying job (this is by NY standards, so to many of you it will seem high) that I keep trying to save and invest more of the proceeds from. My job places a lot of demands on my time, so I'd love to retire by 50 (as that's when my pension will be fully vested), although I will certainly settle for 55 (as that's when I'll be able to start collecting from my pension).

I do own a car, but work features variable commutes, often to bad neighborhoods and at hours where public transportation is not running. I don't want to leave this job because of the minimal cost of healthcare and the pension. But I bought the car used, and it's paid off. When I can, I try to take public transportation to and from work. My biggest weakness is probably a tendency to eat lunch out way too frequently on work days.

I want to learn how to get the most for my money, diversify my streams of income in retirement, and otherwise live a healthier, more active lifestyle frugally, and make some friends while doing so.

It's funny, by all metrics, I'm doing great for my age, but yet when I run my own simulations, I always get results that indicate to me I squandered much of my 20s re: saving and investing (even though I did a fair amount), and will never be able to make up for the damage I did. So always looking for more to do that allows me to maintain a similar quality of life.

Retyrebye50

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3709 on: July 09, 2018, 06:22:55 AM »
Hello friends,

Matthew from Northeast Ohio here. 39 (soon to be 40), married, no kids, (2) dogs. I am a mechanical engineer (20 years experience) and starting to get tired of the rat race. I am looking to retire in 10 years. I have already been browsing the website for a few weeks and anxious to start reducing my wasteful spending habits and start investing my money into the right places.
Nice to meet you all.

Britt

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3710 on: July 09, 2018, 06:25:28 PM »
Hi, I'm Britt.

I'm 31 years old and in the middle of wedding planning for this October. I have about $31,000 in student loans that I am determined to pay off within the next year or two and this is the first year that I have actually really focused on saving for a rainy day. I'm starting off with baby steps (meaning that I'm focusing on one or two things at a time) because it's pretty common for me to throw myself into something completely, burn out and then give up, and I don't want that to happen here. Glad to have a place for support, ideas, common goals, etc.

SamBea

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3711 on: July 10, 2018, 03:52:16 PM »
Hello!

I'm Sam and new to all this. 26 and living in NYC with good pay and some student loans as the only form of debt. This blog has inspired me to pay off my loans by October and try to retire by 41. Excited for the journey!


ladonnabaffuta

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3712 on: July 16, 2018, 10:23:57 AM »
Hi, everyone!

I've been reading MMM for a couple of years now, but only recently discovered the forum and the wealth of knowledge here! (Pun intended.)

I've always thought of myself as relatively frugal (through necessity, rather than choice) because I came from a very modest background. I also always assumed that I would need to work until standard retirement age and that retirement calculators were accurate (everyone spends every penny they earn, right??). I've recently begun to question all these assumptions. While I'm not anywhere near the mustache levels of people on this forum, I aspire to be much closer than I am.

I'm 34 and live in SoCal with my husband (no kids yet - hopefully one in the near future). Our combined income is $176.5k. We save about 40% of our income, but we could do much, much better. My husband is naturally pretty thrifty, but there are some things that he is not on board with just yet. I'm focusing on cutting my own wasteful spending first, and then will gently encourage him to consider it, too. (I've already been able to cancel Hulu, Showtime thru Amazon, and Netflix, so I consider these all big wins!) I plan to post my own case study once I get rid of some of the really embarrassing items.

Thanks to everyone who has posted here because I've learned so much already.

bitingbutterfly

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3713 on: July 16, 2018, 10:33:25 PM »
Hi!

I discovered MMM a few weeks ago after perusing many debt-reduction blogs and getting inspired. 30, F, Canadian, $65k in debt from law school. I am putting 47% of my take home pay to debt reduction, so hope to be done with it in a few years. New to the frugal mindset but very excited to turn things around and see what life has in store for me :)




Keely

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3714 on: July 17, 2018, 11:29:24 AM »
Hello all!

I'm Keely from Minnesota. Decided to make some changes after becoming incredibly unhappy with my current career and feeling like I couldn't make a change.  I refused to feel so stuck so I started taking action to change things.

29 years old, married for almost 11 years, 2 dogs, 1 toddler.  We have always been relatively frugal but there are definitely areas of our life where we could improve.  I've always had a passion for paying down debt quickly.. I just never tried saving/investing instead.  We have a mortgage and just replaced 25 y/o furnace and AC after something in the AC compressor exploded; currently $6500 left on a 36 month 0% line of credit, which will quickly be paid off.

I'm here to learn and to challenge myself in new ways!  I'm already much happier as a result.

shackleford

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3715 on: July 18, 2018, 03:18:41 AM »
Hi.  I'm Shackleford, 38 years old from Scotland (although right now I live/work in Norway).  I'm single and I've spent the last seven years working overseas.  I don't really enjoy my work very much, so I'm looking at how I could shorten my working life (or certainly shorten my time in my current career), hence how I've found my way on to this website. 

Currently working my way through the monster "overheard at work" thread which is very entertaining! 

BestCoast

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3716 on: July 18, 2018, 03:21:07 PM »
Hi, all. BestCoast here, 30 y/o man in the Seattle area. Married, one newborn child, supported by my income plus a little freelance work. Renting for the foreseeable future (crazy house prices in the NW as you're all surely aware). No debt besides my last $3k in student loans, which should be gone by September. Excited to share my journey to greater badassity, and learn from yours!

Epor

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3717 on: July 19, 2018, 12:14:00 PM »
Hello!

I've been reading MMM for a while, after having a financial literacy class in high school, and thought I should get on the forums to find advice and knowledge from some pretty cool people.

I'm currently attending college and avoiding any loans in the process. Picking up internships and work where I can. Making sure I have enough money in my accounts to pay for each year.

College life definitely has lots of spending temptations, especially when your friends have no clue how to lead an even remotely mustachian life. I still join on friend outings, but often spend way less money on dumb stuff and overly expensive foods. So far, loans are out of the picture and looking good for next year. And it should stay that way!

Kole

Was MMM specifically mentioned in your class, or did you just stumble here after looking for more information on financial topics?

Epor

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3718 on: July 19, 2018, 12:19:30 PM »
Hi, everyone!

I've been reading MMM for a couple of years now, but only recently discovered the forum and the wealth of knowledge here! (Pun intended.)

I've always thought of myself as relatively frugal (through necessity, rather than choice) because I came from a very modest background. I also always assumed that I would need to work until standard retirement age and that retirement calculators were accurate (everyone spends every penny they earn, right??). I've recently begun to question all these assumptions. While I'm not anywhere near the mustache levels of people on this forum, I aspire to be much closer than I am.

I'm 34 and live in SoCal with my husband (no kids yet - hopefully one in the near future). Our combined income is $176.5k. We save about 40% of our income, but we could do much, much better. My husband is naturally pretty thrifty, but there are some things that he is not on board with just yet. I'm focusing on cutting my own wasteful spending first, and then will gently encourage him to consider it, too. (I've already been able to cancel Hulu, Showtime thru Amazon, and Netflix, so I consider these all big wins!) I plan to post my own case study once I get rid of some of the really embarrassing items.

Thanks to everyone who has posted here because I've learned so much already.

I like that! Welcome and your username is very nice too.

artemidorus

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3719 on: July 20, 2018, 09:02:48 AM »
Hi!

32/M/Married/First kid on the way. I've been reading MMM for 4-5 years and checked out more of the forum in the last year, I've finally decided to speak up.

In my 5ish years of reading, I finished paying off my $50K in student loans within 8 years of graduating, and have significantly ticked up my savings rate to 50%. This will be my first year maxing out both my 401k and ROTH IRA, while hopefully investing more on top of that. While I'm at best a below-average level Mustachian, the small steps I've taken from this community are significantly affecting my future, and my stress levels are a fraction of what they were 5 years ago when the paycheck-to-paycheck life took a big toll on me.

Looking for some new efficiencies as I become a parent, I'll certainly be leaning more on this community as I try to avoid the spendypants habits of literally every person in my life that is a parent!

CaliGirl

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3720 on: July 20, 2018, 11:47:30 AM »
Hi!

I'm fairly new to the FI concept as I only stumbled onto it about a month or so ago. Since then, I've devoured MMM's blog posts along with a few others, subscribed to a several podcasts and bought and read "The Simple Path to Wealth."

Unfortunately, I've already succumbed to life style inflation and so now I'm focused on reigning that in. Fortunately, I've always loved money so I've been a decent saver along the way.

I love everyone's contributions to the support I see in this community! Thank you so much for all of the posts and the information. I've already made several changes in my life and I continue to keep on the lookout for more!  FI is a dim light at the end of the tunnel right now, but I'm focused on growing it bit by bit!

bdbspeed

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3721 on: July 20, 2018, 06:02:25 PM »
Hello fellow Mustachians!

I'm 29yo living in Seattle and discovering the FI/RE community has changed my life.
 
My journey into the world of frugality began with the first chapter of Walden by Henry David Thoreau. I had been practicing frugality and anti-consumerism for 7 years before discovering Paula Pant's podcasts last year which led me down the rabbit hole: Vicki Robbin, JD Roth, JL Collins, MMM, Mad Fientist, etc.

It's refreshing to meet an enthusiastic group of like-minded people. I love how the FI/RE community combines many of my convictions and interests: Minimalism, DIY, Anti-consumerism, unconventional living, frugality, experience > things, etc.

Currently I maintain a very comfortable 50-55% savings rate. I plan to start buying rental properties in early 2020 and be LEAN-FI by age 35. By the time I'm 45 I want to be DOUBLE-FI: $1,000,000 in equities and $40,000/yr cash-flowing from rental properties.

I live in the Seattle area. Let's hang!

brute

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3722 on: July 23, 2018, 07:06:11 AM »
Welcome aboard!

ladonnabaffuta

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3723 on: July 23, 2018, 02:05:43 PM »
@Epor thanks! The case study is a bit of a killer because I know exactly what needs to go, but I've haven't fully converted my DH just yet...

Ajb147

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3724 on: July 26, 2018, 07:44:24 PM »
Hey!  I'm Adam and am ready to take the leap into FIRE at 31.  Looking forward to learning from you!

bhoneydew

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3725 on: July 26, 2018, 08:00:07 PM »
Hi.  The Automatic Millionaire started it for me back in the mid 2000's.  I really enjoy reading everything on this site.

bgfoot

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3726 on: July 28, 2018, 02:28:14 PM »
Hi. Tom
I started following the forum about a year. Finally joined

Ymoccy

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3727 on: July 30, 2018, 09:00:08 PM »
Hi I'm Alyssa. I found MMM recently and I've been madly reading, learning, and applying everything I can basically. I found MMM while researching how to pay off debt faster. I've found the lifestyle and philosophy really jives with me and the tips have been really helpful. The big game changer for me recently is that my husband is finally on board with living more frugally - before this I could only do so much to make up for his spending. Now we're on track to pay off our student loans reasonably quickly. He's about to open an RRSP to take advantage of his work's matching program. Once the loans are slayed, investing will be next. We live in Edmonton Alberta Canada.

Douggyfr3sh

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3728 on: July 31, 2018, 03:28:43 PM »
Hey everyone!

I'm Doug.  I'm a software engineer and poker player from Maine.  I found MMM after listening to Pete's interview on the Tim Ferris podcast.  I'm 30 and have too much debt and not enough invested, but I am very motivated to change that!

I love mountain/cross-country biking, hiking, camping, whitewater rafting, etc.  I also love movies and wish I had better facial hair.

Looking forward to soaking in all the knowledge in these forums :)

sanderh

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3729 on: August 02, 2018, 08:04:02 PM »
Hi!

I'm a scientist and I am so excited to find this place!
I love the idea of being proactive in planning for retirement. Both my partner and I have lots of hobbies we wish we had more time for. I love the idea of figuring out what you want THEN figuring out how much money you need for that, rather than the other way around of just earning money 9-5 because 'that's what people do', and then spending it on whatever.

I live in Australia, no kids (yet), and am new to this website and forum, and many of the concepts (and acronyms!) therein. First step I think is figuring out EXACTLY what our spending is, where it is going. Then I'm going to fill in a 'case study' and soak in all your excellent advice! :D

and keep reading!
Welcome from Australia, waylah! My situation is somewhat similar to yours, including the country, but I found MMM years ago. Have been lurking and recently posting.

ReginaD.

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3730 on: August 02, 2018, 11:46:19 PM »
Hello everyone,
My name is Regina, I live in Kansas with my husband Robin. He's a lawyer, I'm an artist. We're sharing the same dream to travel around the world. So I suppose - it's never too late to think about our savings? Luckily, I found this community.

sanderh

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3731 on: August 03, 2018, 04:53:59 PM »
Hello everyone,
My name is Regina, I live in Kansas with my husband Robin. He's a lawyer, I'm an artist. We're sharing the same dream to travel around the world. So I suppose - it's never too late to think about our savings? Luckily, I found this community.
Welcome, Regina! It's never too late if you are still alive and posting :)

kasterborus

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3732 on: August 05, 2018, 01:40:52 PM »
Hi,

Just paid off the mortgage at exactly the 15 year half way point - should have got a 15 year mortgage after all.
Now 100% debt free, and living as frugally as possible.

Still working an 8-5 IT job, but now looking for ways to avoid that too. ;)

Rapidly developing the woodworking skills - replaced all the window sashes on my house, and just climbed down from the roof after replacing some corner siding.

Looking for some guidance on what to do next, investment, rental property etc...

JustInStarting

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3733 on: August 06, 2018, 07:45:33 PM »
Hello everyone,

I've been reading MMM on and off for several years, and the forum for several months. I wish I had known about this forum when I was much younger. Well, better late than never, right? 😊

I've learned so much from this forum, and look forward to learning more.

ellewoods

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3734 on: August 07, 2018, 02:02:35 PM »
Hi Everyone!  My name is Elle.  I live in Los Angeles.  I am an attorney and mother of 2 pre-school age children.  My husband and I both do well salary-wise but are looking to take it to the next level with investing.  Been listening to some investing podcasts and through them discovered this community.  So hello to all of you and hope to be chatting soon!

Sir Tom of Ato

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3735 on: August 07, 2018, 10:25:13 PM »
Hi all!

I go by Tom, and I stumbled upon MMM a few days ago. I'm 21, I have one more year of college, and I don't like beer.

A week ago I hadn't even thought about the idea of early retirement (I haven't even started my career yet, after all), but now I can't help but picture myself financially independent in my 30s! By then I hope to have married my girlfriend and probably have kid(s).

I'm hoping the kind people here can help hone my habits and skills in the next months while I am still in school with just part time work, even before I get out and start full-time work, so that I don't fall into the typical American trap.

Major Tom

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3736 on: August 08, 2018, 11:53:37 PM »
Hi All

Major Tom here. I already posted my case study some time ago. I thank all who responded with their helpful and insightful comments.
Now working hard to stick to my plan and taking on any tips and clues from all the other badasses. Could be more of a serious BA but - luxury is a weakness I need to remind myself.

FIRE will be down the cobblestone path for me!

MTom

Australia

jenydiaz

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3737 on: August 10, 2018, 05:08:57 AM »
Hello everyone.
My name is Jeny, I live in Sydney and work in IT.
I am very interested in this new philosophy of life.
Thank you all for sharing your experiences and knowledge

AngelaG86

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3738 on: August 10, 2018, 04:37:30 PM »
Hi,

I'm Angela, 31, engaged. Have a mountain of debt from a business that went south. Fiance also has a mountain of debt (I'm not sure of how much, except for the mortgage). When he comes home from work next week, we're going to have a sit down to discuss it, and see if I can nudge him towards the MMM way of seeing things.

Sedgry

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3739 on: August 10, 2018, 06:00:55 PM »
Hi,

I started reading MMM in college. I started saving money whenever I could and between part time jobs, investing my spare cash rather than buying beer, and some help from my parents I managed to graduate with no debt and around 5k worth of VTI. I just started my first full time job and I'm hoping to save a nice percentage of my income. Hoping to hit financial independence around ten years from now. Will probably be poking around the forum periodically.

ec to er

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3740 on: August 11, 2018, 12:36:31 PM »
Hi,
I'm 18 live in the DC/Baltimore area and about to enter college for a degree in computer science and have read MMM for a while. For the past few years I've been thinking of ways to retire early and I've found getting through college within 1-2 years would save a lot of time and allow for a quicker retirement. So through dual enrollment in community college in high school and AP and CLEP tests through resources such as modern states I have gotten 82 college credits. I'm hoping to pull 2 20 or so credit semesters in order to graduate within a year.

Next I'm Planning on living at home for a year or two to save 40k to put 20% down on a 3 bedroom house in a college town in that area and rent out the remaining rooms to cover the mortgage. Hoping to then invest most of the money I earn.

antman

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3741 on: August 17, 2018, 08:25:08 AM »
Hello Everyone,

First post on this forum.  I'm antman.  Becoming FIRE has been a dream of mine.  However, people around me do not understand this method of thinking.  Until I stumbled upon this forum, which I am greatful to find.


rivendale

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3742 on: August 19, 2018, 04:55:59 PM »
Hello!

I've been lurking on the forum and reading through the blog posts for a few weeks now and thought I'd jump in. I'm impressed with the depth of resources available here and am looking forward to learning and applying all I can.

jasontcrocker

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3743 on: August 19, 2018, 05:45:04 PM »
Hey all!

Just getting into learning about FI and I'm so excited! As a self-employed individual, I'm wondering if there are articles or people I should pay close attention to in the FI world to learn more about how to apply these practices to my situation? I.E. variable income. Also, I'm wondering if my savings rate should be calculated differently since a lot of my monthly expenses are for my business and those wouldn't necessarily continue once I hit FI. Thanks in advance for any help, excited to dive deep!

Cheers,

J

Goodidea

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3744 on: August 22, 2018, 07:27:34 PM »
Howdy all. Goodidea from California here :)

Looking forward to learning and talking shop with ya'll.

DeedlesSci

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3745 on: August 23, 2018, 10:05:07 AM »
Hi all!

My name is Deanna. I live in Eastern Washington with my husband. I have always been frugal, but got interested in retiring early about a year ago. We are dinks with one dog and live a pretty quiet life on 2/3 of an acre in Pasco, WA. The plan is to retire in 10 years or so at 45 and 48. We are both educators, trade school instructor and community college professor. Depending on how saving goes, my husband may retire in 3 years with me working part-time for 3 to take advantage of things like health care benefits and to do a sort of dress rehearsal for retirement... see if we can live off of just what I bring in as an adjunct. I look forward to being a part of this community which I hope will help keep my ideals aligned to my current goal.

seaslug

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3746 on: August 23, 2018, 01:48:20 PM »
Hello!

Seaslug here. Without knowing it, I have been about 50% Mustachian, 50% delusional spender as I traversed the roller coaster of being an artist in NY. Recently became interested in becoming financially stable, and beginning to wonder whether I can scratch out a life on my social security when the time comes. I have never been able to face these issues as they've always appeared hopeless to me.

As soon as I learned of the blog I began reading it obsessively, and it has given me a lot of hope. A lot of the Mustachian ways come easily to me because I've been broke for so long. But the student loan has meanwhile languished, though I now see I can face it down. I will post the ugly numbers in the case studies section at some point.

I am too old to retire "early," but at least I can become independent and am excited to do so.

Grinding for Freedom

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3747 on: August 26, 2018, 05:25:58 AM »
Greetings from Finland, fellow Mustachians!

I've been reading this forum for 5+ years, and some time ago I made the choice to eventually sign up.

My nickname pretty much sums up my feelings towards FIRE: The lack of emotional stimulation in corporate cubicle is making me numb and unhappy. I'm also concerned about the health impacts of sitting & staring a screen several hours per day. Life is not supposed to be like that!

However, my current work position is a logical continuation of my 12 year long corporate career. It matches my education and I get paid well enough. When you have a mortgage, life choices are limited.

So, gotta keep on grinding.. for freedoooom!

Charles Darwin

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3748 on: August 27, 2018, 01:43:00 PM »
Hi All,

Discovered MMM in December 2017 and been regular reader since. Decided to start posting more often. I live in Seattle and can commiserate with anyone else in a HCOL area.

I thought I lived frugally before but probably averaging about $1,000 less in spending per month since the beginning of 2018 and trying to keep lowering it!

Thanks for all the informative and inspirational posts! Looking forward to participating more!

Charles

Fiserkre

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3749 on: August 30, 2018, 10:33:44 AM »
Man, what an awesome forum.  I first became aware of this site from reading posts on a hiking website I’m a member of, and one of the posters there mentioned it.  I’d been to the MMM site many times before to read the blog posts, but never checked out the forum until recently.  Looks like a bunch of financial obsessed nerds…just like myself. I have no one to talk to about this stuff because no one I know is interested in retiring before the government defined retirement age, so I’m really pumped to get involved here.
 
So about me, I’m a 45 year old male, married with 2 kids.  I work full time and the wife works part time.  Everything we have is paid off including the house.  The only “debt” we carry is that we use a credit card for everything and pay it off each month (i.e. to get the points to get cash back or air miles or whatever).

I feel like I’m a little late to the party because I didn’t start aspiring to the moustachian life style until sometime in the last 10 years or so, and then didn’t actually take action to make this happen until more recently.  I’m glad to see there are others on here in the same boat.  My current goal is to be financially independent so that I can retire, elect to work part time or do whatever I want to do somewhere in the 52 – 55 year old age range.
 
So far I think I’m in line with the values presented here with respect to having everything paid off, maxing out retirement accounts, saving additional money outside of retirement accounts, sticking to a budget and so on.  Where I have some work to do is the “frugal” lifestyle thing.  I’m probably not too far from getting there, but it’s been quite the psychological journey thus far.  I’ve never been into “nice” things, so I don’t own a lot of expensive stuff (i.e. luxury cars, high end furniture, jewelry etc.), rather I just own a lot of stuff.  So I need to start paring things down and work towards a more minimalistic lifestyle.
 
Anyhoo, like I said I’m looking forward to participating in the forums.