Who are We?

[Matilda]

I just joined the MMM group, and am very curious as to who we are, statistically.  Age and politics seem to be all over the map, so do geographic locations, family situations, income levels.  Seems to be mostly guys but a decent number of ladies too? 

How did YOU come to MMM?  Did somebody you know clue you in?  Follow a link from an article or another blog?
-- I actually linked over from an urban homesteading blog called Northwest Edible Life (www.nwedible.com).  Wonder if there are any other hippie gardening chicken-raising types here?

If the FIRE concept separates you from mainstream culture by definition (since saving substantial percentages of income is not typical), what else holds you apart from the mainstream?  Do you bike rather than drive, like MMM?  Eschew TV and pop culture?  Or do you blend right in, with your saving habit relatively well hidden?  Were you against the grain at all before MMM/ FIRE, or pretty much normal?  (I'm wondering who gets drawn to this concept, and if having already gone against current in other areas makes it more likely that somebody would embrace it.)
-- I've only just found out about FIRE, but I keep chickens in my backyard (in a city), prefer reading to TV, and have had a homebirth. 

If you read magazines at all, which are your favorites?  Top non-fiction books?

Introduce yourself in a new way by answering some or all of these questions!

[firewalker]

The answer to your question is everywhere (oooh ... scary Matrix / Morpheus talk). For example, check "off topic" for who's reading what.  Me, I'm a low income audiophile and perennial gardner without property owned for gardening. A ruff gig.

[FIRE me]

I read MMM for over a year before registering and starting to post.

Internet (instead of TV) is my big personal time waster. As best as I recall, I first heard about MMM on the Get Rich Slowly blog, before it was bought out by some corporation.

[StockBeard]

- I walk rather than drive (I haven't biked in a decade, which makes me very different from other mustachians)
- I hate TV but love TV shows/movies. I'm a huge Netflix/Amazon Prime addict
- I have a side gig in addition to my 9 to 5. This makes me different from most people, but similar to most mustachians
- I have lived on 3 continents

[Bob W]

I'm old, poor and not house broken.   I drive a big SUV and smoke a lot of cigarettes.  We have 7 freaking kids ages 8-31 and live in a rural setting.  I'm doing my part to skew the statistics of the forum.   

[StockBeard]

I'm old, poor and not house broken.   I drive a big SUV and smoke a lot of cigarettes.  We have 7 freaking kids ages 8-31 and live in a rural setting.  I'm doing my part to skew the statistics of the forum.

LOL, excellent, you made my day sir!

[Mississippi Mudstache]

I'm a creator and nature-lover masquerading as a cubicle-dwelling (but bike-commuting) analyst. I have dreams of a big plot of land - mostly woods - with a small clearing outfitted with a modest house that I built myself and a cozy woodshop with a front porch overlooking a big garden with sunflowers and bean-wrapped bamboo teepees towering over the shorter vegetables. It will be close enough town to bike, but not so close that I would want to do it every day. There will be a small guest house that will always be on the ready for visitors who will be welcome to drop by unannounced. I'll spend my days in the vegetable garden and the woodshop. My wife will have the well-appointed kitchen and the herb and flower garden on the back stoop that she's always dreamed of. Kids will run free. Life will be grand. To be fair it already is, but it could certainly be grander :)

[Kansas Beachbum]

We have 7 freaking kids ages 8-31 and live in a rural setting.

Um...you know what causes that, right?  :-)

Not sure exactly how I came across MMM...probably linked from a finance site somewhere.  We have always been relatively frugal, compared to a lot of people anyway, have always understood the value of saving for a comfortable, early retirement.  We don't stand out all that much from our community...kind of the ones who blend in with everyone else.  Pretty sure not too many people know about the results of our lifestyle choices, after all it's not something you broadcast, but I'm guessing the recent purchase of a beach house will raise a few eyebrows once it becomes more broadly known :-) .

[Nickyd£g]

I'm a city dwelling, apartment owning, medium-ish income office worker who came to MMM after randomly googling about saving, as I want to save enough to retire to a warmer, sunnier country, live in a studio with a dog, a garden, and near a beach and spend all my time reading, sleeping and drinking wine.  As such, I walk everywhere, follow a paleo-ish diet, hardly watch TV but do binge on certain series via showbox , read a lot of books and drink a fair amount of wine at the moment.  The problem is, I have to get up and spend 8 hours a day doing a job which, while interesting and has lovely colleagues, is a job.  Oh, and live in a country which is cold, wet and dark about 9 months of the year...

[marty998]

I just joined the MMM group, and am very curious as to who we are, statistically.  Age and politics seem to be all over the map, so do geographic locations, family situations, income levels.  Seems to be mostly guys but a decent number of ladies too? 

We've done a few surveys over the years. Forum is majority female (perhaps indicates which gender is more likely to answer polls). Politics leans towards libertarianism... makes sense when you think about it.

[nereo]

My impression of this forum is that it's heavily populated by 30-somethings, with a lot of people in their 20s and 40s and much fewer in their 50s and 60s.  Not sure I've encountered anyone on here who claims to be 70+, but I'm sure there are a few lurking.
Politically the 'median' is probably left of center, but with some staunch conservatives thrown in.  An independent/libertarian streak runs deep in this forum (although not everyone subscribes to this ethos).  Previous surveys aside, it seems that there's about as many female regular-posters as there are male.  Many are married, some aren't, and lots of children (but lots of DINKs too).
If I remember an earlier pool correctly, it's heavily skewed towards people with advanced degrees, particularly in engineering and other STEM fields.  The median income on this forum is almost certainly higher than the US national average of ~$52k, (of course there are those of us who earn less).  The forum is composed predominantly of individuals from the United States with Brits, Canadians and Australians well represented (especially given their respective populations).

Over the past two years the forum's diversity has broadened considerably along with MMM's readership.  Name any typical combination of income level, political affiliation, ethnicity, age, gender and sexual orientation and you'll probably find at least one frequent poster who fits that description.

Personally, I am a young-30-something, over-educated, married US citizen living abroad on a rather paltry scientific stipend.  I can't remember where I came across MMM but I lurked for about a year and then joined a few years back.  I'ts been interesting to watch this community evolve and expand.  I like to run simulations and scenarios for posters, I try to be a counterpoint to Bob W's cloudy outlook on life, and like to live as independently as I can.  I watch way too much NetFlix but haven't had cable in years, I bike almost everywhere but still own a pickup that sits barely used (really ought to sell that soon...) and I routinely make an ass out of myself trying to speak french.  I doubt we will 'retire' when we first hit out FI number (hopefully around age 40) but we like the freedom and options it gives us.  Ice cream is my favorite food.

[MudDuck]

I am a 32-year-old married mother of one from Pittsburgh and also found MMM through NW Edible, which I found from a facebook friend's link, which I believe was for a recipe. I'm an office worker by day and healthcare worker by night, and my family income is just a bit above average for the area.

I'm new to the MMM lifestyle this year and kind of half-ass it (we still have a land line, inefficient car, etc.) but still have seen my savings rate roughly double and have already cut the time it will take me to pay off lingering debt. People don't notice that we save a lot and live below our means; I think it's assumed by most of our friends & family that we just can't afford a "better" house, car, etc.

[ChaseJuggler]

28 year old high school physics/calculus teacher. It was always my plan to retire by age 52. But it was this site that convinced me I could do it 10 years sooner than that.

Childfree for life, atheist, and about as nonconformist as they come. Couldn't care less about society's traditions or expectations.

My #1 priority in life is maximizing my downtime. Which is kind of ironic, because I enjoy the process of maximizing the downtime more than the downtime itself.

I'm weird.

[Matilda]

I'm a creator and nature-lover masquerading as a cubicle-dwelling (but bike-commuting) analyst. I have dreams of a big plot of land - mostly woods - with a small clearing outfitted with a modest house that I built myself and a cozy woodshop with a front porch overlooking a big garden with sunflowers and bean-wrapped bamboo teepees towering over the shorter vegetables. It will be close enough town to bike, but not so close that I would want to do it every day. There will be a small guest house that will always be on the ready for visitors who will be welcome to drop by unannounced. I'll spend my days in the vegetable garden and the woodshop. My wife will have the well-appointed kitchen and the herb and flower garden on the back stoop that she's always dreamed of. Kids will run free. Life will be grand. To be fair it already is, but it could certainly be grander :)

If you'd added a chicken coop, then this would be my ideal as well! 

[Andrew928]

21
Southern California
Bail Bondsman
Finishing my Business Degree
Came over here from Bogleheads, I like the atmosphere here better , it is more laid back. Both forums are friendly but you guys are typically a younger crowd.

[psinguine]

Well if you keep track of the link in my signature I'm intending to flesh out the broad strokes of the history over the course of the next couple weeks. If you can't wait that long (and to be fair I can't blame you as I am not nearly as fascinating as I think I am) then the shorthand version is:

I'm 27 and a Carpenter by trade. I dabble in other trades, earning me a reputation both as a handyman and a know it all. I'm a white guy, yet only the second generation of this immigrant family to be born in this country. I come by frugality as an ingrained survival mechanism; I'm sure you can appreciate the difficulties that face families like mine. With the added weight of parents who insist on living rural while depending on God to provide.

I'm not quite six feet tall, enjoy long walks and moonlit talks, am in possession of emerald eyes and swarthy hair, and my wife groans audibly when I describe myself thusly. We are both 100% on board with, and share a near identical end goal of, FIRE. I do not, for the record, depend on God to provide. But it would be nice.