I want to say thanks to Mr. Money Mustache! I was looking into Betterment near the beginning of this year and came across the Mr. Money Mustache blog post on Betterment. I was soon hooked and have read through every post. I was always frugal, but was getting to the point where I did not know what to do with excess money. I was saving enough for a comfortable retirement in my 50s. The blog gave me the goal of being FI much earlier. Since finding the blog, I have:
-Switched to Ting
-Started biking to work again
-Improved my home energy usage (new front door, improved insulation, LED bulbs)
-Invested most of my available funds (sure, they all lost money recently, but I am thinking long term).
-In addition to the home repairs I was already doing, I started doing my own car (new brakes and a new engine mount) and bike repairs
-Moved from Washington DC to a mountain town in NM.
-Got a new job that pays more and is in a lower cost of living area near all the things I like to do (climbing, biking, skiing, hiking)
-Cut my bike commute from 9.5 miles each way to 4 each way by moving. Plus the lack of humidity makes it so I can bike in my work clothes and don't have to shower on each end of the journey further saving me time each day.
-Sold my Virginia house by owner in less than 10 days. No real estate fees!
-Got a new house that cost $85k less than my old house and is way better.
-The best thing of all, is that I took about 7 weeks off between quitting my former job and starting the new one. Having me home all the time was enough to convince my wife that there may be something to this early retirement thing. Before that, she was quite skeptical.
Thanks for giving me a vision to work toward!
