Remember the 'old days' when online chat was still a thing and people would list and ask for stats upon entering a chatroom. I thought that might be a quaint idea to utilize as I browsed and shared other FIRE blogs of interest. As this blog grows, there might be other blogs that might apply to your situation or season or just might be more interesting. I like sharing knowledge; it's kind of what the Internet's all about. Some of the details are things bloggers have strong opinions on and use it to differentiate their experience. Others are things that are fun or basic to know about other bloggers.
Blog name: Root of Good
Author: Justin McCurry
Blog start date: Sept 11, 2013
Location: Raleigh, NC
Current Age: 38
Age of FI/RE: 33
Debt: $0
Savings: $2.1 million
Net worth: $2.1 million
Income/ Income streams: Investment accounts, blog's ads and affiliate marketing
Filing status: Married
Rent/own: own, mortgage-free
Kids: 3
Pets: 0
Car: 1, purchased used, paid for
Cell phone: Yes, one unspecified VOIP + 1 Republic wireless phone for his wife + 1 prepaid phone for daughter
Cable: No, some other unspecified streaming service
Credit cards: Yes, uses actively for travel rewards and rebate hacks
Motivation: Seemingly a natural propensity for savings and thriftiness starting at an early age with a matching spouse.
Their Journey so far: Justin (and his wife) achieved early retirement and financial independence when Justin was age 33 with a net worth of about $1 million dollars. Add that to a well-timed lay off.
Blog Notables: It goes without saying this is my blog crush. The blog not the blogger, to be clear. They had a modest income like mine, and are intentionally thrifty. They did get some of their initial savings momentum from an unspecified business Justin started and a home they sold, but for the most part their savings and investing hacks played a significant role in their early retirement journey. Justin does a good job of chronicling the important steps they took to achieve FIRE with actual numbers. Of note, they point out that it is not necessary to work 30 years to buy their 3 children every one of their little heart's desires.
My takeaway/How I relate to their journey: I appreciate the foundation of a good savings strategy in The Journey. I could relate to the fact that there weren't active streams of passive income for the majority of their journey as this is not where my heart leans. So it is encouraging to know that early retirement can be achieved without strong blogging income, real estate, or small business income.
What blogbytes would you like to know about your favorite blogger?
Season 1, Episode 3 The Case for Geoarbitrage
So one of the initial stressors of budgeting was finding an affordable place to live. Therapeutically unsound, my thoughts exist in an all or nothing world. In my proposed spending budget of $2,500/ month, the recommended spending on housing (30%) was $750/month, all in. At my current spending, I was spending about $1,000/ mon on housing including rent and utilities. I just couldn't make it work. The cheapest apartments were running around $775 and they were old and looked old and undesirable. I was living in a new apartment that touted itself as luxury and I liked it. I loved it when I first moved in because it was brand new and it was close to work. Now, I like it because it's comfortable but I've since fallen out of love with it because of management, neighbors, and the fact that it doesn't have an oven or central air. The last bit is a mixed blessing because my utilities hover around $35/month.
I searched high and low and almost gave up on budgeting because I couldn't find a way to house myself in a desirable way for $750/mon. They just don't make housing for one. In graduate school, I could get shared housing for around $525/mon for my own room and bath and that was still true. That would certainly be below budget and it certainly made more than one list I created in the initial stages of my Master Budget. The thought of it made my heart sink but I did seriously consider it because I was desperate to make the budget work. I even sent out a couple emails to shared housing on Craigslist.
As I continued to play with the numbers and try out different retirement scenarios, one divine day, the energy efficient light bulb brightened a bit. Why was the budget dictating me? Why was I working around it? I was supposed to be telling the budget what I could do, not it me. It was supposed to work for me. Essentially, I was just formalizing what I was passively doing anyway to establish some sort of focus, some sort of endgame. I, originally, wanted to know how long I would actually have to work because instinctively it didn't make sense that I would have to work as long as all the families with children from a pure cost perspective. This journey started off as one of curiosity, something that had long since left me, and it took a turn towards entrapment but I freed myself. I simply started with the total I wanted to spend each month and subtracted the fixed costs like student loan payment and my housing costs first and then used the remainder to budget for other expenses. Sigh, something as simple as that almost made me throw in the towel.
So I started all this to talk about geoarbitrage, and I digressed. The point was, in the search for trying to house my self comfortably for $750/mon, utilities included, I searched far and wide. My search included cheaper apartments, shared student housing, trailers/mobile homes, tiny homes and other states. One of the bloggers I can't remember had mentioned leaving an expensive state like NY and moving to North Carolina for less. I live in NC and while the housing is affordable here for 2 income earners with 2 kids ($525 x 4 = $2100 no an unreasonable amount to house a family of four), it is less affordable for a person who wants to house just themselves. Technically, our job allows us to work remotely for our current project. This is new and so far only 2 people have done this. The biggest drawback for me is that if our client takes their business elsewhere, we'd either need to move back or find another job. It was a lot to think about, and while a couple small towns in the Midwest are in the back of my mind, once I made the budget work for me, it became less of an issue.
So how did I end up in a $1,000 studio apartment with no oven you might ask? Well, when I came back here for this job I thought I was getting ready to start my adult life. I would stay in the apartment for 2 years and move out to my forever home and establish roots, community, and maybe even run for local office. Isn't that the dream we've all happily waited in line to achieve? It certainly is here and especially where I work. I couldn't figure out or verbalize fully why I stuck out so much at work. I even sought therapy without much success. When I realized I was too beautiful to work for 30 more years, I found myself feeling very stuck, and thus the beauty of this journey. While I am still tethered to this place and a regular 9 to 5, the rope doesn't feel as tight as did just 3 months ago. Come along for the twists and turns that are sure to follow!
TV and Takeout Mash-Up
28Aug2018 update
Since I talk about TV and Takeout so much and this appears to be the only stand-alone post that references it, I thought I'd flesh it out a bit more.
It's just such an easy luxury. I love story telling and TV is the best because you get a story and pictures. It leaves you wanting more and re-arranging the characters in your mind. I know they say we spend too much time watching TV but I'm no longer ashamed to say it's my favorite hobby. Also, it's a good connection point. Just about everyone has seen a TV show or a movie. Remember what it was like when you were young and happy and you met that other person - friend or otherwise- who enjoyed the same shows and movies as you. It was the best! That being said, I thought I'd share some of my favorites, old and new, in no particular order.
Related Content:
Review | 5 Quick Things to Know Before Signing Up For DirecTV Now
Why I Love My Roku So Much! (Cable – whathat?)
Review | 5 Reasons Sling Was Stupid and 1 Reason It Wasn’t
How do I watch: I cycle through cable, free access to Netflix, free trials of Hulu, DirecTV now, CBS all access
Below is an example (from the original post) of what a typical week looks like in the Life of a Single Girl enjoying her tiny luxury. Check out my weekly life updates for regular updates on what I'm watching at the moment.
TV and Takeout for the week ending Feb 25, 2018
As I'm still working the 50 hour weeks and getting paid for 43, I ate out almost everyday this week. Takeout is the bait I use to get out of bed every morning. Self, if you go to work today, you can eat whatever you want. It doesn't immediately move me because I'm a human person and I can eat whatever I want any day, but eventually I do get up.
TV (week ending Feb 25, 2018):
TV cost: $0 (using my brother's Netflix password and free CBS All Access Monthly trial)
TV shows: Caroline in the City, Celebrity Big Brother, Amazing Race
Takeout:
Monday: $3.51 (Lowe's rolls and bananas)
Tuesday: $4.75 (Chick Fil A 6 piece nuggets Kids Meal)
Wednesday: $9.19 (Peruvian Chicken with fries and rice and beans)
Thursday: $1.00 (bagged salad) + $1.94 (KFC Chicken Little before night class)
Friday: $9.73 (Peruvian Jerk Chicken Special)
Saturday: none
Sunday: none
TOTAL: $30.12
What about you, do you enjoy a cozy night in or do you prefer a wild night out?
Since I talk about TV and Takeout so much and this appears to be the only stand-alone post that references it, I thought I'd flesh it out a bit more.
So why do I love TV and Takeout so much?
It's just such an easy luxury. I love story telling and TV is the best because you get a story and pictures. It leaves you wanting more and re-arranging the characters in your mind. I know they say we spend too much time watching TV but I'm no longer ashamed to say it's my favorite hobby. Also, it's a good connection point. Just about everyone has seen a TV show or a movie. Remember what it was like when you were young and happy and you met that other person - friend or otherwise- who enjoyed the same shows and movies as you. It was the best! That being said, I thought I'd share some of my favorites, old and new, in no particular order.
Related Content:
Review | 5 Quick Things to Know Before Signing Up For DirecTV Now
Why I Love My Roku So Much! (Cable – whathat?)
Review | 5 Reasons Sling Was Stupid and 1 Reason It Wasn’t
All Time Favorite Movies
- Clueless
- Dirty Pretty Things
- Faceoff
- The Lion King
- Curly Sue
All Time Favorite TV Shows
- Full House
- Saved by the Bell
- Science Court
- Gilmore Girls
- The Good Wife
- Parenthood
- Desperate Housewives
Recent Favorites
- The Good Fight
- The Mindy Project
On My Watchlist recently
- The Bold Type
- Younger
- 90 Day Fiancée
- Jane the Virgin
Not-So-Guilty Pleasures (perfect for binge-watching)
- Pretty much any garbage on Bravo (Summer House, Married to Medicine, all the Wives...)
- Married at First Sight
Go-to Takeout and Snacks
- Noodle dishes with chopsticks and pepper sauce
- Fast food (Zaxbys, Wendy's)
- Fried things I make at home (fish, fries, plantains, rice, spring rolls)
- Breakfast cereals
- Popcorn
Perfect Pairings
- Reality TV binge watch + nachos
- Puppy chow + Hallmark Christmas movies
- Mixed breakfast cereals + shows with strong female leads
How do I watch: I cycle through cable, free access to Netflix, free trials of Hulu, DirecTV now, CBS all access
Below is an example (from the original post) of what a typical week looks like in the Life of a Single Girl enjoying her tiny luxury. Check out my weekly life updates for regular updates on what I'm watching at the moment.
TV and Takeout for the week ending Feb 25, 2018
As I'm still working the 50 hour weeks and getting paid for 43, I ate out almost everyday this week. Takeout is the bait I use to get out of bed every morning. Self, if you go to work today, you can eat whatever you want. It doesn't immediately move me because I'm a human person and I can eat whatever I want any day, but eventually I do get up.
TV (week ending Feb 25, 2018):
TV cost: $0 (using my brother's Netflix password and free CBS All Access Monthly trial)
TV shows: Caroline in the City, Celebrity Big Brother, Amazing Race
Takeout:
Monday: $3.51 (Lowe's rolls and bananas)
Tuesday: $4.75 (Chick Fil A 6 piece nuggets Kids Meal)
Wednesday: $9.19 (Peruvian Chicken with fries and rice and beans)
Thursday: $1.00 (bagged salad) + $1.94 (KFC Chicken Little before night class)
Friday: $9.73 (Peruvian Jerk Chicken Special)
Saturday: none
Sunday: none
TOTAL: $30.12
What about you, do you enjoy a cozy night in or do you prefer a wild night out?
Spotlight on: My Early Retirement Journey
Remember the 'old days' when online chat rooms were still the thing and people would list and ask for stats upon entering a chat room? I thought that might be a quaint idea to utilize as I browsed and shared other FIRE blogs of interest. As this blog grows, there might be other blogs that might apply to your situation or season or just might be more interesting. I like sharing knowledge; it's kind of what the Internet's all about.
Some of the details are things FIRE bloggers have strong opinions on and use to differentiate their experience. Others are things that are fun or basic to know about other bloggers.
For illustrative purposes, let's start with this blog!
Blog name: My Early Retirement Journey
Blog start date: Feb 2018
Location: USA
Current Age: almost 34
Age of FI/RE: projected age 44 (2028)
Debt: $300k in student loans
Savings: $60k
Net worth: negative
Income/ Income streams: full-time job
Filing status: Single
Rent/own: rent
Kids: 0
Pets: 0
Car: yes, bought new in 2007
Cell phone: No, prn Simple Mobile prepaid at $27/mon
Cable: No (seasonally; currently circling through free trials of streaming service)
Credit cards: No. Recently got out of credit card debt...for the second time. Don't plan on going back.
Motivation: I'm very grateful for full-time employment because when the world ended around 2009, it was the thing I wanted most. Now like a true human there are other things I'd rather be doing with my 30s and 40s then cubicling. In short, I'm life is too beautiful for a full-time job!
Their Journey So far: My Early Retirement Journey is in the beginning stages of The Journey. She is recently initiated into the FIRE movement but has a ways to go yet. She has set a 10 year savings goal of $600k in order to leave the workforce and retire early on a modest annual income of $30k.
Blog Notables: She is the only single woman FIRE blogger for miles.
My takeaway: This is a journey along which you are all invited!
What blogbytes would you like to know about your favorite bloggers?
Season 1, Episode 2 - The Budget (Feb 2018 edition)
OVERVIEW
ALLOCATIONS
SAVINGS GOAL: | $600K | OBJECTIVE: (shooting for the stars) EARLY RETIREMENT: $600k DEFAULT: ($300k, landing in the clouds) 10 YEAR SABBATICAL @ $30K/YR |
GOAL DATE: | 2028 (Labor Day) | Age 44 |
GROSS SALARY: | $89,440 | ($43/HR) |
NET SALARY: | $67,080 | (estimated at 25% TAX RATE) |
SPENDING BUDGET: | $2,500/ mon | ($30K/YR) |
SAVINGS BUDGET: | $3,115/ mon total | (37K/YR) *Using the Calculator, this is how much I would need to invest monthly for 10 years with an annual interest rate of 6%. |
ALLOCATIONS
MONTHLY SPENDING | ($2,500/mon) | SAVINGS | ($37k/yr) | ||||
Student Loans | $566 | Per Pay Period | Notes | Annually | |||
Housing, Utilities | $1000 | (40%) Experts recommend 30% = $750; would like to bring this number closer to 30% but in my defense this amount was in budget with my pre-early retirement spending | 401k | $750/pp | Payroll deduction | $18,000 | |
Groceries ($200/mon) Entertainment Incidentals · Gas ($50/mon) · Phone ($27/mon) · Other · Household items ($35/wk?) · Cable? | $540 | Roth IRA | $229/pp | $5500 | |||
Tithe | $250 | (10%) | Taxable account | $563/pp | (*not yet implemented) | $13,500 | |
Remainder Unexpected expenses: · travel · medical/dental · car maintenance · car insurance ($53/mon) · home repairs, if applicable · family needs |
Pilot Episode
The Pilot Episode
Welcome! Welcome to My Early Retirement Journey.
About Me: Today is Feb 20, 2018 and as of today, I am a single 30-something, openly Christian, hesitantly immigrant-y, human woman. I love watching TV while eating takeout, and I want to retire early. I started really getting into savings and investing late 2017 when I stumbled upon the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) community. In 2018, I made the decision to try to save for a sabbatical and maybe if all goes well continue the journey to early retirement.
Why a blog? I started this blog to chronicle my journey to early retirement (or a sabbatical) as either is still 10 to 20 years away. That's a long time for a millennial and at times can be really discouraging. I enjoyed writing blogs I had in the past that ended when that season of my life ended. I hope to have an outlet for my musings on the workplace, early retirement, and a touch of personal finance. Lastly, I hope to have some modicum of accountability to the void without the pressure of doing something I wouldn't normally do.
Why Blogger? So like the personal finance bloggers before me, I tried BlueHost because they all said so. It seemed as though everyone was doing it. It was easy, they said, just 3 to 5 steps and you're on your way to a passive income stream. On Saturday, Feb 17, 2018, I gave 3 hours of my life and $60 to setting up my first pay-to-host blog. On Tuesday, Feb 20, 2018, I called and asked for my money back. I then tried the free Wordpress.com site and couldn't find my way out of the dashboard screen. I had penned 3 blogs before while in college on Blogger and thought I could step it up from the beginner feel you get from Blogger. But alas, here I am. To step it up on this platform, I want to see what this AdSense business is about.
April 19, 2018 Update: I went back to Blue host March 28, 2018 and after a lot of technical difficulties, I came back to Blogger April 19, 2018.
What's this blog about? As I said above, I want to retire early. I read many a FIRE blog one day during the lull of the holiday season at work. The one that stuck out the most was rootofgood.com. His path was clear and concise and although he began writing after he reached early retirement, he left some good breadcrumbs. Other FIRE blogs I came across had similar themes and varied themes from extreme frugality to those with higher incomes who were able to save more and thus retire faster. Almost all were men with wives and children. When I thought about how my blog would be different, I started there. My blog would be a space for the actual journey of one single 30-something woman on the way to early retirement! Come along for the ride. I urge you!
How do you feel so far? Well, 3 different platforms later, I'm able to type in downtime at work and I feel freer and I'm enjoying myself already! I don't feel the pressure to attract an audience that was implicit in a paid site. I think this was a good choice and as of April 19, 2018, it still is.
March 7, 2020 Update: Went back to self hosting in Aug 2018 and in March 2020, transitioned to Blogger.
Welcome! Welcome to My Early Retirement Journey.
About Me: Today is Feb 20, 2018 and as of today, I am a single 30-something, openly Christian, hesitantly immigrant-y, human woman. I love watching TV while eating takeout, and I want to retire early. I started really getting into savings and investing late 2017 when I stumbled upon the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) community. In 2018, I made the decision to try to save for a sabbatical and maybe if all goes well continue the journey to early retirement.Why a blog? I started this blog to chronicle my journey to early retirement (or a sabbatical) as either is still 10 to 20 years away. That's a long time for a millennial and at times can be really discouraging. I enjoyed writing blogs I had in the past that ended when that season of my life ended. I hope to have an outlet for my musings on the workplace, early retirement, and a touch of personal finance. Lastly, I hope to have some modicum of accountability to the void without the pressure of doing something I wouldn't normally do.
Why Blogger? So like the personal finance bloggers before me, I tried BlueHost because they all said so. It seemed as though everyone was doing it. It was easy, they said, just 3 to 5 steps and you're on your way to a passive income stream. On Saturday, Feb 17, 2018, I gave 3 hours of my life and $60 to setting up my first pay-to-host blog. On Tuesday, Feb 20, 2018, I called and asked for my money back. I then tried the free Wordpress.com site and couldn't find my way out of the dashboard screen. I had penned 3 blogs before while in college on Blogger and thought I could step it up from the beginner feel you get from Blogger. But alas, here I am. To step it up on this platform, I want to see what this AdSense business is about.
April 19, 2018 Update: I went back to Blue host March 28, 2018 and after a lot of technical difficulties, I came back to Blogger April 19, 2018.
What's this blog about? As I said above, I want to retire early. I read many a FIRE blog one day during the lull of the holiday season at work. The one that stuck out the most was rootofgood.com. His path was clear and concise and although he began writing after he reached early retirement, he left some good breadcrumbs. Other FIRE blogs I came across had similar themes and varied themes from extreme frugality to those with higher incomes who were able to save more and thus retire faster. Almost all were men with wives and children. When I thought about how my blog would be different, I started there. My blog would be a space for the actual journey of one single 30-something woman on the way to early retirement! Come along for the ride. I urge you!
How do you feel so far? Well, 3 different platforms later, I'm able to type in downtime at work and I feel freer and I'm enjoying myself already! I don't feel the pressure to attract an audience that was implicit in a paid site. I think this was a good choice and as of April 19, 2018, it still is.
March 7, 2020 Update: Went back to self hosting in Aug 2018 and in March 2020, transitioned to Blogger.
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