I'm going to FIRE soon at 35.

[dex]

fireme,
Here is my estimated retirement budget - I am not retired.
This is after tax dollars. I think you need to do a bit more work on you budget and estimated income.
Retirement
Est
Gasoline 2,000
Food/Wine 3,078
Dine out 2,400
Vitamins 63
Clothing 300
Education -
Travel -
Misc. -
Hobbies 75
State Park Pass -
Book/Movies 300
Magazines 50
Misc. -
Misc -
Auto/Mtc 400
Medication -
Exercise Equip -
Medical Services 400
Tax File/misc -
Vacation -
Bike parts 75
Computer program 75
Misc -
Total Credit Card 9,217

Cash-ATM 1,380
Water 264
Natural Gas 420
Electricity 300
Telephone 336
Auto Insurance 866
Car Taxes 136
3,702

Internet Access 180
GYM 480
State Park Pass 25
Misc 1,396
2,081

Subtoal 1 15,000
-
-
Medical Ins. 3,000
Subtotal 2 18,000
-
Travel 12,000
Education 3,000
Subtotal 3 33,000
-
Rent 9,000
Replacement Costs 3,000
Autoe/Computer/Furniture/Etc -
Grand Total 45,000
Excluding Rent
& Replacement $ 33,000

 

[astromeria]

You might consider paying for travel by earning some part-time income from your audio and photo hobbies and obvious writing talent. A few ideas...setting up home, small business, and vehicle stereo, TV, and computer systems; selling your photos online; keeping a blog of your adventures (if you allow advertising, you collect a few bucks each month); writing feature articles or even a book on early retirement, software, travel; teaching (HS substitute, college instructor, adult-ed photography or computer literacy, cross-country skiiing, rock climbing, and so on); helping take groups into the back country; even dog-walking/sitting if you like dogs.

If you volunteer at your local hospital, you can "earn" a free meal, meet people,  get free flu shots & TB tests(!), and feel good about yourself. I do one 5-hour shift a week and take off any weeks that aren't convenient for me. My mother enjoys her weekly shift for Meals on Wheels. The right volunteer option for you would likely lift your spirits.

You might consider relocating to a smaller home/condo/apt near the Central CA coast, Central Valley, or in/near the mountains. Watsonville, Los Osos, Yuba City, Merced, and Sonora come to mind.

To cut the food budget, you might try making more vegetarian or near-vegetarian meals (omelets, bean soups, stir fries, Indian dishes, salads, homemade smoothie for lunch, etc.). In fact I need to go do some more work on the Ribollita (Tuscan bean soup) I'm serving to company today, along with a pasta course w/Tuscan roast pork, pear & cheese appetizer, and biscotti.

I also hesitated to retire partly due to concerns about family. Decided they're smart and can manage, but I did give my mother $10k my last full year of (part-time) work to help her build a house next door to me. And gave my daughter $10k for her wedding in a few months. And earmarked the same amount for my son from the cash stash at ING.

Adding my kudos for your excellent post!

 

[GTM]

Fireme, you are in a great situation not only because of your net worth but because of your age and the type of work you do.

Quit, travel do whatever you want.
You may get bored, but so what, get another job if you feel you need to work again or gain more structure in your life.
It should not be hard for you at age 35 with a salary requirement of 100k or less.

I think a problem many of us may have is we are over 50 and the workplace is not too keen on hiring workers that age. 35 to 40 is prime age in the business world if you need to return.

I would do it now.

 

[free4now]

Thanks for all the comments. To respond to a few things...

Davew, my HOA dues include water, sewer and garbage. One of the things I like most about my condo is always having great hot water pressure. I think economically it's actually better for me to be in the HOA than to do all the maintenance myself; my condo association has 450 units and a budget of over a million dollars a year, so there are economies of scale that I couldn't duplicate. And they do a great job of keeping the place maintained. Not to mention the time I have that I would otherwise have to dedicate to maintenance.

Having said that, I do like doing handyman stuff. There are some times that being in the HOA can be frustrating like when I had to jump through a ridiculous number of hoops to get a satellite dish installed on the roof. The main reason I might prefer living in a place without a HOA is just to be able to do whatever I want.

Speaking of subscriptions, just today I was reviewing some old domain names that I registered but never used. I think I'll discontinue those. I only get a couple of magazines, Utne Reader and PC World. I recently became a Sierra club lifetime member mostly just to avoid the hassle of the membership renewals. I'll probably keep up IEEE membership to qualify for their age-independent, condition-independent health insurance in case I need it. They charge $78 per year if you are unemployed.

I haven't broken these charges out because I'm trying to keep this budget somewhat high level.

I should add car registration, and I generally spend $15 a month or so on bridge tolls so I should add that.

I have an amazingly good deal on cellphone service since I get corporate rates for my personal service. I think I will be able to keep that even after I stop working. $40 is actually my combined landline and cellphone cost.

astromeria, thanks for all the great ideas. I have had some ideas for small businesses I might like to do, and it's exciting that I may actually have time to do them if I leave my day job. Becoming an audio or home theater design consultant would be very rewarding to me. I would also like to design and sell audiophile speakers. I'm not sure about the teaching... I'm a stutterer and don't have great verbal skills. But I would definitely like to lead Sierra club ski trips and volunteer with inner city outings where we bring inner city kids to nature.

One of the best benefits of doing this kind of budgeting is noticing little ways that I waste money. In the past few weeks that I've been getting serious about it I've been much better about turning lights off in other rooms, and looking more closely at prices in the grocery store. And understanding that by eating less I save money, I have one more incentive not to overeat. Knowing that I likely won't have dental insurance I have been better about taking care of my teeth.

 

[wstu32]

Ben, i liked your post...i wish i had your nutz!
i sent you a personal email for some info

 

[earthmanneil]

Hi,
I'm new to this forum but very glad I discovered it as I've been thinking and working toward ER for a few years now and am probably 4 or 5 years away (at some point soon I'll post my particulars). What I wanted to share here is a technique that could be useful to you. At least I'm finding it very helpful in getting a clearer picture of where I spend my money and what I could cut down or out in ER. Its borrowed from D.A., but I carry a small pocket notebook and log every purchase (it really doesn't take much effort to do this). Monthly I sum it up under categories that make sense to me (food: groceries, food: restaurants, health club, entertainment, transportation: subway, transportation: car, etc., etc. ) I've begun to see patterns over the half year I've been doing it and what I would and wouldn't be willing to cut back on or eliminate. In fact, I'm starting to cut down on certain categories now (i.e. Starbucks) just to see what effect it will have.

 

[Rosalita]

Certainly cutting back those lattes can save hundreds of dollars (and in some cases thousands of $) in a given year.

Think also about how much money you might spend each week on buying lunch or dinner out. A colleague of mine buys lunch (approx. $6-10 each day) every business day - that's a whopping amount of money over any given year for the sake of convenience. Brown bagging it has a lot of advantages - increased health (depending on what you pack) and savings.

 

[wstu32]

great idea... i wonder if my wife would carry a notepad

 

[bamboogrrrl]

I visited my sister last fall in Austin, TX who lives right outside in Hill Country, and was appalled by the amount of traffic! Because so many people have recently moved there, and the highways were built for fewer people, it's a case of constant gridlock. I'm used to metro NYC traffic, and I thought Austin was much, much worse. Every time we went out, it was a 45 minute drive to cover a few miles. Any time of the day! Maybe if you lived in town it would be better...