Staying Happy during the Long Slog to ER

[mystang52]

10+ years to planned ER is a long time to wait for that single event. So, in that intervening timeframe don't lose sight of...enjoying life. Vacations, dinners out (or whatever it is that floats your boat) etc is why you are working in the first place.
In other words, balance current needs and future needs.

 

[Arifriekinel]

(1) the vacations (make sure you take your vacation days and spend them away from work)

This one is a big one, and a hard one from me. My entire business is on my laptop, which I bring everywhere just in case of emergencies. I didn't bring it to the Keys last month because we were sleeping outside, and it was an incredible relaxing vacation. This month, we're going to Discovery Cove, and staying in a hotel for the two nights surrounding it. I'd be lying is I pretended for a moment I wasn't going to work probably for most of those two nights

It's a really difficult hurdle to move by, it's just very hard to pass up the opportunity to have more money in my pocket today.

 

[aida2003]

Keep in mind, some posters may "seem" to have no kids b/c they don't particularly want to discuss underage youngsters on the Internet. Even on a nice forum like this one, there are lurkers whose motives are unknown...I get quite a few "hits" on my ER page from screen names with Zero posts and Zero personal info.

Enjoy your RE dreams! It's always nice when people aren't thinking of "retirement" as a dream rather than "the fate of old people who can't do anything any more."

Amethyst

But kids are part of the whole picture, aren't they?
I fail to interpret your last sentence. I know English, but it's still ESL to me. Did you imply it's better to think/plan than dream about it? I do all of that.

What ER page do you get hits on? Just curious precautions I should take. I try to be vague when I fill out profiles on the public forums. BTW, if you don't want to divulge secrets for lurkers, your PM is welcome ;-).

 

[aida2003]

I've been lurking for a couple of years now I think. We have a couple of kids and one income, so you're not alone. We're hoping to have my spouse retire sometime in the next 12-15 years, but we'll see where we are at that time. What happens with health care over the next several years and future college costs play into when my spouse will be able to retire.

Until then, I spend a lot of time on budgeting, reading this forum, projecting future savings, etc.... I'm a bit obsessed with the whole thing, and even though we still have a ways to go, I'm getting excited that it really does seem possible for us in about 12 more years or so.

This is a good thread since it pulled in one lurker. Welcome! Any others?

Your post is exactly our situation except the # of income (we've got two, but DH is the main breadwinner).
For one thing, I'm glad that we're not on the brink of ER because I'm also very interested in seeing how the new healthcare will play out. Per MMM blog & his budget, we'd be considered totally FI now, but IMO it's only on paper and we're not as audacious/brave as his family.

 

[ShortInSeattle]

This is a good thread since it pulled in one lurker. Welcome! Any others?

Your post is exactly our situation except the # of income (we've got two, but DH is the main breadwinner).
For one thing, I'm glad that we're not on the brink of ER because I'm also very interested in seeing how the new healthcare will play out. Per MMM blog & his budget, we'd be considered totally FI now, but IMO it's only on paper and we're not as audacious/brave as his family.

Agreed on not being as audacious as MMM, and waiting to see how the ACA shakes out. We're frugal in many ways, but our base expenses are quite a bit higher than 25k. Once we know what the ACA numbers are for our state, we can start adding numbers into the ER healthcare equation.

So I suppose one way we dream about FIRE is by occasionally modifying our spreadsheets?

SIS

 

[aida2003]

So I suppose one way we dream about FIRE is by occasionally modifying our spreadsheets? SIS

Pretty much in my case, at least. OTOH, yesterday I got an inter-library loan of Zelinki's book "How to Retire free, wild, and happy". I read a few pages and it resonates with this forum and some other blogs that financial picture is only one piece of the ER puzzle. You must prepare other puzzle pieces as well or you'll fail in the ER. Based on the few read pages, it's a very easy book to read, but very important, though I think it's a bit too early for us to make lists of 'what to do' in the ER. I'll wait at least another 5 years.

PS. Seattle and Boulder, CO differ in many ways I think and I agree on the $25k budget infeasible in the cities (including our Charlotte, NC). I cannot make a budget to feed our family for $100 a week, but at least made me curious to track our expenses (which is easy since we charge one CC mostly) and see how much we average out per week for food...way way above $100/wk especially when U-pick season begin.

 

[sengsational]

I just watched this video which made me think of this post.

"This is water."
THIS IS WATER - YouTube

This has more to do with how to remain happy in the slog to retirement than anything! You need to be awake and aware; if you sleepwalk through life and react without thinking, you're likely leaving a whole lot of happiness on the table.