Early Retirement Extreme

RetiredAt49

Recycles dryer sheets
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Oct 30, 2021
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Curious if anyone here previously, currently, or in the future plans to use the ERE (Early Retirement Extreme) philosophy/principles/guidelines as discussed here: http://earlyretirementextreme.com? I can't image living off $7,000 a year but I do recognize that I could cut out a lot of things if I had too.
 
Way too extreme for me. Plus I need more creature comforts and not less as I age:)).
 
Isn't this the guy who was living what he preached until he was offered a big-bucks job as a quant analyst and unretired? I guess he re-retired?

What he talks about is a bit too extreme for me, but I appreciate a lot of his philosophy on living with less by repurposing, DIY, keeping consumerism under control. That's a good idea for the planet.
 
My wife and I have a fairly high NW yet I mow my own lawn, clean my own house, repair everything I can (thanks to YouTube), etc. but not sure I could live that extreme.
 
My wife and I have a fairly high NW yet I mow my own lawn, clean my own house, repair everything I can (thanks to YouTube), etc. but not sure I could live that extreme.
Same here, mow my lawn and maintain or clean my house and vehicles. Being able to fix things myself saves time and money. But DW and me also enjoy having freedom to spend on things we like or want to. So my budget is a lot higher than Mr Extreme. But also far from what many spend. Having a nice house, big detached garage with a big yard in the country is certainly more costly than a small apartment. That small apartment would drive me crazy.

Why sacrifice to the extreme budget level if it's not required? To me FI means able to live how I want at the standard I want. My hobby is old cars, not cheap although doing work myself I have never lost money. So it's money spent, that can be recovered if you consider financially.
 
I didnt read it, but considering taxes in NJ are higher than $7k, id be betting hes not doing it here.
 
Isn't this the guy who was living what he preached until he was offered a big-bucks job as a quant analyst and unretired? I guess he re-retired?

That's the guy. Although I'm not sure he ever lived what he preached.

I think it was discovered at one point that while he was retired, his wife was not. Really called into question just how "extreme" his household expense budget was compared to his claims.

A search on the forum will return several threads, including posts from Jacob, the ERE guy himself.
 
His book got me started on the FIRE idea. I moved on to MMM and then found this group which is more my speed.
 
It would be tough, but I think I could squeak by, for the first month.
 
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Also too extreme for me. First, I actually liked my work and it occasionally paid for travel to some pretty sweet places. Second, DH was 15 years older. I wanted to enjoy some of the $$ along the way.

Fortunately, we agreed on so many things. Rarely ate out, bought used cars, didn't hire out stuff we could DIY (mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, minor repairs). Spent little on clothing other than my business wardrobe. No credit card debt. Ah, but we traveled. We were careful and points from my business travel helped, but we stayed in decent hotels and had some good excursions. Dinner was usually something from local markets enjoyed in the room with a bottle of wine.

I also chose to send DS to a military boarding school for HS when he was falling through the cracks in the public school system and paid for his college. When I was fretting over the cost of HS and what it would do to my retirement, DH, who was then close to being my fiance, said, "How are you going to feel if you have a comfortable retirement but DS never finds a direction and you wonder if you could have done more?" DH was a smart man. I'm very proud of what DS accomplished after he straightened up.

Sometimes you gotta let loose the purse strings and enjoy life.
 
I found the forums rather interesting. There's nothing wrong with learning frugal skills, even if you never practice many of them.

_B
 
Sorry folks, but one of the definitions of retiring is never having (or wanting) to mow my own lawn and trim the shrubs ever again. :)
 
I have a commercial zero turn mower, and it's actually fun (and enjoyable) to spend 45 minutes cutting my grass. Trimming shrubs is just a 20 minute job, and it only has to be done twice yearly.

And what's the big deal doing my own interior painting? I actually enjoy doing that too. But I'm not about to paint my entrance hall and living room with their 19' ceilings. That's when the pros come in.
 
I have a commercial zero turn mower, and it's actually fun (and enjoyable) to spend 45 minutes cutting my grass. Trimming shrubs is just a 20 minute job, and it only has to be done twice yearly.

And what's the big deal doing my own interior painting? I actually enjoy doing that too. But I'm not about to paint my entrance hall and living room with their 19' ceilings. That's when the pros come in.


+1

Retirement does not mean "lying flat" all the time and "let it rot", even though you can afford to.

Without any physical activities, the retirement may not last long, although some like to do things that take money to do, instead of things that save money.
 
Sorry folks, but one of the definitions of retiring is never having (or wanting) to mow my own lawn and trim the shrubs ever again. :)


I have a retired neighbor who mows his own yard, and quite frequently. I think it's one of his greatest joys. And he certainly has plenty of dough.
 
Curious if anyone here previously, currently, or in the future plans to use the ERE (Early Retirement Extreme) philosophy/principles/guidelines as discussed here: http://earlyretirementextreme.com? I can't image living off $7,000 a year but I do recognize that I could cut out a lot of things if I had too.
Thanks for sharing earlyretirementextreme.com there was some very interesting reads beside the one you referred too.
Not sure I could live that cheaply just because of taxes, insurances, heating and food would cost more for a year for us.
 
I'd have a go at it, while having 10x available if I got tired of pinching pennies :D
Ok that was fun for about a week :p
 
Sorry folks, but one of the definitions of retiring is never having (or wanting) to mow my own lawn and trim the shrubs ever again. :)

A slight disagreement, from my biased view retiring it is being able to choose if wants to mow their own lawn and trim their own shrubs, or pay someone else to do it :) . For some of us it is still an enjoyable pastime. Even if I do not mow to the "perfect pattern" discussion in another thread :).
 
+1

Retirement does not mean "lying flat" all the time and "let it rot", even though you can afford to.

In the Blue Zones areas where people live the longest, they get most of their exercise from just doing day to day activities like housework, gardening and walking.
 
I call BS on that $7K number. I'm sure he forgot to include some major detail that explains it, or is lying.

I have been around $16K spending for many years now.
 
+1

Retirement does not mean "lying flat" all the time and "let it rot", even though you can afford to.

Without any physical activities, the retirement may not last long, although some like to do things that take money to do, instead of things that save money.

There's difference between Early Retire and taking a few months off until the money is gone.

But for the record, I've seen lawnmowers, I've heard them working and I know what they do, but at age 70 I still have yet to even put my hand on one. Literally. A record I intend to maintain.
 
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