FIREflower
Dryer sheet aficionado
Hi everyone! *waves*
I am an early retirement hopeful. Though I have read extensively on the subject of early retirement and investing, I have not yet formulated a solid plan and date.
I'm 30, and I've clawed my way through a ton of crap to get here. I became severely physically and cognitively disabled by chronic illness at age 16 and spent most of the next 8 years fighting for my life with round the clock care. I finally completed high school from bed at age 23. Then with some improvement I moved to the streets when I was still too ill to care for myself because it was the only way I could get independent of a bad living situation. I was living off SSI at $733/month and relied on dates and strangers' kindness for my caregiving needs; I qualified for caregiving paid by the state but they refused to provide it while I was homeless.
After a couple years of homelessness I met my now DH, and we lived together in my minivan. About 3.5 years ago we survived a major car accident together; he was unable to continue working due to his injuries and thus we were both living off my $733/month. To this day we have not yet received the settlement money from that accident.
To make a long story shorter, we now live in a paid off RV and rent someone's backyard to keep it in, which is technically against code and could dissolve at any moment but has worked for over a year. We picked up a dog within a month of getting off the streets not because that was financially smart but because I found out my parents had abandoned the family dog of 12 years at a shelter and I wasn't okay with that.
DH attempted several work stints but his injuries kept forcing him to quit. My health gradually improved enough to work some if I pushed myself hard, and I landed my first job ever housecleaning. We barely stayed off the streets surviving on food banks and my part time minimum wage paycheck. Extreme frugality is our normal, obviously.
So now it's the good part. My job situation has stabilized; I'm still disabled primarily by severe PTSD from all the crap so my paycheck varies wildly due to missing work, but let's say it's 20K/year. (I will be eligible for SSDI in a couple years if I manage to keep working.) I earn additional income through a kitchen job and independent gigs, say 4-6K/year. I do bonus chasing that nets us another 1-2K/year. DH just landed a full time job it looks like he might be able to stick with, and that looks like it'll be 23K/year.
So we've got an estimated 48-51K/year.
It's DH's job that's putting new wind in my sails that we can do this! We just got off of food stamps.
Our expenses vary from approximately $1500-2K/month. We budget closer to $2500/month for sinking funds/emergencies. We track everything in YNAB. With the new job though we're both going to be paying for healthcare and that will increase our expenses by probably $300+/month. I'm attempting to work more to compensate.
We have two vehicles (2004 Sienna, 2003 Corolla) and an RV (a 2004 5th wheel), all paid off. I've been paying off what I owe to friends for helping me through some rough times, and have 2K more to go on that--if a large client pays me this month I can knock that out.
Accident settlement money is an unknown factor, as is an old trust fund that supposedly I will receive someday. Current savings is 14K.
My job offers a 3% match through Vanguard, which I've been doing since I became eligible this year, bringing me to $556 in my Simple IRA (I recently lost $125 due to their annual fees, which I didn't know about, else I would have had fewer accounts.) Right now it's all in stocks but I plan to change that to 80% stock, 20% bonds.
DH's and my dream is to have kids and raise a family with both of us enjoying plentiful quality family time, which is why we resonate so strongly with FIRE. Life has also taught me that bad stuff is going to happen and you can't rely on your own or your spouse's ability to work or for disability benefits to be sufficient for your needs. I am incredibly motivated to create a large safety net for us, and FIRE feels like the largest safety net of all. We were waiting on kids until we were financially stable, and with this new job are now ready to begin planning the next steps.
I'll reserve specific questions for other threads; for now I just wanted to introduce myself and say hi!
I am an early retirement hopeful. Though I have read extensively on the subject of early retirement and investing, I have not yet formulated a solid plan and date.
I'm 30, and I've clawed my way through a ton of crap to get here. I became severely physically and cognitively disabled by chronic illness at age 16 and spent most of the next 8 years fighting for my life with round the clock care. I finally completed high school from bed at age 23. Then with some improvement I moved to the streets when I was still too ill to care for myself because it was the only way I could get independent of a bad living situation. I was living off SSI at $733/month and relied on dates and strangers' kindness for my caregiving needs; I qualified for caregiving paid by the state but they refused to provide it while I was homeless.
After a couple years of homelessness I met my now DH, and we lived together in my minivan. About 3.5 years ago we survived a major car accident together; he was unable to continue working due to his injuries and thus we were both living off my $733/month. To this day we have not yet received the settlement money from that accident.
To make a long story shorter, we now live in a paid off RV and rent someone's backyard to keep it in, which is technically against code and could dissolve at any moment but has worked for over a year. We picked up a dog within a month of getting off the streets not because that was financially smart but because I found out my parents had abandoned the family dog of 12 years at a shelter and I wasn't okay with that.
DH attempted several work stints but his injuries kept forcing him to quit. My health gradually improved enough to work some if I pushed myself hard, and I landed my first job ever housecleaning. We barely stayed off the streets surviving on food banks and my part time minimum wage paycheck. Extreme frugality is our normal, obviously.
So now it's the good part. My job situation has stabilized; I'm still disabled primarily by severe PTSD from all the crap so my paycheck varies wildly due to missing work, but let's say it's 20K/year. (I will be eligible for SSDI in a couple years if I manage to keep working.) I earn additional income through a kitchen job and independent gigs, say 4-6K/year. I do bonus chasing that nets us another 1-2K/year. DH just landed a full time job it looks like he might be able to stick with, and that looks like it'll be 23K/year.
So we've got an estimated 48-51K/year.
It's DH's job that's putting new wind in my sails that we can do this! We just got off of food stamps.
Our expenses vary from approximately $1500-2K/month. We budget closer to $2500/month for sinking funds/emergencies. We track everything in YNAB. With the new job though we're both going to be paying for healthcare and that will increase our expenses by probably $300+/month. I'm attempting to work more to compensate.
We have two vehicles (2004 Sienna, 2003 Corolla) and an RV (a 2004 5th wheel), all paid off. I've been paying off what I owe to friends for helping me through some rough times, and have 2K more to go on that--if a large client pays me this month I can knock that out.
Accident settlement money is an unknown factor, as is an old trust fund that supposedly I will receive someday. Current savings is 14K.
My job offers a 3% match through Vanguard, which I've been doing since I became eligible this year, bringing me to $556 in my Simple IRA (I recently lost $125 due to their annual fees, which I didn't know about, else I would have had fewer accounts.) Right now it's all in stocks but I plan to change that to 80% stock, 20% bonds.
DH's and my dream is to have kids and raise a family with both of us enjoying plentiful quality family time, which is why we resonate so strongly with FIRE. Life has also taught me that bad stuff is going to happen and you can't rely on your own or your spouse's ability to work or for disability benefits to be sufficient for your needs. I am incredibly motivated to create a large safety net for us, and FIRE feels like the largest safety net of all. We were waiting on kids until we were financially stable, and with this new job are now ready to begin planning the next steps.
I'll reserve specific questions for other threads; for now I just wanted to introduce myself and say hi!
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