My FI Journey

Everyone recognizes Financial Independence at different times of their lives with different stories.

This is my story

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I had started investing back in college and had built up a decent portfolio but I never really knew why I was investing.

Eventually the joy of seeing my money grow wore off as I thought I was missig out on all the fun and parties

I slowly stated spending more money to keep up with what I thought was happiness

Did I have fun and experience new things?

Yes, but the hangovers and lack of money made me grow tired of this lifestyle.

Then one day I came across FIRE

I had a friend that was always frugal with his money and made decisions based on a budget.

I always thought "What 22 year old really has a budget?"

But we talked about finances back in 2016 and he introduced me to @mrmoneymustache and his blog

This really peaked my interest

Mr. Money eventually led me to the @ChooseFi podcast and that's when I decided I needed to make a serious life change

That year I had just accepted a new job at a remote ski resort in Maine

It was a perfect time to start my Financial Independence journey

My housing costs were significantly less than Florida/Michigan (I was a 25 year old snowbird)

I could drive a golf cart to work in the summer and take a shuttle in the winter

I started to pay myself first and put more emphasis on investing in index funds like $SPY and $SPYG

Instead of going out every night and wasting my money

I learned how to cook at home and meal prep for the week instead of eating at the golf course

Instead of wasting time watching Netflix all night I would read about dividend investing

I was applying what I learned

Fast track to this year

I am soon to be married to a girl just as dedicated as I am

We want to have kids and have FI numbers to accommodate them and create generational wealth

Am I still trading time for money?

Yes, but I love what I do and enjoy waking up to pursue my goals

We love to travel and see new parts of the world so our plan to reach FI will be achieved when I turn 45

Could we get there faster?

Yes

There are others that will achieve FI more quickly but that is what is great about the pursuit of FI

You are in control of your life!

If you enjoyed my FI story and want to start your FI pursuit then I highly suggest these accounts:

@TheCalmNCents
@Route2FI
@FIMindset
@ChooseFi
@mrmoneymustache
@madfientist
@thefioneers

And of course @ironlifemoney