FIRE starter

[Mia85]

This is a thread for discussing FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) and supporting each other in planning for the future.

For anyone new to FIRE, the idea is that you live significantly below your income and invest the surplus, usually in low cost funds. The aim is to amass enough that you can live off the returns. At that point you are finanically independent and you are free to spend your time as you wish (which might include working if you want to do that).

There's a huge amount on the internet about it. Lots of news stories e.g. here and here One of the main gurus of the movement is Mr Money Mustache and his website is a good starting point www.mrmoneymustache.com

A lot of the FIRE discussion out there seems to be very US based and/or men in their 20s with no kids trying to retire extremely young so I though it'd be great to talk here and hopefully find likeminded people.

Yeh so we have an option to ‘buy’ 10 days holiday from a benefit allowance, but if you don’t use them, you get the money back.
It’s great as I have the flexibility to take holidays as I need them, and If I don’t, it’s forced me to save the money I would otherwise have spent!

@Dashel would also be very interested to hear about side hustles. My screen time on my phone is shameful and with the amount of time I waste I have time for almost a second full time job, just no idea what.

I’ve done the yougov surveys but very slow.

A couple of my friend do charity shop hunting to sell on eBay, or ones a teacher and does tutoring / exam marking.

Has anyone learnt coding as a side hustle?

I do surveys to pay for the Netflix sub :) it’s only a little thing but I find it motivating enough without getting bogged down in too many poorly paid ones so anything over £10 a month is a bonus. I use Prolific which is for academic surveys.

I’m writing an ebook at the moment based on my skills but can’t tell you anything about how lucrative it will be yet. There’s lots of podcasts to help with dealing with Amazon if you’re interested in finding anything out. :)

I do You Gov , pinecone and prolific regularly. I dib in and out of Swagbucks as it’s painful but sometimes you can get easy points on a short survey. I am on the consumer pulse panel and that can be good as well but I’m not buying a lot.

I did a Quidco offer for Gala bingo a while ago. Deposit £10 and get £50 cash back, I was lucky and gambled through my £10 and won it back in withdrawalable cash. I still get access to some of their promotions each month and I only do the free ones, some of the time you can win 20p or 50p or free spins or bingo tickets. These offers are a terrible idea for anyone who is likely to spend their own money past the deposit/offer cash. I don’t get a fortune for this but I like beating the house.

I also make use of cashback shopping apps, these are where you buy the product and get the money refunded, either in full or partially.

I use click snap which is through Quidco - the payment from this goes through fairly quickly and no payment limits, checkout smart ( you need to get a certain amount £20. I love Shopium as that gives you cashback after each purchase straight into Paypal.

If it’s not too cheeky and anyone wants to join Shopium then please think about using my referral code of h6e48 and they get cashback on a can of Pringles plus the other offers and can always share their code after.

There is also Green Jinn but I gave up using that as the product offers were never in stock and Top Cashback as well.

I used to coupon a lot but that seems to have died out.

The MMMs also seem to take advantage of credit card introductory offers as they are past caring about their credi rating.... food for thought seeing as I have no plans to need credit ever again.

@dashel if you've got money on a gambling site already would you consider matched betting? I know someone who's made a fair amount but I've never dipped in

Impressed with your side hustles @Dashel!

@BebeStevens - also curious about the matched betting.

This and the pensions challenge thread are keeping me focussed on wading through the pensions admin at home. Thank you!

I have made a few investment moves since the market has dropped in the last day or so. I needed to move this £ before April anyway so it was timely!

I found Reset by David Sawyer a good read on FIRE, British based. It made me get my finances in order for a start.

Hello! Lovely to see a FIRE thread.

I have wanted to FIRE since I began work.

I had a wobble as I had hoped to be in a house with a garden. I think I have accepted that for me, it will be a flat forever but I think the reward is worth it.

I will read this thread properly but must admit, can't face more screen time to earn money which puts me off surveys etc.

I wouldn’t class my bingo foray as matched betting more a basic casino offer at worst. Matched betting is something I read a lot about but never actually tried. That’s all about betting on two outcomes of an event, one bet on Team A winning at a bookmaker and then Team B winning at a betting exchange.

I have never put any money other than the original £10 in to that or any other site. DH also tried this offer, he got the £50 cash back but lost his stake. I think that there are potentially more of these sorts of offers about, its just making sure that you don’t have an account with one of the sister companies and also don’t get hooked.

For someone who is brilliant at maths, I am scared of matched betting. I think I have had it drilled into me for so long that gambling is bad and you can go bankrupt, loose your home etc. Even when I know that’s not the case, it worries me.

The other thing I did that I would really recommend is switching banks to a First Direct and getting cashback. It was so easy and they are a great bank for current accounts. It really was easy money. That was a few years ago and they were so good that I stuck with them, potentially I should change to another cash back offer bank, but they are so easy to deal with.... hmmmm.

I've done the rounds of being a rate tart, I think there's only one account I could switch to now and I don't meet the minimum required.

I'm 45...anyone else old to remember stoozing?

Do you use your solid maths at work @Dashel?

I know there are bank accounts I could switch to, but the idea of the effort involved stops me!

@LunaHeather - oh yes we’ve done our fair share of stoozing! Martin Lewis really did save us so much money back in the day. And the PPI template letter. I think the website has an anniversary atm.

I wonder if people stooze to invest still...??

@Dashel I ask because I’m nosey and also because it’s good to hear that a woman uses Maths at work!

@PensionsYes

Do you use your solid maths at work *@Dashel*?

I know there are bank accounts I could switch to, but the idea of the effort involved stops me!

@LunaHeather - oh yes we’ve done our fair share of stoozing! Martin Lewis really did save us so much money back in the day. And the PPI template letter. I think the website has an anniversary atm.

I wonder if people stooze to invest still...??

I was never sold PPI, honestly I wonder if I missed out 😂

@PensionsYes I only use Maths by way of Excel. Honestly the only effort to change to first direct was to phone them and fill out a few quick forms and you get £100. I don’t know how much you earn but I’m guessing that had to be several hours of work and it took me maybe an hour tops. The website says you don’t need to go to a branch. I think there are some exclusions about those with HSBC or M&S bank accounts after 2018.

I just caught the end of stoozing, I was a bit slow on that as I didn’t like the idea of credit card debt. I think that companies are more savvy now to closing deals and the deals and loopholes are so well advertised that they are aware of them more. I did quite well out of coupons for a while, especially pre barcoding them and yellow stickers before more people were aware of them or would be seen to purchase them , like it was shameful. I worked occasionally in an office next to a Waitrose in a posh town and to start with DH was concerned when I asked for help bringing in the food shop, he saw full Waitrose bags and it was only when he was unpacking them he saw king prawns for 30p, other meat for him and plenty of fruit and veggies for 20 to 50p and they hadn’t even removed the offers so BOGOFs would remove the full price cost of one if the items, I paid £6 for all my shopping, I felt terrible but no one every wanted yellow stickers at the time. No you are lucky to get a double yellow.

Martin Lewis is amazing in many ways but the site seems to be aimed to get those out of debt, rather than promote wealth. A lot of the deals still involve buying a lot, just for the best price. I rather like the take consumerism and shove it style of MMM so that you can have a different, less stressed life. Although he says don’t buy Christmas presents, he spends a lot of effort educating us on deals of crap that we really don’t need. I think I swallowed the pill...

Oh hello! I've been following the community for years now, but definitely nowhere close to FIRE-ing. At the moment I have a biiig London mortgage, although I do overpay it as much as possible. I'm pretty frugal but generally prioritise comfort over a super high savings rate. And I've only recently (about 2 years ago) discovered index funds but I put a good chunk into my Vanguard every month and it's doing really well (+33% last time I checked!)

But I'm in my 40s now so feel like I should really have a more solid plan in place, even if I don't necessarily want to RE - I worry I'd get bored. But it'd be good to at least have the option.

I meant the MMM pill in case of confusion!

Have caught up with it now
Interesting questions
I never include the value of my property in my net worth. I am childfree so I do think that if things go wrong in later life, I can do equity release because no one expects to inherit from me.

I am put off shares these days. I concentrate on frugality. I was looking at getting insulated blinds before lockdown. I discovered bubble wrap works really well and I'm not sure I'll ever sort out new blinds. If visitors think I'm living like bag lady, I'm saving a chunk of money so...does it matter?

Speaking of visitors, lockdown changed my friendship landscape completely. I have always been frugal but struggled a bit with "this good friend wants to go for a meal or to a concert". Now I'm not convinced some of them are good friends, in future I plan to say "no, you are always welcome here for a bite to eat but I don't want to spent that cash". my best friend is exempt but knows I am serious about FIRE so it doesn't come up as an issue so much.

Shares - I'm really put off by the volatility and initial expense. I am a great believer in cash in the bank where most people seem to be down on it due to inflation.

I would like to consider gold but...storage. If I ever inherited, I might consider BTL. The idea would be to let my current flat and buy a new one to live in. But that is an if with no guarantee.

I am 45, doing odd bits of work as lockdown killed my industry, hoping to pack it in before 50. I had been hoping to buy a house but the type of house I could afford wouldn't be worth it.

I have some bits of jewellery, nothing pricey, that I had planned to ebay but I hear they have listing charges now? It might fetch £60 all in so possibly not worth it, but then you think of it as a day's wage...hmm.

I don't have any managed fund type investments, seems too high risk. Not sure if I am being stupid.

Bubble wrap? Good to know! I love how having a clear FIRE plan gives you a certain confidence. I have (had) a group of friends who are very much focused on conspicuous consumption - lots of foreign holidays, designer handbags, new 4x4s every other year, you know the sort. I'm really pleased to have opted out of all that.

In case she hasn't been mentioned, I really rate Jen @ MamaFurFur, she blogs and does YouTube videos - really good basic investing advice and very transparent.

@HouseyHouse21

Bubble wrap? Good to know! I love how having a clear FIRE plan gives you a certain confidence. I have (had) a group of friends who are very much focused on conspicuous consumption - lots of foreign holidays, designer handbags, new 4x4s every other year, you know the sort. I'm really pleased to have opted out of all that.

In case she hasn't been mentioned, I really rate Jen @ MamaFurFur, she blogs and does YouTube videos - really good basic investing advice and very transparent.

Cardboard works too but bubble wrap lets light in.

In terms of confidence - yes, I don't think I can mix with people who won't accept they'll be offered Aldi biscuits etc so bubble wrap on the windows isn't going to seem much more than eccentric!

I have done matched betting but lost interest after the initial offers. You can make an easy 2k though!

Interested in the present wrapping idea! Not heard of that one.

The market dipped over the last day or so, I feel we should be sticking extra money in right now! Buy when on sale!

@Dashel - in my mind you’ll be Dashel - Maths & Excel whizz! I think feeling like I was bad at Maths at school gave me an excuse to overspend in the past.

Coupons - kids these days don’t even know what they are! I must look more closely at these.... when I go to an actual shop that is. M&S ones are often good I’ve noticed. You’ve got the frugal lifestyle down pat, Dashel. Do you get frustrated that your DH isn’t quite on the same page?!

Must dash, back later.

Dashel "I just caught the end of stoozing, I was a bit slow on that as I didn’t like the idea of credit card debt."

It wasn't debt though.

It was your ordinary spends eg food, travelcard, on a 0% cc so that amount, however small, could earn interest in savings. Then you pay the cc before any charges accumulate.

I miss the days of even 2% interest!

The Americans seem to get much better credit card perks, travel rewards etc. I look at the ones here but our spending just isn't that high to risk it, I guess I should look at them more for big purchases as we are planning a new (to us) car soon.

I've done matched betting and casino, just out of the habit but might try get back on it for mat leave. You can make an easy grand doing intro offers. I try not to do too much extra stuff, if I took on much more I'd be wanting a cleaner again etc so the costs need to balance.

@bertieb7 thanks for the money dashboard suggestion, wonder if I can add DHs pension account as every month I badger him to give me an update

@LunaHeather I think I think of stoozing as doing what you say but on a large scale

We had friends that paid off the mortgage by getting it on zero balance transfers or lower interest credit cards so that they had no mortgage but £80,000 on cards and were always applying for new credit cards. Mortgage rates were 5-6% I think at the time so by doing this they saved a lot in interest. It just would have stressed me out, she was a mortgage broker though so probably could have gotten a new mortgage sorted out quickly! It may not have been traditional debt but I don’t like owing money on that scale and that’s why I could never stooze properly. Some of the MSE crowd were doing it in such large sums that I personally would not sleep at night.

[quote Dashel]@LunaHeather I think I think of stoozing as doing what you say but on a large scale

We had friends that paid off the mortgage by getting it on zero balance transfers or lower interest credit cards so that they had no mortgage but £80,000 on cards and were always applying for new credit cards. Mortgage rates were 5-6% I think at the time so by doing this they saved a lot in interest. It just would have stressed me out, she was a mortgage broker though so probably could have gotten a new mortgage sorted out quickly! It may not have been traditional debt but I don’t like owing money on that scale and that’s why I could never stooze properly. Some of the MSE crowd were doing it in such large sums that I personally would not sleep at night.[/quote]
I must admit, I don't get why it would worry you when it saves such a massive amount of money.

I shifted my mortgage a few times to save money. If there was a time I could have put my mortgage payment on a credit card, I didn't know. I feel I have missed out.