Comments on: Early Retirement Inspiration http://frugalbabe.com/2010/02/15/early-retirement-inspiration/ A rich life without a lot of money Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:59:00 +0000 hourly 1 By: GC http://frugalbabe.com/2010/02/15/early-retirement-inspiration/#comment-28417 GC Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:48:05 +0000 http://frugalbabe.com/?p=1154#comment-28417 thanks 4 the link! thanks 4 the link!

]]> By: This Thrifted Life http://frugalbabe.com/2010/02/15/early-retirement-inspiration/#comment-28415 This Thrifted Life Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:38:25 +0000 http://frugalbabe.com/?p=1154#comment-28415 Thanks for recommending this blog! I'm really enjoying looking through his site and can't believe I hadn't found it before. Thanks for recommending this blog! I’m really enjoying looking through his site and can’t believe I hadn’t found it before.

]]> By: FrugalBabe http://frugalbabe.com/2010/02/15/early-retirement-inspiration/#comment-28387 FrugalBabe Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:49:09 +0000 http://frugalbabe.com/?p=1154#comment-28387 Kaytee, My husband started our business in 2002, and for the first year, we lived off of my salary. But I joined him in 2003, and for the next year, we were broke and going into debt just to survive. During that year, we saved nothing at all. I think we might have paid a little extra on our mortgage once or twice, but that was it. No emergency fund, no retirement savings (we both had IRAs that we had rolled over from our 401k plans, but we took a year off from funding them), nothing. Starting in 2004, we began contributing $100/month to each of our IRAs - and even that was a stretch. We bumped it up to $200/month into each account the next year, and I think that was also the year we opened our ING account and started putting $100/month into an emergency fund. But we raided that account a few times to pay bills, and didn't really start focusing on building it up until a year later. It was 2007 when we paid off the last of our non-mortgage debt, and that was when we really started focusing on savings. We have kept our spending at nearly the same level it was at when we were at our poorest, but our income has increased and we have no debt payments to make other than our mortgage. This has allowed us to commit a large chunk of our income to savings - we're trying to make up for those lost years in our 20s when we didn't save much! We do still have the solar panel account (it's at ING), but it's just sitting there for now. At our old house, adding solar panels was one of the only things we could do to make our home more eco-friendly. Here, the sky's the limit. We're considering home-made wind turbines, greywater recycling, rainwater harvesting, and several other projects. We're actively working towards growing most of our own food... there are so many possibilities here that are less expensive than solar panels. So we're sitting on that decision for now. If we decide to go solar, we'll need to start funding that account again, as we don't have anywhere near enough money in it yet. Kaytee,
My husband started our business in 2002, and for the first year, we lived off of my salary. But I joined him in 2003, and for the next year, we were broke and going into debt just to survive. During that year, we saved nothing at all. I think we might have paid a little extra on our mortgage once or twice, but that was it. No emergency fund, no retirement savings (we both had IRAs that we had rolled over from our 401k plans, but we took a year off from funding them), nothing. Starting in 2004, we began contributing $100/month to each of our IRAs – and even that was a stretch. We bumped it up to $200/month into each account the next year, and I think that was also the year we opened our ING account and started putting $100/month into an emergency fund. But we raided that account a few times to pay bills, and didn’t really start focusing on building it up until a year later. It was 2007 when we paid off the last of our non-mortgage debt, and that was when we really started focusing on savings. We have kept our spending at nearly the same level it was at when we were at our poorest, but our income has increased and we have no debt payments to make other than our mortgage. This has allowed us to commit a large chunk of our income to savings – we’re trying to make up for those lost years in our 20s when we didn’t save much!
We do still have the solar panel account (it’s at ING), but it’s just sitting there for now. At our old house, adding solar panels was one of the only things we could do to make our home more eco-friendly. Here, the sky’s the limit. We’re considering home-made wind turbines, greywater recycling, rainwater harvesting, and several other projects. We’re actively working towards growing most of our own food… there are so many possibilities here that are less expensive than solar panels. So we’re sitting on that decision for now. If we decide to go solar, we’ll need to start funding that account again, as we don’t have anywhere near enough money in it yet.

]]> By: Kaytee http://frugalbabe.com/2010/02/15/early-retirement-inspiration/#comment-28384 Kaytee Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:32:32 +0000 http://frugalbabe.com/?p=1154#comment-28384 FB, I'm curious if you can recall the % of your monthly income that you were saving while you were still debt? I struggle with this constantly, because I love seeing our sick amount of debt numbers go down, but I also love to see our savings and retirement accounts go up. Also, do you still have a solar panel fund? ~Kaytee FB,
I’m curious if you can recall the % of your monthly income that you were saving while you were still debt? I struggle with this constantly, because I love seeing our sick amount of debt numbers go down, but I also love to see our savings and retirement accounts go up. Also, do you still have a solar panel fund?
~Kaytee

]]> By: Early Retirement Extreme http://frugalbabe.com/2010/02/15/early-retirement-inspiration/#comment-28374 Early Retirement Extreme Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:52:39 +0000 http://frugalbabe.com/?p=1154#comment-28374 Thanks for the highlight. I sometimes suspect I am the best kept secret in the pf world. It's probably because I don't do linkexchanges and so I don't appear on very many blog rolls. Thanks for the highlight. I sometimes suspect I am the best kept secret in the pf world. It’s probably because I don’t do linkexchanges and so I don’t appear on very many blog rolls.

]]> By: FrugalBabe http://frugalbabe.com/2010/02/15/early-retirement-inspiration/#comment-28370 FrugalBabe Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:46:42 +0000 http://frugalbabe.com/?p=1154#comment-28370 So am I, Andy! But I tend to get stuck in a rut with the blogs I read. Especially since our son was born, the amount of time I have to devote to perusing blogs has decreased quite a bit, and I don't venture out as often as I should. So am I, Andy! But I tend to get stuck in a rut with the blogs I read. Especially since our son was born, the amount of time I have to devote to perusing blogs has decreased quite a bit, and I don’t venture out as often as I should.

]]> By: Andy Hough http://frugalbabe.com/2010/02/15/early-retirement-inspiration/#comment-28369 Andy Hough Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:44:17 +0000 http://frugalbabe.com/?p=1154#comment-28369 ERE has been one of my favorite sites for a couple of years. I'm surprised you didn't discover it sooner. It is in my blogroll. ERE has been one of my favorite sites for a couple of years. I’m surprised you didn’t discover it sooner. It is in my blogroll.

]]> By: Zella http://frugalbabe.com/2010/02/15/early-retirement-inspiration/#comment-28368 Zella Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:15:45 +0000 http://frugalbabe.com/?p=1154#comment-28368 My husband and I actually had this discussion this past weekend. I love what I do, and would do it regardless of how much money I had saved... I don't really come from a family of people who retire, however. Everyone just sort of moves on into another job, until health forces them to quit. His family is pretty much the same way. We are saving for retirement, but most of our savings are allocated for other things. It might not be tax-advantaged, but it fits our goals better. My husband and I actually had this discussion this past weekend. I love what I do, and would do it regardless of how much money I had saved… I don’t really come from a family of people who retire, however. Everyone just sort of moves on into another job, until health forces them to quit. His family is pretty much the same way.

We are saving for retirement, but most of our savings are allocated for other things. It might not be tax-advantaged, but it fits our goals better.

]]> By: MoneyEnergy http://frugalbabe.com/2010/02/15/early-retirement-inspiration/#comment-28367 MoneyEnergy Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:44:50 +0000 http://frugalbabe.com/?p=1154#comment-28367 Love the site design! I found Jacob's site about 10 months ago or so... and quickly became as obsessed - many things, especially his reasoning, really struck a chord with my own thoughts and values. I highly recommend everyone check it out. If you don't walk away inspired about something re: improving your life, efficiency, wealth, health etc., well, ... something might be wrong;) Love the site design!

I found Jacob’s site about 10 months ago or so… and quickly became as obsessed – many things, especially his reasoning, really struck a chord with my own thoughts and values. I highly recommend everyone check it out. If you don’t walk away inspired about something re: improving your life, efficiency, wealth, health etc., well, … something might be wrong;)

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