The Beginning It all started normally enough. I grew up in a comfortable lower middle-class household. We never really discussed money. My parents weren’t flashy by any means, but they saw it as a matter of personal pride that we never went without. Looking back, it’s fairly clear that there wasn’t any significant money being …
How Do You Save for ‘FIRE’ in the UK?
As somewhat of a personal finance geek, I (Mr Way) have learnt a fair amount over the last few years. As a result, I wanted to share my specific take on saving for FIRE in the UK with you. I am not a qualified financial advisor and nothing in this article should be considered financial …
The Importance of Having a Goal
In What is FIRE? we described the process of achieving financial independence and having the freedom to retire early from work. That’s great, but what are you going to do with all that spare time? You need to have a goal! “One can find time for everything if one is never in a hurry.” Mikhail …
Monthly Spending – March 2019
While developing ‘our way’ and learning about financial independence, we found reviewing other people’s spending really helpful. We can all learn something from each other because there's so many ways of doing things! To this end, we aim to regularly summarise our spending for comparison. It will also act as an accountability test for us, …
A Way to Less……. Spending! (Frugality)
Our Thoughts on Frugality Frugality is a term that gets thrown around quite a lot. But in our experience it can mean very different things to different people! Typing the word into Google generates this definition and example: The quality of being economical with money or food; thriftiness. "He scorned the finer things in life and valued frugality …
A Way to Less……. Cars!
My Experiences from a Car Free Lifestyle Being car free can be a pretty difficult lifestyle choice to make. It goes against the ‘ideals’ of most people in our society. But the potential benefits are huge. And it goes much further than just the financial gain! I’m lucky in that I have an office based …
A Way to Less……. Stuff! (Minimalism)
To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happinessBertrand Russell Minimalism essentially means wanting less ‘stuff’. Clearly this fits well with those seeking financial independence. When you discover such a productive and worthwhile way of using your money, you no longer want to splurge on unnecessary things. We really identify with The Minimalists’ …
A FIRE Trial Run
Africa Series - Part 1 The world is always open, waiting to be discoveredDejan Stojanovic For quite a while now we have been deciding what the next step in our lives looks like. After much discussion, including options such as working abroad, travel, starting a family etc (see Our Version of FIRE for more), we …
Sanity, Saving & Singing!
“A smile is a facelift in everyone’s price range” Tom Wilson Music teaching can be such a rewarding job. The privilege of introducing music to young children and witnessing the joy it brings them never fails to make me smile. Nothing can compare to the power of an assembly hall full of children singing a song they love, …
Our Version of FIRE
In “What is FIRE?” we mentioned that the ‘end goal’ of FIRE differs for everyone. For us, it is important to understand the purpose of gaining our financial independence. This understanding gives us the desire and motivation to continue following the ‘unconventional path’ of frugal living. The question posed by FIRE is a fascinating one, …