Pursuing FIRE is a fine balancing act. On the face of it, delaying your FIRE journey would seem like a bad idea. Who wants to spend longer tied to a job when they could be doing anything else?! But there are other factors at play here!
Continue reading “Delaying FIRE to Enjoy Today”Category: Optimisation
Frugal Four – Episode 2
We’re back with our second episode of Frugal Four!
We wanted a way to share the frugal tips and tricks we’ve picked up over the years. The aim is to provide a brief summary of a few little hacks we’ve enjoyed using in the hope it inspires you to save some money yourselves!
Continue reading “Frugal Four – Episode 2”Reusable Nappies
We recently made our first large baby purchase, buying a bedside cot from Aldi! Shortly after that, the opportunity arose to buy some second hand reusable nappies. In this article we’ll explain why we decided to go down the frugal reusable nappies route and the potential benefits it can bring.
Preparations
As we continue to prepare for the arrival of Baby Way, we’re thinking about what we will need to buy. Our intention is to continue to live as minimalist a life as possible.
As new parents, there is severe pressure from advertisers to buy all sorts of gadgets for your baby, playing on your vulnerability and willingness to provide the best start for them.
We’re convinced most of the conventional baby purchases are unnecessary and we’ll continue to question these decisions at every stage.
Continue reading “Reusable Nappies”How to Create Good Habits
In Creating Good Habits we discussed the importance of creating habits that last. We also gave examples of some of the areas in our lives where we’ve utilised good habits to change for the better. In this post, we want to take more of a practical look at HOW you create good habits.
There are various tricks you can use to make a new habit much more likely to stick. But if you approach it in the wrong way, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Continue reading “How to Create Good Habits”RED January – Fad or Fab?
As another January finishes, I thought I would share my experience of RED January with you all.
I have been taking part in RED January this year for the second year running (!). What I want to know is: Is it FAB or a FAD!?!
Continue reading “RED January – Fad or Fab?”Creating Good Habits
There’s an increasing will among the general population to ‘live a better life’. But how exactly do you achieve that? Creating good habits is at the center of achieving your goals and making changes that last.
How to Kill off Ambition and De-Motivate Your Staff
A tale of how a recent experience has strongly reinforced my will to achieve FIRE and have more flexibility in the way I spend my time.
Background
Since starting at my company 7.5 years ago, I’ve been one of the stand-out performers in most areas. I don’t like saying that type of thing because it sounds big headed. But I’ve genuinely put my head above the parapet and done everything I can to succeed.
Continue reading “How to Kill off Ambition and De-Motivate Your Staff”Happy New Year!
2019
2019 has been a year to remember for us, with highlights including:
- Starting a blog in March!!!
- Getting engaged in July
- An incredible month-long trip to East Africa
- Finding out we are expecting our first child, Baby Way , in July 2020
- Booking a wedding venue for 2021
Clearly, 2019 has been more expensive than we would have liked!
Despite this we have still managed to achieve all of the above, as well as an unwelcome new car purchase, while saving in the region of 35% of our income. We much prefer to see a figure above 50%, but considering what has happened this year we are happy to still make significant contributions to our ‘FI funds’.
Continue reading “Happy New Year!”Baby Way
We’re Having a Baby!
You’ve met Mr Way. You’ve met Miss Way. Say hello to Baby Way! Well, not just yet….
If the incredibly expensive Africa trip followed by a new car weren’t expensive enough, we’re now expecting our first child!
We recently found out that Miss Way is pregnant, with the baby due in July 2020.
Obviously, we’re absolutely delighted with this news. But at the same time, there are some severe doubts about whether we’re doing the right thing.
Continue reading “Baby Way”How to Buy a Car – The Frugal Way!
Intro – Miss Way
I had been avoiding the fact that my car was on its last legs for far too long. It had done a respectable 165,000 miles!
A couple of weeks ago I accepted it was no longer safe to drive and the repair costs far outweighed the value of the vehicle (£1,000 on repairs for a car only worth £200!) – I needed to buy a new one – and quick!
I begrudgingly rely on my car for my work. Due to the peripatetic nature of my job, it unfortunately isn’t always possible to cycle to all my work destinations. Over the last month I’ve used the train where possible, but it can be an expensive alternative. Ideally, we would love to be entirely car free, but this is not an option right now.
Continue reading “How to Buy a Car – The Frugal Way!”