Our 2017 Household Spending: Paving the Way to FIRE Without Feeling Deprived

Welcome to our annual household spending report! As we continue our journey toward Financial Independence and Early Retirement (FIRE), transparency in our financial journey remains a cornerstone of our blog. Let's dive deep into how we managed our money in 2017. The Philosophy Behind Our Spending Before we break down the numbers, it's important to understand our approach to spending. We don't follow a traditional budget—instead, we practice mindful spending. This means: Focusing on value rather than cost Making intentional choices about where our money goes Tracking expenses without imposing strict limitations Aligning our spending with our long-term FIRE goals This approach has helped us maintain a high savings rat

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José

José concluded his distinguished 13-year career at Vanguard at age 44, stepping away from corporate life to embrace an early retirement. As a project manager, he expertly orchestrated the creation and delivery of educational materials—both digital and print—for 401(k) participants, ensuring resources reached millions of investors. Today, he embraces life's simpler pleasures: quality time with family, pursuit of passion projects, discovery of new adventures, and leisurely meals in his garden oasis.

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My Early Retirement Journey
My Early Retirement Journey
7 years ago

Great job travel hacking!

Jose
Admin
7 years ago

Thanks, My Early Retirement Journey! I’ve always been really good with paying off my credit cards each month, so I was excited to learn that I could take advantage of the travel hacking approach. It’s not for everyone, and I only recommend it to people who are always on time and pay in full. It’s nice to be rewarded for being organized. 🙂 Are you doing any travel hacking? I’m always looking for new tips!

LW
LW
7 years ago

I absolutely LOVE your commitment to charitable giving. One of the things I see lacking in so many FI budgets is charitable giving. Time is a great gift, but money is what organizations and families need to keep operating. If we retire early with zillions of dollars, but don’t contribute to the greater good, then what’s it all really for? Thank you for your generosity and example of that generosity in a very public forum.

Jose
Admin
7 years ago
Reply to  LW

Hey LW,
Thanks for your nice comment! Even after we retire we’ll still be committed to charitable giving. Besides helping others, it makes us feel really good as well. One thing that I realized about 7 years ago is that if I don’t start helping today when will I? I always had an excuse to not give such as a bill to pay and other responsibilities but once I started to eliminate debt and make room for other expenses I made sure to include donations and helping loved ones in there. My wife feels the same way about it so we do what we can.

We also want to be more personally involved with charitable projects after we retire. We’re not making money off this blog since it’s just a hobby but if we do, in the future, we’ll most likely donate a percentage to charity and document it here. There are so many possibilities to continue helping. It’s the kind of projects that we’ll keep us motivated in early retirement.

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