Still Fighting the Fire

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything. Between work, working towards selling my current house, and trying to enjoy my life I have neglected writing some new blog posts. So I do apologize, I will work harder on scheduling more time for writing.

Since my last post, I did track my spending and continue to do so. I did find my biggest expenses are, which seem to be pretty standard for the majority of people pursuing FI; Housing, Transportation, Food. I have brainstormed to determine ways to cut into these expenses and try to make them work for me, though it will take a lot of work and some will power for me to make this work out in the end. I’m sure the end result of being financially independent and have the option to retire before I am too ancient, will be worth this short term inconvenience of living overly frugal.

To assist with my housing and transportation expenses, I decided the greatest solution was to sell my house since the current value is higher than expected. This will allow me to pay off my current car note and have a large down payment on my next house. I still have a lot of unanswered questions on the criteria of my next home, I do know it will be an adventure. Though I still have a way to go to have my house market-ready.

For my food expenses, I have found it is difficult for me to cook for one person without ending up with waste. It doesn’t help that all the recipes on the internet are to feed a party of 400. After reviewing my expenses, I have been actively trying to spend less though I haven’t really start meal planning and packing lunches religiously. I have actually been finding it rather hard to eat when I busy working on the house, my main focus currently is on the small projects to get my house in order. I think it will be easier to focus on my expense goal once I do not have to worry about landscaping and painting walls. So I will continue to eat cookies and ice cream for the time being.

The Plan:

After selling the house I will take the profit from the house and roll it into the down payment of my next home, which I hope will be as close to the full amount of the purchase price. My thought on this is to avoid paying a large monthly mortgage, this will free up more money to invest in my future. Since my current job can be done remotely I am uncertain if I will stay in Minnesota or try to move to a state with no income tax, that indirectly would give me a possible 7-10 percent raise. I would also like to find a smaller more manageable house, with a bigger yard to give Proxxie and Finnegan more room to run. This would as give me a possibility to have a garden, fruit trees, maybe bees which would allow me to do some homesteading and cut into my food costs. Working remotely would cut down on my transportation costs as well.

After I have my house ready for the market, I am planning on getting myself into a healthier state. This will give an excuse to start meal prepping and planning my weekly food intake. This will hopefully help me track my food spending, and get me cooking my own lunches. I think working from home hopefully will also force me to eat at home more often. I have noticed since I have been focusing on my future, I have been eating healthier in general and take better care of myself indirectly. I’m curious if others on the path to Fi experience the same thing.

There is a lot more to my plan than I can put into a few paragraphs hopefully as it gets closer to shopping for houses I can put together a better picture of the next few years. I promise I will be writing more really soon, I already have a few ideas for future blog posts.