The Intersection of FIRE and Disney

I’m thinking this maybe my best option. lol especially because SO covers all our living expenses and saves on his own hopefully we can FIRE really quick lol
Yeah - at this point you've incurred the cost of the education. Making some major career move that DOES NOT require a new degree or training would be VERY difficult. Spending more money on education at this stage would be a delay, it's a conundrum and perhaps the most tolerable answer is to make the best of your career choice. Luckily you have churning CCs to at least pay for a ton of trips each year. Work for the vacations...and then someday don't work at all and always vacation haha!
 
I hope that at least the education in law is helpful to your future plans. I'm no longer doing what I trained for but the educational part is useful in regular life. I don't think it was worth the cost of school and loss of income for the four years of school (since I would've made more money if I'd stayed in working in biotech), but I did learn useful information.

Do you have any words to share about what you hate about your career path? I think DD may lean towards that path herself (lol as much as I can say that about a teenager) and I'd like to know what pitfalls to be aware of.

I just think it wasn’t for me. I was not happy doing it. It’s also highly competitive and most of law is very boring lol.
 
@Haley R - you're on the FIRE thread silly...lol! Nobody is planning to stay in anything their whole life here :P HAHA!

Not to speak for @speedyfishy but a lucrative 8-10 year law career saving 60%+ of your income could mean you never need to really work again. Then you can find something you love to do (with money as an afterthought) for the next 35-40 years!
lol oh silly me!
 


lol oh silly me!
hahaha!! In all seriousness, switching careers isn't a bad idea in FIRE...but it's weighing pros and cons (which mainly fit into categories of time, money or sanity).

If a switch is going to cost you money or time...you have to come to grips with that. If staying in your current career is costing you sanity...well that's a huge consideration too.
 
hahaha!! In all seriousness, switching careers isn't a bad idea in FIRE...but it's weighing pros and cons (which mainly fit into categories of time, money or sanity).

If a switch is going to cost you money or time...you have to come to grips with that. If staying in your current career is costing you sanity...well that's a huge consideration too.

Yeah I think it’s better for me to just suck it up for a bit lol. I could also maybe get into academia or something after getting a bit of experience. I’m hoping this journey won’t be that long.
 
I just think it wasn’t for me. I was not happy doing it. It’s also highly competitive and most of law is very boring lol.

One nice thing about living frugally is that it allows for career flexibility. Our country is full of those who feel stuck in careers they hate simply because they spend everything they make and can't afford to take a pay cut. Theres nothing worse than feeling stuck! You are young and have so many options; you are definitely not stuck. Does your alma mater have a career counselor you could talk with? Or an alumni network where you could possibly find a mentor? There have to be legal jobs that are more interesting than others. I personally don't think people should suck it up and drag themselves to a job they hate every day for 10 years. What kind of life is that?
 


One nice thing about living frugally is that it allows for career flexibility. Our country is full of those who feel stuck in careers they hate simply because they spend everything they make and can't afford to take a pay cut. Theres nothing worse than feeling stuck! You are young and have so many options; you are definitely not stuck. Does your alma mater have a career counselor you could talk with? Or an alumni network where you could possibly find a mentor? There have to be legal jobs that are more interesting than others. I personally don't think people should suck it up and drag themselves to a job they hate every day for 10 years. What kind of life is that?

Yeah, they pushed me more into big law with long grueling hours lol. Probably to boost their employment numbers I didn’t listen lol
 
I hate the career path I have chosen. Three years of law school was awful and I have no interest in doing this long term.

I started off on a pre-law track. I really wanted to do criminal law. My first semesters, I took a class in torts and one in ethics. Between the two, I discovered I would not be able to put my conscience aside and stick to the letter of the law. So, I switched majors to nursing and did the academics part of things. Once we got into clinical rotations at the hospital, I was coming home crying everyday and hating life. I have a hard time seeing people feeling their worst, in the process of losing a loved one, etc. and not remaining clinically detached. DH said I should switch majors again but I didn't want to quit. He said going to work everyday and living life in misery was no way to live your life. Even if I didn't love my job, I shouldn't hate it either. So, I switched to education.

Once I graduated and started teaching, I saw the writing on the wall as to where that was headed and and switched careers. I still teach, which I do love, but no longer in an elementary school. I teach occupational safety and compliance (OSHA) topics, plus CPR, First Aid AED classes. The job also involves sales and can be pretty high pressure which is the part I don't like. It's not a job that ends at 5 pm and I am often working weekends, after hours etc. beyond the teaching aspect.

hahaha!! In all seriousness, switching careers isn't a bad idea in FIRE...but it's weighing pros and cons (which mainly fit into categories of time, money or sanity).

If a switch is going to cost you money or time...you have to come to grips with that. If staying in your current career is costing you sanity...well that's a huge consideration too.

Yup, I am in the midst of analyzing that right now. I don't plan on making any career moves right now, at least until I get back from the Japan ABD next year. Once I am back I do intend on re-evaluating where I am at and where I'd like to be. I'd like to come home from work and actually not think about work or do anything work related once I am home. Switching careers would likely cost me a lot. I do very well in my current job. I do have to weigh that against my sanity.
 
I don't want to get too specific, but DH and I are both employed in the agriculture field. He is self-employed as a farmer, and I am also in the industry but I'm not self-employed and am involved more on the financial side of things. In my previous life, I was in commercial banking. Although I loved the hours, I left for greener pastures. My current job is much more demanding. But, I truly thrive off of being productive and squeezing as much into a day as possible. I see how 30 years of this could be draining, but as of right now, I love my job!
 
I was lurking on the FIRE thread on Reddit and some people’s expenses are crazy low. I’m now motivated to spend the first three months of the year keeping our spending at 3,000 a month. This will require us to cut most fun money, eating out and lower our grocery bill but I can do it. I also have a stack of giftcards so it shouldn’t be that hard. Is that cheating? Lol
 
Also a lawyer here. I worked two separate one-year jobs out of law school (they're set up that way on purpose). The first one was phenomenal. The second job was a total trainwreck and earned me my first anti-anxiety prescription (fun fact I just learned when trying to post this- did you guys know that an anti-anxiety medication beginning with the letter "X" is a banned word on this forum?). I first started looking at ways to get out of debt and out of my field then. Fortunately, I found my current job, which I absolutely LOVE. I hope I can be in this position until I retire, and I'm not even 30 yet! It can be long hours, weekend work, and mentally tolling. You very much have to have the mentality of just letting things roll off your back in this field, since what I deal with is usually the worst of the worst in terms of people. I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything though!
 
I don't want to get too specific, but DH and I are both employed in the agriculture field. He is self-employed as a farmer, and I am also in the industry but I'm not self-employed and am involved more on the financial side of things. In my previous life, I was in commercial banking. Although I loved the hours, I left for greener pastures. My current job is much more demanding. But, I truly thrive off of being productive and squeezing as much into a day as possible. I see how 30 years of this could be draining, but as of right now, I love my job!


If it weren’t for the cash only aspect of ‘greener pastures’ my household would be doing the same thing! But in the future we would not be able to obtain a mortgage or apply for federal financial aid when our kids hit college. We have quite a few friends growing their businesses and we feel that it is the way to go, but until the banking side of the industry catches up to the reality, we are just unable to participate. Our friends move mountains in order for themselves and their employees to live!
 
I just saw this thread mentioned in the debt dumpers thread and thought I'd join in to get some more tips for getting to the point where we can make positive strides towards FIRE. I'm 33 and my fiance is 47. Ideally, I'd love to be able to live off of just my income by the time he is 60, and then be able to retire when I get to 60. We have two little girls who are 3 and 1.5, so education funds for them are high on my list also. Right now we're actively into debt dumping and paying off loans and leases. Hoping to have almost all of it gone by early summer.

I feel like we do a decent job of saving what we can, eating at home almost all the time, and don't really buy stuff. We do spend on visiting family or doing things with the girls (an annual zoo membership, science museums, etc).

Excited to read the blogs linked in the beginning of this and see everyone's tips!
 
I was lurking on the FIRE thread on Reddit and some people’s expenses are crazy low. I’m now motivated to spend the first three months of the year keeping our spending at 3,000 a month. This will require us to cut most fun money, eating out and lower our grocery bill but I can do it. I also have a stack of giftcards so it shouldn’t be that hard. Is that cheating? Lol

Good luck! I hope you find that you can cut expenses without sacrificing happiness. We used to go out more, but with the kids getting older it's just not in the budget, but I found that I don't really miss it. I'm much happier sitting out on the deck with a drink that didn't cost a ton of money, watching DH grill, and catching up. I've been thinking a lot about our budget as well...seems like the new year gives us a great opportunity to make some changes!
 
Good luck! I hope you find that you can cut expenses without sacrificing happiness. We used to go out more, but with the kids getting older it's just not in the budget, but I found that I don't really miss it. I'm much happier sitting out on the deck with a drink that didn't cost a ton of money, watching DH grill, and catching up. I've been thinking a lot about our budget as well...seems like the new year gives us a great opportunity to make some changes!

I find myself not really enjoying going out to eat as much as I used to. Weekdays it’s just easier to stay in and weekends places are so busy. We have started doing delivery a lot lately but that’s going to stop because it’s honestly not enjoyable. The food never comes on time and most of the time something is wrong with the order. I’ll use my Amex Plat Uber eats credit once a month and that’s it. We are going home for the week of Christmas and meals that aren’t family dinners will probably be spent eating out. I’m excited to eat at my favorite places at home tho. Come January and when we are back I will definitely be eating out still but I’ll try and cut it to once a week. Better for my wallet and hopefully I lose weight without too much effort. I used to get takeout/fast food for lunch twice a week and I have actually stopped doing that. The last time I had lunch out was three weeks ago. I’m hoping I can keep that up.
 
I just saw this thread mentioned in the debt dumpers thread and thought I'd join in to get some more tips for getting to the point where we can make positive strides towards FIRE. I'm 33 and my fiance is 47. Ideally, I'd love to be able to live off of just my income by the time he is 60, and then be able to retire when I get to 60. We have two little girls who are 3 and 1.5, so education funds for them are high on my list also. Right now we're actively into debt dumping and paying off loans and leases. Hoping to have almost all of it gone by early summer.

I feel like we do a decent job of saving what we can, eating at home almost all the time, and don't really buy stuff. We do spend on visiting family or doing things with the girls (an annual zoo membership, science museums, etc).

Excited to read the blogs linked in the beginning of this and see everyone's tips!

Welcome!! You'll see people at different points on this journey, but we all had to start somewhere. You are taking a great first step of getting rid of debt, just think how great it will feel to be putting that money into saving when it is all paid off! I know everyone has different thoughts on how high a priority to place funding kids' college is, but just remember that there are other ways to pay for college, staying at home and going to community college, scholarships, and working through it. Just a thought :)
 
Interesting thread! I discovered MMM shortly after he started and started chasing FIRE after that. We both averaged about $60k gross at our middle of the road jobs (well DH hit $80-90k for a couple of years) and I was a SAHM for over 5 years. A month ago, at 39, I FIREd on what I consider a fairly luxurious household budget of $60k/yr.

Feeding our Disney addiction is going to be tough now that we actually will be able to spend more time there. I did some number crunching yesterday and discovered what is an affordable vacay for a week gets very pricey when u spend 3-4 weeks.

E.g. I am planning to tent it at Fort Wilderness for 2.5weeks in Christmas 2019. I thought it would be a simple budget trip. The patch of dirt is almost $2k alone! DH wanted to do dining plan but the costs started spiralling. I estimate food for 5 will be about $2k with a handful of favorite Disney restaurants and mostly cooking at the campsite. Still gasping at the cost though (that's about what I spend on our usual fancy, splurge 1.5-2 weeks vacay) - would much prefer a $2-3k total budget so may still scrap the whole idea.

Then planning to get an annual pass for 2020 and do one big splurgy 2 week Disney trip (hopefully under $6k for 5 people and a few cheapo trips.

I am starting to see why people say vacationing after retirement is $$$!!! Worried about outspending our whole FIRE plans.
 
I am starting to see why people say vacationing after retirement is $$$!!! Worried about outspending our whole FIRE plans.

Yeah you have to be really careful, especially planning Disney trips as who knows how much it will cost in the future. Travel and entertainment are my biggest expenses every year so I have a different account for each (just a regular savings account) and deposit into them monthly. I like to travel offseason (I no longer do Disney) so I plan for when hotel rates will be cheaper and I grab ones that have fridge/microwaves which helps curb dining out.
 
Interesting thread! I discovered MMM shortly after he started and started chasing FIRE after that. We both averaged about $60k gross at our middle of the road jobs (well DH hit $80-90k for a couple of years) and I was a SAHM for over 5 years. A month ago, at 39, I FIREd on what I consider a fairly luxurious household budget of $60k/yr.

Feeding our Disney addiction is going to be tough now that we actually will be able to spend more time there. I did some number crunching yesterday and discovered what is an affordable vacay for a week gets very pricey when u spend 3-4 weeks.

E.g. I am planning to tent it at Fort Wilderness for 2.5weeks in Christmas 2019. I thought it would be a simple budget trip. The patch of dirt is almost $2k alone! DH wanted to do dining plan but the costs started spiralling. I estimate food for 5 will be about $2k with a handful of favorite Disney restaurants and mostly cooking at the campsite. Still gasping at the cost though (that's about what I spend on our usual fancy, splurge 1.5-2 weeks vacay) - would much prefer a $2-3k total budget so may still scrap the whole idea.

Then planning to get an annual pass for 2020 and do one big splurgy 2 week Disney trip (hopefully under $6k for 5 people and a few cheapo trips.

I am starting to see why people say vacationing after retirement is $$$!!! Worried about outspending our whole FIRE plans.

Wow, you FIRED so early that’s really impressive! To help keep travel costs down I sign up for credit cards to get the bonus and use that to subsidize my travel. I have so many points for hotels/airlines but not enough vacation time to use them lol If you are interested check out the I love credit cards thread. A lot of us post of there too so if you want to ask questions here someone will chime in.
 

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