Thank you guys so much for the replies!
I have chosen not to share this with friends / family in real life, as I’ve learned from experience that: sharing personal economy success with them = hate / shaming / no compliments in return. I remember I celebrated my mom paying off her house. However, at a later stage when I hinted at the fact that I would soon be debt free and that I’m currently saving 70% of everything I earn, she started getting insecure and said “well, that’s easy for you, you’re single and live in a shared house”. Well, guess what mom, you divorced dad, live in a paid of 3-story apartment and have a high-paying government job. You’ve got no excuses. However, I decided then and there to shut up and never discuss personal economy / money with women ever again, including her. It’s a rabbit hole full of excuses and no responsibility.
However, not being able to share this in real life makes it that much more wonderful to be able to celebrate with you guys! I also hope to be of support to you brothers out there struggling to get out of debt yourselves – and I will be sure to raise my glass and shout out “F~~~ YEAH!!!!” when you reach your goal of debt free awesomeness 🙂
Dude! Rock on, man!
Just a quick question, what tips do you have for somebody who is going to enter college in the Fall?
How much were you making per year, and how much were you able to live off of?
Also, what are your favorite tricks for cutting living expenses?
Thanks in advance, and I must again say how awesome it is that you are debt free!
I had three different jobs, and I usually worked full-time during the week-days and every other weekend with a part time gig. I made around 3000$ (with current currency rates) after taxes each month combined from all the jobs. I saved around 70% of that each month, and still maintain a savings rate of 70% to this day.
I hate working for the man, and early retirement + my own business is my main goal in life atm.
Some good tips on saving money / living the spartan life in no particular order:
– Read “Your money or your life” and “Total money makeover”. Your money or your life was a life-changer for me and completely changed the way I look at money. Total money makeover by Dave Ramsey is good in getting a strategy for getting out of debt. His personality in his shows and his advice on investing is so-so, but for getting out of debt he is really, really good IMO.
– Pay cash. I’m old school this way. I pay cash for everything, meaning coins and paper bills. I carry a debit card for emergencies and online shopping, but for everything else I use cash. It hurts more to spend money that way, which makes me want to spend less. I also use an envelope system where I put the amount of cash needed for a month inside, and when the money is gone it is gone. No cheating. I have f~~~ed up my calculations once for a month this way, which resulted in me having to live on nothing but oatmeal and water for a couple of weeks, but it was worth it.
– Work part-time in college. Use this money for all your necessities (rent, food, beer etc.). It won’t be much, but as soon as you start spending student loans on alcohol and vacations and whatnot, you’re f~~~ed. Preferably a gig where you can study while you work (security guard, librarian etc.)
– If you don’t mind traveling, do your studies in Scandinavia. University is free over here, and there are plenty of courses in English only. I’m currently doing my MA in English at a Swedish Uni right now, and it’s distance based, meaning I can do it from anywhere in the world.
– Use a custom budget for each month and track your spending like a nazi. 🙂
onmyway 3 years, 9 months ago.
