(Part 3) Top products from r/leanfire

That's impressive the low rent, expenses, etc.

Still, at best you're able to fund 2-3 years expenses and that's being optimistic and assuming nothing goes awry. With that low budget you don't have much wiggle room. Even if you cut it down you're gonna need a source of income if it's around $200-300/month even that still would only get you at best 5 years and again that's being super optimistic and assuming you really are able to survive on the low end.

Daniel Suelo has a blog and a book about how he lived without money, but he had a lot of family and friend support and even still barely made it and struggled a bit here and there because of it.

https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Quit-Money/dp/1594485690

Maybe check out possum living too. https://www.amazon.com/Possum-Living-Without-Almost-Revised/dp/0982053932 they were able to live on only $700/year but it was in the 70s and they had their family helping with work as well as a home.

While again super impressed, it seemed like it probably wasn't worth emulating to me personally. A lot could go wrong, they were lucky it went as well as it did.

Also as a renter with roommates you're susceptible to increases over time, sure you can move and find a new place, but on that low level it'll be a challenge and moving is a hassle even if you don't have much belongings.

Don't get me wrong I'm all for living an unconventional life and checking out early and/or often, but you're really going to need a source of income or drastically cut costs and even still unless you're able to cut it by like 10x I'm pretty sure you're going to need to do some sort of work or earn an income,

Radical suggestion: no bad snack foods. They don't sate you and are typically more expensive per-pound than something home-cooked. Replace with things like roasted potatoes, hummus and veggies, fruit, or a portion of a real meal. Plus, you'll get to work on your cooking! Opening a bag or a box does nothing for cooking skills.

Use meat as a condiment instead of a foundation of a meal, like an exception instead of a norm. Use rice and beans to bulk up the rest. Stir fry is a great way to add veggies, rice, and beans while reducing/removing meat. Try going vegetarian once a week; you'll be surprised with what solutions you come up with! Then up the frequency.

I typically have meat once a day, if at all. Plain oatmeal for breakfast. Rice, beans, veg, onion, garlic, and whatever meat (if any) I prepped for lunch this week. Eggs, potatoes, fish, fruit, veg, protein shakes, spaghetti, and peanut butter for the evening.

Full disclosure: I keep my grocery budget under $110 per month for myself shopping almost exclusively at Aldi and Giant Eagle for anything else (fresh ginger, tofu, frozen veggies typically). This does not include alcohol ($60 budgeted per month for bars, state stores, and wine shows; not always social) and restaurants ($50 budgeted per month, once or twice a week; always social).

How is your comfort in the kitchen? $5000 saved * 2 (current expenses) / 12 months = ~$833 per month. I hope you're feeding a family. In that case, implementing vegetarianism will be slower and harder but not impossible.

Links to explore:

• How to Cook Everything: I consult this each week and am trying to cook my way through it via my own odds and ends cross-referenced with the comprehensive index. Many, many recipes use the same ingredients and I typically buy one or two missing ingredients each week to complete the meal. Last week was eggplant curry with potatoes. There is also a vegetarian version that I plan to purchase when I'm done, but I can't speak to its quality.
  
• Budget Bytes: what I used before "How to Cook Everything". Similar deal: Beth is great about staples and taste, giving a price breakdown on each meal.
  
• /r/MealPrepSunday: I cook all lunches and portion them out so I don't have to worry about going out to lunch when I forget to prepare a meal.
  
• /r/slowcooking: I used a rice cooker with a slow-cooking function at the start of my frugal journey. I only use it to prepare rice now because I love using the range to cook. :)
  
• Frugalwoods' Rice, Bean, Mushroom, and Chili Lunch: I use Sriracha with red pepper flakes and yellow onion instead. Surprisingly tasty for how bland it seems.
  
• ERE Wiki Cookbook. Never used, but seems solid in practice.

In general I love the idea of house hacking and cash flow positive buy and hold rentals. If you're completely new to this world and looking to get initiated I would suggest these resources.


To learn about ALL the hidden expenses of owning real estate, run your prospective property through this rental property calculator on bigger pockets. You only get 5 free reports but filling it out will alert you to all the associated costs of owning rental properties that include property mgmt fee, capital expenditures, property tax, maintenance calls etc. If you're property is efficiently run you should expect a 50% expense ratio. I.E., if gross rents are $2000 month expect to pocket $1000 BEFORE dept servicing.


I would also recommend any real estate episode on Paula Pant's Podcast. There are a ton of real estate episodes and you will learn a lot.


I also enjoyed Long Distance Real Estate Investing as well. Lots of great info even if you are staying local.


If you check even a few of those resources out I am sure you will avoid the mistakes most new real estate investors make. Let us know how it goes and Good luck!

Other posters have given out tons of good tips & resources. A couple more for the list.

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Resource: The Investment Answer. Relatively short read, solid information.

Resource: Die Broke. A little out of date, but he makes a persuasive argument as to why you should spend your money while you're alive, rather than focusing on building up net worth for future generations. (I mean, I love seeing the numbers go up as much as anyone, but...)

Inspiration: I went FI without the RE at 39, quitting my fulfilling-but-stressful job as an engineering manager to start a financial planning business. If I'd had any idea how awesome it would be, I'd have done it ten years sooner. That said, make sure you've got strong boundaries and self-identity before you decide to go that route!

I Will Teach You To Be Rich - It has an awful cheesy salesman title, but has the best practicable and action focused steps to become financially sound. I reference it all the time, 10 years later, and recommend this first.

If you want to be leanfire, follow the steps included and just increase your savings and investing rates with what you feel comfortable.

I like to help out. I learned through the school of hard knocks and had to find out for myself how to get ahead. I'm retired early 50s. Just lived frugally, saved, was creative, had roommates (on another floor with a separate kitchen and living space).

You sound like you are on your way living below your means.

A couple of good books by Eric Tyson that I found useful:
https://www.amazon.com/Personal-Finance-Dummies-Eric-Tyson/dp/1118117859
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_15?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=home+buying+for+dummies+2017&sprefix=home+buying+for%2Cstripbooks%2C194&crid=IAOQ9V6DU20Y

Yes. I enjoy the challenge, and the slower pace. I enjoy looking around my living room and thinking 'this was all furnished for less than $200, and looks much, much better than many furnished for 20 times that.' I enjoy being able to splurge on other things (does that count?) while still being frugal on average.


Also,plug for my favourite book on the topic: the art of frugal hedonism.

Doesn't directly relate to FIRE, but The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life is pretty great.

/r/mead is a wonderful resource, as is The Compleat Meadmaker. http://www.amazon.com/The-Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning/dp/0937381802

From there, it's logging your recipes and patience. The sidebar in /r/mead has tons of fantastic information and the community is generally very nice.

Look up cohousing. Especially ones that remodeled existing structures (like N Street Cohousing) rather than building new. Creating Cohousing is a great book to read on it-my local library has a copy, but it's on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Creating-Cohousing-Building-Sustainable-Communities/dp/0865716722

Sure. There's a bit of a story arc where I came to my senses first, then discovered I wanted to unfuck my life, and leanfire principles is a part of that.

The one that started it all was The Art of Happiness. I was miserable and herein the Dali Lama shocked my life with his assertion that the goal of your life is to be happy. I had a mindset that I had to suffer in order to be worthy of good things in life.

Then, if I recall correctly were non buddhist books, but in the realm getting your head straight:Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life: I saw this man's TED talk.

& How to Stubbornly Refuse to Make Yourself Miserable About Anything

These two go great together to discover that its all in your head and you can change that. I had a terrible inner dialogue and was able to be rid of it. Life Changer!

The I think I read The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety probably 10 times over the last 4-5 years & listened to the audio book when falling asleep. This one really underlined how miserable we make ourselves striving for security that isn't to be had. There is wisdom here that constantly reveals itself long after having read it.

The Pema Chodron Audio Collection was a constant go to also.

My most recent listening are lectures by Ajahn Brahm of Buddhist Society of Western Australia - These lectures really turned me around to moving past the pain, fear & worry about changing my life.

\^\^ I really like listening to these while falling asleep or with a nap on the couch on Sat/Sun afternoons.

Some other notables:

Fuck It: The Ultimate Spiritual Way : Saying Fuck It when you're miserable due to expectations and attachments has a real emotional response vs the above which can be very cerebral.

Man's Search for Meaning: Sometimes it's hard to grateful when wrapped up in our own lives. I read this once a year as a refresher. When I'm being ungrateful I try to remember what others have put up with and it calms down my complaining mind.

The Art of Disappearing: Buddha's Path to Lasting Joy : more from Ajahn Brahm - There is a better way to live our lives and not be miserable. Simplicity and lean fire go really well together.

More minimalism than buddhism, but they jive well together:

Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life

Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism

Above all I feel these are all about snapping out of the nonsense mindsets & habits many of us have.

Good luck.

Life in Half a Second. Trust me on this one.

I recommend the audiobook version as it's read by the author himself and he really knows where to put the proper emphasis.

Have you read "The E-Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber?

It lays out the concept and process for setting up your business to run itself without you.