Federal FIRE

I'm a Federal employee interested in financial independence and potential early retirement. I'm blogging about it over at

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

Occasionally things hit me about where I used to blow a lot of money...

Watching Netflix tonight with the sound through built-in TV speakers reminded me of how much I spent on a 7.1 channel system 12 years ago b/c I thought needed it. Spoiler alert: didn't "need" it!

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

Many small changes happening as we prepare for our first child but we took one of our first big financial moves this week by opening and funding a 529. We live in a high income-tax state but it has a good incentive with the 529!

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

@govworkerfi Waving everyone through a four way stop is too real for me.

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

When did “right?” become a regular filler word used similarly to “like” or “um”?

I’m pretty sure about 25% of the words on Vox’s The Weeds are either like or right. Enjoy the content, but it can be really hard to listen to sometimes...

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

“Who you are is defined by what you’re willing to struggle for.”

That line from Mark Manson’s “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” really stuck with me on the train this morning...

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

@LizOfficer I’m with @stephonee on option 4. We have a small base in our regular expenses account in case there’s a high bill one month, but in general our e-fund is to 1) use cash flow by reducing savings for immediate emergency and 2) tap into taxable fund if it’s a crisis

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

Got my total production time for today's post down to under 90 minutes. Hopefully it doesn't show...

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

Following up to my post with @govworkerfi on overseas benefits as a Fed, this week's post at The Federal FIRE details how we haven't paid for our mortgage in a year while still building home equity and increasing our savings rate!

https://t.co/RtA43yzpsk

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

@The76KProject @govworkerfi I would applaud you on an airplane for that rather than just letting them run up and down the aisles 😬 Said from experience as a very frequent flyer...

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

Announcement time! We’re expecting our first child in Feb 👶🏼! I know this is going to be a major shift, and we’re already planning for it, but for you family-raising FI-ers, what’s your best piece of advice?

#personalFinance #FinancialIndependence #FIRE

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

@fi_nordic @dollarrev Appreciate you sharing your mistakes!

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

@MoneySavvyMind Thanks! We just opened a 529 yesterday and had a budget discussion about what to change to fund it!

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

@govworkerfi Haha - thanks! Yeah, we're not into the competition thing. I have a brother with a 9 year old who does 3 sports and 2 other non sport activities. She has zero time outside of all of these, and every one is competitive. I don't get it at all...

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

@LeanOutEngineer Thanks! Cloth diapers is on our list of things we're currently weighing - more from an environmental perspective than financial really.Appreciate the input!

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

@tea4tamara Have a friend who went back in late 30’s and got her PhD at 43. Made a major career change at that point and I don’t think she’s looked back since and is doing awesome things in her field.

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

@fromonegeek I have experienced people trying to get stuff for free, but there is no objective reason that she even needs a new fence! I was really dumbfounded by the whole thing.

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

Our neighbor called our landlord complaining that our bushes are pushing her fence over. After enough complaining they sent someone to check and found that 1) her fence isn’t leaning and 2) our bushes aren’t touching it.

Who does this sort of thing to try and get free stuff?!

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

Love @DebtAscent’s approach to debt reduction and saving at the same time!

This is a good example for white collar Feds who may have the income to approach debt this way and also take advantage of agency debt reduction help.

[Debt Ascent @DebtAscent]

We hit a new milestone in July that seems a bit surreal before reaching our sub-six figure student loan balance in early August.

Our July 2019 net worth update:

https://t.co/JIBkYIjRms

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

@DebtAscent You balanced approach of tackling debt while saving is awesome! I don’t like debt as much as the next guy, but it’s great to see an example of pursuing both debt reduction and wealth accumulation at the same time!

(Of course acknowledging that your income level allows this)

[Federal FIRE @Federal_FIRE]

@TreadLightly_RE One thing that drove us away from our church was when they decided to put a lot of money to a “youth center” to continue to serve upper-middle class white families vs. using it to support a community that needed it. Glad you have a faith community putting that foot forward!