We are the FIREStokers!
When I graduated from college I found myself in a low salary non-profit job with absolutely no potential for growth. After paying my very low rent, car note, student loans, internet, cell phone, food ect. I found I only had $50 left over for entertainment or other essentials I might have needed. My whole life I had been told that going to college was the answer to leaving poverty and there I was still living paycheck to paycheck eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. I was in a great relationship and he had just been layed off by his employer. We were both absolutely broke!! I made a post on my social media page that went something like this
“This is my life… Do we as young people save for a wedding or skip the wedding to save for a down payment on a house. Do we take that vacation we so desperately need before the kids come or do we pay off one measly student loan or the car. Its hard to continue to make decisions for a better future when everything we’ve worked so hard for doesn’t pay off quite like we were promised and disables us to live in the present. “
Well folks, I’m proud to say that within FIVE years I was able to pay off all my student loans, the car, pay for a wedding (not a dinky one either), take many many vacations, save a lot towards retirement, AND buy a house. This went so well that now Mr. FIREStoker and I have decided to go for the larger goal of retiring early.
How??? Well that is what this blog is going to be about. I will start by share my philosophies and methods with you. It will be painstaking work. There will be times that you will want to give up and go back to the “natural” order of things. But the longer you stick with it, the more your mindset will change. Your perspective will change. And so will your purse, your values, your community, and finally your life. When our life started to change we decided to take on the goal of retiring early. And we just started stoking our FIRE.
It is my hope that you will become encouraged through reading this blog and I promise to be as honest as possible. I will tell you about our failures, the gray areas of our friendships when it comes to explaining why we don’t do things the same way as everyone else. And you get to be there along the way to watch us to see if we meet our goal. In do so, I hope to stoke the FIRE in you to make and meet your own goals. I look forward to hearing from you as you meet yours both large and small!
So… Are you ready?