My Favorite Tools to Set Your Financial House on FIRE
Roasting the emergency fund…
As many people are seeing their incomes plummet or are facing uncertain financial futures, I wanted to share some of my favorite resources for financial independence/retire early (FIRE). While retirement might seem like the last thing on your mind, many of the principles and strategies can be helpful in saving money and setting yourself up for the future. There are a LOT of resources out there but these are the ones that helped/inspired me to reach early retirement and I hope they are useful to you as well!
Favorite Blog: Frugalwoods
This was where I first discovered FIRE and continues to inspire me. Mrs. Frugalwoods has lots of tips for how to save money, but in a funny, non-judgemental tone, and you can also sign up for her Uber Frugal Month challenge that emails you tips for 30 days, for free.
Runner up: Mr. Money Mustache
Mustachians are kind of a cult, but Mr. Money Mustache has an engineer’s focus on optimization and uses math to spend-shame you into saving more money. While he does not post very regularly anymore, there is a huge archive of helpful posts and a forum where people ask questions and debate issues around investing, real estate, taxes, and more.
Favorite Book: Your Money or Your Life
This is the original book on FIRE, before it was called FIRE. The first one, published in 1992, focused on high-interest bonds, which don’t exist anymore, but this version has been updated. It has very specific recommendations on how to conceptualize your money, which used to need graph paper but now you can use websites like Mint (coming up next). Check it out from your local digital library!
Favorite App: Mint
If you buy most things with credit cards (which you should pay off each month, of course), it is easy to track your spending all in one place with Mint, which is free. There is a website, which gives you more tools in trends and setting goals (like your retirement date), plus an app so you can see quickly your recent transactions across all your accounts and overall net worth. Personal Capital is another option that many recommended if you want more details on your investments.
Favorite Podcast: Mad FIentist
This podcast interviews people who have reached financial independence or do things related to financial independence. He also has guests on how to learn new skills and other ways to improve your life both now and during your early retirement. He has a blog as well, focused on tax optimization, which is the closest I’ve come to understanding US tax issues (but I still need my accountant!).
Favorite Instagram: @bossgirlmillionaire
I don’t do a lot of social media, but I do love Instagram. Stacy posts frequently with simple, clear ideas about saving money and smart investing with nice graphics. It’s great to see young women taking charge in a largely male-dominated field.
Favorite Documentary: Playing with FIRE
OK, so this is the only FIRE documentary that I know of, not to be confused with the 2019 comedy of the same name about firefighters with kids or a Netflix telenovela. The family that the film follows on their first steps to FIRE make some big life changes and also talk to several leaders of the FIRE movement, including a few from above. Now is probably not the time to uproot your life, but maybe you have more time to reconsider your current situation- depending on how many children you have clinging to you at every waking moment.