All About Me

To put my journey in context perhaps I should tell you a little about myself. I began saving in 2006 at the age of 27. My aim was and still is for financial independence which means generating enough passive income in order to retire from work.

I’ve always been fascinated by money. As a child I would regularly save my pocket money and from my £8-a-week paper round I managed to save £500. Obviously this meant being frugal with money. Coming from a relatively poor background worries over lack of money in the family drilled into me this sense of not wanting to worry about money in the future. The hoarding away of money seemed like an enjoyable past time. My father collected stamps in the same way I collected money.

After leaving school I went to university and earned a degree in economics. After graduating I spend a few years in dead-end jobs but saved enough to fund a gap-year backpacking in Australia. When I returned to the UK I worked briefly in the City at a bank before getting itchy feet again and deciding to leave the UK and work abroad. After taking a course in teacher training I landed my first overseas job in Thailand.

I enjoyed the lifestyle change. The weather, food and people all attracted me and I decided I wanted to enjoy life and the sense of freedom working and living abroad gave me. The money and the prospects weren’t that great, but I figured with the cost of living and taxes much lower than the UK it would be possible to begin saving for the long term. Being a particularly lazy person the prospect of being more frugal attracted me more than trying to earn a bigger salary. Being frugal can be a rewarding challenge which I enjoy. In addition to leading a more minimalist lifestyle you don't waste so much money and your spending choices tend to be better for the environment too. Admittedly my efforts at saving could be better focused on earning more. However I have a relatively stress free lifestyle. I live in a condo with a swimming pool and gym and still get to travel to great places (my recent holidays include Osaka, Japan; Budapest, Hungary and one month travelling around Spain) plus I am currently on target to achieve my saving goals. Please don’t think being frugal means living in a wooden hut eating gruel 3 times a day.

So there you have it. I’m a fairly normal person earning a modest £20,000-a-year, enjoying myself but with an eye on the future. Come back soon and I will tell you how I started and what I do with my money and how you can start putting something by for yourself. I’d love to hear any comments or questions you might have and I aim to answer these as soon as I can. Thanks for reading.

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