this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2024
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We lived in Bangkok for a couple of years before we had kids, we sort of came back here because we didn't want to raise kids over there. Honestly, thinking about it the hot season there was pretty unbearable, and this was about 10 years ago. It was a big city though, hardly any trees in built up areas made it stifling.
I do fantasize about living on a tropical island near beaches, waves and coconut trees. Don't think we'll ever be able to afford that though.
Don't give up! Price it up, see how many of your kids you need to be doctors! Well, doctors don't make that much actually. You need a CEO or two I think, of large companies.
I joke, but it's a real thing where people save up heaps of money then move to a tropical country where the cost of living is low to retire early. A subset of the FIRE movement.
The last year has felt impossible to save what with almost everything getting more expensive.
I don’t think I could stick to a saving enough through FIRE for as long as it takes, especially with growing children 😓
TBH I think most people doing FIRE are young with no kids. There are definitely people with kids doing it (or trying), but I think it becomes harder when you have to pay for the living costs of several people.
I personally try not to spend superfluously, but identify what's important to me. We manage to save OK, though at the moment we are focused on the mortgage.
That makes sense.
I just get bored really easily, then start dreaming up projects or improvements to do around the house. And if I’m bored, I can’t stop thinking about it until I do it, which usually necessitates spending money. It’s a problem, but sometimes the quality of life upgrades are worth it.
I'm a bit like that too! But I try to keep to one area. I will spend on tech if I feel like it would be a fun project or if it lets me do something cool, but when I buy a bike I'm getting a cheaper one not an E-bike (but not so cheap it breaks and ends up costing more). When I buy a car I get the one that gets the job done, not a Tesla.
If I was super into bikes, then I'd spend as much as I could justify on a nice bike, but hold back in other areas. Basically identifying one I'm allowed to splurge on.
We live comfortably but I've read a fair bit around personal finance and no matter how much money you make, you can still live beyond your means. So we try hard to live below our means and save the difference, even small amounts add up. I see relations talk about how they are still paying off their holiday on the credit card. That's something I'd never do, paying for something you don't need with a loan. I won't even take out a hire purchase to get interest free money, we can keep using the 30 year old hand me down furniture or save up for new stuff if that's what we want, but I'd never borrow for it.
This of course comes from a position of privilege. I know some people need to borrow or they will be sleeping on the floor. But I'm not sure I could ever justify paying for a holiday on the credit card.
Ah yeah, we’re similar we don’t really buy anything we can’t outright pay for. I definitely do use my credit card for the meager airpoints it gets, but it’s never an amount that we can’t pay off fully every bill.
If it was a large holiday, I’d consider having it on the CC just for the points, but I wouldn’t book anything I couldn’t already pay for.
We’ve just decided not get any nice furniture or redo the carpet until the kids grow up. They destroy everything anyway 😂 still rocking our free hand me down couch and dining set even though they’re pretty worn and have battle scars from the kids
Same here, we definitely use a credit card, but we aren't paying interest on it. The one time I messed up and ended up with interest, I got the bank to write it off 😆
Haha yeah, we're the same. When I was younger my parents said the same thing too, they would say they would get a new lounge suite when all the kids left home. When I left home they went and got a new one (I wasn't even the last to leave so I guess they were just waiting for me to leave), and the day it was delivered I was there visiting and the only one home at the time. I got it inside, put it together, then spilt a coke on it... and of course cleaned it up and never spoke of it 😆