March 2017 | Enough Time To...

A Weekend To Mudgee Without Visiting Wineries?!

Posted on March 27, 2017March 26, 2017 by Mrs. ETT

Long weekends away to towns that are within a reasonable distance of our home is one of the reasons Mr. ETT and I have decided to invest. We want to buy “future” us the opportunity to do this as the whim takes us, without having to juggle our time or fill in pieces of paper asking permission to take leave from work. Our most recent trip was to Mudgee, in the Central West of NSW. Mudgee is best known for its wineries, however this weekend was about Mr. ETT meeting up with a number of other motorbike riders from around Australia. This is what I did in Mudgee without visiting

Begin to Invest 1 – What Are Our Goals?

Posted on March 19, 2017March 16, 2017 by Mrs. ETT

In 2015, I happened across the Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) movement. I wasn’t actively looking for direction in our financial life, but I had been living with a vague discomfort that we could be doing more. FIRE galvanised me to once again take control of our money. In 2016 we tracked spending, and saved an emergency fund. The next step was beginning to invest – but how? The idea of investing was scary. There are so many options, traps and pitfalls for the unwary that I wanted to be fully prepared before we started. This series of posts is about the resources we used, and the steps we took

February 2017 Spending and New Habits Update

Posted on March 13, 2017May 31, 2017 by Mrs. ETT

After our expensive year in 2016, we set ourselves a goal to reduce our spending by 10% in 2017. We want to do this because it has a double effect. Firstly, it frees up more money to invest for our future. Secondly, if we can live on less, then it brings that future much closer. In 2016, we spent $80,000. To generate that using passive income and the 4% rule, we would need $2,000,000 invested! February was an extraordinary month, where routines and norms went out of the window. Each day was trying to cope with the increasingly unpleasant surprises that come with failing health. Real life stopped, including cooking