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The Financial Literacy Course High School Was Missing

Greetings from Peace Corps Zambia. I love this podcast! Brad and Jonathan facilitate applicable advice and actionable tips in an accessible and approachable way. And the Facebook community is among the most active and useful I've yet come across. This is the financial literacy course so many of us were missing from our high school curriculums. My girlfriend and I have been binging all the episodes, myself at 3x speed. We're early 30s and it turns out we've been long living a pre-FIRE life, frugal as we are. Abroad for the past 6 years, we met teaching English in South Korea and easily each saved $20k per year, about 90% of our income, while still enjoying about 3 months paid vacation to travel throughout Asia. I also discovered Bitcoin early in 2014, putting me well on my way to FI now, but I surely never would have heard of it then, nor seen the value in it, if I wasn't abroad in the first place and looking for a better way to remit money back home. After Korea, we backpacked more of Asia for 6 months on less than $15 each per day. (That's less than rent in pretty much every US city!) More impressive than the little money spent was the ability to do so while traveling slowly, volunteering with help exchanges and CouchSurfing with locals, having incredible experiences that we surely never would have come across on our own and making friends we're still in touch with. (Check out helpX.net and WorkAway.info for great help exchange opportunities.) Then we enjoyed a year driving all over Australia for just $3,500 each, camping for free, doing more interesting help exchanges, and housesitting wonderful pets, spending nothing on accommodation all year and even selling our vehicle for the same price we paid for it! In fact, we made more money than the year cost, but it seems we rarely actually worked. Australia most definitely does not have to be as expensive as everyone says it is; just cook your own meals. Now in Zambia with the Peace Corps, our income is nil, but we're still maxing out our Roths. Wild as it may seem, we spend maybe about $10 per week for all of our expenses. It's a simple life, but life is good. We ChooseFI and we hope more people realize they can too! Geo-arbitrage is a privilege - and if you don't abuse it, seeking instead to learn from places and people - amazing experiences abroad await. Like-minded people, come on over! Thank you, Brad and Jonathan, for bringing like-minded people together. (And if you're an older FIRE couple looking for meaningful work, maybe now is a good time to reconsider the Peace Corps; there's no age limit and serving as a couple is a special experience.)

AdamGreenberg

05/10/2019

I’ve learned so much

I have been on this journey to financial independence twice now. The first time, I had a lot less debt and was able to eliminate it quickly. Life happened, and a wedding, babies, cars, and mortgage later, I am back under debt waters. Luckily with my personality, I don’t get discouraged. I just use this opportunity to learn. I found this podcast about a week ago and I am hooked. I am pretty good a budgeting and save an emergency savings but that’s as far as it goes. This podcast has really made me think about ways to build wealth for my family as I am getting rid of debt. I love this podcast. I started from the first episode once I listened to the last two that were added. It’s amazing! So excited to keep learning.

Echib

08/11/2021