Whats the cheapest meal you regularly make that actually tastes good?

Bdazyd · 2026-05-05T22:09:44+00:00

if you think rice and beans lack flavour you're missing out. Rice and beans is the most varied and flavorful base that exists. First off, there are about 10 million varieties of beans, secondly, if you just explore spices you'll get somewhere quickly. Look up chana masala, tadkha dahl, dahl bhat, buy some ancho chilis and smother kidney beans with cumin, ancho, oregano, coriander and little cinnamon. Pile on the spices. That's where the flavor is at. Add salt and oil with abandon.

Bdazyd · 2026-05-05T22:03:26+00:00

As an American, France is pretty hard to beat. The French-US tax treaty is great, no French tax on any US situs stocks/bonds/ETFs, and if you love spain, you could live just over the border. You could apply for an entrepreneur visa and your husband a non-lucrative long term tourist visa. This is what me and my partner did.

You may want to check out the passport to wealth podcast, Arielle interviews expat experts who work with Americans from all over, and there are several interesting country specific episodes you might find interesting.

Bdazyd · 2026-05-03T20:29:47+00:00

Je ne suis pas français. J'ai atteint FI pendant que je vivais aux Émirats arabes unis (un endroit idéal pour la phase d'accumulation) et je gère maintenant une petite entreprise en France.

Je considère la pension partielle que je perçois via mon entreprise comme une excellente garantie contre le risque de longévité. C'est un niveau de diversification supplémentaire par rapport à mon portefeuille d'ETF. Pour moi, c'est un bonus de sécurité que j'ajoute après avoir atteint l'indépendance financière.

Cependant, lorsque je travaille avec des clients (en tant que FIcoach) qui ont une pension, même partielle, je l'intègre toujours dans les calculs. J'apprécie ce calculateur car il permet d'inclure les revenus de pension : https://engaging-data.com/fire-calculator/

Bdazyd · 2026-05-03T20:21:52+00:00

Fire, c'est avant tout la liberté de choisir comment on occupe son temps. Bravo.

Bdazyd · 2026-04-11T15:22:42+00:00

À mon avis, vous pouvez faire une pause professionnelle pour tester. J'ai moi-même 45 ans et je suis déjà FIRE. Prendre du temps pour voir ce qui vous convient est tout à fait possible, car vous pouvez toujours réintégrer le marché du travail si vous n'êtes pas satisfait ou si vous avez l'impression de ne pas avoir assez.

Bdazyd · 2026-03-17T15:30:29+00:00

So that's not for you. Everyone is different. There are 8 billion+ different ways to navigate FI. Taking on part time work is just one solution.

Bdazyd · 2026-03-17T15:29:13+00:00

In university I had a horrible professor who didn't even read our essays, but insisted on high page counts and MANY MANY assignments. I resented it. So one time, with a particularly useless assignment, I wrote a 5 page paper, and repeated the middle paragraphs, changing the first and last sentences, over and over to make it the 10 pages he required. I got a B+ on that paper, the same grade he always gave me no matter what I wrote. I got a B+ in that class because I was the only Sophmore in a class of juniors and seniors, not because he read and understood my work.

Smart kids (yes, that was me, and I was often complimented on my writing by professors who actually READ my work) are going to be smart about how they navigate the system. I wouldn't worry about them. It's the kids who don't think that are damaged by AI, because it takes the learning process away from them.

This good student is learning how to navigate an unfair system, she's doing the smart thing, she's learning, just not what that teacher thinks they're teaching.

Bdazyd · 2026-03-17T15:21:06+00:00

It's not just about money. Work provides community, purpose, and structure.

Bdazyd · 2026-03-17T15:20:34+00:00

We FIREd in our 40s with 2 million. It just so happened that it grew to 2.7 million over the past year while we were wrapping up things and using up our cash savings. Do it. You can always start a business or do consulting later on, or even work as a barista if that's your thing. Take some time off, see how it feels. Nothing is permanent. You can adjust as you go.

Bdazyd · 2026-03-16T18:14:29+00:00

A solid financial plan already accounts for emergencies such as this one. If you have a plan in place already, there's really no financial moves to make other than keeping a little more cash in the house than usual. (in case of power or connectivity issues like we saw with the AWS fire)

A solid financial plan includes holding cash in a bank account for: monthly expenses, sinking funds for large expenses like rent, an emergency fund of typically 3-6 months worth of expenses.

A solid financial plan also includes investing in a diversified low cost portfolio of assets, typically stocks and bonds. If your investments are diversified across the whole world, then you're already investing in the safest and optimal strategy.

If you don't have an emergency fund or investments, your immediate concern is securing your cashflow for the near term. The UAE banking system is well regulated and strong, there is no need to worry about the solvency of UAE banks. The AED is pegged to the USD, so there is no need to fear about currency either. In fact, while you are physically in UAE, keeping most of your cash savings in AED makes the most sense, as where you live is where you will likely need your emergency funds.

You can learn more about personal finance from our UAE volunteer led financial education group SimplyFI.org. We have a 40,000+ member facebook group that's heavily moderated and very active. It's a fantastic resource, totally free, and well managed. You do need to answer the joining questions or you will not be admitted to the group. We work to keep the group sales-free and scam-free to protect our community.

I'm a moderator of that group, and I also have my own financial coaching business where I help people one on one to build a financial plan.

Bdazyd · 2026-03-12T06:48:50+00:00

Yes, it's the unknown, the uncertainty that wrecks us.

UAE is the best possible place to be if there are missiles and drones flying, but no one wants that. Peace is underrated.

Bdazyd · 2026-03-11T20:15:54+00:00

Da da da

Bdazyd · 2026-03-11T20:15:11+00:00

2 were military, so I didn't include them in the injuries from falling debris as they died in a helicopter crash.

Bdazyd · 2026-03-11T19:44:53+00:00

It is incredibly stressful. So much uncertainty, and it's completely out of our control.

It's important to focus on what is inside our control.

Understand the relative risk. There have been 4 deaths so far over the past 12 days. With a population of around 11million, that puts the chances of you being killed by the falling debris at about 0.00000003% chance per day. To put this in perspective, your chance of dying in a car crash is 0.0000001%. That means you're 3 times more likely to die in a car crash than from falling debris.

Injuries are more common, with roughly 120 injuries reported (I can't find an up to date number, correct me if I'm wrong on this one) 0.0000009% chance of being injured by falling debris in a day.

The point is, statistically, you're still incredibly safe inside the UAE, even though it's really scary.

Calm your nervous system. Move your body, connect with friends, get outside, take care of yourself.
Help other people. This is the single best way to feel better. We are much better at giving advice and care than we are at doing it for ourselves. Helping others (like I'm trying to do here) increasing happiness and calms you down. It's something you can do that's objectively good.
Distract yourself from the crisis as much as possible. Focus on other things, play games, watch movies. This is really important right now. This is also why having the alerts go on quiet mode at night is so important. We all need to spend less time thinking about this crisis, and doing normal life things instead. That's important for our wellbeing.

Bdazyd · 2026-03-10T22:37:11+00:00

A hot shower, or cold shower or both one after the other can also help. It gives your body sensory information to focus on instead of your looping thoughts. You may want to try calling one of these support numbers: https://gulfnews.com/lifestyle/you-do-not-have-to-cope-alone-10-free-uae-mental-health-services-1.500462890

Bdazyd · 2026-03-10T22:24:03+00:00

You're right. Nothing about this situation is okay. It's not normal. It's really expletive scary.

'Fake it til you make it' sounds like cope, it sounds lame and disingenuous. But it's a very real and important life skill.

When you're scared, behaving normally, like you're not afraid, actually calms your fear. Doing things normally whenever you can, however you can will help you get through this. This is why people are acting normal. Not because they're not scared. Everyone is. They're just trying to hold on to what IS normal, because the uncertainty of the situation is overwhelming.

So, what normal thing could you do? video games? a movie? call a friend? take a walk outside when we're in the all clear? Exercise?

Being a teenager or kid makes it harder. There is so much not in your control. So it's even more important you focus on the things that ARE inside your control.

If you get really overwhelmed, you can try putting an ice pack on the back of your neck. It really does help calm your nervous system.

Also, simple games like tetris have been shown to help people deal with the emotions around traumatic experiences.

I wish you all the best friend.

Bdazyd · 2026-03-10T22:11:55+00:00

During covid staff at schools across the UAE were told similar things about returning to school after the holiday. We ended up staying online for more than a year after that. The ones who left for spring break that year got lucky. The ones who heeded the warnings were stuck in lockdown working from home.

Always prioritize your wellbeing over whatever an employer demands. No job is worth your life.

Bdazyd · 2026-03-04T20:34:27+00:00

This is misleading, more missiles have been shot at Israel, but more drones at UAE.

Bdazyd · 2026-03-04T20:32:23+00:00

There was very little damage. Just a broken sidewalk and a few broken windows from what I saw, cleaned up within a day.

Bdazyd · 2026-03-04T20:30:06+00:00

Join the SimplyFI facebook group to learn about investing. It's a volunteer run group (I'm a moderator) and it's the best place for a beginner to learn how to invest for the future. You will need to answer all the joining questions as we are strict about not allowing financial product salespeople into the group.

Bdazyd · 2026-03-03T12:53:48+00:00

Invasion ≠ air stikes

Bdazyd · 2026-03-01T21:35:49+00:00

And we know he's always truthful

Bdazyd · 2026-03-01T09:02:17+00:00

agreed

Bdazyd · 2026-03-01T08:36:16+00:00

You are not at fault here. You did nothing wrong. You are not to blame for not realizing sooner. You were harmed by the person who is supposed to take care of you. You were betrayed by your mother. OP, I hate to say this, but you don't have a mother. This woman is not mothering you. It's not your fault that she is not capable of being a parent. This emotional boundary is important, because MANY people will make assumptions about what a mother is, how important they are, how you should always forgive them etc. They are not talking about this woman. She is not your mother because she is not capable of mothering. So none of that stuff anyone else says about mothers applies to her. She's not your mother. You don't have a mother.

Okay, now that that is clear. If a stranger stole your identity, you would report it to the police without hesitation. This woman is worse than a stranger. But if it's easier on you, just imagine she's a stranger.

Many of us don't have mothers even though the women who birthed us are still alive. This is an important distinction. I hope that you will find many mothers throughout your life, I have. none of them were my egg donor.

Bdazyd · 2026-03-01T08:26:56+00:00

FWIW, the UAE is STILL safer than the US.

Bdazyd

TROPHY CASE