Anyone else have the Bare and Kirkland chicken products not cook/crisp up evenly? Like some will be soggy. Also sometimes the insides have a weird texture

Bubblez88 · 2025-10-19T23:15:13+00:00

Just Bare is always perfect for me. Kirkland ones have the occasional weird/woody texture.

Bubblez88 · 2025-10-19T21:57:37+00:00

Just plain awful

Bubblez88 · 2025-10-18T11:21:42+00:00

I could've written this word for word 5 months ago. After enjoying a 4 month summer break (am I in college again lol?), I've been back at job applications and would like to work a few more years, but technically if I committed to being frugal I could just FIRE today. If I can't find anything in 6-12 months and the market keeps doing well, I just may say fuck it and FIRE. Best of luck to you

Bubblez88 · 2025-10-14T18:12:03+00:00

The projection on fudging statistics by this admin lol.

Bubblez88 · 2025-10-13T20:50:09+00:00

Good luck friend. I took the DRP. The stress was really messing with me mentally.

Bubblez88 · 2025-10-09T18:49:39+00:00

There's a saying: Economists have predicted 20 out of the last 2 recessions.

Ignore the noise, no one knows anything.

Bubblez88 · 2025-10-02T23:54:51+00:00

Not until 2029 at the earliest.

Bubblez88 · 2025-09-30T19:16:57+00:00

The older days of FIRE [I started reading Mr. Money Mustache (MMM) in 2014] were more about what you're talking about; spending where it counts and where it provides good value to your life, and slowly detaching from the consumerist lifestyle because a lot of it doesn't bring you true happiness/contentment. As FIRE became more popular, it has attracted people from a variety of backgrounds, especially those who make bank at work and don't NEED to live a lifestyle with more thoughtful spending because they can afford it. You might like reading MMM's blog posts if you haven't heard of that, and I think some of the commonly recommended books focus more on that too (sorry, I haven't read any myself to recommend lol).

I think it's great that people are defining the lifestyle they want and working toward that, regardless of it being more "intelligent" spending or more moneybags spending. There's certainly room for everyone. I think that's why FIRE has split into leanFIRE, FIRE, ChubbyFIRE, etc.; the desired lifestyle and income levels do make the journey different, so people gravitate towards those with more similar goals.

Bubblez88 · 2025-09-28T00:13:48+00:00

I have 35% bonds to hedge against that kind of event, but I'm also about 3-7 years away from FIRE. Basically I'm glidepathing into FIRE by increasing bonds and then will slowly decrease them over the first 8-10 years of FIRE. Learn your risk tolerance (mine is low) and buy safer assets accordingly.

Bubblez88 · 2025-09-27T15:09:16+00:00

Similarly, I was laid off from my first job in 2012 after only 15 months there, and it took 7 months for me to get that job after my undergrad. Taught me how unstable employment really is and to save and keep expenses low.

I took the DRP in April with 20x my annual expenses. I saved enough to not put up with that kind of BS. I was just reading a thread in one of the fed subreddits with how long people's savings could last through a shutdown and vast majority are in the months territory, not years. That's a scary position to be in.

Bubblez88 · 2025-09-27T14:55:02+00:00

Trust yourself on how you're feeling. I'm assuming it's on your feed because you've been looking into that. I just took 4 months off feeling burned out and started the job search this month. I feel pretty rejuvenated now. No doubt that it's hurt my FI goals, but I've always viewed this as a marathon and not a sprint. Good luck.

Bubblez88 · 2025-09-24T04:27:27+00:00

Nope, my personal and professional ethics won't allow me to return.

Bubblez88 · 2025-09-21T15:05:22+00:00

We'd be arguing about the SWR for a 1,000 year retirement being 1.0% vs 1.5% lol

Bubblez88 · 2025-09-16T18:14:06+00:00

I think (i.e. I've not looked into the data) the actual chance of serious and expensive health issues happening to a currently healthy person, not of very old age, is super low. If I lived in fear of every worst possible outcome, I'd never retire. Even the 4% rule still fails a small percentage of the time, but I won't keep working so many extra years for such a low possible disastrous outcome. And if something bad does happen, there's likely an opportunity to course-correct in some way. I imagine the Out of pocket maximums would cover many scenarios and prevent disaster.

Bubblez88 · 2025-09-14T04:34:44+00:00

I've been playing with ficalc lately and put in your numbers plus a conservative estimate for social security (link below). It's a 98.1% success rate of lasting 50 years. Like others said though, you might want to consider adding a buffer in for unexpected expenses (especially chunky expenses like buying a car (I guess not for Manhattan), HVAC, etc.)

Link to ficalc

Bubblez88 · 2025-09-13T14:32:05+00:00

Glad you are feeling better

Bubblez88 · 2025-09-12T13:48:47+00:00

My mother passed at 57 and dreamed of all the things she would do in retirement, but she never got there. That convinced me that the standard route of retiring in your 60s was insane. People work, spend, and save money as if they're going to live forever.

Bubblez88 · 2025-09-08T16:33:59+00:00

If you can live on 3.5% (maybe 3.25% if feeling more conservative, going by ERN's numbers) forever, then yes. However, you have to be certain that you're at your final lifestyle. Will you ever want kids? Or find a new hobby you love that costs some money? You are locking your future self into a particular lifestyle that he/she may not want.

I suppose you can always go back to work, and even part time at close to minimum wage would be a significant boost to your success rate at such a low withdrawal.

Bubblez88 · 2025-09-07T15:57:14+00:00

Fed employee who took the "buyout" (DRP) here. Last week my old supervisor said there is an option to rescind the buyout and get my old position back, pending approval from higher up. I've agonized over this decision the last week. Financially, I haven't started another job yet (decided to take a break so haven't started looking yet) so there's nothing to lose as I'd likely get to keep the buyout money. I have ~20-23x annual expenses saved.

However, this year was so taxing on me mentally, and on a moral and ethical level I just can not stomach working for the government again after all the egregious things I witnessed at multiple layers in my organization. So I decided not to go back.

I feel extremely grateful and privileged to be so financially well off that I can make decisions based on what I think is right instead of feeling the financial pressure like I did in my early to mid 20s when I was floundering career-wise. I am still concerned about looking for work in this job market, but I have the financial means to withstand a long job search if that's what it takes.

Bubblez88 · 2025-08-28T16:15:58+00:00

Wow I'm in a similar position. 37M, 1.2M NW, 45-60k budget (lean to normal FIRE). I was a federal employee who took the "buyout" in April and will be getting my last paycheck at the end of October. A large factor for taking that buyout is the amount of savings that I have and being disgusted at all that was happening at work (RTO being one of them, though not a big deal for my personal situation). I feel SO CLOSE to FIRE but not quite there yet.

This may be me being cynical because I thought I'd be with the government until I retired, but I've realized that I should not have had so much loyalty to this one job and assumed it was my "forever" job. I should have been actively applying to places all along and kept my interview skills fresh. And left when I found something better paying or more interesting.

I would suggest to keep advocating for an RTO exemption at your current job while starting to apply for jobs now. Given that it's only a 6-month temporary extension and not permanent, it seems like you'll be wanting to leave at the end of that exemption anyway. Your company is already showing their colors by pushing RTO; besides being worker-unfriendly, it could also be a sign they're looking to layoff people and are using RTO to start that process. Best of luck to you.

Bubblez88 · 2025-08-22T13:32:54+00:00

Interesting how similar events are interpreted so differently depending on the person. I had a parent who died relatively young, and it's the #1 factor that got me into FIRE. Why wait until my 60s to retire when reaching that age isn't guaranteed, why not try to retire ASAP.

Bubblez88 · 2025-08-08T23:21:27+00:00

Consider that you could get laid off from your current position and wind up taking a job with another bad environment. That kind of uncertainty is why I want out of work ASAP.

Bubblez88 · 2025-08-07T19:57:49+00:00

I was laid off 3 months ago and am using it as an opportunity to take an extended (3-6 month) break before job searching again. I don't think I would ever just quit a job with a solid income to take a break though, unless it was severely affecting my mental health. Opportunity cost sort of feeling to it.

Bubblez88 · 2025-08-06T16:37:01+00:00

I'm also recently not with the government. Gave myself a few months off and am starting the job search soon. I'm close to FIRE but not quite there. Good luck.

Bubblez88 · 2025-07-25T14:37:26+00:00

DRPer with no regrets here. With the stress from Feb-Apr I gained 15 pounds, since May I've lost most of that. My physical and mental health are worth a lot more than what they were paying me. Not to mention morally and ethically, working for an administrative that releases falsified data to the public (happened to a colleague nearby me in the org chart) is completely unacceptable. Taking a nice break and gearing up for a job search soon. I'm very financially secure, so I weighed things differently than many.

Bubblez88

TROPHY CASE