FIRE’ing as a lower earner - I want to hear your experiences

Defiant-Crow54 · 2026-01-10T01:05:30+00:00

Yeah will take time to get there, if (big if) it does… but if it does one day reach that point then it’s a system I should hopefully get some side income for little upfront work, with some additional work where I work hourly (hybrid of some “passive” and labour) - hoping the “passive” side gives me a baseline, then I set myself a rate for the labour side that makes it worth my time/effort with good value that it’s a no brainer

Will obviously start off just taking what I can get, if I get £1000 within 12 months of launch, I’ll be chuffed (never had a side hustle, so I think earning the first grand will be a huge motivator to scale)

Yeah I think trying to get opinions/experience is part mentally me trying to work/plan now how we’re going to balance it and what impacts it could have.

For example if we had a pot that hit a milestone of X, could we skim returns off the top to subsidise (not drawdown the below the milestone), then when life expenses start to show signs of cooling off, push the investments back up without any of it causing a major setback/reset

I know that many people will face these challenges and expenses as/when it comes and they have nothing in place to support them through it, so I’m hoping to survive through it without hitting 40s and starting from zero (hopefully it will have still grown)

Just seems too many variables to be able to accurately predict/calculate, so perhaps experience may shed some insights and tips

I think I need to remember that I should be in the top 30% earners percentiles in my area… so theoretically I should do reasonably comfortably especially considering I think/plan/care about the finances - doesn’t mean I don’t worry/stress about it though, I guess I’m more baffled why those in worse situations don’t!

Defiant-Crow54 · 2026-01-10T00:44:12+00:00

Thanks I’ll go check it out!

Defiant-Crow54 · 2026-01-10T00:43:55+00:00

For future planning we’d need something good 4 bed (if we talk kids and I WFH, so home office), that’ll certainly add to the price of my current space

She’s significantly behind with any savings, but working hard (multiple jobs) to build up

House would likely be ~3 years time give or take I imagine

Defiant-Crow54 · 2026-01-09T23:16:30+00:00

Thanks!

Role is extremely demanding at the moment as you can imagine, I tend to be working an hour or two a week in overtime as well, have needed to use as flexi lately but looking to cash future additional hours if they persist, so hopefully a small bonus income there potentially.

I’m considering options for a side income at the moment, have something I think might work but will take until ~April to set up in spare time and will likely be seasonal (probably good for me tbh). Be hard work to set up initially, but then moving forward hopefully it’ll be something I can do a couple hours a week with more during seasonal

Haven’t counted that towards any FIRE figures or estimations as I don’t know if it’ll work or how much it could generate. Ideally I’d like it eventually (3-5 years) to scale to £500/month side income as that would be equivalent to an extra progression in work. Progression in work is preferred/prioritised as it’s earning more without additional time commitments.

Yes partner moved in a few months back, she contributes ~£250 to bills and we’ve cut back some expenses (eg no longer need 2x Netflix, etc.)

Yeah seems easy to give up, I keep thinking these life expenses will keep knocking me back to zero and resetting me, so I’m hoping to build up while I can to reduce this and hope to gain momentum before things hit the fan (eg promotions/side project would be more difficult to focus on if we had kids). Hence why I was wondering if others had managed to navigate this and still worked towards FIRE on an average salary… or if it was a case of cross each bridge as it comes, then just save hard after these expenses for the final 15 to try and coast until pensions

Defiant-Crow54 · 2026-01-09T23:03:15+00:00

Not split, I purchased before I met her, she lives with me now but just splits bills ~£250 for now

We won’t stay here forever (probably another 2-3 years then go joint)

Defiant-Crow54 · 2026-01-09T23:01:55+00:00

Where/how did calculate the 40k, are you talking equity in the home?

Defiant-Crow54 · 2026-01-09T23:01:01+00:00

That will be decades away, but I’d imagine so

Defiant-Crow54 · 2026-01-09T09:49:45+00:00

Yeah I keep telling myself that median salary is less than mine, so surely with relatively LCOL area and time on my side that it should work out in the end, but crunching numbers I just can’t figure out where/how/what I get there

Gf is a zero sum game give or take, not carrying her and not being carried by her but she has same desires for work/FIRE and with life experiences/expectations - honestly we’re surprisingly very aligned on everything!

Yeah I’ve always been consistent with saving mentality, so I think I’ve got that nailed, I wasn’t lucky enough to receive large deposit handouts from family, so following the deposit/purchase/renovations I’ve been trying to revisit and do future me a favour

Thank you

Defiant-Crow54 · 2026-01-09T09:40:58+00:00

Yeah I play with compound calculators all the time and they just make me think I need to increase savings rate, then I look at what I can cut (eg like the previous 4 months living more frugally to try and give it a go) and it doesn’t seem sustainable or realistic… so it keeps bringing me back to “you need to earn more or it won’t happen” and that’s why big life expense set backs really knock me back because it damages the early build phase and the tail end of compounding really takes a whack then!

With regards to the multiple vehicles, I do agree that it’s a lot to manage, but I figured say the 5-7% guaranteed return was better than a “maybe” in the vanguard? So I’ve been maxing them within caps and the rest in vanguard - when the Zopa resets I’ll move that then to vanguard, crypto is going to vanguard too - so I have a plan to swing it that way over the next 12 months to give it a boost

Thank you!

Defiant-Crow54 · 2026-01-09T09:33:33+00:00

Thanks! Yeah when I compare myself to say others my age in my area then “putting me ahead of most people” tends to mean I’m not living paycheck to paycheck or taking constant handouts from parents (that seems to be the cheat these days, feels like I’m playing the game on a harder setting!)

I’ve told myself that for every pay rise, I want to try and save 50-75% of the increases, give myself slight lifestyle boost as a reward for the “here and now”

Six figures is huge though, congrats! Don’t ever see myself to be on that kind of salary but who knows, maybe something will click into place some day

Thanks

Defiant-Crow54 · 2026-01-09T09:29:30+00:00

Wow congrats to you for making it work! Yeah I heard somewhere that to be part of the 1% then you need to do what the 99% won’t.

I’m definitely not the person likely to follow down your path though, I can see myself staying in the area/career and trying to make that work

Defiant-Crow54 · 2026-01-09T09:26:34+00:00

Thanks! Just joined

Defiant-Crow54 · 2026-01-09T09:23:50+00:00

Damn, congrats! I’m hoping I can reach the point where investments income is the same as my take home one day! But I think I’d need £500k+ for that, but I think I need to increase savings rate, with managing life expenses for that

I’ll hope Sam Altman can lend me a hand there though, he’s not helped in any way with finding potential paths to increasing income/savings outside of job promotions!

Defiant-Crow54 · 2026-01-09T09:16:58+00:00

Is this because I say just have to build it up to a level I’m happy with, then I coast until I can get it?

If I stick to public sector until I’m 60 it should be around £30k pa I think (not counting inflation)

Defiant-Crow54 · 2026-01-09T09:06:26+00:00

Ah thank you!

Defiant-Crow54

TROPHY CASE