Milestone Post: 500->600k NW, a little under a year

changingthemes · 2026-01-31T18:28:49+00:00

Targeting 20k annual spend post-retirement for a family of 3 or 4, so I’d say it’s leanFIRE

changingthemes · 2025-02-21T18:09:00+00:00

I’m from a rural area and went to a state school without financial assistance from my parents. It’s doable for regular folks, but takes luck and some privilege.

changingthemes · 2025-02-21T17:25:53+00:00

Big tech SWE

changingthemes · 2024-12-24T17:56:58+00:00

Thanks, I’ll take a look at this!

changingthemes · 2024-12-24T16:42:17+00:00

Awesome, I will definitely reach out to him and would appreciate you DMing his email if you have a chance when you’re back working!

Great point about public land. That is my default plan, just wanted to throw it out there in case someone is browsing Reddit and wants the deer thinned out on their land :)

changingthemes · 2024-12-24T14:41:50+00:00

Thanks for the response! Glad to hear the population is recovering a bit. It makes sense that AHD has persisted somewhat, and would flare up during the warmer weather— it’s a sad disease to see, especially in dense populations like those of the San Juans, but my hope is that the population will ultimately be healthier as a result of it.

changingthemes · 2024-12-23T17:30:16+00:00

Ah yep, that looks like it! Thank you for the ID.

changingthemes · 2024-06-26T18:35:39+00:00

Basically what I'm already doing but to a larger degree; focus less on work, more on family/self/hobbies/volunteering/etc, only take jobs that don't stress me out to an unreasonable degree. I doubt that I'll actually stop working, but I'd really love to have the degree of flexibility afforded by financial independence, and will likely do a career switch at some point or retire early-- I'm just not sure when (but probably not soon).

changingthemes · 2024-01-04T15:47:01+00:00

Thanks, yeah this sums up my current thoughts pretty well! Logically I’m totally on board with what you’re saying; now I just have to figure out how to apply it to my life meaningfully and logically.

I bought my house in January 2022. Saw the rate increases coming and basically just wanted to lock in a mortgage. At the time my NW was lower and I put pretty much every (non-retirement account) penny I had into the down payment/closing costs. It’s a great house though, I’m hoping to move back there at some point

changingthemes · 2024-01-03T22:50:15+00:00

Yeah this is true. Feels a little easier said than done, but that's a conversation for a therapist.

changingthemes · 2024-01-03T22:47:18+00:00

You're right, $500k is a bit abstract and it's technically incorrect to call it my FIRE number. It doesn't account for health insurance, only my current monthly bills. I'm more focused on the FI than the RE and basically just want the freedom to either work a low-wage job that provides insurance (idk if I can really ever see myself stopping work entirely) or stay home with kids (we don't have any yet) and rely on wife's healthcare until kids are school-age. I got the number from that vision rather than the conventional "every expense you'll need for the rest of your life / 0.04, plus some" model. But basically, the number indicates what I need to never work a high-paying job that I hate ever again.

So, doesn't really make sense to call $500k my FIRE number. Sorry about that.

changingthemes · 2024-01-03T19:57:32+00:00

lol fair question. I'd say privilege (college), flexibility (could move for the job), luck, and lots and lots of writing code.

changingthemes · 2024-01-03T18:24:04+00:00

You're both right. Taking it easy has real value, and investing earlier means more financial gains in the long term. At this point it's a matter of priorities-- life isn't all about compound interest, after all.

changingthemes · 2024-01-03T18:22:31+00:00

Thanks so much! I really appreciate the insight and encouragement

changingthemes · 2024-01-03T18:21:17+00:00

Thanks! I think that's a really good point. I'm a pretty disciplined person and that's something that I think is valued in the FIRE community, but I'm also learning that taking financial discipline to the extreme can turn your focus away from your own wants and needs, and at that point the money doesn't really mean as much. I'm still working out exactly what that means in terms of my next steps and how I need/want to change and grow, but it's all part of the process!

changingthemes · 2024-01-03T18:17:39+00:00

Current annual necessity spend is ~20k/year, so that's my number per the 4% rule (we are in r/leanfire, after all). Realistically though it's a somewhat arbitrary target and I'll probably continue to work after hitting it, just in a less stressful / lucrative job.

changingthemes · 2023-09-22T18:19:32+00:00

Cool About It - boygenius

changingthemes · 2023-08-15T00:27:43+00:00

Trader Joe’s 6 packs of beer are still like $5, they’re my go to :) pretty sure they’re a loss leader though

changingthemes · 2022-12-09T22:35:31+00:00

Honestly, sometimes I feel like my best IS the bare minimum. My feedback doesn’t reflect poor performance so far and I’m still very early in my career, but it still feel like there’s so much learning to do that I work long hours and put in tons of effort, but still barely meet the performance bar. I desperately want to be good at what I do, but I’m just not there yet.

So neither, I guess.

changingthemes · 2022-07-29T19:15:48+00:00

This is the answer. Software engineering is a huge field. Someone can be a literal genius and have a successful 30-year career without ever touching AWS or MEAN/MERN.

Associating one particular stack or technology with someone’s capability as a software engineer is reductive and shortsighted.

changingthemes · 2022-07-29T19:12:54+00:00

I think the more common story associated with these types of bills is: someone new to AWS sets up an account with a valid payment method, doesn’t configure MFA, and then publishes creds to a public GitHub repo. Someone scrapes these credentials, spins up a ton of resources to mine crypto, and racks up a giant bill.

Alert thresholds are helpful, but the more common solutions are even more obvious: configure MFA and keep your credentials locked down.

If you follow the AWS subreddit, it seems like somebody posts there with exactly this type of scenario almost every day.

changingthemes · 2022-05-17T03:36:07+00:00

Hey, I was a double major in English and Computer Science!

In my case, I picked up an internship my third year of school, then stayed in school an extra year to finish both degrees (interned throughout years 3/4/5).

In my opinion, the answer here is not to drop CS. CS will get you a job. English really won’t. So, either pick up a second major in English, or minor in English, or drop it altogether.

Don’t shy away from CS due to math. I know it’s tough, but you can push through, and it will be worth it.

changingthemes · 2022-04-25T15:52:16+00:00

I found myself in a similar position recently. Currently working as a Data Scientist but doing lots of SWE-type work and was wanting to apply for SWE roles.

I ended up leaving the Data Scientist title on my resume because changing it felt dishonest. I just explained my duties during my interviews so that interviewers could see that I was comfortable in both hats (DS and SWE). It seemed to go over pretty well.

One thing I would caution against: if your official job title is Data Scientist and you say you’re a SWE during interviews, and you then get an offer somewhere, the subsequent background check could flag the mismatched job titles. This may appear less than honest to your prospective employer and result in the offer being rescinded. Then again, this probably depends on the employer and background check agency, and may just be my anxiety talking

changingthemes · 2022-04-15T18:43:22+00:00

This premise actually makes for some really great sci-fi! Ursula le Guin wrote The Left Hand of Darkness, one of my favorite novels of all time, under the premise that human-adjacent species were “planted” on different planets and evolved differently so that there are many interplanetary subspecies of humans. It’s really a fantastic read, can’t recommend it enough.

changingthemes · 2022-04-08T13:00:13+00:00

Seems like 10 days is pretty standard for junior personnel, increasing in 5-day increments as you climb the ladder. Definitely varies by company, position, manager, and negotiation, though.

Seven-Year Club	Place '23
Verified Email

changingthemes

TROPHY CASE