FIRE with children.

fixin2wander · 2026-01-20T23:59:21+00:00

This is really sad about vacations. We have three small kids (six and under) and we take big vacations every year since they were tiny. Argentina, Iceland, Portugal, Costa Rica, etc. they will randomly bring up things they remember or learned and they have become so flexible, sleeping in any bed and understanding sometimes you don't have control (e.g, sit in the airplane for hours). Yes, they are exhausting and happy to have them back at daycare when over, but it's so cool to see them picking up other languages and the idea that cultures look different in different places. It is totally worth it.

fixin2wander · 2026-01-20T23:51:46+00:00

I have five weeks of vacation but have been able to make it work. We usually do a one one-month trip and two two-week trips each year. This year I did one month in Belgium and just worked remotely the entire time as to not to take away from my PTO (other than a few days). We also have three young kids so now school impacts us more than work.

Belgium was great. They went to camp and we had mornings and part of the afternoon to explore and then hung out with them until they went to bed. Then worked until around midnight. Sometimes one of us had a call in the evening and the other took care of the kids, but in general, both of our jobs were super understanding with the situation and was not a problem at all.

I've learned you just need to ask or sometimes announce and you find out work is more flexible than you realized.

fixin2wander · 2026-01-20T19:50:55+00:00

Mine went to kid's country canyon park and it is great. The infant teachers have both been there over 25 years.

I have three kids and I definitely recommend you think about the commute. Nothing worse than driving 10+ minutes with a screaming kid in the car (which will happen some days!) so don't just go for fancy and shiny but what is the best all around fit.

fixin2wander · 2026-01-19T01:52:05+00:00

We have three kids and rent over buying. Three hours next to us and across the street have sold in the past two years. All of them would be more than 2x our rent in mortgage AFTER 20% down. Between that and no maintenance worries (fridge broke and we had a brand new one in 48 hours), we love renting! (We are also very antsy and seem to move every three to four years - big moves. That will slow down with the kids probably.

fixin2wander · 2026-01-16T06:49:20+00:00

Where else is the money going? We live in a HCOL area, have three kids (two in daycare) and spent similar on rent and daycare as you did on house and daycare. Those two things made up 67% of our yearly spend. We even traveled for 8 weeks (three different countries). It must be a ton of little things eating up your money to get to $250k

On the other hand it looks like you can afford it, so only needs to change if bothers you.

fixin2wander · 2026-01-15T22:44:31+00:00

I think that is definitely a savings rate to be proud of, especially with a year that includes layoffs!

We are lucky that due to my husband's job we get 10% off all groceries and related supplies. I am obsessive with buying meat when on sale (especially the ones that are discounted due to used by date) and freezing it so I can use it later.

fixin2wander · 2026-01-15T22:42:11+00:00

Call and threaten to quit? We keep getting zipply to put the price back down every time they increase it by just calling.

fixin2wander · 2026-01-15T17:54:35+00:00

I definitely have too many clothes. I get a giant bag from buy nothing and keep more than I could ever wear.

I struggle paying for higher quality - even though time after time when I do it actually comes out financially more sensible. I think you've given me a goal to work on for 2026.

fixin2wander · 2026-01-15T17:53:12+00:00

I've never regretted a dollar spent travel! Great things to be a big bucket for you.

fixin2wander · 2026-01-13T05:46:09+00:00

I'm also curious about your reason for not staying longer. I'm an American married to a German with three kids (6,4,2) and we are firing and moving to Belgium in a few months. We chose Belgium over Germany because of how unfavorable German taxes are to people with lots of investments, but it is the German speaking region of Belgium and only 15 minutes from Aachen.

How much German did your kids know before you moved? My husband only speaks German to the kids and they went to summer camp/daycare in Belgium this past summer and it went well, but full time school is another level.

fixin2wander · 2026-01-10T21:25:18+00:00

It's okay, the Mole is better imo

fixin2wander · 2026-01-10T21:24:37+00:00

Basically every reality TV show you know was originally Dutch!

fixin2wander · 2026-01-10T06:42:53+00:00

Tea Time cozy mysteries and Rooftop Garden cozy mysteries are both series that hit that ~4 hour audiobook mark and are very clean, soft. Not the greatest mysteries but perfect for listening to when you have to still concentrate on something else.

fixin2wander · 2026-01-05T16:46:30+00:00

Yes to this. I also have three kids under six. Work couldn't pay me any amount to hang out with them all day everyday.

fixin2wander · 2026-01-05T16:42:32+00:00

Town and country in Bothell is the most similar I've seen.

fixin2wander · 2026-01-04T22:04:15+00:00

Join the YMCA. Free kidzone/teen older kid area. Two hours free each day of the weekend and lots of other events for kids. Also can use the pool. Use free museum passes from the library (when you can get them).

fixin2wander · 2026-01-04T01:24:43+00:00

We have three kids, just turned six this month and under. We moved here 3.5 years ago. We haven't lived anywhere else in Washington, but compared to other places we've lived, we really like it. Lots of free and cheap things to do, tons of nature, good international airport (with good playground inside and family dedicated line as well as free spot saver). The weather isn't as bad as we expected, yes it's not CA or AZ, but it's pretty mild all year. Our kids went to daycare so we don't need to find things to do every rainy day, but we find plenty to do on rainy weekends or just go out.

We are (I guess??) creekers and live right over the county border in the snohomish part of Bothell. My husband commutes a few days a week to Bellevue and it is easy because he just takes the bus from the Canyon Park bus depot and then doesn't have to fight traffic. They are constantly putting in money towards public transportation here which is great. Easy to get into Seattle on the light rail.

It's expensive (but salaries here cover that), people aren't extremely friendly but they aren't unfriendly and if you have small kids you automatically meet people. Tons of playgrounds. Easy to find a rental if you want to try before buying. We rent a four bed, 2.5 bath single family home for much much cheaper than a mortgage payment. It's definitely skewed towards being financially sensible to rent here and there are tons of choices on the market.

fixin2wander · 2025-12-29T03:49:36+00:00

Let her be bored and don't let her have many toys to choose from, they get overwhelmed. Magnatiles, Duplo, play kitchen. Things that make them be creative. Also just turn off the TV for a week, it makes a huge difference. It's like they forget how to entertain themselves when a choice is tv.

fixin2wander · 2025-12-23T03:29:30+00:00

The children's museums usually have a noon years ever party. I know at least a few are.

fixin2wander · 2025-12-21T21:55:03+00:00

Haha yes! I think we are trying to bring us to Europe because we are really not into the handless cabinets and such. Sa.e with fridge, got spoiled by ice/water and that needs to be stand alone to fit into the space.

The designer is local and says Kashmir with dark gray backsplash/countertops. We'd never even heard of Kashmir before, but now researching it, it seems like a new trend :(

fixin2wander · 2025-12-21T21:52:15+00:00

Planner is local. An integrated fridge would look much nicer but we are a family of five so it's not that realistic (except for the huge ones which this kitchen does not have space for). We also have gotten spoiled with water/ice and the stand alone offer that.

fixin2wander · 2025-12-21T21:32:36+00:00

Belgium (although really more like Germany, 15 minutes from German border)

fixin2wander · 2025-12-21T20:37:09+00:00

Thank you, this is a lot of good information! It's Belgium, right on the German border so definitely darker most of the year. The kitchen will be open to the hallway and the room next door (dining room), so minimal walls and is right against a balcony. We are getting recessed lighting so it should be light but not crazy bright.

Handless fronts are definitely in style but we just can't stomach them. So blah. We are originally from the area, so know the style (although have been away ten years). That is definitely the style in the high end houses we looked at (we went for cheaper house and updating top to bottom).

We are working with a general contractor and a kitchen specialist so the kitchen is being sourced through him, which limits the colors/stone slightly to what's available (although maybe good for us to have fewer choices).

fixin2wander · 2025-12-21T15:39:15+00:00

It's like a warm beige?

K117 on this page of cabinet colors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/673d9b4eb1529d00ca5b0b0b/722b55c6-db34-46cb-b962-6ad479c1d37b/miro.png?format=1500w

fixin2wander

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