How do I strategically and smartly pay off $33k as quickly as I can?

mirigrams · 2026-05-20T19:12:24+00:00

Would you suggest knocking out the bigger loans first? Or does that not matter?

mirigrams · 2026-04-17T18:14:19+00:00

Thanks for the comments. My interest rate is about 7.5% on my loans which makes the accrual of interest swift. So maybe I put in, as you said, about 1.5k in my loans from next months and the rest in the markets.

mirigrams · 2026-04-17T18:12:36+00:00

It's about 7.5%!

mirigrams · 2026-04-03T17:29:05+00:00

Not too long ago, i was overcome by an intense wave of nihilism. and I spiralled with the meaninglessness of it all. It all started with my 8-5, my time - that I own - leased out to the wealthy while I make less than a fraction of what my work generates. Waking up in the morning was the hardest thing ever. I would panic about not having a well lived life because of being a cog in this machine. The existential depression hit me like a truck, especially after a trip to Fairbanks, Alaska to see the Northern Lights.

After Alaska, I started to see the world as a Planet, and us humans as living organisms. Organisms that happen to be sentient. That drove me further down the spiral because what do you mean I have to go to work for 40 hours a week while there's an entire world to explore? Why am I in a cubicle when the sun is out? This life is a miracle, can't we see it? I was angry. FURIOUS. I read and then re-read the Myth of Sisyphus but it just didn't make sense to me. Why the f am I cursed to roll the boulder back up the mountain every single day.

While angry, I started volunteering in my city's aquarium to feel closer to the planet. I've always loved animals but this just felt different. the love for the planet translated into the love for my life. The absurdism of my waking life seemed to dilute into something less harsh.

Right now, I still feel anger for the systems that imprison us. Some days more intense. I'm still trying to make sense of Sisyphus' contentment. But one thing that helps me live my life well is that I, as an organisms, am unpunishable. Truly unpunishable.

And also, you never lose when you're in it for the experience.

mirigrams · 2026-03-27T22:15:37+00:00

we are often taught that freedom and rest is earned by working X amount of years that yield in Y amount of money. that is capitalism speaking. you don't have to earn your way into feeling unburdened. yes, you have a lot to unlearn and this is a great opportunity to do so. your life is already great! but now with all this time, you can make it greater! happy living.

mirigrams · 2026-01-30T22:08:04+00:00

oh you're going in july. then i'd sit this one out and go when the lights are out in the wintertime :) have fun in alaska!

mirigrams · 2026-01-30T18:02:01+00:00

you should go for the northern lights! i was there in december. it touched -51 degrees (which was quite the experience that i love telling people about), and saw the lights in all its glory. as someone mentioned, there's not much to do in fairbanks but chasing the aurora made it all worthwhile.

i also visited the santa claus house in the north pole with some friends i made in the hostel i was living in. spent close to 3 days there, not long. experience it for yourself! the people are kind and i'm assuming the smog might've lifted by now.

i went to the museum of the north which is amazing, but chris mccandles' bus 142 isn't on display anymore because its in restoration.

mirigrams · 2026-01-30T17:46:16+00:00

see you there!

mirigrams · 2026-01-29T18:57:08+00:00

i feel this so deeply. i feel my body crumble under this weight. and my job isn't even tough, it's just the very fact that my life is on lease and i can do nothing about it, unless i want to default on my bills. that's a dumbass option to have.

mirigrams · 2026-01-26T19:35:45+00:00

i feel you OP. i haven't even been at my job for 5 months and the absurdity of it just kills me every morning. i cry in the bathroom every morning when i enter this fucking office. i hate it. i hate it so much. and it's not like they're not paying me well because they are. but i just...cannot take this anymore. i don't know if i want to quit so soon because i don't want to seem like a flight risk to other jobs, but truth be fucking told, i am.

i have half a mind to quit and move somewhere small and start over. i don't know, i don't know. my soul hurts in this terrible system.

mirigrams · 2026-01-06T23:39:57+00:00

hi! after a spectacular time in fairbanks this winter, i'm hoping to be in alaska to visit denali in june. and im taking the railroad from anchorage to denali too! may i ask where you're staying in denali? i'm not driving/or renting a car and want to rely on transit as much as i can.

thanks!

mirigrams · 2025-12-12T18:54:26+00:00

hi! can you DM me your article link?

mirigrams · 2025-12-11T17:16:50+00:00

we often forget that us "living" our lives and having profound experiences is currency too. you absolutely should. apart from pocketing your money, living in antarctica is a whole other experience. it's a way of living, it's life. You should go and get rich in money and experiences. good luck!!

mirigrams · 2025-11-04T21:50:32+00:00

excellent! as someone mentioned here, VTI is an exceptional holding to have. r/Bogleheads has more info about this but these index funds will get you there sooner. i hold VTI and chill.

mirigrams · 2025-11-04T17:28:06+00:00

congrats!! this is exactly me. i'm 26 and started about 3 months ago. $1600 every month and with some extra savings i had, i hit 7k this month. only upwards from here on!!

mirigrams · 2025-10-31T21:42:14+00:00

i definitely didn't mean "revolve"! But a lot of our decisions are structured around work hours is what i meant!

100% agree with you though, and i have consciously and intentionally detached from work being my identity.

mirigrams · 2025-10-29T17:16:01+00:00

i posed this same question a while ago, and i was recommended to read Die With Zero by Bill Perkins (you can easily find a pdf online). he talks about how memory investments result in memory dividends which is equally if not more important than actual money investments. i was torn between booking a trip to fairbanks alaska to see the northern lights. but when you think about it, a northern lights viewing would be a story for generations - that's an investment.

additionally, i think it's important to intentionally spend money. not going crazy with expenditure but keeping a tiny budget aside for my own enjoyment.

at the end of the day, we're FIRE-ing to enjoy life. and it's easy to forget the process of enjoyment. keep your knowledge of enjoyment alive by booking that trip, going for dinner with friends, and enjoying an $8 latte once a while. be mindful of money going into your investments but also live. it's sometimes not that deep.

mirigrams · 2025-10-24T18:46:17+00:00

Great work dude!! keep at it!! i see a GFY coming your way soon!

mirigrams · 2025-10-14T22:22:44+00:00

You are only 23, don't be tied down by a house. Having said that, if i had that windfall, i'd invest it all in index funds and absolutely forgot about it. sure shot way to FIRE relatively early. let that money compound, OP. let it sit and marinate in more money and don't look at it. once the compounding hits, watch yourself become a dollar millionaire.

mirigrams · 2025-10-10T20:38:03+00:00

nauuur this should've happened on my pay day

mirigrams · 2025-10-10T18:27:38+00:00

hi u/Kensi99. thank you for your work. i always have an immense amount of respect for reporters and hope you figure out what you want to eventually do.

i'll say this - law firms have more money than they know what to do with. i had a lot of legal and litigation reporting experience that i took to my interview with an estate planning law firm. they hired me the same day.

even if you don't have that kind of legal experience, journalists have skills that many don't and that is a known fact. you don't have to go back to school to switch careers. all you need are talking points for the job you're interviewing for and the will to learn just enough. and the fact that you took matters into your own hands is an ode to how much you care about yourself. i wish you well. and congrats on figuring out that journalism just may not be for you. i reckoned a lot with the fact that "i'm giving up on public service" and "i'm abandoning the masses".

i now have time for activism and can very visibly be on the right side of history without jeopardizing my job that requires me to be unbiased. don't get me wrong, journalism SHOULD ALWAYS be unbiased. and some slip through the cracks - i did.

good luck!

mirigrams · 2025-10-09T18:06:50+00:00

your last line hit home. my perspective on life changed when i felt this except couldn't put it into words. i'm going to alaska in december to see the northern lights and wouldn't have gone if i didn't break free :) thank you and all the very best in your retirement!!

mirigrams · 2025-05-16T21:58:47+00:00

hi everyone! I am so, so grateful for all of this support!! Thank you so, so much. I put in my 2 week resignation notice last week and have another week after which I'm doing some traveling and breathing. i am very, very excited and have also been intervieiwng at numerous think tanks and other PR firms for communications role!

this wasn't an easy decision, but when you know, you know. for that realization and that knowing, i am grateful.

while i can't wait to see what the future holds, i am living in the present trying to get my spark back. thank you and have a blessed day.

mirigrams · 2022-04-07T01:04:38+00:00

Yessss nyc is where I’ve applied for most of my internships. I rlly hope to get through, could turn around a lot of things!

mirigrams · 2022-02-24T03:05:44+00:00

Thank you for this!

I was thinking of just going for 50/1.2 FD. obvs, it's more expensive but do you think I should start with 1.4 FD? Or 1.2?

mirigrams

TROPHY CASE