THE.PasT: "FeaR! I gave THE.CoNTeNDeR a few cure balls in THE.PasT for you. I told him what to do and where to do it. Since then he has gone off the rails a bit. He is not with the system. His choice to stop working - how dare he! He needs a bit of… Read more »
Who is this guy? THE.FuTuRE: "CoNTeNDeR who are you and what right do you have to talk about real life issues? Are you a qualified life coach, psychologist, philosopher? No. You are just a guy from the UK who's downshifted to rural France. Be a go… Read more »
Stuck, spoilt, lost, directionless, manipulated...? Source: jobacle.com I am now at the grand old age of 37. I have been fortunate to receive a good education at a low cost (well I got a small bursary to help me through). The generation before had i… Read more »
THE.FuTuRe: "Hey FeaR! Get over here we need to talk. Contender is getting ahead of himself he needs to feel THE.FeaR! Spar with him for a few rounds – probe his weaknesses. Get under his skin and into his psyche" THE.FeaR: "Anything for an old budd… Read more »
View of the local Cathedral from our Garden Monsieur l'ail: "Bienvenue la France!" CoNTeNDeR: "ail ail ail what is this guy saying? Can I get some garlic, cheese, a baguette and beer une bouteille de vin please? In this post we are going to have a … Read more »
Welcome to FISH !
You have come here looking for answers. How to get out of debt? How to save and invest? How to retire early and how you want to live in retirement.
Well this is the right place for you as out tribe has been through all of these steps. We no longer work for a corporate employer and have saved enough to retire early. How we did this is shared here on this site for you.
Our little tribe found out these secrets to financial independence in our late 20’s. Since then we have taken early retirement, in our late 30's, in just 7 years. We now live in the South West of France with our two young children.
Along the way I decided to share everything I learnt. My articles and tips on aggressive saving and compound investing are there to help you meet your financial goals fast. I discuss ways to help you decide what you want by building a life plan. This helps to work out how to get where you want to be whilst avoiding the pitfalls along the way.
My expertise was built up working in blue chip corporate jobs, extensive reading and putting it into practice. I have condensed this knowledge into simple strategies to help you meet your goals and not those of the bank or the place you work.
There are free planning tools on this site that help you make a life plan. A plan for your future. The tools calculate how to reach your financial goals in a timeline that suits you. The tools help set out your life goals, make them happen and how to exceed them.
There are tips on how to simplifying your life to remove day to day headaches. These include ways to pay off debt fast buy eliminating wasteful spending habits. How to reduce your monthly bills through choices that actually improve your health and wellbeing. Identifying things you don’t need that sap your time and wallet.
There are little sustainability projects to reduce your dependence on shops and utilities whilst saving money to spend on things you want.
All of these little steps will show you how save 50%+ of your salary so you can meet your goal whatever it is. This huge saving rate can be compounded for very early retirement. I am sure you will find something here for you.
Darren Lee (A.K.A the Contender as in my blog)
