How I got to this point in FIRE

I first discovered the concept of Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE) in 2016, when I was working at my first job. I was sick of the grind in corporate, waking up depressed, and spending days and evenings feeling super stressed out about my job that all I could think about was quitting and finally escaping.

FIRE was such an amazing concept to me that I had never thought of, and I devoured so many blog posts from bloggers like Mr. Money Mustache and J.L. Collins during all my spare time, and then started trying to apply their advice to my life in the Philippines.

I struggled to really comprehend how to accurately translate investing into the local stock market since I had very minimal investing experience, mutual fund options were very different from the U.S., and I had no access to Vanguard funds. However, the basics of savings, living within my means, and investing in some sort of financial vehicle to maximize the growth potential of my money were easily translatable.

I started to create my own budget spreadsheets, track every last peso, and experimented briefly in the local stock market. Things were looking up - I finally got out of credit card debt, built a small emergency fund, and was on track to FIRE before 60.

While I was chugging along making progress on my journey to FIRE, I decided to pursue my dream of studying abroad. Finances were my biggest barrier in fulfilling that dream. I was on track to FIRE, but the cost of living in the Philippines was very low from that in the U.S. or Europe. The peso was also weak against the dollar or the euro. At the time, I decided it was best to use my savings and take out loans to enable me to study abroad, in the hopes that a good degree would enable me to move up faster in my career and restart the path to FIRE.

At this point in time, I have gotten my degree and have just finished my first year of working in the U.S. I have already paid off 75% of my student loans and reverted my net worth to positive in a year! However, I am once again at the beginning of a new chapter of my journey towards FIRE. This Substack is partially to record my own experiences and struggles and keep me accountable, and partially to share my experiences to other people and foreigners in the U.S. and to hear others’ experiences so we can help each other.