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Introduction

We learn by interaction, listening, sharing and growing from others’ stories & achievements. So I decided to do something different and ask 3 key interview questions to various people in the FIRE community, no matter what stage they are at.

To begin with I contacted MrsMoneyHacker and she kindly agreed to give some insights. Yes you are the first interviewee!

This is how the interview went with all Q & A below for you to dive into, enjoy..

Who are you and how did you discover fire?

Funnily enough, it was on my commute to work one rainy January morning where a fellow Canadian, Kristy, from Millennial Revolution, came on the Ryan Tubridy show.

She was doing the interview from a beach in Malta where she spoke about the concept of FIRE and a brief overview of what it was.

She went onto explain that herself and her husband now travel full time and live off the interest of their investments.

I have been obsessed ever since!

What is the backbone of your fire strategy?

At its simplest level it is to get and keep our expenses as low as possible without sacrificing happiness and save/invest the rest. Also not to get too caught up in the end goal or which investment path will result in the highest net worth or has the least taxes but to just pick a strategy and stick to it over many years. Slow and steady wins the race. And all the while increasing our financial security which affords us more choices with how we spend our time.

It took us a long time to find the right balance between cutting expenses and maintaining happiness but feel we have finally got to a pretty decent place. Embracing minimalism and an interest in reducing our impact on the environment also helped us to find the things that were important to us and got us really thinking about the impact consumer spending and overconsumption is having on our one shared planet as well as the impact it has on those in less favourable circumstances in developing countries. Coming to this realization really helps to cut back on your own overconsumption.

By keeping our expenses down, even as our income increased, we’ve been able to save/invest more and more each year. It also afforded us more freedoms with our time when we needed breaks from work without needing to worry about money. Like being able to go without work for 8 months when we moved back to Ireland as I had to wait for my work visa to come through, or when our son was born and we both got to take 3 months off together unpaid without going into debt and allowing us to comfortably go down to one part time income while my husband stays home with our son while still having money left over to save towards financial independence.
Time after all is actually the most valuable resource of all.

What do you plan to do once you reach FI?

Reaching FI is not the end goal, really it’s more about building financial security for ourselves so that we don’t have to worry about money so that money is never a reason for doing to not doing something.

I think I’d keep working but on my own terms and on projects I am passionate about. I like the idea of being able to live, work and travel on a schedule that suits me, not tied to any employer. To feel engaged in a community and help others. And of course, more time with family and friends.

I’m always working on something new and so it’s hard to say what that work will be in 10 years time but right now, I’d love to have more time to advocate for, or contribute to some sort of financial literacy education both in schools and in workplaces. I’d love to start a financial wellness consultancy or advocate to governments to include more financial courses in schools or even contribute to the curriculum etc. I’m also passionate about the environment and would be interested in advocacy work there too

Thank MMH and please head over to this amazing website and blog if you have not already
https://mrsmoneyhacker.com/

As always, feel free to leave your comments and get in touch if you have specific questions you would like me to ask our special interview guests.

Check out my other unique Interviews | FIRE Dave