Family FIRE Strategy
Core FIRE strategy for families with kids — savings rates, FIRE math, investment approach, income growth
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The 50/30/20 Rule Does Not Work for Families: What to Use Instead
The popular budget framework assumes a certain life. Families are living a different one. The FIRE community has no shortage of frameworks. The 50/30/20 rule. The 4% rule. The bucket strategy. Someone’s cousin did it this way. Someone’s podcast recommends that one. Here’s the thing nobody talks about enough: those frameworks were mostly built by
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The Paycheck-to-Paycheck Reset: A Simple First-Week Budget Plan
If your family is living paycheck to paycheck, you do not need a perfect budget. You need traction. Here is a simple first-week reset that helps create breathing room fast.
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25 Savings Hacks That Actually Move the Needle for Families
25 Hidden Savings Hacks That Actually Move the Needle Most families do not need a total financial overhaul. They need a few smart changes that actually stick. That is the part a lot of saving advice misses. It throws out big ideas, dramatic challenges, and extreme frugality experiments, when what really helps is a set
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The Most Unsexy Side Hustle Paying $6K a Month (And How It Works)
Making big lifestyle changes with a family in the mix takes a different kind of math. Side income fits differently depending on which phase of FIRE you are in. The Numbers Behind the Side Hustle Want more real-talk FIRE strategies for families? Get the Family FIRE Letter — monthly real numbers from our family to
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Pay Off Your 3.1% Mortgage or Invest? The Real Answer for Families
Market drops do not change our long-term math, but they do change the feeling. Before you decide to invest or pay off debt, make sure you have looked at where the leaks actually are. The Math: Mortgage Payoff vs. Investing Want more real-talk FIRE strategies for families? Get the Family FIRE Letter — monthly real
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Our Real Vehicle History on FIRE: What Actually Happened
When people talk about financial independence, they usually talk about investing, income, or cutting monthly expenses. That makes sense. Those things matter. But vehicles can quietly wreck a family’s finances too. The purchase price is only the start. Insurance, repairs, maintenance, and the urge to keep upgrading all add up fast. Looking back, our vehicle
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The Two-Phase FIRE Strategy: Why Knowing Your Phase Changes Everything
Want more real-talk FIRE strategies for families? Get the Family FIRE Letter — monthly real numbers from our family to yours. Join the Family FIRE Letter The Two-Phase FIRE Strategy: Why Knowing Your Phase Changes the Game Here is the part people do not say clearly enough when they talk about FIRE: the strategy changes.
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Why We Love It When the Market Drops (And What We Actually Do)
The market dropped hard. We’re talking about a real correction, the kind that sends headlines into overdrive and has people in financial forums panic-posting at midnight. Meanwhile, I’m sitting in our living room with Baby Spark asleep on my chest and Lil Spark’s toys scattered across every inch of the floor, and I’m thinking: good.
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The $242,000 Problem Nobody in FIRE Talks About
$242,000. Per person. That’s the Genworth 2023 Cost of Care Survey estimate for average lifetime long-term care expenses in today’s dollars. I’ve seen this number appear in FIRE forums attached to some version of “nobody talks about this,” as if early retirees are sleepwalking toward a cliff they haven’t noticed. We’ve noticed. When you’re planning
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Our Real FIRE Number With Two Kids Under 3
We did the math on what financial independence actually costs for a real family of four. Our target is $1.5 million. Here’s how we got there and why the number keeps shifting.