My FI Journey

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My FI journey is short, only 5 years but a lot has happened in those 5 years.

The Past

2015: I graduated from Oxford University with my master’s degree, moved back to the U.S.A, and then received my first student loan bill. I have always loved creating spreadsheets so I began to make a plan to pay it back. I signed up for the IBR plan, which I talk about in this post. Upon returning to the U.S. I began my position as a Part-Time teller, as I was unable to find anything full-time but I kept applying myself.

2016: A coworker mentioned debt consolidation and I decided to do that through Navient. A client told me about Dave Ramsey and I began reading and applying the baby steps. However, I fell off the wagon as I felt that my finances were going nowhere, so I began paying the minimum and saving more. I was promoted to a Full-Time bank teller, which meant I was able to pay above the minimum.

2017: Promoted to a Full-Time personal banker, this meant more responsibilities and a higher salary. It was at this point that I realized I wanted to work in academia and get a Ph.D. but I did not want to accrue more student debt. So, I started applying and received an offer for a paid Ph.D. in Sweden at the end of the year.

2018: I began working overtime to save and I finally quit my job and moved to Sweden. At this time, I found the FIRE movement and felt that it was less stressful. I began keeping track of my net worth, click here to learn to track it.

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Present

2019: I started my blog as I realized there were no other ex-pats studying and paying debt abroad. So, I began writing about my journey and realized that I am more keen on the ‘Financial Independence’ portion or FI. I also created a plan that would work for me, which means I will graduate with some student debt but I will have the cash to be able to move on to the next part of my journey.

The Future

2020: Continue this blog and have it generating an income. I am scheduled to receive a raise as I will be halfway through my Ph.D. I will also continue to increase my net worth by $10,000.00 by saving 40% of my income and paying off student debt.

2021: Use a portion of my savings to purchase my first rental property in Florida to produce other income.

2022: Finally graduate with a Ph.D.

2023: My official pay-off goal.

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