I will be able to retire within 10 years from (May 27, 2017). It will happen; it’s on the calendar.
I said it before, and I’ll keep saying it until it happens. I’ve shared this goal privately with a few people, as well as made it a public announcement last month in order to get some Kickass Motivation through Public Accountability. As with many things “unordinary”, I’ve received a number of comments from doubters and seemingly haters. Some people were genuinely curious about how I would do it. One of the key steps I’ve taken is to understand where my money is being spent, and seeing if those things are adding appropriate levels of happiness. So in order to pile on even more Accountability through Uncomfortable Transparency, you can take a look at my baseline spending with my Ultra-Luxurious, Carefree Lifestyle. If you think I should be spending less than this, then I agree! I’ll be following up with how I am reducing my own spending to a Still-Awesome, Intentional Lifestyle, where I’ll still be plenty happy and healthy while progressing towards the goal of Early Retirement within 10 years. So I hope you stay tuned (all doubters, haters, curious, and believers), keep me honest and motivated, and enjoy the journey!

My Ultra-Luxurious, Carefree Lifestyle
(baseline simplified average expenses from 2011 to 2016) This excludes my student loan payments, which I paid off in 2016!
Category	Spending Item	Monthly	Total
Home	Rent	$1,640	$1,757
	Gas, Water, Trash	$65
	Electricity	$35
	Renters Insurance	$17
Car	Car Insurance	$85	$181
	Car AAA	$8
	Car Maintenance	$25
	Car Smog	$3
	Car Fuel	$60
Phone / Internet	Phone	$85	$170
	Internet	$85
Consummables / Haircut	Consummables	$20	$38
	Haircut	$18
Food / Drink	Coffee	$14	$514
	Food	$500
Membership / Fees	WordPress Blog	$3	$5
	Perfume Fanclub	$2
Shopping	Amazon Prime	$9	$94
	Games	$60
	Electronics	$25
Obligatory Giving	Birthday Presents	$54	$118
	Christmas Presents	$64
Events / Travelling	Anime Expo	$100	$200
	Trips	$100
Combined Average Monthly Total			$3,077
Combined Average Yearly Total			$36,924
How Much I Would Need to Save and Invest to Maintain This Lifestyle in Retirement			$923,100
(assuming 25 times yearly spend, or 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate)

 

My Still-Awesome, Intentional Lifestyle
(starting in 2017 and continuing to adapt to and improve upon) I hope you follow along, keep me accountable, and enjoy the journey!
Category	Spending Item	Monthly	Total
Home	Rent	$1,640	$1,709
	Gas, Water, Trash	$35
	Electricity	$25
	Renters Insurance	$9
Car	Car Insurance	$30	$83
	Car AAA	$0
	Car Maintenance	$15
	Car Smog	$3
	Car Fuel	$35
Phone / Internet	Phone	$25	$110
	Internet	$85
Consummables / Haircut	Consummables	$10	$10
	Haircut	$0
Food / Drink	Coffee	$7	$157
	Food	$150
Membership / Fees	WordPress Blog	$3	$5
	Perfume Fanclub	$2
Shopping	Amazon Prime	$0	$0
	Games	$0
	Electronics	$0
Obligatory Giving	Birthday Presents	$0	$0
	Christmas Presents	$0
Events / Travelling	Anime Expo	$0	$0
	Trips	$0
Combined Average Monthly Total			$2,074
Combined Average Yearly Total			$24,888
How Much I Would Need to Save and Invest to Maintain This Lifestyle in Retirement			$622,200
(assuming 25 times yearly spend, or 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate)