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FIRE Insider
The inside scoop on financial independence, retiring early, and the FIRE community from Chris & Jenni at TicTocLife.
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Good afternoon from extremely sunny Arizona! Chris here and I’m writing this September edition of the FIRE Insider from the back patio of my grandparents’ house outside of Phoenix. Jenni and I have been crisscrossing Wisconsin, Florida, and now Arizona. We’re off to California tomorrow assuming we don’t wind up with yet another canceled flight!
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Travel always lets me step outside my comfort zone, push the edges a bit, and think about life (and money) from a higher level. Sorry about the delay between newsletters, our schedule has been packed! Still, we’ve got some fun, insightful, and hopefully productive posts on financial independence and our early retirement experience below.
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We’ve written six articles since our last newsletter:
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- A Clever Way to Financial Independence (My Money Mindset) —
Ramit Sethi might be well known for one particular quote: “Spend extravagantly on the things you love, and cut costs mercilessly on the things you don’t”. But is that too simplistic? Does spending “"extravagantly” really make much sense…ever? There’s nuance to that advice and this post digs into the details of how to spend money on what actually matters to you without cutting (to the bone) and losing the things you enjoy.
- Your Start to Financial Freedom (From Scarcity to Abundance) —
A more personal story from me that explains FI—starting with financial independence—and the struggle to find work/stability in the early years. It's an example of the mindset switch between scarcity (paycheck-to-paycheck) and abundance.
- A Summer of Travel (and Our July 2021 Monthly Money Update) —
July started off our summer of travel! Late in the month, we left for Wisconsin. We finally had a full year of net worth data and donations to poke through. We also reviewed community health nonprofits, and detailed our monthly budget.
- A Lesson in Lifestyle Inflation (and Adventure) From the Beach —
What's the cost of losing your sense of adventure and following the crowd? If crowds are the ultimate purveyors of lethargy, then it’s your sense of adventure that protects you from their allure; cherish it as part of your financial mindset. Bending the world to your will and sheltering yourself from the unknown is an endless chasm to fill your wealth with.
- Wealth vs Income (and How I Can’t Afford Our Mortgage) —
I tackle the dynamic between wealth and income—while working to answer what’s more important for your success. Once you have ”enough” in your pursuit of FIRE, what are the trade offs of losing your high income? This post also serves as a bookend to my first post on refinancing with quite the interesting outcome.
- We Blew a Hole in Our August Budget (and We Head West) —
Our latest post! Surprise! We overspent our budget big time—and share the details! We also review refugee nonprofits as our summer of travel goes west.
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What we've been reading —
Neither Jenni or I have had as much time as we’d like to be able to read and participate with the larger FIRE community. Still, we’ve found some incredibly great writing on money and psychology out there we think you’d enjoy as well. Check out some of the articles and podcasts below from friends and peers!
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Money
Noel at Happily Disengaged questions how taxes and happiness are interlinked in different regions. In the US, we think taxes are high but imagine paying more than 50% income tax AND being happy about it. But if you knew these taxes paid for healthcare, higher education, childcare, etc.—would that make you less unhappy to pay more?
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Mr. Tako continues his great analysis of stock investing (if that’s your thing over index funds!) with a list of long-term (20+ years) holds. You might be surprised by what’s left out of the list (hint, it’s how you’re reading this). But, it’s a pretty solid list for the serious investor looking ahead to retirement.
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It may not seem like having $2 coffee every would make a difference in your savings, but over time that $2 adds up. Building small habits add up over time. It's never too late to make changes to your financial habits or too early to start savings. You’ll thank yourself later when you watch how small things can add up as Along the Camel Ride says.
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Lifestyle
I really enjoyed this synopsis on financial freedom and relationships from My Quiet FI. He says, “The truth was that the greatest bulk of our shared lives was lying next to each other, eyes closed side by side in a bed asleep, rather than owning and sharing our time, wakeful and energetic in the daylight.” Give his case for freedom for another a read!
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Reaching FIRE is a shortcut to retired life and realizing larger pursuits in life—but that doesn't mean it's a shortcut out of having to grind your way through some tough work! As Freddy Smidlap says, there’s privilege in working your nuts off!
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There's that call of the void out there for all of us, a precipice we look over and wonder—what if? But how do you know if that edge holds you from destruction and despair—or beauty and elation? Accidental FIRE reveals his near spiral into the deadbeat club.
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What we've been listening to —
From jumping out of the attorney game to sabbaticals and Big Hikes—Carla and Robert share their story about lifestyle design, mini-retirements, and flexi-F*-ability during Mile High and FI podcast’s first four-person interview.
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We both hope you find an entertaining, productive, or interesting article or podcast that supports your financial health! We’ve been working on our physical and mental health with hikes through the Grand Canyon, camping in Sedona, and quality time with friends and family.
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Our newsletter is a little shorter today as I’m actually now finishing up at a small cafe where there so happens to be WiFi while we’re on the move. A nomadic life is entertaining if not quite as supportive for writing, you’ll have to forgive us for now! :-)
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Our latest posts —
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In case you missed one, here are our latest posts since our last newsletter:
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A big, strong Lukas made his way into the world with our Doula by our side and healthy Jenni after a long labor!
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Last Month Before Baby (Apr. 2026)
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Our latest monthly FIRE budget: A $250K net worth swing, motherhood charities, and our last month as a family of two!
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Huge Investment Bonuses & Home Repair (Mar. 2026)
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See how we earned a whopping $11K+ in bank bonuses, read how our baby prep continues, and come vote for a nature conservation charity we'll donate to!
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Circus Come to Town and Heat for Cheap (Feb. 2026)
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Our heat pump project costs cut by nearly 90%, an induction stove for 66% off, and our ongoing baby project took over February. See our budget and tricks!
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Crazy Gas Surprise, Baby Buys & Investment Surge (Jan. 2026)
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We discovered our gas stove has cost about $3K in utility fees since we moved in, started on our baby buying spree, and got lucky with a huge capital gain!
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What FIRE Really Gave Us: A Path to Parenthood
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After reaching financial independence, we chose to become parents. But it was infertility that taught us what FIRE really has to offer.
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If you found an article we wrote that a friend might like, forward this newsletter to them!
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We're most active on social media here:
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Thanks again for subscribing to our infrequent newsletter. We both hope you're enjoying TicTocLife as much as we are. If you have feedback about this newsletter, you can reply directly or use our Contact form.
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