TicTocLife - A Story of Financial Independence
FIRE Insider
Personal thoughts on financial independence, retiring early, and the FIRE community from Chris & Jenni at TicTocLife.
Hey All,

Chris & Jenni here—we're back in Europe but more importantly, we have an announcement to make...

🙀 We're engaged! 🎇

Yep, some readers may be surprised to find that we've not been married already. But, the time has come and we're very excited.

Relatedly, we think that not enough FIRE writers are able or interested in writing about how their partnering decisions can affect their path to Financial Independence and/or Retiring Early.

But we can.

As such, we've begun a new post series on marriage. We're starting with the "why". Interpersonally, and emotionally, much of it is about love. But, on the practical side of things, and given the context of our blog, there are some big benefits of getting married.

Read it to learn about the legal and financial implications of creating a binding contract with another person through marriage. And, as usual, more of our personal story and path to FIRE.

FIRE Around the Web

Our short rundown on interesting financial independence-related links around the web.

  1. Looking to make $200K+? Here is what FIRE folks do to earn it.
    Some popular ones:
    - Woodworker
    - Fiction author
    - Airline Captain
    - Registered Nurse
    - Construction PM
    Check out the link for lots more insight and positions.
  2. Cracking The Code To Early Retirement: 17 Revealing Insights To Your Burning Questions! Financial Mechanic is celebrating 1 year of full FIRE by answering 17 burning questions from readers about the experience so far. It goes deep! Fears, budgeting, expectations vs. reality, relationships, and much more. Great insights here if you're looking to make the jump!
  3. FI Calc 2.0 released. "FI Calc is a calculator that evaluates retirement plans using historical data." Well-loved community tool. Pro-level insight—more than just historical success rates. Free.
  4. Sometimes all it takes is a little perspective to feel gratitude. So many of us in the FIRE space are swimming in luxury, technology, and pure comfort. But, sometimes we can forget all about it when looking at others. Dave had just such an experience while volunteering recently and came away with a great lesson in "Life Without Granite Countertops".
  5. Once you reach FI and start turning down the work knob in the balance of your life, you'll find you have a lot of free time. We've been traveling the world with that free time lately. But, it's not always cheap! Joe put together a great list of frugal hobbies: 10 Frugal Hobbies That are A Lot of Fun.

Our Latest Posts


If you haven't already, don't forget to vote in our latest charity poll! We're donating to an educational nonprofit this month. While you're at it, give our monthly FIRE budget update a read, too!

FIRE Engagement: The Benefits of Getting Married

FIRE is the art of mitigating risk and amping advantages in your financial life to free yourself from drudgery. How do the benefits of getting married play into it?

Read more
We can think of one of the benefits of getting married if it was on a beach alone—an easy wedding, ha!

Pre-Travel Mysterious Gifts (And Our August FIRE Budget)

Free adventure: sailing with Jenni's family on the Chesapeake Bay!
If you just don't count a monthly budget sized single spending category—our mysterious "gift" expense—we stuck to our FIRE budget in August!

Read more

From the Capital to the Coast (July FIRE Budget)

Our quiet July still included a trip to OBX and DC, but hey, that's what the point of FIRE is, right? Time for what you love! Travel, friends, and family!

Read more
July was a little quieter! We had time to enjoy one of our favorite free events—Festival of Arts! Music, dance, and theater in an outside amphitheater!
If you found an article we wrote that a friend might like, forward this newsletter to them!
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Warm regards,
Jenni & Chris

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