And I was recruited to another nearby high tech company for the ridiculous salary of $83,000. She drove down in her 1993 Civic hatchback, and hunted for a job. Year 4: At this point, my future wife finally graduated from her longer and more meandering education up in Canada and decided to join me in Boulder. Year 3 ‘Stash: 67k ($47k home equity, $10k retirement, $10k cash). By that May, I closed out the year by moving into my first house. After a few months in the new job, I had the $47k downpayment. I cashed out the stock purchase plan shares from year 2, which were now worth $10k, and saved up a few of my new higher paychecks. I decided to buy a house – but was disappointed to learn that I would need $47,000 in cash for a downpayment on a starter home, which would cost a minimum of $235,000. I drove the ol’ Probe GT down to Boulder, Colorado, and used the local newspaper to find another nice roommate situation, so my rent was only $400/month. I got a new job and moved to the United States for a salary of $77,000.
Year 3: This was late 1999, and both the job and stock markets were on fire. With the unnecessarily expensive car paid off and the higher salary, I was able to save more: $5000 into the retirement account, $3000 into an employee stock purchase plan, and $10000 in cash.
THE STACHE PLUS
The rent averaged about $350 per month, plus some negligible share of utilities.
THE STACHE SERIES
Year 2: Through both of these first two years, I lived with roommates by sharing a series of nice houses, which we called Nuthouse 1, 2, and 3. Because of this, and a rising tech market in general, I got a raise to $57,600 at some point in the first year, resulting in a Year 1 ‘Stash: $5000 (in a retirement account). I also worked like a crazy company slave, enjoying weekends and late evenings in the office. Fortunately, I did enroll in my employer’s retirement savings plan. I also flaunted my new salary around town with frequent bar-and-restaurant-hopping, purchases of computer equipment and furniture, accessories for my car, and a trip to a resort in Mexico. It took most of the first year to pay off that loan. And I borrowed money from my older sister to do it (what a clueless young man!!!). Year 1: In this first year I foolishly started out by buying a 3-years-new 1994 Ford Probe GT sports car for $16,000 with tax. No bank balances, never owned a car, just a bike, a backpack, and a diploma. Student Loans: Zero – due to low spending, about $10k of help from parents and scholarships, and good high school and summer jobs.īut also absolutely ZERO net worth. He gets right to work in early May, skipping even the University graduation ceremony because he does’t want to miss any work (he had already moved to a new city 300 miles away from the university). Money Mustache has just finished a grueling computer engineering degree and is now ready to party. Year 0 (1997): The Full-time working career begins. From the fresh-faced new graduate in the earliest days of the Internet, right up to the leathery and bossy carpenter with grey hairs in his beard that types for you today. So here it is, my best effort at retelling the story. can do is provide a vague summary of some ancient history.Īnd for my own benefit, it is worth sorting things out just for the record, so doubters can be convinced, voyeurs can be entertained, and aspiring Mustachians can compare their own progress. But fuck it, many financial bloggers have graphs of their net worth right on the front page, so the least Mr. Also, it’s embarrassing to walk around in your monetary underwear in front of thousands of people. I have hesitated to share the details until this point, mostly because I didn’t keep a written record through the years and it seemed pretty complicated and imprecise in my mind. Commenters and email writers have asked me to provide Salaries and Savings amounts through the years, as well as describe any windfalls or unusual maneuvers that made it all possible. I have been asked many times to provide some more gritty details on how I became Mr.