With 6 months of this barista FIRE journey done, I wanted to take a look at the numbers and evaluate if they’re moving in the right direction.

For simplicity, I’ll split this into my individual expenses, our joint expenses, and income streams.

Individual expenses

The biggest surprise for me was that my average monthly expenditure has actually gone down compared to when I was in corporate.

I used to spend roughly $600 a month on personal expenses, think commuting, meals I get while at work, social activities with friends etc.

This has dropped to under $500 on average over the last 6 months.

I think the biggest reason is just that I have a lot more control over my choices. For example even if I do have to buy lunch, I don’t need to do it near my office, where prices are higher. I can look for a cheaper alternative.

On top of that there’s a huge chunk of stuff that can be directly attributed to corporate that is completely eliminated from my budget.

Things like replenishing clothes for work and rubbish like contributing to someone’s birthday present. Gone!

Joint expenses

In 2025, our average joint expenses was about $2,300. This covers everything from our grocery bill, when we go out together, home expenses and subscriptions etc.

So far in 2026, our average is about $2,500. This includes a big purchase (we had to replace our 7 year old TV), so I think if we were to remove that outlier, the average should actually be close to if not slightly lower than our 2025 average.

Again this is an area which has benefited from more freedom of choice.

When we were both working, dinner basically came down to who could pass by a place to grab something home. Now that I have time, there’s a lot more options to choose from, including cheaper (and sometimes healthier) places!

Our FIRE plan assumes that our expenses will stay roughly in the same level, and so far that’s working out.

Income streams

In 2025 our average was about $4,800 per month, in 2026 it has increased slightly to just over $5,000 a month.

Generally speaking, I would expect this trend of gradual annual increases to continue.

Basically the plan is to keep our expenses flat and allow our income streams to slowly increase over time to make up for the lack of active income.

6 months in, the plan seems to be working. We’ll see if there are any changes at the 1 year mark.

Before getting into this month’s update, I just want to let you know that the window to indicate your interest in my last options course of 2026 is open.

If you’re interested in that at all, please subscribe to my options newsletter to receive the link in your inbox this Sunday.

Normally I try not to mention options in this newsletter, but there are always one or two people who sign up for this newsletter thinking it’s the options one, so just wanted to put this out there for anyone who might think so.

Ok on with this month’s update!

It’s been nearly 4 months of this barista FIRE journey and I think I’ve reached a point where I’m beginning to enjoy it.

In my last post I talked about feeling a little bit of the scarcity mindset, this month it’s swung in the opposite direction.

As part of this newfound freedom, I managed to travel overseas with my parents to celebrate my mum’s birthday. We booked a nice restaurant and had an amazing time exploring a different city.

I haven’t traveled with my parents for something like 10 years, and it was nice to have this experience, especially since they aren’t getting any younger.

Of course, this would still have been possible even if I was working full time, but the feeling of doing it knowing I don’t have a boss who might text me while I’m away or work that might be waiting for me when I get back is truly something else.

I totally get that not everyone is going to be in this situation, but I’m equally surprised at how many people don’t even try.

I was having dinner the other night with a friend who does sort of invest, but they have no idea what their investment might grow to, what their plans are etc. That’s like training for a race without knowing how far you have to run!

Nothing is set in stone, but I think a rough plan is better than none. I personally didn’t map out this exact trajectory when I started on my FIRE journey, but I knew that investing early would probably pay off over the long run, and here we are.

Similarly I’m beginning to think about how the next 5 years could look like. It won’t be precise, but at least it’ll provide a rough plan to guide us along the way.

Hope you’re having a great month.

@themoneyloaf

tl;dr - turns out spending money without an income is harder than I thought!

Month 2 of my barista FIRE journey has been an interesting one, because for the first time in a while, I consciously noticed myself having a scarcity mindset when it comes to money.

I was out running an errand and wanted to get a drink. Instead of getting a coffee or something (which would have been my usual), I ended up getting a bottled drink from a store.

It wasn’t that I preferred having that drink, I was intentionally trying to save the $2 difference between the drinks.

Similarly when catching up with a friend for lunch, I suggested a more affordable place.

The best part is I could have spent that money if I wanted to because it was well within my budget for the week.

Somehow the mathematical safety net doesn’t quite translate to a psychological one.

I know objectively my spreadsheet says we have enough, and I set aside a full year’s expenses in cash to cover the next 12 months. But it’s still hard to go from a steady paycheck every month for over 15 years to nothing.

There’s this weird nagging voice at the back of my mind that goes “what if….?”, and it feels like it’s going to take some time to quiet that voice.

Ultimately, even with all the planning, I guess I’m still human.

@themoneyloaf

Yep you read that right, goodbye corporate (hopefully forever!)

It’s no secret I’ve hated the idea of work forever, but there’s always the reality of needing to pay the bills.

Some time in 2025 during a particularly bad period at work, I dug deep into our numbers and realized we’re not super far away from reaching either lean or barista FIRE.

Our non-work income streams are healthy, Mrs Money Loaf has a relatively stable job and our liquid portfolio has grown to a very nice number over the last few years.

On top of that we have a healthy emergency fund and a number of other buffers to manage any short term financial needs.

All this to say after a lot of introspection and discussion with Mrs Money Loaf, I’m taking the leap to figure out life without a “proper” job over the next 12 months.

Honestly, I’m pretty nervous about it. I’ve never gone an extended period without a job. Even when I was on my mini-retirement a couple of years ago, I knew I had a job waiting for me when I got back.

No safety net this time though, but I think I’m ready to tackle this challenge head on.

And it will feel so good if I succeed.

ps: I appreciate you being a subscriber to Talking Dough. I haven’t been super consistent with posting here and just wanted to share this news with you before posting on IG as a way of saying thanks!

Hello!

I apologize that it’s been many months since the last edition of Talking Dough.

I’m not sure exactly what happened, but at some point I realized that writing semi-prescriptive articles isn’t what I wanted to do and sort of... let it drop off.

As the new year approaches, I’ve decided to refocus on the “personal” side of my financial journey, which was what Talking Dough was meant to be in the first place (the sign up page literally says “behind the scenes on a journey to FIRE”)

So in 2026 I’m not going to be talking about how to be more productive or have better systems or all that stuff. I’m going to talk about my evolving relationship with money, which is something that will be a focus of mine in 2026, you’ll find out why very soon.

Thanks for being subscribed and wishing you and your families a joyful end to the year and lots of happiness in the year ahead.

@themoneyloaf

I came across this comment online the other day and couldn't quite believe what I was reading:

"I am a 67 year old man that has been retired for about 5 years. My wife retired 2.5 years ago. Finances are not a problem for us and we have no debt. I retired from a job that was demanding with a lot of pressure… I never had any hobbies, cabin, fishing boat, I find retirement to be a real downer. My wife does not want me to get a job of any kind so I just sit here and exist every day doing small tasks"

Imagine having the good fortune to live to 67 (not a given for everyone), be able to say finances are not a problem (again, by no means a given) and yet saying that retirement is a "real downer"?! I feel so sad for this person.

For me, I love reading, playing games, learning random things and going down random rabbit holes, exploring new places and countries, and of course the odd binge tv watch here and there.

If you told me I could quit my job right now, never have to worry about money again, and have the freedom to engage in all these activities for the rest of my life... that would be literally paradise!

The difference, of course, is that I've never viewed my job as a core part of my identity.

I don't need work to provide structure for my life, I can create my own.

I don't need work for any social interaction, there are people in my life who I would much rather spend time with.

I don't need work for some sense of purpose, I set my own goals and make my own progress towards them.

The problem is many people have never given themselves the mental space to think about how they could live a fulfilling life, and so they accept the "corporate norm" and go along with it until it's too late, like the guy at the top of the newsletter.

When I was planning for my mini-retirement in 2023, I came across a nugget of wisdom from koreangalonfire who said it’s not enough to want to retire from something (like a job), you need something that you want to retire to - and that makes all the difference.

So as the title of this newsletter says, what would you do if you didn't need to work for money?

Do you have some idea? No idea? Time to think about it as a thought experiment, even if it feels like it's 20 years away.

Time goes by quicker than you think, and it never hurts to start planning early.

I would love to hear your answers. If you'd like to share them, please hit reply and let me know!

Till next time,

@themoneyloaf

I recently had lunch with my mum, and she was telling me about this credit card she's had for years, and for whatever reason, she only uses it to pay for Netflix.

Anyway, she somehow missed a payment recently and, to top it off, forgot her login details so she couldn’t get into her bank account to pay the bill. She ended up having to call the bank to get the late fee waived (which, thankfully, they did).

So of course I had to ask the obvious question: why not just use another credit card to pay for Netflix and cancel this one?

Her answer? The classic, "But what if one day I want to use this card?" 😂

At this point was breaking out into laughter. Think about the mental load involved: remembering to pay a separate bill, the hassle of calling support to waive fees, trying to recall yet another account login and password... all just to keep an extra piece of plastic in her wallet that might be used “one day”. How is that genuinely worth the effort?

This example may involve credit cards, but it could be anything. I'm sure we all have a few of these lingering things in our lives that cause more mental angst and unnecessary effort than they're worth but somehow it just feels easier to maintain the status quo than to actually sort them out.

For me, one of those areas was the sheer number of old tech "stuff" I had accumulated.

Cables, chargers, old phones, half-working gadgets just lying around, taking up space, and just becoming this blob of “stuff” that was all over. And I can tell you, after finally taking the time to sort through it all, life feels good now.

So its time to think about those sources of "mental load" in our own finances. Maybe it's an old subscription you rarely use, a loyalty program you never benefit from, or even just a stack of papers you keep meaning to go through (because you know an old bill or two is somewhere at the bottom).

My mum still has that credit card by the way, I hope you have better results!

@themoneyloaf

I recently made a pretty large purchase, a new laptop, which cost about $2,000. I definitely agonized over it and did research for months! It came down to a cheaper one for about $1,300 and the one I eventually got, and I went with the more expensive option.

For me, the guiding principle isn't necessarily about never spending money, but about maximizing the value of every dollar I do spend.

My previous laptop lasted a solid 6 or 7 years. My expectation is that this new one will serve me just as long, making the initial investment feel worthwhile in the long run. This mindset extends beyond just big-ticket items.

Consider my clothing purchases, for instance. The last new piece I bought was back in October 2024, during a trip (because I tend to buy more clothes when I travel!).

Similarly, I have only one casual belt, and it's the same one I bought when I was 18. It genuinely has never crossed my mind to buy a new belt, as long as this one works.

Personally the reason for all of this goes beyond money. Over-consumption is so wasteful!

Growing up, my mum always questioned why I needed to buy that object I wanted.

• "What does this toy do that's different from the ones you already have?"

• "Can you borrow this book from the library?"

• "Are there alternatives that do the same thing?"

It's not that we were short on money growing up, it was just a mental exercise to make sure money was being spent for good reason, which is a lesson I've carried with me into my adult life.

There’s so much exposure to ads and influencers and messages to buy more and bigger and better, that it can be hard to resist both peer and societal pressure.

Which is why having a clear understanding of what truly holds value for you can be a powerful tool in making more intentional and ultimately more satisfying choices.

So I was watching this video of Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe from Friends) being interviewed by Conan O'Brien, and there's a surprising portion in the video where they both take turns to talk about how money, fame, or success doesn't "fix" anything.

Here are a few quotes:

"It doesn't fix anything - if something if broken"

"Wait a minute, I got the thing (money) I wanted, why isn't anything fixed"

"If everyone loves you, then you'll love you"

And I think the same thing applies to money and finances as well.

If someone has always had an unhealthy relationship with money, suddenly having more money isn't going to solve the problem - it'll probably make it worse.

Similarly, if someone has always struggled with sticking to a budget, suddenly earning twice the amount is not going to suddenly provide the discipline required.

But deeper than that, if someone isn't intrinsically happy with their life, more money might make them happier for a while, but it won't be sustainable.

All this to say that while we're on this journey to achieve financial freedom, we also need to mentally be in a place where we can enjoy said freedom.

Our first test ride for this was our mini-retirement in 2024.

It's not an exaggeration to say not a single person I know in real life has the desire to go on a mini-retirement.

So naturally they couldn't understand why I was leaving my job and voluntarily choosing to go without an income for half a year.

But the truth is those 6 months totally opened my eyes to living in another way, besides being a corporate drone.

While an income is certainly a legit reason to be working, the truth is many people use work as some sort of an escape.

To quote Blaise Pascal: "All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone."

We always need more money, more stuff, more power and most of the time, it's really just to overpower our inner thoughts and not have to deal with the discomfort that perhaps the life we’ve living isn’t the one we want to live.

tl;dr - Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) have been the hot topics of the last year or two. But at least for knowledge workers it's important to acknowledge that they are just another set of tools in our arsenal to make us better, not the be all and end all

Part One: My experience

Since starting my new job, I've noticed a lot of people relying on AI for their work and sending it in wholesale, without giving it a proper review.

How do I know? There are always telltale signs from factual inaccuracies that a human would have spotted, to using the word "delve" every other paragraph.

What people don't realize is that this makes you look borderline incompetent to your manager or other colleagues and in fact a recent research paper suggested that people who use AI at work can be perceived to be lazier and less competent.

Perhaps some of this is some sort of weird office peer pressure, with another report saying 17% of employees use AI to avoid co-worker judgment.

But as someone who has to review a lot of work, once someone sends me one of these emails or work submissions, I know I can't trust their work.

Part Two: What should you do instead?

1) Use AI as a subject matter expert

I talked about this in my earlier newsletter about how I used AI to get my job, but basically I prompted ChatGPT to play the role of a hiring manager who can analyze my resume and come up with specific questions an interviewer would ask.

Very useful when you just need a crash course in an area that's new to you - but even then, only as a starting point.

2) Use AI for idea generation

I used to have a boss who wanted to see multiple ideas for everything. Let's say we were holding a conference to discuss the use of AI in the workplace, they would want multiple suggestions for types of discussions that could be held.

Since it's the early phase of a project, instead of spending time thinking about this, I could enter the main context into ChatGPT and ask it to come up with multiple suggestions until they're finalized.

3) Use AI to check and enhance your work

Use AI as the final step of your work, just to make sure it's as good as it can be.

For example, after drafting these newsletters, I ask ChatGPT to help me review it for grammar and spelling and to recommend some edits for readability.

I hope this helps, especially if you're experimenting with AI in the workplace.

In 2 weeks: will more money make you happy?

@themoneyloaf

tl;dr - My tech “stuff” was completely out of control - here’s how I tamed the pile(s) over a few months.

Part One: The problem

One area which always made me feel overwhelmed was all the "tech stuff" that's accumulated around our home.

The clumps of tangled cables with no idea which fits with what device, what's still working, what isn't working.

Batteries of all sizes which may not fit in the devices that need them.

All the various bits and bobs that come with having laptops, phones, e-readers, gaming consoles and the like.

Not to mention all the warranties and manuals that have never been referenced but still kept around for some reason!

As part of my journey to really lean into minimalism, I decided that I wanted to get a handle on all of this and sort it out once and for all.

Part Two: The process

The first thing I did was to take stock and sort out everything and mapped out what attaches to what.

Then I drew up a "minimum viable plan"

For example, I realized that we had exactly 2 devices which still use Apple's lightning cable, but easily 6 or 7 lightning cables from past years of owning Apple devices.

So knowing that we only had 2 devices and would probably only be charging one of them at any given time, that means at most I needed to keep 2 cables - 1 to be plugged in, 1 to be used as a spare or during travel.

Finally I noted down where each item was. In the case of the lightning cables, 1 is at our common charging point, the other is in a box for all the spares.

And then I got rid of the rest!

It sounds simple and straightforward now, but it was actually quite a long and drawn out process going through each and every item and thinking about how I wanted them to fit together.

Part Three: Overkill?

For most people, this probably sounds like overkill and more trouble than it's worth.

For me, it was a very freeing exercise to know exactly what I need, and that I've pared things down to the absolute necessities.

In a way it felt very similar to allocating my monthly budget. I need to know how much we spend on average, so that I know how much we can allocate to investing in any given month.

And of course, having just the right number of cables isn't a good idea because then it's a single point of failure if it breaks. So having an extra one or two around provides some peace of mind, just like having an emergency fund!

Finally, beyond the physical benefits like more efficiently managing space and clearing out unnecessary items, there's also the mental aspect of no longer walking past a bundle of cables and thinking "I really need to do something about that pile...."

I’m always looking for ways to deepen my engagement with minimalism. If you’re on a similar journey and have any tips, please hit “reply” and let me know!

In 2 weeks: AI is not gonna help you get ahead

@themoneyloaf

tl;dr - Ostriches bury their heads in the sand to avoid danger, and we're all guilty of doing the same - time to fix that!

Part One: The ostrich syndrome

We've all been ostriches. You know, head buried, pretending the problem doesn't exist? (Sound familiar?)

Whether it's not picking up the phone, sitting on thousands of emails, or not opening those envelopes with bills, we all behave like ostriches sometimes.

One of my favorite shows to binge is Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away (check out some episodes free on YouTube).

It follows the journey of debt enforcers in the UK who are sent to recover anything from unpaid parking tickets that have ballooned to thousands of pounds thanks to interest, to business claims from customers.

In almost every case, when they do find the debtor, the first thing the debtor does is to say they're not aware of the situation, it's the first time they're hearing about it.

Inevitably, the enforcers find a letter or notice inside their house or office, many times unopened or otherwise ignored.

As if by not opening that envelope, the debt and issue will magically go away - when in fact, it only continues to build and grow until something catastrophic happens.

Part Two: Beyond finances

Obviously this is written in the context of finances, but it really applies to anything causing us discomfort.

That overflowing 'to-do' pile in your corner, collecting dust and dread. Those 30+ unread texts, each a tiny ping of guilt. And that inbox graveyard of 400+ emails from January (2024!!), a monument to procrastination.

They might be easier to ignore. But like those debtors, the problems only grow.

Imagine the relief of clearing that inbox, tackling those texts, and finally confronting that 'to-do' pile. It starts with one small step. What's yours going to be?

ps: ostriches do not really bury their heads in the sand to avoid danger

In two weeks: my tech minimalism journey

tl;dr - for the first time in my life I applied to jobs cold, here's some stats and how I used AI to help with the process.

Part One: The stats

To set the stage, I was open to leaving my previous job, but it wasn't something I needed to do with any urgency.

So I was semi-casually looking for jobs posted on sites like Indeed instead of actively reaching out to my network to see if anyone was looking.

Here are some of the stats:

• Jobs applied to: 13

• Interviews: 2

• Offer: 1

• Raise: 10% (I talked about this in my last issue)

• Months between starting the search and signing an offer: 4

Part Two: Using AI

Surprisingly, a few of the jobs I applied to (including the one I eventually got hired for) required a cover letter.

I do not have time to write cover letters in 2025, so I ran the job description through ChatGPT, asked it to write a cover letter, edited the draft and sent it in.

Additionally, I submitted my own resume to ChatGPT and prompted it to generate questions that a prospective interviewer would ask.

Something like "You are an expert in [insert field or industry] looking to hire a [whatever the job is]. Based on this resume, what questions would you have for the candidate?".

This was really helpful for me to prepare myself with even more questions that I would have prepared on my own.

Did they all come up? No. Did all the mental preparation help? Yes.

Part Three: Leaving an impression

I can't go into specifics for privacy reasons, but for the 2 interviews I went for, I brought in something extra.

For example - let's say you're a designer looking for a job. Maybe you find a brochure they recently shared on social media, redesign it and show it to them during the interview.

This will depend on the specific kind of job you're looking for, but the idea is to give them something to remember.

Something that they'll go "Remember that candidate who did that awesome thing? We should talk to them again."

Of course don’t do this for every job, save the effort for the jobs you're really interested in.

Part Four: Getting (really) lucky

I've seen all the posts going around social media where people are applying to tens of jobs for months and not getting anything, so I'm pretty sure I got lucky.

But also, if I didn't get lucky, it would have been fine - because I was in a stable job, and I have my non-work income streams. Let's say the job search took 9 months, then it just takes 9 months.

It's a bit of a cliche, but the best time to look for a job is when you don't need one.

There's a lot to be said about a candidate who says "I'm actually quite happy at my current job but I applied to your company because I'm excited by the thought of working here."

You don't have to look very far for continued examples of mass firings and layoffs for little to no apparent reason.

If you wait until your company starts going through a similar situation, it just adds a level of pressure that you don't need (plus the people interviewing you will probably know, and that will give them all the power in the negotiation).

I hope you enjoyed reading about my job hunting process and picked up a couple of tips that might work for you. If you’re looking for a job, sending all the positive energy your way and may you get one soon!

In 2 weeks: How not to be an ostrich

@themoneyloaf

tl;dr

I have a new job which came with “only” a 10% raise - and accepting it was one of the hardest work-related decisions I’ve ever made.

Part One - The New Job

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’d know that I haven’t been happy at my previous job for a long time, mainly due to a lack of career progression.

So in late 2024 I decided enough was enough and it was time to start looking around for another job.

I found one but was only offered a 10% pay increase, and previously I’ve never moved for less than 20%.

The decision was made more difficult by the fact that the perks were almost exactly the same as my old job (some were better). The only downside was the pay.

Believe me, I went through all the emotions - “wtf this isn’t what I’m worth'“, ‘what kind of bs offer is this” - everything!

Part Two: The Decision

Ultimately, as much as the emotional side of me wanted to tell them to shove it, I wanted to make a rational decision, so I let the numbers do the talking.

From my 2024 review I knew that 76% of our expenses were covered by our non-work income streams, and that number is likely to increase each year as our dividends compound and we put more money to work.

As long as our non-work income streams are moving in the right direction, I felt like I could accept a smaller raise, especially if the tradeoff is hopefully a better work environment.

The important lesson here is I could only make this decision because I have these non-work income streams that have been growing over the last decade or so.

Otherwise, my alternative would have been to stay at my job until I get another offer, and who knows when that might happen in the current job market.

Part Three - A Job is a Job

I decided a few years ago that whatever job I have is just a transactional situation where I go to work, I get paid for the work I do, and that’s it.

I no longer look at my job as some kind of career progression.

At the end of the day, a job is a job.

The only function of my job is to provide me with an income which I can allocate some percentage to our brokerage to invest with the long term goal of replacing my pay.

That’s it.

In 2 weeks: some stats about my job search (yes, I used AI!)

@themoneyloaf

tl;dr

In 2025, we’re trying to accelerate our path to FIRE (financial independence, retire early) by increasing income while hopefully keeping our expenses stable. 🤞

Part One: Non-work income stream goals

Starting with the top priority - my goal this year is to increase our non-work income streams to cover 80% of our expenses.

Our annual expenses typically fall within the $48k-$52k range, so I’m just going to use the higher limit of $52k.

Based on that number, my target is going to be $41,600.

Last year’s non-work income streams came in at $38,072, so that’s an increase of 9.2%, which I think will be achievable!

The two main levers will be dividends and options, which jointly came in at $32,330 in 2024.

Early dividend projections have me hitting just about $16,000 in dividends in 2025, so this could be achievable with some good market conditions for options selling.

Part Two: Managing expenses

On the flip side with expenses, we don’t plan to make too many adjustments.

We’re pretty frugal and live quite simply, but we also don’t believe in deprivation (in fact we just bought a $600 robot vacuum, and it’s proving to be a really solid buy!).

If fact, over the last couple of years we’ve been spending more money in areas that we value like trying new restaurants and travel - I only see these expenses increasing in the future.

If we have a weakness, it’s food delivery.

We’re constantly too tired/busy to cook so takeout or delivery becomes the norm. We don’t mind paying for convenience, but it does add up. This is an area we may try to be more intentional about this year.

Part Three: Investing

The final financial area to talk about is investing.

The fact that you’re following me means you know that savings alone is not going to help much with achieving FIRE.

An important element to investing is also diversification and we sort of diversify by person. I allocate money towards options and dividends, Mrs Money Loaf allocates money towards ETFs.

This way we’re not overly reliant on any one area to grow our wealth.

We’ve been doing for years, and the only change we’ll be making this year is to try and allocate as much as possible from our day jobs to investing

If we do hit that 80% expense coverage, FIRE is going to feel so close.

Going by the traditional 4% FIRE rule (which we don’t use), our number is $1.3 million ($52k x 25). We’ve just crossed $900k in January, so things are looking promising!

The more we can shovel towards investing, the sooner we can hit 100%.

This goes without saying but these are just our goals that are specific to our needs - yours will be different and you should not make any financial decisions based on anything shared in this newsletter.

In 2 weeks: I have a new job!

@themoneyloaf

tl;dr

In 2024, my non-work income streams covered 76% of our expenses - the journey to 100% continues!

Part One: Total income

Welcome to my 2024 FIRE review!

The way I measure progress to FIRE (financial independence, retire early), is a little different from the usual 4% rule.

I prefer to have our expenses covered by cashflow generated by assets, affectionally refered to as non-work income streams. Non-work in the sense that they’re outside of my day job, not that they require no work to produce.

Last year, my total income was $140,724, which is pretty decent considering I was only drawing a salary for 6 months (though I did get a sizable bonus, which pushed up this number quite a bit!).

Our non-work income streams rose from $33,925 in 2023 to $38,072 in 2024, here's the full breakdown:

The heavy hitters were dividends and options, collectively responsible for 85% of our overall non-work income streams.

Both were up year on year, dividends went from $8,975.84 to $14,237.51 and options went from $15,390 to $18,092.

Taken together, these 2 streams went from $24,365.84 to $32,329.51 - a 33% increase year over year.

I can't stress enough the importance of having income streams outside of your day job. Even if it adds up to $100 a month, it's a step towards not being fully reliant on your day job, and perhaps one day even replacing it!

Part Two: Total expenses

On the expenses side, I think we did pretty well this year, with expenses adding up to $49,718, which is about 4% less than 2023.

Surprisingly, I think being on our mini-retirement for the first 6 months of the year actually helped bring our expenses down.

With both of us not needing to head to the office, that cuts down on transportation and lots of daily expenses. If I'm at home I'm definitely not spending money on coffee, for instance, and we can meal prep at home instead of spending money on meals outside!

Am I saying work is to blame for rising expenses? Maybe! 😂

A note that this number covers all our expenses except our mortgage and travel spends. This is because I don't consider either of these to be "core" expenses. One will eventually disappear, the other can disappear in lean years if necessary - ie neither is a critical factor in our preparation for FIRE.

Part Three: Expense coverage

So if I want to cover my expenses with non-work income streams, I first need to know what our rough expenses are.

Over the last few years, we’ve spent within the range of $48-$52k annually. That means I need our non-work income streams to produce the same amount to cover these expenses before we'd be considered financially independent.

In 2024, 76% of our expenses were covered by our non-work income streams, which is getting really close!

Unfortunately, there's no shortcut to increasing these non-work income streams.

Dividends take time to grow and income from selling options isn't constant. The only thing I can do is to stay the course and be patient (though admittedly it's getting harder and harder!).

That’s it for me - if you’ve never tracked your non-work income streams and how much of your expenses they cover, this is your sign to start!

In 2 weeks: My 2025 financial goals

@themoneyloaf

tl;dr

I tried a “leisure list” to track books I read, tv shows I watched and games I played for the first time in 2024 and loved it.

Part One: The background

If there’s one thing you need to know about me, it’s that I love having a plan.

So when my mini-retirement was confirmed for the first six months of 2024, I wanted to make sure I had enough time and space to dedicate to leisure.

I love consuming all sorts of media (books, TV shows, games etc). But as anyone with a TBR (to be read) list or a gaming backlog will tell you, they can pile up faster than one can go through them!

So I decided to set some arbitrary goals in the form of a “leisure list” as a bit of an experiment.

Part Two: Television & games

My goal for TV shows was to watch one show a month that had been on my “to watch” list, just to see what the fuss was about.

This ranged from amazing (Severance, Slow Horses, Sandman, Rings of Power) to major disappointments (Halt and Catch Fire, Station Eleven, Fargo season 5).

The surprising thing is I didn't finish 5 out of 12 shows - which I count as a win because they get struck off my list, and I can move on to other things.

When it comes to gaming, something that would happen frequently is I would buy a new game, play it for a while, but then drop off.

Sometimes it was because of other things going on in my life, sometimes maybe the game wasn't grabbing me.

Either way they would end up in my game library, a constant reminder of unfinished business.

So I picked a few games and said either I can clock 10 hours over 2 weeks and go on to complete the game, or I remove the game from my library forever. Time wasn't the issue since I was on my mini-retirement, it's entirely down to how much the game holds my attention.

As a result I finished a few games that were amazing and I was kicking myself for waiting so long (in particular Midnight Suns), and said goodbye to a few others for good (Steamworld Quest).

Part Two: The takeaways

The common theme with these was that I would commit to giving things a try, but giving myself the leeway to abandon ship if I wasn't enjoying myself, thus allowing me to move on to other things.

And overall I think this put me in a very good headspace to think about life and early retirement. There are so many things I want to do, but some of them are going to be better as a conceptual idea than in reality - and that's okay!

What I want is the freedom to be able to give something a go and say "well I tried and it's not for me", instead of "I've always wanted to try but never found the time because of work".

I loved this idea of a leisure list so much, I'm going to be using it again in 2025.

Part Three: Going beyond leisure

I know it's not going to be for everyone and some of you are rolling your eyes at the thought of tracking tv shows, but I think the concept goes beyond that.

Want to get better in the kitchen? Commit to experimenting with 1 new recipe a month or 12 a year.

Want to be more handy at home? Identity 6 - 12 things to learn to do around the house like being able to fix a minor plumbing issue, and then build those skills.

Apply this to learning an instrument, sewing/crochet/pottery projects, sustainable living, coding - whatever!

It might feel weird, but I think sometimes we have to signal to ourselves that our hobbies are an important part of our lives, and creating an action plan or list helps to manage that commitment with ourselves.

Hit reply and let me know what (if anything) you're going to be working on in 2025!

Next month: My 2024 finance review

Thanks for being here

@themoneyloaf

tl;dr

Trying to do everything at once or swinging for big changes isn’t the best way to create lasting change - start small instead.

Btw in case you missed the announcement, Talking Dough is doubling in frequency in 2025, so you can expect a new issue twice a month!

My hope is to be able to provide more value and share more about what’s going on in my life with longer form content.

Part One: Big goals don’t work

Happy 2025!

If you've ever set goals or resolutions like "save more money" or "invest more money" or "get out of debt" and never quite made any progress, you're not alone.

The reasons why goals like these don't work is because they're too vague and lack specific directions - like trying to navigate a GPS system without turn-by-turn instructions.

Part Two: What then? Learn from the best

I'd like to combine 2 pieces of advice from 2 people I admire - David Allen & Cal Newport

David Allen (from Getting Things Done) - what's the smallest, physical next action you need to do to move the project forward?

Cal Newport (from Slow Productivity) - do fewer things and focus on one area at a time

How does that work in practice?

So for example, you know it's important to track your expenses to get an idea of your spending, but you've never tracked your budget before and it feels too overwhelming to start.

First, instead of tracking everything, maybe for the next couple months you'll just track your food expenses until you get a hang of it.

Next, decide on a physical next action. eg every Sunday I will look through my physical receipts or card transactions, and log all the food expenses.

When you get into the hang of it, you can tackle another category.

Part Three: Other ideas

Similarly, maybe your non-work income streams are a long way from covering your living expenses.

Perhaps a sub-goal could be to cover your phone bill or Netflix subscription and focusing on precise actions to get you there - maybe it's keeping on top of the latest HYSA sign up bonuses or reviewing a list of dividend stocks to create your shortlist.

If you want to reduce your expenses by 10% this year, start by getting all the information you need. Do you know how much you spent last year? Maybe your next action is just to tally everything up.

Again, it might be helpful to tackle this by individual categories first instead of all expenses at once.

If one of your focus areas in 2025 is going to be finances, do take a look at my budget & wealth tracker which does everything from track your expenses, net worth, income streams and much more!

I've always been overambitious with my goals, and then get frustrated at myself when they don't work because I've bitten off more than I can chew.

A few months ago I wrote about switching to a "pull system", which is informed heavily by the approaches above, and it's really worked for me.

We're only in the 2nd week of January, which means there's a lot of time to re-calibrate your goals into smaller, focused areas and next actions, and to set yourself up for success in 2025.

Next month: my 2024 leisure list (say what?)

@themoneyloaf

tl;dr

2024 was an amazing year for me both financially and non-financially - here’s a recap!

Part One: The non-financial aspect

2024 has been one of the best years of my adult life, both financially and non-financially.

On the non-finance side, we took the first 6 months of the year off for our mini-retirement, and mentally, that got me to a really good place.

Work was totally off my mind and for the first time in… forever, and I actually felt like I was living (as opposed to just existing).

I think this mini-retirement really solidified my desire to get out of corporate life (not that it wasn't a firm desire before) and that a day job is a means to an end. My identity isn't my job, my identity isn't my career.

I do recognize that not everyone is going to be in the position where they can just take half a year off work, but I do think it's still a worthwhile exercise to consider who you are outside of work.

Because the reality is that it's going to happen to everyone at some point - whether it's by choice or not.

Part Two: The financial aspect

On the financial front, at the time of writing this email, I'm $781 away from crossing $14,000 in dividends for the whole of 2024.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that this was quite unexpected. I update my projected dividends in February and July every year, and those numbers read $10,987 and $12,323 respectively.

In 2023 I received about $9,000 in dividends (I'm rounding up for convenience), so assuming I do hit or come very close to that $14,000 number this year, that's a difference of $5,000 year over year, or a growth of about 55%.

I only bought enough dividend stocks to account for about $2,000 in new dividends, which means the remaining $3,000 came completely from dividend raises and compounding from reinvesting. I didn't have to lift a finger to do it - and that's wild.

My last point is assuming I don't sell any stocks, then $14,000 is going to be the minimum in dividends that I receive next year - because generally dividends go up year on year, if you invest in the right stocks and/or ETFs.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't already dreaming about what this number is going to be next year, especially if there's a similar level of growth!

I'm choosing to talk about dividends because they're the most passive form of income, and it's not a type of investing that requires any special skill (compared to say options, or starting a business, or real estate).

I plan to share a more detailed update of my 2024 numbers soon, probably in February because I need some time to get all the numbers and look at them properly in January.

Part Three: Looking ahead to 2025

Speaking of 2025, my plan is to try to increase the frequency of this newsletter to twice a month. I realize that I do have a lot of content I want to share, but it really just comes down to time.

I also mentioned on Instagram that I've sort of started looking for a job, so I don't know how much that's going to impact my free time next year, but for now going twice a month is the plan.

Talking Dough will remain free, I won't be putting any posts behind a paywall, but of course if you'd like to support me by becoming a paid subscriber, I'd be very grateful!

Let me end this final issue for the year by wishing you and your loved ones a very happy holiday season if you celebrate, as well as a restful and peaceful end of the year.

Next month: Starting 2025 with small actions

I'll see you in 2025.

@themoneyloaf

tl;dr

It’s been 3 years of themoneyloaf - setting aside 15-20 hours each week dedicated to content creation has been quite an experience, and I’m sharing 3 lessons from this journey.

Part One: The Origin Story

Three years ago I was in a pretty dark place at my job, to an extent that it was affecting my sleep, which nearly never happens.

As a result, I decided to start a side project as a creative outlet and to share my financial journey and how I was pursuing financial independence as a way to break free from corporate life.

Along the way I’ve learned a few valuable lessons that have served me well as a content creator, which I think are applicable to something like a day job, and that’s what I’ll be sharing with you today.

Part Two: The Lessons

Lesson #1: Treat it seriously from Day One

I vividly recall going to this cafe (an expensive one) with my notepad, outlining a year-long plan for creating themoneyloaf. How my website would look, what kind of content I would create, how often I would post etc.

While I didn't have every detail figured out, having a roadmap provided a sense of direction and motivation that carried me through the early stages.

Lesson #2: Not everything will work out, and that’s ok!

It's important to remember that not every project will succeed, but some things will work out better than expected.

I learned this firsthand through my experiences with a defunct Twitter page, a neglected YouTube channel, and a short-lived Discord community. But then my Instagram page blew up, and I had to quickly make the decision to focus my energy on that platform instead.

Given limited time and energy, it's essential to prioritize those that are showing positive results. Sometimes it’s necessary to let go of something that isn't working in order to focus on more efficient channels or projects.

Lesson #3:  Your credibility is everything 

Any content creator is only as good as their brand. 

From the beginning, I made a conscious decision to avoid sponsored content, partnerships, and advertisements.

I wanted my page to be independent and that whatever I said was solely based on my own approach, untainted by corporate interests.

When I was dabbling in crypto, many content creators in the crypto space were incentivized to promote certain platforms through referral bonuses, leading to biased recommendations and potential harm to their audience (eg FTX, Hodlnaut etc). This was the complete opposite of what I wanted to do to anyone who followed me.

Part Three: Thank You

All the "professional" stuff aside, I really could not have imagined how starting this page 3 years ago would have changed my life. 

Obviously the financial aspect from my course is great, but being able to connect with people all over the world and hear that they've fully funded an emergency for the first time, or received their first dividend or bought their first ETF is an amazing feeling and I'm so happy to be able to have made this small impact on people's financial journey. 

To celebrate 3 years, I’m also running a 20% discount on my budget & wealth tracker. This is the biggest discount and only shared with people subscribed to Talking Dough! (shh).

Click the link below and use DOUGH20 to get the discount. The code expires Sunday, 17 November 2024.

Check out the budget & wealth tracker

Once again, thanks for your support over the last 3 years, here's to many more! 

Next month: a review of 2024 and a look ahead to 2025.

Have a wonderful November

@themoneyloaf