Finding Enough

Hello!

I am the Finding Enough Wombat. Well, I’m actually a nature lover living in the UK with my husband.

I set up this blog to document my thoughts on my personal journey to FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) in the UK and what happens once we get there. If I am lucky, it might help someone else too.

I discovered the FIRE concept in 2014, when a colleague suggested I look at the Monevator site for investing tips. This led me to The Escape Artist, Mr Money Mustache and many other blogs that opened my eyes to the possibility of putting myself in the financial position to make paid work a choice rather than a necessity. When I first read about the possibility being able to quit work in your 30s or 40s it seemed far fetched, or something that only a few nutters extremely disciplined high earners could achieve. Yet, here I am, Financially Independent and after a year working only 50% (semi-retirement at 43), I stopped working for someone else entirely in July 2022 aged 45.

I made my first investment in September 2014. Making that first trade was daunting, and was only made after much procrastination, but I have not looked back. Mr.Wombat got on board a couple of years later when he started to see the results I was achieving, and some health issues made him re-assess what he wanted from life.

So why did I start writing this blog? I had been considering it for a while, but thought I had nothing to say that wasn’t already covered comprehensively and eloquently by others, and probably in far more detail that I could. I am not particularly interested in spending hours analysing and selecting individual investments, preferring a passive set and forget approach using index trackers for the vast majority of my investing. I do spend time ensuring we are making tax efficient choices, but overall I am more interested in the compounding results over time and the freedom that gives me.

As we galloped closer to the reality of Financial Independence, I spent a lot of time thinking about what a fulfilling life looks like for me. What comes next? I don’t just want to pack in my job and find that actually I was deriving more from it than a deposit in my bank account at the end of the month. On the other hand, there are plenty of things I want to do that I didn’t have time for while holding down a demanding full-time job. 25 days annual leave doesn’t go that far.

The journey to understanding what ‘enough’ looks like is not something as widely talked about as the accumulation phase, and I want to share my thoughts as we work out what it means for us; both the ups and the downs. I don’t expect there to be a single answer, but rather a set of goals and priorities that evolve and change over time. One thing I do know, is that the options are limitless and it will be an exciting ride.

Since reaching our magic number, Mr Wombat and I have given up nice safe office jobs, sold our house in the East of England, spent 18 months travelling round the UK in our self build campervan and house sitting, and bought a renovation project home in very rural South West Scotland. Whilst life never runs 100% smoothly, we are loving the ride, and the financial side of things is holding up well – so far.

Why a wombat? I have always been a fan of the indefatigable antipodean marsupial. They have a reputation for being obstinate; once their mind is made up, they stop at nothing to get what they want. They are shy, but inquisitive and these character traits seemed an appropriate analogy for our journey over the last few years. That, and who hasn’t got time for a creature that creates cube shaped poo (yes really)……..