FIRE stands for Financial Independence / Retire Early, but it isn’t just a concept, it’s a way of living. A movement that shares its routes with anti-consumerism and minimalism. A community which thrives on helping one another and is enthralled with passionate and subversive entrepreneurs whose single goal is to maximise their happiness. The movement is full of intellectuals that understand happiness isn’t achieved by consuming products. They’ve discovered that to be happy, money is better spent on increasing time with loved ones instead of buying the ‘next best thing’ that advertisers throw their way....

Welcome to Thought Experiment #6. At the beginning of each second month, a thought experiment question will be tweeted under the hashtag #ThoughtExperiment and everyone is invited to participate with their own posts, these will then go live together on the 15th of the next month (you can still join in after this date). Below is the question asked for this Thought Experiment. A different opinion is somewhat frowned upon in our clique based society, but some of the greatest minds of all time were outliers....

This is a Saving Ninja savings report. Go to How To Track Your Savings to check out the Saving Ninja Super Spreadsheet. Please note that I split my expenses equally with my partner and the savings rate, house equity and house value represent my share only. The spreadsheet calculates my savings rate based off £12,000 worth of expenses per year, even though my expenses are actually Less Than 10k Per Year ....

Every now and again you realise that things need to update, as time continues on its constant asymptote into the future, things begin to get old. As you learn and grow, your goals may begin to change as your pathway begins to reveal itself. SavingNinja is almost a year old now, I think it’s about time for a refresh. Technology advances all the time and people’s needs change right along with it....

This is entry #1 into the new ‘How to Find Happiness ’ post series. Do you have anything to contribute to this series? If so, please contact me . Those of you who follow the blog will know that in a few short months, me and the (soon to be) Mrs SavingNinja will be attempting the 12 hour Half Dome hike in Yosemite Valley. There was a moment of realisation last week when we thought, ‘Shit, we’ve never been on a hike that long before, not even close!...