Trying to reach Financial Independence is hard, and I’m not going to try and lie. We seriously began considering Financial Independence seriously in 2014, back when my husband (then boyfriend) and I were talking about the freedom to travel and the freedom to do things that we wanted to do.

The freedom to not go to work every day if we choose to. The freedom to choose the path that we want to take and work part time if we chose to.

It is now 2018, and so I figured it will be good to share the accomplishments that we have done in our four years of trudging through the path of financial freedom

Four Years On Our Path to Financial Freedom

This post will be listed in chronological format, and will be subdivided in years. It gives us a way to look back and see our accomplishments, and show the world that financial freedom can be done quickly, but it also can be done at a slow and steady pace (like what most people are doing).

We are one of those average joes whose timeframe is 10 years (when we first started in 2014), which is attributed to the following factors:

• We do not own 6 digits individually (collectively we do now)
• We live in a lower income state (but doesn’t mean it is a low cost of living state)
• Started taking financial independence seriously in our late 20s/early 30s

• Our Path to Financial Freedom

2013: Arrival to the US and figuring things out

Imagine you move to a new country with no credit report, no way of knowing how things work, and struggling to fit in. That was how it was in 2013 when I first came to the US. I came with my savings (Philippine Pesos) and wanted to know what life was like.

Peter came in, saved me a few thousand dollars by NOT buying a car, and another few thousand yearly by NOT paying for car insurance. We officially became a one car couple.

We were still renting at the time (separate places of course), but I bunked down with a roommate to save on costs.

I was not eligible for 401k(s) so I stashed my money in a very low interest earning savings account to at least get something for my money while I figured things out.

Signed up for a library card and started reading books and getting DVDs for free. Hurray for free entertainment!

2014: The Start of Something Big

The year 2014 was quite interesting. I got fed up of paying high prices for accomodation and for flights, so we started our travel hacking journey. I got signed on as an authorized user to Peter’s credit cards (he was qualified for the premium cards), which helped raise my credit scores little by little.

We went to Brazil for the World Cup, which was a great experience and of course I just have to throw it in here.

I found personal finance blogs (thanks to Peter). Mainly Mr. Money Mustache and Retire By 40.

Continuously utilized the library for free entertainment (DVDs and books anybody?)

Got a bit serious with Peter so we sat down and figured out a plan to pay off his student loans quicker with his salary and whatever money he saved he saved.

Devised a plan to buy a house.

Started investing in Vanguard funds and contributing to a Traditional IRA account (since I was still not eligible for a 401k account)

Went home to the Philippines (for only $100 in taxes and fees) thanks to travel hacking.

Peter learned not to put his emergency funds in a non-interest earning checking account and started investing in Vanguard and increasing his 401(k) contributions.

2015: Accelerating Things A Bit and Adulting

2015 was a year of firsts.

Peter was finally debt-free as his student loans have been fully paid off (within a few months of us trying to tackle it) and no Dave Ramsey either, just us. So yay, back in the black after years of being in the red.

The start of our crazy travel hacking trips:

• Going to Cancun and staying at the Westin Lagunamar with flights taken care of by our British Airways Points. First time staying in a crazy, amazing hotel.
• First time in Europe when Peter showed me his home country – Slovakia (using travel hacking again to get free flights)
• Turks & Caicos (British Airways points for the win!)
• The start of our weekend sojourns where we get to stay for free using our hotel points

Got engaged in a castle in Slovakia

Bought our first (town)house and moved in. Back in the red after signing our mortgage (15 years)

Listed our spare bedroom on AirBnB to help with additional mortgage payments (as well as not have the room empty and sad all the time)

401k contributions being maxed out as well as Traditional IRA contributions

Started this blog

2016: Chugging Along Our Path to Financial Freedom

I was finally eligble for 401k contributions (at the end of the year), so I tried to put in the maximum that I can (40%) and was living off whatever money I had left and on savings

Peter still maxing out his 401k contributions

Contributed to an HSA (maximum) when I was still on a high deductible insurance plan

Found the beauty of a Roth IRA plan and started contributing to it.

Got married (no, we were not combining our finances yet)

Bought an investment property (got ourselves in the red some more), which was partially paid for by our AirBnB income.

Yes, we’re still renting out our spare bedroom.

Still travel hacking our way aroud the world. Notably:

• France (for the Euros), Switzerland & Slovakia (with a stop in Czech Republic)
• Jamaica
• Key West, Florida

Still blogging after a year (who knew that it was still going to be fun?)

2017: Met Other Like Minded People

Went to Camp Mustache Southeast (where I met other FI folk in person, including Mr. Money Mustache himself!)

Won a pass to FinCon in Dallas, Texas, and got connected with a lot of other FI people. My first time was quite intimidating but it taught me to get out of my comfort zone and learn to interact more with other people.

Peter moved away to Tampa for a job that pays higher (boo, but yay for our goals)

Tried (and failed) looking for our second investment property (we kept being outbid by cash buyers)

Still travel hacking and went to the following locations:

• Philippines (to see my family and so Peter’s family can meet mine too and have a celebration)
• Honeymoon in Alaska
• Grand Cayman (for my birthday)
• Cruise to Bahamas for Peter’s Birthday (hotel was free thanks to points!)
• Havana, Cuba
• Canada (Toronto and Niagara Falls)

We finally reached our goal of $200k in investments (mutual funds), which we can use to pay off our loans (mortgage) but opted not to.

Still maxing out our 401k, Roth IRA and HSA contributions (better if there’s two of you who have a common goal)

Got a bit crazy with the save more mentality: upgraded our light bulbs to LED, read abuot how to lower electricity, water, and sewer costs, and tried not to shop for leisure anymore. Essentially living a more intentional frugal life.

Still struggling with the earn more part of the equation. The theory is: earn more, save more, and invest anything extra to help us get to financial freedom sooner.

2018: Where We Are Right Now

As I type this, it is still in the middle of 2018. While the year is not over yet, here are some achivements:

Houses (primary residence and the rental) have appreciated in value that we now have a nice amount of equity in our pocket

Went back to Camp FI (used to be Camp Mustache), and decided to start another blog (more travel experience and destination oriented than travel hacking). Also decided to start an offshoot blog about kawaii (or cute things) as a side hobby.

Still maxing out 401k, Roth IRAs, and supercharged our retirement fund by taking advantage of a Roth 401k conversion.

Travel hacked our way to the following destinations:

• Los Cabos, Mexico
• Houston, Texas
• Singapore and Bintan Island, Indonesia
• Lisbon, Portugal
• Bilbao, San Sebastian, Pamplona, and Barcelona, Spain
• Miami Beach, Florida
• Louisville, Kentucky
• Cancun, Mexico

Started another blog, Ruby Explores

What We Should Improve

Earning more through side hustles

Monetizing and getting followers for this blog

Looking for other rental property

Stop shopping (at least for Ruby)

Continuously Evolving

Our life as we chug along slowly through financial freedom is slowly evolving. We just take things every day and make the most of what we have.

Even though we do have a lot of challenges like desk jobs that are rigid, not investing enough, not cutting down a lot of our travel expenses, we make sure that every day is meaningful and that we accomplish a little bit here and there. You know, to become more productive and to consistently be evolving.

There’s plenty to experience in life, be it in our little interests of reading, writing, traveling, playing games and watching, and we’re not giving up any of these little joys that we have in our pursuit for financial freedom.

Your thoughts?