Welcome to Fight to FIRE: My Personal Journey Towards Financial Independence and Early Retirement
Hi, I’m the voice behind Fight to FIRE, a 30-year-old Belgian IT professional with a passion for personal finance and a dream: achieving Financial Independence and Retiring Early (FIRE). Living in a house under renovation in Belgium with my wife and daughter, I balance my life between the comforts of home and the adventures of travel.
My Journey: From Forex Failure to Financial Foresight
My professional career, beginning in 2012, was not just about IT projects at a major European bank; it was a journey filled with financial experiments and learnings. The most significant was my foray into Forex trading – a six-year venture that, while ending in financial setbacks, taught me invaluable lessons about risk and resilience.
This blog started in September 2018 and was born from those experiences. It’s a space where I not only document my progress towards FIRE but also share insights and strategies, particularly from a European perspective, which is often missing in mainstream FIRE discourse.
The Goal: FIRE by 45
Why FIRE? For me, it’s not just about retiring early; it’s about the freedom to choose how I live my life, free from financial constraints. By 45, I aim to have the liberty to pursue my passions without financial worry. This blog tracks that journey – the strategies, the setbacks, and the successes.
Learning Together: Insights and Interactions
As I navigate this path, I’m keen to share the lessons learned – both mine and those of others. I invite you, my readers, to engage, share your stories, and offer perspectives that might broaden our collective understanding of personal finance.
A European Take on FIRE
Diving into the nuances of achieving financial independence in Europe, I explore how our unique financial landscapes, from tax systems to investment opportunities, shape our strategies toward FIRE.
Join the Journey
As I continue to write my story, I welcome you to be a part of it. Whether you’re here to learn, share, or simply follow along, your presence enriches this journey. Don’t hesitate to reach out, suggest improvements, or share your own FIRE experiences. Together, let’s explore the possibilities and pave our paths to financial freedom.
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Recent posts
Major catchup on things: what has happened so far
Hey everyone! It's been a while. 🙂 Ever since my last major update on my…
Yearly Portfolio Report – 2022
With no quarterly report to speak of during all of 2022, it's a bit silly to split up the past year now, especially since it would be challenging to find the exact numbers of my crypto positions; instead, I'll be giving you a long-awaited update on my personal portfolio for the entirety of 2022!
How to Start Freelancing for Holiday Cash
With the winter holiday season over, many people will already be looking at the summer. To help pay for them, you might be interested in finding new ways to earn money. Nowadays, there are many opportunities to earn cash online or provide unique services. You can find something that works for you. In this guest post, Kathryn Rucker delves deeper into the topic of freelancing to gather some extra cash for the holidays.
Apartment progress: 100% – Ready for renting out!
After my last update, I couldn't give any more visual updates as everything continued inside, where I was prohibited from entering alone. On top of that, I was busy preparing for significant professional changes, and our daughter still proved to be a bad sleeper giving us very little sleep and time in the evening. But I'm happy to announce the apartment is finished as of July 2022!
My monthly Savings Rate report: July 2022
This month was a very tough one financially. I had to take out all the cash I had left to pay for the last bills of the apartment, which was not enough, but more about that later. Luckily, these are the last main expenses for the apartment. I even got the excellent news someone has already rent it out, starting in September, for €1250. Besides the finalization of my apartment, this month is notable for another reason. It’s my last month as an employee!
My monthly Savings Rate report: June 2022
With a lot of things going on at the same time these past few months, I haven't had the time to write anything. As a result, this Savings Rate report is more than three months behind. Eventhough it's been so long, I still want to catch up and have a complete year overview by the end of 2022. To that end, I'm sharing the month of June. I saw some significant evolutions in terms of expenses due to some major changes in my financial situation.
