This Saturday was not only a very sunny Indian summer. It was also the day that a group of FIRE enthousiast got together in Breda. It is amazing how easy a group of like-minded people can have a great afternoon, even when we only know each other virtually.
A few months back, after a first meetup, I reached out to team CF to see if we could organise an local meetup to discuss finances and our plans and actions to be free. We agreed on a date and a location and off we went.
The meetup was exactly as expected and even more. Our only plan was to chat and exchange experiences. And so we did. The group was very diversified, with a lot of opinions and approaches around our common goal: Be Financially Free. Here are some of my take aways.
- You do not need a specific goal. A system is enough. Tweak the system regularly and success will follow. Some ideas come out a book worth reading: How to fail at almost everything and still win big (Scott Adams).
- When your mortgage is at a high interest rate, try to pay it down soon. Being mortgage free in FIRE is a big surplus. In the Netherlands, a lot of people take a sort of bullet loan whereby the principle is not paid back… Sounds crazy to me!
- Study the system in your country well. Know how much days you need to work to maximise certain benefits. This can reduce your needed FU number big time
- With a little of programming in VB, a spreadsheet can absorb a lot of data and turn this into valuable information. Once it place, press a button and be informed.
- Couples can agree on the concept and yet have a very different view of what will happen when you reach your number. One might still want to work in a company where the other plans to take on personal projects. Why not?!?
- Life throws you a lot of curveballs. When you are flexible, you can bend rather than break. That goes for finances as well as personal matters.
- Some people actually discover at a young age the power of compounding. This brings a lot of opportunities and makes us wonder: is it possible in Belgium to be FIRE by 35?
- On a non finance related topics: kitchens always seem to be too small….
A good meetup also needs some bars and great food. We had plenty of those. We first met up in a bar to get to know each other. As the weather was super sunny, we then went for a small city tour. When walking, we discovered a nice outside photo exhibition with a bar. Then time for dinner. A great Turkish meal at a decent price with lots of variety. After a this, we ended up in bar to further discuss our plans and dreams.
A follow up meetup would be more than welcome. I did not have the time to speak to all people present. High level plans are in the make for an early 2017. I look forward to this. Big thanks for all that show up (bloggers and non bloggers) and thanks to Team CF to run this together. And thanks to all for being present.
congrats ATL for putting this together! Very glad to see that Be-Ne-(Lux) seems to be a very active plece for FI people. Hope to see you all at FIWE in the near future!
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Thx for planting the seed… I hope we can soon do again a meetup and maybe join a bigger meetup with the Germans.
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It was a very nice experience to spend the day with other like-minded people. Thanks for your combined efforts!
I’m keeping my target set on the 35 😉
Greets
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Nice read, thanks. Next time I hope I can join!
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It was really nice meeting you and the others! And to speak about FIRE without having to convince the other… see you next time.
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I really enjoyed the meetup. Already looking forward to the next edition.
Thx ATL & Mr. CF for getting us all together!
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Again, so sorry I missed it.
Wait.What? Visual Basic and spreadsheets?? Good thing I didn’t come, I’m kind of allergic to VB 🙂
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Next meet up, we will have a half day break out session. You can get the early bird ticket…!
My next move is into Google sheets.
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Google Sheets are great for realtime stock data! Not so great with VB though 😦
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I hope I can come next time (now I am in Hong Kong), sounds like you’ve had some fun! Did you organize some Facebook group or similar activities to keep in touch with the members? Ciao Ciao
Stsal
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Not yet… Good idea though
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I’m happy to learn that the first meetup was a success. How many bloggers showed-up?
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There were 7 bloggers and equal non bloggers
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What an awesome sounding day! Great job everyone involved and I’m glad you all had such a good time 🙂 Sounds like it should be a regular thing!
Tristan
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Hey, this is so cool that you guys made this happen. Now if I can only engineer a situation to be in Europe on work next time it is organized, that would be truly awesome !
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We target q1 next year.
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That sounds amazing! I’m so glad you guys did this. And kitchens are always too small! I love the idea of a system being enough. I might have to check out that book!
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Sounds a great thing, no goals! I like the idea as well
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It was a very nice experience to spend the day with other like-minded people.
It exceeded my expectations. Well done.
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It certainly was a blast as well as very informative. Very much looking forward to next year. Belgium, here we come 😉
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It was a very nice experience, count me in next time as well!
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Great takeaways from this recent meet up. So true about life throwing curve balls every now and then. It’s unavoidable and what really matters is how you deal with them. I still have not met any other FI/dividend blogger face to face but it would be very fun to sit and chat as we all share very common interests and goals. Thanks for sharing your experience.
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Meeting others is really nice… Amazing how fast people connect
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It’s good to see the FI community is also active on the other side of the pond. If I find myself on vacation or on a business trip to Europe, I’ll be sure to check if there’s another meet-up!
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If you organize one again, please count me in!
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Sure, we will announce on our blogs.
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I think that it is good to have a goal, so you know where are you going, where do you want to be … to stay in line and focused, I guess …
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