I enjoy hosting meetups for financial independence enthusiasts and mustachians on my travels – most recently in USA, New Zealand and Australia.
It’s refreshing to meet other “money nerds” and FI bloggers in person; plus I like facilitating connections between others and strengthening local FI communities.
For a regularly updated list of all FI events around Australia, subscribe to the Australian FI Weekly enews. Each Monday, I send out an event listing with curated links to great Australian financial independence content. Enjoy!
Notes from previous meetups
Here are some of the tips and recommendations from meetup discussions.
Adelaide – 21 December 2019
FI/RE & Mustachian Meetup – My Kingdom for a Horse cafe, Adelaide city
A fun meetup with 15 attendees, including local blogger Keepin’ It Frugal. The conversation flowed well as we explored topics such as preferred investments and withdrawal strategies, what we want to do post-FIRE, frugality tips, and deciding to keep or ditch a newly purchased car.
It was useful to revisit fundamentals and help answer early questions from FIRE newbies there who’d discovered the concept only weeks beforehand. I loved getting feedback later from one participant who said: “So thrilled that I attended, and it has been life changing.” Chuffed!
Blog/Podcast/YouTube recommendations
- Keepin’ It Frugal (Australia) – new Adelaide-based blog
- Frugality and Freedom (Australia) – mid-30s semi-retiree
- Tracey Edwards YouTube (Australia) – weekly videos by the author of book “Shopping for Shares”
- Our Next Life (USA) – by early retiree Tanja Hester
- Our Rich Journey blog & YouTube (USA) – early retired family who relocated to Portugal
- What’s Up Next podcast (USA) – panel format
- Playing With FIRE documentary and book (USA) – one couple’s story of discovering FIRE and getting started on the path. (Note: I prefer the book, which goes deeper into their story and FIRE concepts. -Michelle)
Resources
- Libby by Overdrive – free audiobook and ebook access via your library membership!
- Motormouth.com.au & app – Petrol prices near you.
- Sharesight – Track your share portfolio’s performance; free to track 10 holdings.
- Spaceship Voyager – Australian micro-investing app, offering two “future focused” portfolios. No monthly fee for first $5000 invested.(Use referral code S8GLULOA6S for $5 to start.)
- Raiz – Australian micro-investing app with simple portfolios, including a feature to invest round-ups for your transactions. Good to start getting comfortable with investing in shares, but note $2.50 per month fee. (Referral link here gives $5 bonus to start.)
Auckland NZ – 9 November 2019
FI/RE & Mustachian Meetup – 15 attendees, The Good Home pub, Mt Eden
Favourite podcasts
- Happy Saver (NZ)
- Cooking the Books (NZ)
- Your Money With Mary Holme (NZ)
- Freakonomics (US)
- Planet Money (US)
- What’s Up Next? (US)
Blog recommendations
- Passive Income NZ
- The Frugalwoods (US) – including Uber Frugal Month Challenge
- Perpetual Money Machine (US)
Tips and money hacks
- BNZ cashback + ANZ cashback credit cards (ask for annual fees to be waived on application)
- Transferwise debit card – good for travel and currency exchange
- Wallet app – NZ spending tracker
- Sidekicker – gig economy-style app for temp work in events, hospitality, manual labour, administration
General discussion
- Have a “financial survival plan”, including trialing how to live at your lowest possible spending rate; remove unnecessary subscriptions as part of preparation (eg. Netflix)
- Don’t be afraid to ask for product and service discounts, waived fees, replacement products when faulty
- How to decide whether to add money to mortgage or channel money to retirement accounts
- Different motivations for pursuing FI; eg. for more time with children, freedom to travel, to guard against financial impact of redundancy or changed job environment
- Notable differences between credit and bank accounts bonuses in NZ vs Australia vs USA
Auckland NZ – 15 September 2019
FI/RE & Mustachian Meetup – 15 attendees, Crave Cafe, Morningside
Blog recommendations – NZ
- thedeepdish.org
- thehappysaver.com
- pikiliving.com
- kiwigirlonabudget.com
- pigtitsandparsleysauce.co.nz
- yourmoneyblueprint.co.nz
Blog recommendations – International
- millennial-revolution.com (Canada)
- bitchesgetriches.com (US)
- apexmoney.com (US)
- simplesavings.com.au (Aus)
- thefioneers.com (US)
- theescapeartist.me (UK)
- pbs.org/show/two-cents/ (US)
- frugalityandfreedom.com (Aus)
Side hustle ideas
Job Spotter app – get paid for pics of hiring signs(no longer available in NZ)- Appen.com – get paid for small tasks such as voice recordings