Start Here

Hello! Welcome to The Frugal Expat. This blog is a place to learn more about saving, investing, and reaching financial independence. Now doing all of that sounds great, but it is not easy. It can have simple steps, but it takes commitment and time.

Plus, we all want to do other things instead of worrying about money. That is like me as well. I enjoy traveling, and I also would love to share great tips about how to travel cheaper and better. 

Let’s first start with some basics. 

Save More

The Frugal Expat is a place to help motivate and teach people how to save better and save more. That all starts with making goals and tracking progress. I track my progress through my Net Worth statements. I have a spreadsheet that helps see how I am doing every month. 

In 2021, my net worth increased by over $72,000. My wife and I do not make killer money. We were English teachers living in Taipei, Taiwan for about 6 years. So we made roughly $60,000 together while living in an LCOL( Low Cost of Living) area. The key to us is our savings rate. We keep that savings rate between 50-60%, with some months hitting 70%. We are now in Melbourne, Australia learning to continue to save while living in a HCOL ( High Cost of Living) area

Check out the Savings section of this website. It will have budgets and other savings tools to help you on your way. 

Invest More

Investing is something I believe in. It will not be easy, but you can make it simple. Investing in yourself, a business, real estate, or stocks will help you create wealth. That is what we are looking for. We want enough wealth not to have to work for money again. That is pure financial freedom. 

Index investing is something I like to do, and I particularly like Vanguard Index Funds, Fidelity Index Funds, and many ETFs. There are many funds like VTSAX and VFIAX. In the invest section of this blog, you will find tips, apps, and tools on investing better. 

Another great alternative is investing in Fidelity Zero Fee Funds or looking into a Robo advisor like M1 Finance that will help you make a portfolio fit for you. 

Achieve Financial Independence

My goal is to hit financial independence. That is to work without the worry of money. If I want, I can leave my job because I will have the power of FU money. I now own my time. 

The goal is to be independent of a job. Making money, saving money, and investing money for the future is the way I will achieve this goal. Continue to check the saving and investing tabs on different tools and ideas to achieve your personal finance goals.

Travel More

My wife and I are massive travelers. One of the reasons I got into finances is because I had no money to travel. I wanted to travel and see many different places, but I realized I couldn’t do this without sufficient funds. So, I found some tips and tricks to travel cheaply. On my adventures, there have been many places to see and visit. 

The travel section will have many places to visit and travel, plus ways on travel hacking and saving points and miles to travel cheaper and better. 

Must See Articles

Not sure where to start, here are some great articles to help you on your journey.

1 thought on “Start Here”

  1. Steve Cummings, I must say as a laid-back man I think you are a
    find. (I hope you know what a find means) your short article is so up front.
    I save by not using paper products. Things like wrapping paper, napkins I use my shirt sleeve it will have to be washed anyway. LOL I use the plastic bags that the newspaper comes into pack lunches for the kids! I make books on the computer instead of cards. Paper towels are never for dusting, drying dishes or washing windows, newspaper is great for cleaning wiindows and glass.
    So my quest of saving is down to the barebones .

    Reply

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