In my journey to financial independence, I have followed a bunch of blogs on personal finance, minimalism, and the like, and have read a couple of books from financial experts like Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman, etc. Admittedly, I have struggled with my finances almost all of my adult life, particularly consumer/credit card debt. I shopped for all reasons imaginable – celebration, when I’m happy, to temporarily ease sadness, because it’s 20% off, and a lot more.

As I grew older, shopping wasn’t as fun anymore so expenses turned to eating out with family and friends (because they say relationships are important) and travelling (because they say memories are important).

I’ve been in my work for a while – a good and stable one in a government office here in my country. It’s not as high-paying as I wished it would be, but the perks and work conditions are great and I love what I do. I plan on retiring by age 60 which is about 15 years from now. Being in my work for a while now, I have seen colleagues resign/retire and there are people in my Department who are retiring in a year or two. Talking to them, there are those who are lucky to be excited and looking forward to retirement (goodbye stress and goodbye waking up early), but sadly, there are also people who have not prepared well for retirement and still not ready to say goodbye to their salaries.

To fulfill my plan of retiring comfortably and abundantly, I have to take serious steps now to make it happen. So here I am to chronicle my journey…