Investing September 22, 2026 0 Comments

Five Years Deep into FIRE: The Surprising Twist That Changed Everything for My Financial Freedom Journey

Here I am, typing away in the damp garden at 9:30 on a Monday morning, catching the rarest glimpse of Mrs Accumulator waving at me from inside—almost feels like a mirage, doesn’t it? Reflecting on the past year, it’s been a series of uneasy hurdles and tiny setbacks, yet moments like these remind me why all the chaos was worth it. Remember those grueling days five years back when I’d be desperately fighting metaphorical “bin-fires” at the office, with no Mrs TA in sight for miles? Life then was like a frantic video game, bombarded with pointless nonsense hurtling toward you while your energy bar hit rock bottom. Today, it’s the fresh scent of pine resin in a soggy garden air that fuels my soul. Makes you wonder—how often do we get to redefine success after the grind is over? Walking through unplanned challenges and surprising victories alike, I’m still here, figured a way to be useful and present. And honestly, that’s a win in itself—not the kind you brag about on LinkedIn, but the kind you feel deep in your bones. Think FIRE is all about the golden sunsets and fancy Lambos? There’s a whole different story beneath that surface, and mine’s just beginning. LEARN MORE

I am writing this at 9.30 on a Monday morning, sitting in the garden. Mrs Accumulator has just waved to me through the window and I can scarcely believe she’s there.

The past year has been strange, full of awkward trials and tiny tribulations, but the moment that’s just passed between us – well, it doesn’t get better than that.

About five years ago, I’d have been desperately fighting bin-fires at the office, with no Mrs TA within a country mile.

Work would have felt like one of those mad videogames where pointless cack (pizza, pies, U-boats, whatever) hurtles at you down a conveyor belt while your energy bar ebbs away.

Now I’m in a soggy garden with the scent of pine resin up my nose. It feels like heaven.

God, that went fast

I haven’t had much time to reflect of late. To think about how chuffing lucky I am. Though the feeling bleeds through my every day.

From one perspective, the past year has felt like an extra level in that crazy conveyor belt game:

Here comes a devastating diagnosis. Scratch one parent! (It’s not the end yet, but it’s the beginning of the end.)
Now incinerate hundreds of hours on a communal endeavour with no ‘We’ in community.
Next, feel the spread of aches and pains that likely can’t be ignored much longer, nor fixed. Goddamn age.
Watch people you love trapped in torment. Feel powerless to help them.
Fail to fulfill some promises to good friends while you arbitrage the above.

Yet from another perspective, I’m happy I met the challenges that came my way. Whether they’d feature among the golden beaches and labradors of a retirement brochure is beside the point. No-one else fancied it, so it had to be me.

Perhaps I made a difference to my loved ones. And others further down my contacts list. Either way, it made me feel useful. That’s pretty vital for a retired male.

Much of what I’ve done has no place on a CV, or Linkedin. It probably won’t make my memoirs (available soon!), or even a FIRE post about how amazing FIRE is. But I’m still glad I did it.

It meant something to someone. It meant something to me. Certainly it was waaaay better than hitting the Q3 stretch target for BastardoCorps PLC.

Virtually none of it was in the plan.

This was the plan

Before I retired early, I sketched out an idealised structure for my week because I feared I might otherwise just lie in bed:

Monday – Walk, read, all day
Tuesday – Monevator
Wednesday – Monevator
Thursday – New skill
Friday – Volunteer
Saturday – Day out with Mrs Accumulator
Sunday – Day out with Mrs Accumulator

It all happens, but fragmented and frittered across formless weeks and months. No week looks like this. Also, the volunteer part has not featured me giving my time to a worthy cause, so I need to sort that out.

Here’s a list of activities five-years-ago me thought I’d try with my oodles of spare time:

Try-out	Five-year verdict
Carpentry	No chance!
Growing vegetables	Didn’t happen
Wood chopping	Not so much
Foraging	Fuhgeddaboudit
Campfire nights	Done this! Once
Cycling for groceries	Dunnit! Um, not the 2-3 times a week I had in my notes
New skill – meditation, maths, Brazilian Jujitsu	Stares uncomfortably into the middle distance
Cooking	Yes! One new recipe in five years. Box ticked!
Hiking	Yes! TI can testify!
Coding	I’m off the hook: Claude’s ruined it for everyone
Hydroponics	What do you think?
Naps	Definitely! All over this
More writing	Blimey. Actually, yes
Home renovation	Yes! Ithangyew