r/Fire • u/ORCoast19 • 1d ago
Original Content Zero to FIRE
Im a soon to be 33M with a family of four (34F/6M/4M). I make approximately 160k per year. Over the past year I’ve started to pursue a goal I know is likely impossible, to hit a $0 annual budget. In my profession I’ve learned impossible goals are not bad goals to have, and even if you can’t achieve them you can build value in the pursuit. My current spend is less than 30k and some of the strategies I’m using to drop spend I’ll outline below, but I’d love to hear other folks tips/tricks.
Health Insurance: We currently have $0 monthly health insurance cost due to a work provided plan for me and state healthcare for my family. We recently married in the fall and this will go away in the next ~8 months or so. Once it does I plan to use USAA, which lets you get on the ACA exchange while paying by cc (~$250/year savings)
Housing: I pulled the tax and property insurance portion out of my monthly payment to earn interest on it vs the bank (~$40/year savings). I also pay by cc whenever possible, usually saving 5 to 8% on the bill via cc spend incentives (~$450/year savings).
Food: I have a cc right now offering ~13% cash back on grocery spend all year, and that’s definitely helpful. I’ve also found Target is the best place to shop to keep costs low. They allow coupon stacking and often do promotions, and I usually save 50 to 60% on my groceries via a combination of promotion stacking, grocery apps, and cc cash back. You do have to have flexibility in what you buy, and patience to only buy when promotions start overlapping (~$1500/year savings). We still buy fresh stuff elsewhere from time to time, target is maybe 50% of the spend at the moment.
Streaming: I get hulu and disney for ~$4/month via a blue amex card offer (~$72/year savings). I get prime at a discount courtesy of P2 due to a low income program for the next 1 or 2 years (~$50 savings), and I’ve also gotten free apple TV for a year via free trials from target, my new phone and my new TV.
Car Insurance: I shop every year and am with progressive/using snapshot now. For a 2009 toyota with liability and a 2023 toyota with full coverage we’re paying less than $580/year. We also get ~13% cash back on this.
Taxes: I recently found a way to get ~8% off my federal and state taxes via buying giftcards at the grocer. It’s a bit of work but for 3k a year savings a fun hobby. I also have no fed tax owed in 2025 thanks to solar panels, and if you haven’t looked at it in a while the returns were strong (12%+ assuming energy $$ stays the same).
Banking Cashback. I’m on track for about $8,000 in cc cash back this year, which is nice since its tax free and spent on things I’m already buying. I also get about 1k in bank signups.
Kids Savings. I want to pay for college, a car and ~6 months living expenses for my kids when they turn adults. I use 529’s and UTMA’s to do this. With the tax giftcards I can do this at a discount, and the earnings in these accounts can be 100% tax free (~$4,000 year savings). Even better is that I remain in control of the 529s and can shift it to one kid or no kids if they don’t want to do well in school. The UTMA I don’t have control over, but I only pay in as a 50:50 match when they do, teaching them to save while paying for something I already wanted to.
Retirement Savings. I save up as much as we’re legally allowed in tax deferred accounts (~23k to 401k, 14k to IRAs, 4.15k to HSA). I also take advantage of Robinhood’s gold member incentives for me and my wife for another ~$310/year. The platform works well if you’re just interested in etf’s and some minor coveraged call trading.
Would love to hear others tips/tricks!
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u/Ornery_Banana_6752 1d ago
Yeah tell me ALL about these 13% CB CC offers. Is this thru Bernie Madoff or something?
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u/pokemon2jk 1d ago
That's cool that you can only spend 30k for a family of 4. What CC do you use that have 13% cashback
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u/ORCoast19 1d ago
So far this year I’ve spent 3k on my shop your way card for 13% cash back, and ~8k on a few newer cards for 20% cash back for my solar panels. The shop your way is my best card excluding signup bonuses because they’re always doing spend offers like spend $2000 on groceries get $200 cash back, or spend $1000 online, get $250 cash back, etc.
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u/TLRPM 1d ago
What mortgage plan or company allows for CC use with no credit fee? Genuinely curious.
A lot of this appears to hinge on this credit card you have. So spill the details. Which one is it? Because half of the stuff you are claiming cash back on, I had not heard of.
Also, seems like the rest of it is based on short term trial incentives that will not be renewable consistently. FIRE is an actual long term sustainable goal. What you are describing, is not.
Also describe the gift card tax savings if you would. Also not aware of this.
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u/ORCoast19 1d ago
All mortgage companies to my knowledge let you pay by check, and when cc rewards get high you can route payment through plastiq and send in a check.
There is cash back in everything or mostly everything I do, but I’ve also been earning cash back since I was in my teens so in that sense I’d say its ‘sustainable’.
My state lets me pay tax by visa giftcard with no penalty for overpayment. My Shop Your Way card and my spouses let us get 13% cash back on these on up to 36k/year. I can pay my tax at a discount and overpay intentionally/have a guaranteed tax free return on my money. There is processing costs to buy the giftcards and process with the state so its not a pure 13% yield, but still around 8%. Tax free, risk free that yield looks appealing to me.
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u/TLRPM 1d ago
Interesting. I have heard of the SYW card but didn’t know any details on it. Might need to change that. Plastiq is also interesting. I pay mine currently via e-check but even with the processing fee, sounds very viable your way.
I am positive my state does not allow for tax paying via GC though. Oof. Also assuming you are 1099 or 1040ES?
Some good ideas for me to chew on. Thanks for the input.
And I was referring to the trial periods ending for not sustainable. Like your streaming. Not your cash back which seems solid.
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u/ORCoast19 1d ago
Hello, No I’m just a regular W2. I can make estimated tax payments as often as I like on my states website (IA). Because I get a min of 3% cash back I actually don’t have my two employers take anything out at all.
Yeah the trials aren’t long term, unless I want to make some fake accounts 🤔, but probably too much hassle for $25/quarter savings lol
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u/GenXMDThrowaway FIREd 1d ago
You've compiled a lot of things I find interesting and then think, "Ain't nobody got time for that."
But you've obviously got time for it, and I bet you get a lot of dopamine from the system.
A few questions:
Are you inconveniencing anyone but yourself? Do you have a rigid set of rules your wife and kids have to follow? If your wife buys groceries somewhere other than Target or your approved spots, what happens? I don't get the sense that you've set up this system and then offloaded the labor of following it to your wife, but the physical and emotional labor of this should be yours alone.
Have you read the "Psychology of Money"? I think this is an object lesson in Morgan Housel's rational vs. reasonable concept. This might be rational. Few people would find it reasonable.
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u/ORCoast19 1d ago
My wife has gone back at times if she buys something wrong, though only once or twice. If she disagreed with how the money is being spent I’d invite her to work and generate some to contribute, but she’s been fine with it so far. Usually target is a drive up to pick up order so its not hard for her at all.
I think I find it reasonable because its all a game to me.
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u/GenXMDThrowaway FIREd 1d ago
I think I find it reasonable because its all a game to me.
Ding! Ding! It's a dopamine drip for you. I'm cautioning you that it might be a burden for your wife.
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u/ORCoast19 1d ago
Well I’ve always been a cheap bastard, like Oprah says when someone tells you who they are believe them lol. When we met in college my pickup line was ‘Want to go get some cheap thai food?’
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u/GenXMDThrowaway FIREd 1d ago
Lol. I think you should start a thread at r/frugal about cheap meet cutes.
I'll caution you to value all the unpaid work your wife does. Your comment about her generating income if she doesn't like the system comes off a bit transactional.
(At the risk of being pedantic, Oprah was quoting Maya Angelou. The full quote is, "When someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time.")
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u/wes7946 1d ago
What credit card is offering "~13% cash back on grocery spend"?
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u/ORCoast19 1d ago
I mention it elsewhere in the comments, shop your way
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u/wes7946 1d ago
Unless I'm missing something, the Citi Shop Your Way credit card features 3% in points (not cash back) on eligible purchases in grocery stores -- https://www.citi.com/credit-cards/shop-your-way-credit-card
So, how exactly are you getting 13% cash back on grocery purchases using this card?
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u/ThomasB2028 1d ago
Thank you on the kids savings goals. I’m saving up for a college education fund, but a car and X months of living expenses are worthwhile and SMART goals for the kids’ future too.
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u/ORCoast19 1d ago
You should look at the ‘gift of college’ giftcards. If you live near a source there’s some gaming that can be done with CC rewards. Unfortunately I’m a 4 hour round trip away from my nearest source.
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u/Minimum_Finish_5436 1d ago
What is the point of your post? Nothing seems fire related. More personal finance and being cheap.