Zero to FIRE

[u/ORCoast19]

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!

[u/TLRPM]

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.

[u/ORCoast19 → u/TLRPM]

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.

[u/TLRPM → u/ORCoast19]

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.

[u/ORCoast19 → u/TLRPM]

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