I share these net worth updates to stay accountable, seek feedback on our strategy, and prove that achieving financial independence in Australia is feasible without relying on extraordinary luck or wealth. The table below tracks our journey from $36K in debt to reaching our goals. 🔥
December was a whirlwind of activity, as it always is—a month packed with festive vibes, catch-ups with friends returning to the country, and plenty of summer barbecues.
A highlight for us was hosting our co-space’s first-ever Christmas party. Honestly, moments like that were a big reason we started this business in the first place—it’s all about building a community!
We rang in the New Year down in Sorrento VIC, which was great fun! But honestly, one house, four families, and a bunch of kids? It was… lively 😅. Coming back home to work felt like its own kind of holiday.
Looking back, 2024 was a massive year for us as a family. Our daughter turned one (still can’t believe that 🎂), we launched a co-working space in our hometown, and the data business kept growing, with new clients signing on recently.
2025 is already looking like another big year. Honestly, the pace can feel a bit daunting at times, but I’ve come to realise I’m just wired to keep building/creating stuff.
This year, my main goal is to help the data businesses stand more independently so it’s not relying on me as heavily. Here’s to a year of growth, finding balance, and maybe even carving out a little more breathing room!
Net Worth Update
Significant changes this month!
First off, let’s talk about the major shift in our cash position compared to last month…
We sold all our VAS units (~$144K) and combined that with some cash from our holdings to purchase ~$180K worth of A200 shares.
This move has been on my mind for a while. The main goal was to simplify our portfolio since VAS and A200 are so similar. The bonus? Lower management fees—A200 is 0.03% cheaper, and given how alike they are, I’d rather go with the more cost-effective option.
I decided to switch about a year ago but held off until our PPoR loan came off its fixed 1.99% rate in August last year.
With the loan now variable, instead of directly investing the $180K into the market, we paid down our PPoR loan to $0, redrew the funds and used them to buy the shares.
This tax strategy is also known as debt recycling, and I’ve written about how it technically works here.
In short, 100% of our PPoR loans (~$380K) are now fully tax-deductible, which is awesome!
This also marks the first time we’ve bought shares in over two years. It feels great to be back in the investing game, but I don’t anticipate us putting more into the markets anytime soon.
As I’ve mentioned before, we’ve reached the phase of our FIRE journey where we’ve shifted to consumption. These days, we spend our dividends and focus on enjoying life outside the spreadsheet. Those 12 years of intense focus on saving and investing have given us the freedom to make these choices now—precisely what FIRE is all about, in my opinion.
You’ve probably noticed the increase in our expenses in these updates. Over the last year, we spent just over $63K, a significant jump from our usual levels. But honestly, this is what life looks like for us now, and I’m completely okay with that.
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*Expenses include everything we spend money on to maintain our lifestyle. We do not include paying down our PPoR loan as an expense, only the interest *Investment income is simply 4% of our FIRE portfolio divided by 12
I share these net worth updates to stay accountable, seek feedback on our strategy, and prove that achieving financial independence in Australia is feasible without relying on extraordinary luck or wealth. The table below tracks our journey from $36K in debt to reaching our goals. 🔥
It was a very quiet November for us this year.
I did manage to attend a conference as a sponsor for my data company, though, and it’s been such a different experience being on the other side of the table. After years of attending as a government delegate, stepping into the sponsor role has been a lot of fun and a real eye-opener.
Marketing and selling my business has been a journey of discovery. I used to think that selling was as simple as solving a problem—build it, and they will come. How could they not? But in reality, it’s been nothing like that.
Most clients don’t even know what they’re looking for until you show them something that just clicks. That’s when you’re in business. Over the past three years, I’ve worked hard to refine my presentations to get to that moment as quickly as possible. When I meet a potential buyer, I aim to capture their interest in under two minutes. If it takes longer to explain, I’ve usually lost them.
This whole process has also given me a deep appreciation for how polished other businesses’ marketing can be.
I love learning new skills, and selling has been one of the most challenging yet rewarding tasks I’ve undertaken. It is funny, frustrating, and always full of lessons!
Net Worth Update
Holy Bitcoin, Batman!
Our BTC holding shot up by a massive 38.6% in November, adding over $20K to the portfolio in just one month!
It’s been impossible to ignore what Bitcoin’s been doing lately—it’s all over FIRE blogs, subreddits, forums, and even my Facebook group. The surge has been wild, and now BTC makes up 6.7% of our FIRE portfolio. That’s no small chunk considering the size of our portfolio.
I stopped buying Bitcoin back in 2022 when it hit 2% of our allocation—that was the level I was comfortable with. But these gains have completely smashed that target. Now I’m in a bit of a bind:
Do I sell some BTC to bring it back to a reasonable weighting in the portfolio? Or do I hold on and ride the wave, even though it’s making me a bit nervous?
The other issue is, I want to actually use Bitcoin like it’s meant to be used—for buying goods and services directly. But let’s face it, hardly anyone accepts BTC as payment these days. And converting it back to fiat just to spend AUD defeats the whole purpose of decentralised currency.
I want to trade Bitcoin peer-to-peer, no middlemen, no fiat conversions. But honestly, that dream still feels a long way off. So, if I want to rebalance, I might have to sell back into fiat.
On the flip side, holding it makes me uneasy too. Right now, our BTC is worth $75,000—that’s a whole Tesla sitting in the portfolio! It doesn’t align with my investing philosophy to let a speculative asset take up such a big slice of the pie.
And then there’s the debate about Bitcoin being “digital gold” rather than a currency. That’s not why I got excited about it in the first place! I want BTC (or another crypto) to be a true medium of exchange.
Yes, the block size issue gets thrown around as a roadblock, but technical problems can be solved with time and consensus. Sure, people will point to the block size wars as proof it won’t change, but I think it’s more nuanced than that. Breakthroughs take time.
I’m still bullish on BTC—or another crypto—eventually replacing fiat as a currency. The idea of it being virtual gold feels like a distraction from what Bitcoin originally set out to achieve.
As always, time will tell… but for now, this wild ride continues!
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*Expenses include everything we spend money on to maintain our lifestyle. We do not include paying down our PPoR loan as an expense, only the interest *Investment income is simply 4% of our FIRE portfolio divided by 12
Question: Why do we have A200 & VAS? Answer: We started buying A200 in August 2018 after Vanguard didn’t lower their MER to match A200. Practically speaking, A200 and VAS are almost identical so it makes sense to go with the lower MER. As an added benefit, I like the fund diversification between Vanguard and Betashares. We decided to hold both after making the switch since it doesn’t have any impact other than some extra accounting work once a year.
I share these net worth updates to stay accountable, seek feedback on our strategy, and prove that achieving financial independence in Australia is feasible without relying on extraordinary luck or wealth. The table below tracks our journey from $36K in debt to reaching our goals. 🔥
My family and I went down to Melbourne last week to see the Coldplay concert on Wednesday night.
Coldplay at Marvel Stadium
Mrs. Firebug wasn’t feeling her best, so I took my mum instead—and later found out it was her first concert ever!
Better late than never, I guess 😅
The concert was amazing, but I was almost as impressed by the LED wristband light show extravaganza!
I’m not sure when these wristbands were invented, but here’s how they work: as you enter the stadium, you’re handed a clear wristband. When the show begins, it lights up in any colour, likely controlled by an engineer using some sophisticated software.
What really blew me away was the proximity sensing. At first, I thought the lights just blinked randomly, but they’re actually much more advanced than that.
The wristbands somehow detect their position in the arena, allowing for all kinds of amazing effects. They can create a “Mexican wave” of light that flows through the crowd, change colours for different sections of the audience, and even form shapes—at one point, they used them to draw love hearts by selectively lighting up certain bands and turning others off.
Combine that with an incredible performance featuring lasers, smoke effects, confetti, and 60,000 people screaming the lyrics, and you get a truly out-of-body experience.
It was mind-blowing!
I found the video below, which captures it far better than I can describe:
All I could think afterwards was that there must be something encoded in our DNA that resonates with music—something deep within us that comes alive when we gather in large groups to dance and sing around a fire.
With 60,000 people, Marvel Stadium felt like the modern-day equivalent of that ancient ritual.
Net Worth Update
All assets were up in October, with Cash seeing the biggest boost.
The Data business had two invoices land last month, giving our balance sheet a nice lift, and overall, it was a solid month across our other assets.
Several people have reached out about our debt recycling plans from last month’s update. I’ve previously detailed our approach to debt recycling, which you can read about here.
In short, we’re planning to sell off VAS, use the proceeds along with some savings to reduce our split loan to $0, then redraw the funds and invest in A200.
This accomplishes two things:
It converts roughly $180K of non-deductible debt into deductible debt (debt recycling).
It consolidates our holdings from four ETFs down to just three.
November should be really interesting, with the US election just around the corner…
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*Expenses include everything we spend money on to maintain our lifestyle. We do not include paying down our PPoR loan as an expense, only the interest *Investment income is simply 4% of our FIRE portfolio divided by 12
Question: Why do we have A200 & VAS? Answer: We started buying A200 in August 2018 after Vanguard didn’t lower their MER to match A200. Practically speaking, A200 and VAS are almost identical so it makes sense to go with the lower MER. As an added benefit, I like the fund diversification between Vanguard and Betashares. We decided to hold both after making the switch since it doesn’t have any impact other than some extra accounting work once a year.
I share these net worth updates to stay accountable, seek feedback on our strategy, and prove that achieving financial independence in Australia is feasible without relying on extraordinary luck or wealth. The table below tracks our journey from $36K in debt to reaching our goals. 🔥
Quick update for September.
The biggest highlight? My daughter turning one 🎂🥳.
People always said, “Enjoy it while they’re young, it goes by fast,” but seriously, it feels like we were just bringing her home from the hospital yesterday.
Time flies!
Net Worth Update
A bit of a strange month for the net worth.
Our assets had a fantastic bump across the board, but the company had a big tax bill, which pretty much wiped out all the September gains.
In other news…
Our PPoR split loan just came off its fixed rate and jumped from 2.99% to 6.4%—ouch!
Now that it’s variable, I’m planning to debt recycle this split loan. I’ll be using some of our cash and selling our VAS shares to buy A200. I ran this by my accountant, and it’s all good on the ‘wash sale’ front.
The trust will need to distribute some capital gains, but that’s not a big deal since most of it came from dividends anyway.
After this is done, we will have a slightly more consolidated portfolio and a 100% debt-recycled PPoR loan 🥳.
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*Expenses include everything we spend money on to maintain our lifestyle. We do not include paying down our PPoR loan as an expense, only the interest *Investment income is simply 4% of our FIRE portfolio divided by 12
Question: Why do we have A200 & VAS? Answer: We started buying A200 in August 2018 after Vanguard didn’t lower their MER to match A200. Practically speaking, A200 and VAS are almost identical so it makes sense to go with the lower MER. As an added benefit, I like the fund diversification between Vanguard and Betashares. We decided to hold both after making the switch since it doesn’t have any impact other than some extra accounting work once a year.
I share these net worth updates to stay accountable, seek feedback on our strategy, and prove that achieving financial independence in Australia is feasible without relying on extraordinary luck or wealth. The table below tracks our journey from $36K in debt to reaching our goals. 🔥
First off, I’ve made a quick update to fix the scrolling issue some of you mentioned with the net worth section at the bottom of these updates. Hopefully, it’s sorted now! Let me know in the comments if it’s working 🙏
Winner winner chicken dinner 🐔
Our Co-working space took home the ‘New Business’ award at the Gippsland Business Awards night in August.
To be honest, the whole thing was mostly fluff and doesn’t hold much significance. We nominated ourselves, and I suspect most of the other businesses probably did the same!
Even though the awards are mostly just patting yourself on the back, it’s a great chance for the team to take a step back and really appreciate what we’ve pulled off.
A year ago, this was just a dream. Now we’ve got a fully operational co-working space with 23 seats, 2 meeting rooms, a private office, and over 12 members on monthly subs!
It’s easy to just keep grinding and forget to step back and think, “Wow, we’ve actually done a fair bit here!”.
I guess the same could be said about some people’s FIRE journey. Many people will grind for years, saving and investing, focused on reaching the finish line. They don’t realise they’re building freedom along the way and could probably start enjoying a better lifestyle sooner, rather than waiting until they hit their FI number.
Net Worth Update
The Data business continues to cash some big invoices, which pushed our NW to new highs in August.
Shares, Super, and BTC took a hit in August.
On the upside, we got an unexpected $8K boost in Super from Mrs FB’s account. She’s been on mat leave for the past year with no Super coming in, so I’m guessing this is some sort of big contribution from her employer. Anyone else ever had something like this happen during mat leave?
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*Expenses include everything we spend money on to maintain our lifestyle. We do not include paying down our PPoR loan as an expense, only the interest *Investment income is simply 4% of our FIRE portfolio divided by 12
Not a great month for our shares portfolio, and BTC was even worse!
Question: Why do we have A200 & VAS? Answer: We started buying A200 in August 2018 after Vanguard didn’t lower their MER to match A200. Practically speaking, A200 and VAS are almost identical so it makes sense to go with the lower MER. As an added benefit, I like the fund diversification between Vanguard and Betashares. We decided to hold both after making the switch since it doesn’t have any impact other than some extra accounting work once a year.
I share these net worth updates to stay accountable, seek feedback on our strategy, and prove that achieving financial independence in Australia is feasible without relying on extraordinary luck or wealth. The table below tracks our journey from $36K in debt to reaching our goals. 🔥
For the third year running, we escaped Victoria’s chilly July by heading to Bali.
This time around, we had our little one in tow, which definitely made things a bit different, but she handled it like a champ—barely any complaints.
One of the greatest perks of FIRE and being able to run my business from a laptop is the freedom to be a digital nomad, living anywhere in the world. Mrs. Firebug and I have often dreamt about spending a few months a year in Bali or somewhere else in Southeast Asia.
This is what I love about financial freedom—it opens up possibilities that for 95% of people isn’t possible. Alternative lifestyles like this become a reality.
To be honest, though, this trip was a bit more chaotic than usual. We didn’t set ourselves up to live in Bali, it was more of a three-week holiday.
And there’s a big difference, at least for me. I thrive on routine, and after about two weeks without it, I start feeling off.
Still, it’s amazing to recharge with some warm weather and endless sunshine in the middle of winter.
Sharing this holiday with our daughter was something special. The locals couldn’t get enough of her, which was just so heartwarming 🥰.
Enjoying a sunset in Bali
In other news, our new co-working space is hosting its first live podcast, and guess who’s on the guest list? Yep, yours truly.
I’m really excited about this, and not just because it’s happening at our co-work spot. Over the last three years, since coming back from London, I’ve developed a real passion for start-ups.
And I’m not just talking about tech start-ups. Any business that sets out to solve a problem and gets rewarded financially has my attention.
This, to me, is the beauty of capitalism. When people pursue their own interests and seek rewards, they end up creating value for others too. It’s a system that not only generates wealth but also drives innovation, benefiting the entire community.
For me, businesses represent the pinnacle of human ingenuity. The magic of capitalism lies in the fact that both parties walk away better off.
I genuinely believe it can be a force for good, and I’m hoping this networking event inspires others in the community to take that leap and chase something they’ve always wanted to do.
This ties right back into FIRE as well—the flexibility of running your own business is incredible. Honestly, I wish I had started years ago.
I know some people get scared off by horror stories, but things have changed so much. Nowadays, you can start a business with minimal upfront capital, thanks largely to the internet.
That’s exactly what we’ll be discussing at the event—how each of us on the panel started our businesses, the time and effort it took, the start-up costs, the challenges, and more.
I’ll be there all night, so come by and say hello 🙂
It’s been an incredible month, driven largely by our assets across the board and some significant cash inflows from the business.
The business is really starting to gain momentum, and while it technically should be part of these net worth updates, valuing it is tricky. On one hand, it’s clearly valuable since it generates monthly income, but on the other, how do you put a value on something that’s neither bought nor traded publicly?
I’d really appreciate it if someone could weigh in on how tech startups are valued. Is it based on profit, revenue, or a combination of factors?
Our FIRE portfolio (shares, cash and Bitcoin) ticked over $1M this montho too. This portfolio is what we’re actually going to be living off (althought I have some thoughts about this which will be addresses in a future post).
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*Expenses include everything we spend money on to maintain our lifestyle. We do not include paying down our PPoR loan as an expense, only the interest *Investment income is simply 4% of our FIRE portfolio divided by 12
We pre-paid for our accommodation and flights for the Bali trip, which kept our expenses for the month quite low.
Huge month all around with the Aussie markets leading the charge.
Given our substantial investments in Australia, this led to a decent bump in our net worth for July.
Question: Why do we have A200 & VAS? Answer: We started buying A200 in August 2018 after Vanguard didn’t lower their MER to match A200. Practically speaking, A200 and VAS are almost identical so it makes sense to go with the lower MER. As an added benefit, I like the fund diversification between Vanguard and Betashares. We decided to hold both after making the switch since it doesn’t have any impact other than some extra accounting work once a year.
