Summary
Today I’m chatting with Tina from moneyflamingo.com which is an Aussie FIRE blog that focuses on a very cool concept called Flamingo FI. Tina shares her incredible journey of how she and her partner went from being broke and clueless in their early 30s to happy semi-retirees just 5 years later. I’m sure the concept and strategy of Flamingo FI will be very interesting, applicable and relatable to a lot of people out there listening.
Some of the topics in today’s episode include:
- Where the name Money Flamingo came from. What is Flamingo FI and when did Tina come up with this concept?
- The shock of starting her first job and the reality of a lifetime of working full-time as a lifestyle. When Tina realised that she no longer had control of her time she went searching for an alternative to the standard path.
- When did Tina first discover the concept of financial independence and FIRE? How she almost gave up before she began and did nothing about it for 3 years.
- What really matters on the path to financial independence? Is money really the most important part?
- Tina’s personal story – how Tina and her partner went from broke to semi-retired in just 5 years.
- The reality of semi-retirement and living a balanced life.
- What is the difference between Flamingo FI & Coast FIRE?
Links
- Website – Money Flamingo
- Blog – JL Collins – Why You Need F-You Money
- Blog – Mr Money Mustache – The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement
- Website – Networthify
- Book – The Psychology of Money – Morgan Housel
- Blog – Project 1000: 1000 days to Freedom
- Blog – Hypocrisy and Manipulation – Is the FIRE Movement Corrupt?
Transcript:
Heads up grammar police, the following transcription is half human half machine and not 100% perfect so expect a few typos and errors…
Coming soon
Great episode AFB!
I really enjoyed listening to this one. I’ve been a MF reader for years, her approach to lifestyle design and overall outlook on life is really refreshing and inspiring.
Semiretirement is such a good middle ground.
I agree with the overall message 100% – it’s not about the money or picking the perfect investment strategy. Don’t be a slave to your number, just enjoy your life!
Would love to hear Mrs Flamingo’s views on some of the Friday questions on your pod btw. Maybe get her on for an episode?
Rico
Thanks Rico 🙂
I’ve booked her into an AFF episode 😊
So excited when I saw in my notification that there’s a new podcast and that you’re interviewing Money Flamingo!
Quite new to this FIRE concept maybe 3 months in but half of the things I’m already doing so it was quite easy to get with the movement and the “retire early” was something I wasn’t interested in as I love my job (my husband the actual money maker does not so gonna get him onboard with FI!) so I just left it to the side until I saw her blog!
I’ve been reading blogs including yours that are very motivating but really fell in love with Money Flamingo as she has the same sort of lifestyle and family size as mine and everything she posts is bang on! And the idea of just semi retiring is something that I actually told my husband we should do about 3 yrs ago because I do zero based budgeting since forever and I calculated that we can both just be part time and still survive. That’s been brushed off and we continued to save/spend all our extras coz that sounded bizarre so we used all our extras to stuff/luxury travel (back in the day) however still saving a bit as I’m big on making sure we have a buffer.
Her blog was exactly the kind of thing that made me sold on FIRE. I don’t see myself or even my husband retiring but the freedom of knowing that we can was what her blog is all about really just made me sooo excited that I actually read so many of her past posts! Amazing episode!
Great pod AFB and Money Flamingo!
I’ve been a voracious reader of books and blogs on money and financial independence and have never heard of the Flamingo FI concept. I believe the ChooseFI movement just calls this the “Half FI” milestone – https://www.choosefi.com/032-milestones-fi/
Still, I love the idea of over-indexing on life and enjoying the journey to FI, versus just doing an all out sprint to FIRE.
Being a Sydneysider and having 2 kids myself, Tina’s message really resonated with me. Like you both, my wife and I have designed our lives, and consciously work a flexible part-time schedule. Especially with having young kids and all the stresses of Covid over the past 18 months, its been a great choice for us, and an incredible lifestyle design.
That part-time schedule, combined with continuing to save for FIRE has been a game changer. Honestly, feels like we’re cheating the world – having our cake and eating it too, so to speak.
Along with your previous pods with Mrs. AFB and Katy from the Wealthy Winters, this has been one of my favourites. Keep up the great content AFB!
Flamingo FI is different to Half FI. It’s the same number however the purpose is totally different. “Half FI” is just the halfway mark to FI, like “the first 100k” or “quarter FIRE”. Just a number.
Flamingo FI is the same number, but you actually stop saving after you reach it, so it’s a different concept.
Say your FIRE number is 1.5 million and you are at 750k. That is Half FI, but in the normal FIRE world, you will keep saving another 750k. In the Flamingo FI world, you can stop saving at that point and get on with life.
I listened to all these early Choose FI episodes and then got bored, they are at over 300 episodes now, crazy!
Epic pod! I loved the authenticity in this episode. Great to listen to two of my favourite bloggers just chatting like old friends. You can tell how passionate Tina is about this stuff. I have followed her content for a while. Her blog is awesome. Great work AFB, keep it up!
Great podcast, really enjoyed hearing more content from people with kids and who have been on the FI journey for a number of years. Keep up the content and the great work AFB!!
Hi there thanks for the episode. Not sure if it was in this episode or another one recently and you touched on not buying any further LICs, rather selling off these shares? Keen to understand your thinking here? Wondered if you have any published content on your concerns regarding LICs? Cheers Helen
Thanks Helen,
You can read about our decision to move away from LICs here.
Hope that helps 🙂