It has been almost two months since we reached Flamingo FI and completed Project 1000. I would like to thank everyone for your messages and support, it really means a lot! As you might have noticed things have gone a bit on the quiet side on the blog. I am aware that some of you are eagerly awaiting an update on our plan now that we have reached our goal and are transitioning into phase 2 of our approach to FIRE: Semi-Retirement.
What we are up to now
I already hinted at the fact that we were expecting a major life change and that things will be super busy for us in the foreseeable future. The reason for that isn’t some crazy new venture though. I’m excited to announce that we welcomed Baby Flamingo number 2 a little while ago – just a few days after we reached Flamingo FI to be exact! 🙂 Talk about perfect timing!
As you can imagine we have our hands full at the moment. We have officially entered the “2 under 2” club. So far it has been exhausting but also wonderful and exciting at the same time. There really isn’t anything like bringing a new person into the world.
Processed with VSCO with c1 preset " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.moneyflamingo.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Flamingo-Family.jpg?fit=300%2C185&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.moneyflamingo.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Flamingo-Family.jpg?fit=1023%2C632&ssl=1" decoding="async" > Thanks to Flamingo FI we have a lot less pressure to earn a lot of money now, so we decided to both take a few months off to properly embrace this special time. After that Mr. Flamingo will go back to work for now and I will be on maternity leave for an extended period of time. I have no intentions to go back to my old job (at least not full time), but it’s nice to have the option with everything that is going on in the world right now. We have a lot of ideas about what we might want to do and where we want to live moving forward. A lot of that depends on borders opening, so we have decided to stay put for now and enjoy our new life as a family of 4.
One thing I noticed as soon as we reached Flamingo FI is that money is not really something I think about a lot anymore. I have not looked at our portfolio since we reached our goal and I think that’s a very good thing. I remember checking our spreadsheets obsessively in the early stages of our accumulation phase and I really enjoy this new freedom. As I mentioned in our last post I will publish an update every quarter from now on so that those who have followed our journey can see our progress over time. I hope it helps people who are still in their accumulation phase stay the course.
What’s next for the blog
Apart from these quarterly updates, I will focus my future posts on things other than money. Over the last year or so I have received quite a lot of reader questions about how having a child impacted our FIRE plans. And now that we have not just one but two kids I feel I have a lot to say about this topic. So the theme around the blog will be a lot more “Mummy Flamingo” and less “Money Flamingo” moving forward. Expect some posts about having a family, how it changes things financially and what it means for people who want to reach FIRE. I will also write about semi-retirement and how we implement stage 2 of our plan in practice.
I am planning to publish an update to Our Plan sometime soon now that we have officially entered stage 2. But for now, I will focus on soaking up this precious time with my family and enjoy the summer by the beach! 🙂
See you back here soon!
Wonderful news! Congratulations!
Thanks K!
How exciting, big congratulations to you!
I’m happy to hear the new direction the blog will be taking and look forward to reading more posts on how I can successfully follow in your footsteps and not stress about money with a young family. Thanks for going first ?
Thanks Miss Balance! And sorry for the late reply, we’ve been caught up in the newborn bubble these last few months. More posts on the money and kids topic to come soon!
congratulations, nice little update to read.
looking forward to following the next chapter of Flamingo
Thanks! 🙂
Herzlichen Glückwunsch aus der alten Heimat!! Freut mich, dass es euch gut geht und ihr nun zu viert in die zweite Phase geht!!! 🙂
LG
Phil
Vielen Dank! 😉
Excellent news! Very exciting, congratulations all around. Would love to hear more on how you manage “two under two” – we have a 3 month old and are contemplating whether to start “baking” a second soon ☺️
Two under two is definitely a challenge. Our little one was so cute and harmless when he was younger and we thought a second wouldn’t be a problem. But then the cute baby suddenly turns into a toddler and things can be quite difficult with a newborn in the mix too. People keep saying that the small age gap will be awesome when they are a bit older and I think that’s definitely true. It’s definitely not a walk in the park at the moment. Let me know if you end up with two under two as well and we can swap notes! 😉
Fantastic news, congratulations! And really great to hear from a family of four and not just young people without kids! Looking forward to mummy flamingo!
Thanks Emma! I agree, the whole FIRE equation is quite different for a family compared to a DINK couple or young single working full time. I’ll do my best to offer our perspective as a family. I can see why most bloggers are singles or high-income couples: they have more time! Case in point: It took me almost 3 months to respond to the comments on this post. 😉
Congratulations! Fantastic news. One of my massive motivations towards FI/RE is to be able to raise a family one day, so you guys are literally living my dream! Enjoy your break and when you feel like getting back into blogging, we will all be here waiting for updates
Thanks Captain! Taking care of the financial setup before starting a family definitely makes sense. Life with young kids can be crazy and takes all your energy, so it’s a good thing not to have to worry about money when the time comes.
That’s great news! Looking forward to the Mummy Flamingo updates.
Partner and I are getting married in a few months and then plan on having kids next year. My partner thinks kids are really expensive and we won’t be investing whereas I don’t think it will be that much of a shock and we’ll just have to choose what we spend $ on carefully.
I have to say I tend to agree with your partner. I’m actually working on an article about this topic. Watch this space! 🙂