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Posted on May 20, 2017November 30, 2017 by cordeliabyrantPosted in Life, MinimalismTagged grahamhill, Minimalism, simplelifestyle, simpleliving, tinyapartment, tinyhomes.

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About me

Hi everyone! My name is Samm. I am a debtist – a dentist who graduated with a lot of student debt. After four years of undergrad and four years of dental school, I ended up with a debt of over $550k, which I then had to start paying back. This led me to a series of life changes and discoveries about myself in my late twenties that shaped my lifestyle into what it is today. Saving money required us to be more frugal, and being more frugal opened up the doors to finding alternative ways to find happiness in things that don’t require consumerism. I now embrace a simple life. I live in OC with my husband, although we prefer to be traveling, and do so when we can. We focus more on experiences rather than material things. Being selective when it comes to purchasing consumer goods, we spend most of our money and time acquiring new skills, picking up new hobbies, learning about new cultures, and exploring the globe. I’ve become more intentional with my life decisions, and am currently working towards buying my freedom from my massive loan, but not at the expense of giving up my life in exchange for grueling work hours. Open to questioning society’s standards of success, I am finding ways to reach my life goals by refusing some things that we take for granted as the norm. Balance is key, and this is my journey towards financial freedom, in the process of discovering what life is really about.

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Inside scoop on the life

A morning to myself. I dont get many of these. Flung open the windows, read a book, stayed hydrated, and burrowed under the sheets. #kinto @kinto_usa

I don’t own many bath products but this single accessory makes up for that by delivering the most luxurious minimalist bath routine. I grew up using loofahs and this Japanese body scrub from @territorydesign is the best one I’ve owned. It was gifted to me by my mother-in-law last Christmas and it has been a real game changer. This, plus the entire @territorydesign site is 20% off for Memorial Day weekend. I love their stuff, so check em out 💕 Meanwhile, a short post re: bath routines

Feeling so lucky today! We don’t always get each other gifts on special occasions but when we do, they’re usually simple joys. Mike bought me a pair @notary__ceramics chopsticks holders for my upcoming birthday and gave them to me early. I love the texture and simplicity of these things! And to top it off, he made ramen from scratch ( including the noodle and broth). I walked onto the balcony with them laid out as a surprise!It was seriously the best birthday present and I’m already excited for sushi take-out on the eve of my real day of birth. What a great way to start Memorial Day Weekend. Thank you!! #notaryceramics #ceramics #hand-made #ramen #eastforkpottery

Our yearly loan repayment update is up on the blog 💕 it has been three years and the last 12 months brought about a whole lot of changes and personal discovery and experimentation. I shared our accomplishments and we are v. excited about the future ✨

Mornings with @olibolidonuts after a beach run just can’t be beat. . . .I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do “when this is all over”. I’ve been loving the semi-retired lifestyle we’ve got going, with Mike not working (having left work to pursue a different passion)and myself only working four days a week. . .When we started this FI journey, we had a few goals in mind: 1) a simple lifestyle with our main values at its epicenter 2) world travels, which are obviously currently on pause 3) non-dependency on our jobs so we can pursue whatever passion we feel like at the time (ie: my year of baking and Mike’s switch to coding), and 4) early retirement. . . .Our current path to ‘early retirement’ puts us at around 35 years old. I can technically finish the loans at 33 years old (2.5 years from now). But that would require me to go ‘back to normal’. I’ve been debating about taking it slow and possibly enjoying this semi-retired life now. That may push loans to 34 years old and our ‘early retirement’ plan closer to 40 years old. . . .Ive already created a lifestyle where work doesnt have to be 9-5, neither is it always 5 days a week. There is no commute. I can change my schedule at will. I can go on vacation whenever. I can do other careers. COVID gave us the pause to realize that we have set ourselves up for other options. And to imagine that people almost convinced me not to pursue FI! . . . I’ll be posting our 3 year loan repayment status soon. We went from $575,000 in student debt to now the $300s! Soon we will be more than halfway and the snowball will continue rolling. We’ve owned our property for 1.5 years and have been house-hacking along the way. We are currently looking for a rental property to buy. We also have traveled 10 countries in our three years of marriage and double the amount of cities, all while travel-hacking and not spending money on flights. . . . I can’t wait to see what life brings us next. I’m in no hurry to go “back to normal”. Normal was never our thing, anyway. #choosefi #financialindependenceretireearly #firemovement

Moody weather this morning. We did a 5k early in the AM, then came home to coffee and a bit of lounging around. Got a shower in, breakfast, a blog post, and waiting for work to start... despite having done a lot, its quite a slow day. That’s the thing about slow living. It’s not how many activities you don’t do on paper, it’s how present you are that causes time itself to slow down. It doesn’t look a certain way, but it sure feels a certain way.

Beach walks are my favorite. So grateful for beaches being open again. See also: The things we take for granted...

A few blossoms for dessert. And a new post on minimalist flower arrangements on the blog 💕

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Recent Blog Posts

Minimalism: Bathroom Routines
Protected: Intentional Living: Hydration
Finance: The Third Year of Paying Down $575,000 in Student Loans, An Update
Play Pretend: Memorial Day Weekend Staycation
Curating Closets: Swimwear
Small Space Living
Simple Things: Ikebana
Simple Things: Blue-Light Blockers by The Book Club Eyewear
Curating Closets: Intimates
Apple Walnut Tea Cake

Books I’ve Read

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