About us
We are a married couple currently living in Alabama, USA. Like many others, we have a 9-5 job, and we are fortunate to be earning decent income to live a comfortable middle class life. Despite our diverse backgrounds, we both have common goals of living Simpler, Happier, Healthier, and Wealthier. Here's how we plan to accomplish these goals:
● Live Simpler - Buy experiences, not stuffs. ● Live Happier - Do things we enjoy (e.g. traveling, gaming, spending time with families) ● Live Healthier - Grow our own food, eat healthy, and exercise. ● Live Wealthier - Live below our means, avoid lifestyle creep, and accelerate our savings. This is where we will be sharing about our journey as we work towards our ideal life. |
MR - ALABAMA
Born and raised in 'Sweet Home' Alabama, USA, I spent most of my life living here, apart from a few years of my childhood in Orange County, California. Being from Alabama, I'm naturally a big college football fan...Roll Tide Roll!!
Since young, I've always been interested in science, which was the main reason why I chose to pursue an undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. I graduated college at the end of 2008, during America's second largest economic recession, when unemployment jumped and hiring stalled. Despite entering the job market at the worst time in modern history, I was fortunate to secure a job with one of the world renowned plant genetics groups in Huntsville, AL. Contrary to effects of the recession on most millennials, I took advantage of the housing market crash and bought my first home shortly after starting my career. The economic climate didn't make home ownership easy, but it reminded me to be mindful of my spending and to make sure that I always saved half of what I earned. It was also during this time when I got interested in learning more about the world markets and investing. The next 5 years was a time of hard work and accomplishments. I completed my Master of Science in Biology, trained for marathons and ultra-marathon, traveled across the world to visit the girlfriend (now wife), had our wedding in Malaysia, juggling all these while working a full time job. Now that we're finally living together, we're both working hard towards building our ideal life, where we can have the freedom to spend time doing things we enjoy (e.g. video games and traveling), and spend more time with our families on both sides of the world. Of course, not forgetting to enjoy the journey along the way. |
MRS - MALAYSIA
Born and raised in the beautiful tropical island of Penang, Malaysia, I spent most of my first 27 years living, studying, and working in Malaysia. In 2008, I received a full-ride exchange scholarship to study in the US for a year. That year was truly a life-changing experience, literally, as that was also the year I met the hubby.
After completing the exchange program, I returned to Malaysia to continue my studies, spent a semester in the UK, graduated with BA(Hons) in Accounting, completed the chartered accountant exam, and started my first job at one of the Big 4 accounting firms. I was off to a great start financially. My starting salary was decent, had no college debt, and was living at home. Besides, I've always been frugal, so I was able to save a good bit. I knew I needed to save for the future (and travels), but I had no clue about investing (P.S. accounting and investing are two very different things). Work aside, I made sure that I took time off to do things that I enjoy the most....traveling! My love for travel and adventures brought me to 40 countries so far. Out of all these, the most incredible adventure yet was racing across China for a month on The Amazing Race China Rush (Season 3)! A year after our wedding in Malaysia, we finally ended our 5-years LDR marathon (more about our story below) when I relocated to Alabama with my job. My current job (CPA) is the same as my job (Chartered Accountant) in Malaysia, the only difference is that I'm making 4 times more (solely on currency conversion). So what's next in this land of abundance? Buy a bigger house, get a bigger car, eat out more, go on more luxurious vacations? Fortunately, my humble background is keeping me grounded, and we strive to live a simpler, happier, healthier, and wealthier life! And maybe reducing our working years by 4x? :P |
OUR STORY