My trial by leanFIRE - 2026 Edition (FINAL UPDATE)

previous thread which has links to the original thread.

tl;dr: Trial is complete at 1 year - I am employed again.

Thanks again to everyone who has interacted and helped me brainstorm.

Why did I go back?

1. My girlfriend wants to FIRE with me now that she's seen it in action. She makes a solid salary but our two salaries attacking the same goal is better.
2. "Why not try working again and see how it is?" I didn't totally hate working my last job but I wanted to take the opportunity to trial FIRE.
3. Industry-specific things that are "use it or lose it" and I was nearing the lose it deadline.

What are my numbers?

I kept decent records but don't feel like getting down to the penny so I'll summarize. I started with $600k and I'm around $700k now. I was entirely in stocks except for ~18 months of cash. I basically nailed my budget and spent ~$25k and did everything I wanted.

When will I FIRE for real?

This one is tricky. Seeing how easy this trial and re-employment was I'm tempted to work every other year or something until I get bored of that. It's too early to know a date for sure. Right now I'm taking employment week by week and if it gets lame I'm quitting. That freedom is a wild feeling.

What else? Ask me (almost) anything!