The First Blog Year on Our FIRE Journey When we started CheesyGoulash at the beginning of 2025 (on a whim), it was still an experiment: writing an update every month or quarter about our Barista FIRE journey, sharing numbers, and at the same time telling personal stories about work, travel, sustainable choices, and investing. Now, about 10 months later, the posts mainly help us stay consistently focused on our goals. This year, for us, was not just about our finances, but lat

A familiar struggle John is 36, married with Angela. He works in Finance, makes a decent salary, and has read quite share of personal...

A Story That Feels Familiar It’s the end of June. Lotte gets a €1,200 tax refund. She’s been meaning to knock down a lingering €900...

In the Deep Dive Series: Behavioral Money , we explore the psychology behind financial behavior. The blog on Mental Accounting  this...

Why losses hurt more than gains—and how to design smarter money habits. 🔎 Content Overview Introduction: The Pain of Losing Historical...

Behavioral Money Deep Dive Series Over the next ten weeks, we’ll explore the hidden forces that silently guide your financial...

Imagine this: you spot the perfect investment — a property, a business opportunity, or even just your dream car. The catch? You don’t have enough saved. Do you wait until your savings catch up, or do you borrow and seize the chance before it slips away? This age-old dilemma divides personal finance experts. Dave Ramsey preaches debt-free living, while Robert Kiyosaki champions leverage. The real answer to Debt vs Saving? It depends not just on the math, but on psychology, str

When we started investing in 2019, we had one major problem: we knew nothing about investing or asset allocation. We simply bought...

“Even after years of careful planning, I still reach for small pleasures—knowing they barely satisfy—while my future self waits. Sticking...

In de zoektocht naar een duurzamere en comfortabelere woning kiezen steeds meer mensen voor een hybride warmtepomp . Deze systemen bieden...

Lately, more and more articles have been appearing about the so-called “hidden costs” of electric cars on vacation. It all began with “charging stress” – the fear that there wouldn’t be any charging points. Then came the horror stories about long queues at charging stations, and now people are once again being scared with tales of unexpected charges. But how realistic are these stories, really? Charging in Ács (Hungary) We’ve been driving an electric car for two years and hav

✨ Quick Summary Barista FIRE is a flexible approach within the broader FIRE movement that allows you to reach early retirement  without completely quitting work. Instead of waiting until your investments can cover 100% of your annual expenses, you aim to cover most  of them and earn the rest through part-time, flexible, or low-stress work. This strategy offers a balanced lifestyle , more time freedom, and reduced pressure compared to both traditional retirement and full FIRE

Financial freedom is something we’ve dreamed about for years. Our desire to live in Hungary (my wife’s birthplace) is growing stronger,...

📊 A data-driven answer starting from 2019 Until recently, a Dutch pension was largely taken care of for you: your employer set up a plan with a pension fund, and you saw on your annual statement how much you (maybe) would receive later. Simple? Yes. Clear? Not always. Tailored to your personal situation? Less and less. That’s why a big change is coming: the new pension system . One of the biggest shifts is that you, as a participant, will soon be able to make your own choic

💬 “Paying €1,950 in rent every month feels like burning money. But buying? I have no idea if I’d actually be better off in the long run.” — Sanne (32), from The Hague. In the Netherlands, the housing discussion often centers around monthly costs, mortgage interest, or house prices. But the real question is: “What builds more long-term wealth — renting or buying?” That’s what it’s really about, especially if you'd like to retire early . Whether you rent or buy, you’re spendi

Do you actually need €1 million to retire early? We crunched the numbers using three real Dutch households—and the answer might surprise...

More and more people are discovering Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending as an alternative way to grow their money.  There are many options for...

March has been a busy and sunny month with many trips and great learning moments. Our goal for March was to be much more mindful of our...

Cooking Goulash outside again! Monthly Update February February was finally a fairly sunny month, which we definitely missed in the last...

We understand the challenges of buying property abroad. If you're considering investing in real estate in Hungary, this comprehensive guide.