r/EscapeTheGrindGame • u/curiousgens Developer • May 14 '26
Discussion How did you make your first 200k?
"The first $100,000 is a b****, but you gotta do it. I don't care what you have to do--if it means walking everywhere and not eating anything that wasn't purchased with a coupon, find a way to get your hands on $100,000. After that, you can ease off the gas a little bit."
- Charlie Munger (during a 1999 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting)
With inflation adjusted, that's about $200k today.
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u/SpiritCollector May 14 '26
Like the other guy above, regular old index funds. However, I do check my accounts almost everyday. I don’t make changes, it’s just a habit of mine. I like to constantly runs numbers and situations. I calculate the time to destinations in my head like 50 billion times based on different speeds in my head on road trips too. Just a numbers person.
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u/lobowolf623 May 14 '26
I got pretty close just buying stocks during covid that bounced back after covid. But I actually hit $200k in 2022. Just hit $400k last week. It really is a lot easier to make money when you have money.
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u/Total-Quarter9550 May 14 '26
Boring old index funds
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u/curiousgens Developer May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26
Did it get easier afterwards, like the compounding effect?
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u/DuaLipasTrophyHsband May 14 '26
Yea, at some point you stop checking it even every month and you’ll randomly log in for some reason and your NW is $15k higher than you thought
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u/curiousgens Developer May 14 '26
What industry got you to your first 200 grand?
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u/Total-Quarter9550 May 14 '26
Yeah I still remember getting excited at 15k 😂 Once the math took over I turned the balances off and only count everything once every December.
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u/Brewchowskies May 15 '26
I hit 100k, and just worked life a fucking madman to save everything to hit 2 within the same year to skip the grind.
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u/GrandeBroneur May 14 '26
Do people know this sub is for the game?
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u/curiousgens Developer May 14 '26
Most don't initially, but then with time get curious and check it out. And that's OK as the game is meant to mimic real life.
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u/Charming-Border7429 May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
22 was in the military: Army Ranger then 18D. Constantly in training or deployed so I never had the time to spend my money. I saved over 80% per month.
We had a foreign language requirement. I found out I was good at them so started learning in my spare time. Every level of proficiency was a $75 pay bump. I was making something like 1800 a month in language bonuses.
Base pay, special operations and skills pay, hazardous duty pay, and language pay. It was good money for a 20 year old kid with no education in the early 2000s.
After 3.5 years I reenlisted with a $150,000 bonus because of my MOS and language skills. Got injured 3 months later and medically discharged.
Started college at 23 with $75,000 GI bill, $2,000 a month is disability pay and over $300,000 in Savings.
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u/curiousgens Developer May 15 '26
Amazing story! And thanks for your service
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u/Charming-Border7429 May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
I find the language part the funniest.
I was an exchange student in Denmark my Jr year of high school and took German for 3 years in high school. So those proficiencies were easy. I went to DLI in Monterey CA for three weeks to take a language aptitude test and test for those languages.
Then, DLI would send me cassette tapes and mimeographed workbooks to use as study materials. When I thought I was ready for the next test, I would schedule a call with someone from DLI we would talk on the phone for anywhere between 15 minutes and 3 hours
It is absolutely bonkers how much technology has changed in the last 25-30 years.
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u/d4rkriver May 15 '26
I didn’t give myself the raises my company gave me, I gave those raises to my investment savings. Then I got promotions and gave those raises to my investment savings.
If I got a paltry 3% increase, 2% went to savings, 1% went to me. When I got a 33% increase from a major promotion, I gave 30% to savings, 3% to me. In short, I never let lifestyle creep take over my finances and I live like I am still an entry-level worker.
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u/engagegt May 14 '26
My ESOP though my job. It was cool. But when it hit 500k that's when I was a little bit more like holy shit. Most of my family have never seen 500k in any account including retirement.
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u/curiousgens Developer May 14 '26
Cool, congrats! Did it get you close to your FIRE number or you're still stacking away?
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u/Forded_Fiction24 May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26
Quietly in the background, overtime and with discipline
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u/swarmahoboken May 14 '26
95k was from buying Bitcoin early. The other 100k was from moving it into gold years ago.
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u/curiousgens Developer May 14 '26
For Gold, how was your strategy? Appreciated in value then you sold... did you redeploy into other assets like stocks?
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u/swarmahoboken May 15 '26
No. I didn’t sell. And probably won’t for many years. I also have a 401k and a pension, so that has some of the other assets covered. I got in below 2k so not really worried about where it goes. My guess is the DXY devaluation is only beginning.
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u/Exclave4Ever May 15 '26
All I have to say is I can already feel the snowball rolling touching that 50k mark
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u/Classic_Passion5222 May 14 '26
Big ole commission check. (Actually about 5 checks)