u/Lost_Helicopter2518

I'm a software engineer and I hate my job and I hate where my industry is going regarding AI.

I'm (33M) in a very fortunate position with a paid off single story house and 30k in cash, thinking about going all in on lowering my future expenses and have a frugal lifestyle until I die just so I can retire early.

My thought process is to spend my money on buying solar panels, battery and maybe an EV in the future. I haven't really calculated how much they will cost or when I will get my money back yet, but if the payoff period is under 10 years that's fine.

I just want to make sure my expense stays under 3k per month, (2k if doable) in the event I get made redundant as I have absolutely zero interest in getting another job. I may have to as I don't have enough cash yet but is this worth it?

I'd been quoted $2516 for Emerald heat pump 270L.
$3999 for Midea VRF 4 units. (after negotiating down from $5553 god damn)

Is this considered average price?

Apartment, say a standard 90s apartment in inner suburb Melbourne with limited amenities...

Or a townhouse in middle suburbs...

Or a house in outer suburbs..

Right now I owned a house in the outer suburb, and I'm just thinking will I stay here forever or not. I really want to FIRE asap, with the main goal of reducing expenses as much as possible in the future. I was thinking of investing in a solar battery, double glazing windows, etc, but I really don't know what my long term plan is.

If I invest in those stuff, I guess my expenses will hopefully be so low that living in a house is cheaper than paying strata for townhouses/apartments.

Maybe that is the plan...