Bring on Early Retirement: Let’s Learn Spanish!

The First Moonrise

The Frugal Doctor had never seen a moonrise. I had never heard of a moonrise. Sunrise yes, sunset yes. Moonrise no, moonset no.

When my Chilena host mentioned suggested I observe the moonrise from the hammock, I obliged but thought she may have mispronounced her words. Was she using some Spanglish?

So there I was, at the ripe old age of 32, witnessing my very first moonrise. Over the next few days, I took in the moonrises and moonsets. The moon does rise and set. How did I not know this? I had focused on sunrises and sunsets, but never took notice of the moon. What else had I failed to notice in my life?

A Shared Spanish Dream

The Handsome Surfer and I are planning a four-month mini-retirement in South America in 2025. This will be the first time travelling there together. The Handsome Surfer had to cut short his South American trip in 2020 as the borders were shutting due to the pandemic. Now we can go there on some adventures together.

We both have always wanted to be fluent in Spanish. The Duolingo streak chase is addictive. Spanish phrase books have come in handy on past travels. What we both found in the past was that we could ask or say several things in Spanish. However, our comprehension was limited. We could never quite understand the various accents.

The Pimsleur Method

The Frugal Doctor has embarked on using The Pimsleur Method to learn Spanish. I must say it’s the best learning experience so far. The Pimsleur Method involves organic learning in the context of a conversation or exchange, graduated interval recall, and anticipation. Children learn by listening before they learn to read or write.

When I looked at Pimsleur, the downside was the cost. I challenged myself to find a frugal way of learning using it. My library did not have any of their audiobooks. On the app, you can start with a free lesson. I liked the flow of it. The Handsome Surfer had a listen, and he liked it too. He has been on a very long Duolingo streak.

I looked at Audible; there were Pimsleur Spanish audiobooks each five lessons long. Discounted Pimsleur app sign up options were:

• Premium All Access Annual for Aus $229.95 + seven-day free trial + access to 51 languages
• Premium All Access Monthly subscription $28.95/month + seven-day free trial + access to 51 languages
• Premium Spanish Only Monthly $27.95/month + seven-day free trial
• Spanish (Latin American) Language Audio Course $20.95/month + seven-day free trial
• Pimsleur Premium Lifetime Purchase Individual Spanish Levels $230 per level (5 levels available)
• Pimsleur Premium Lifetime Purchase Complete Levels 1-5 (150 lessons) $950

Finding a Hack

I liked the idea of lifetime access. However, the cost of at least $230 for 30 lessons and $950 for 150 lessons was not in line with my frugal nature. Would there be another way of having lifetime access to the material?

So far we are winning. We have spent a total of $37.99 on the 30 lessons for the Spanish Level 1. We used six credits through Audible.

How did we do this? The Frugal Doctor signed up for the Audible Australia Premium Plus. It’s one month free initially, so I received one credit. I purchased three extra credits for $34.95. I then signed up for two new Audible America Premium Plus memberships; this is US$0.99 for the first three months.

I cancelled the Australian Audible membership, and they have offered a membership of $8.00 for three months, then $16.45 after that. I will most likely take up this offer. We will have a play with the permutations of Audible credits.

The American Audible memberships will be cancelled after the first three months. The goal is to purchase all 150 lessons. This equates to 30 credits. We want to have lifetime access to the material for less than $230. We will share the Audible access.

Practice Makes Progress

We know of two native Spanish speakers in our community who are happy to converse with us. They have both been surprised by The Frugal Doctor’s progress. I am too.

At home The Handsome Surfer and I are endeavouring to use Spanish more often. We will work on watching Spanish shows and listening to podcasts in Spanish. On my days off, the routine is morning run, breakfast, then a Spanish lesson. The lessons are 30 minutes long. On the days I work, I do the lesson as I drive.

The countdown to our mini-retirement has begun. Ten months to go! We both can’t wait to experience that moonrise together.

Update June 2025: Total cost for purchases of Pimsleur Spanish Level 1-5 with Audible ended up being $221.37. I finished all 5 levels. I have been re-doing them and learning even more.