from typing import List


def find_first_in_list(txt: str, str_list: List[str]) -> int:
    """Returns the index of the earliest occurrence of an item from a list in a string

    Ex: find_first_in_list('foobar', ['bar', 'fin']) -> 3
    """
    start = len(txt) + 1
    for item in str_list:
        if start > txt.find(item) > -1:
            start = txt.find(item)
    return start if len(txt) + 1 > start > -1 else -1