Jim @ Route To Retire

The Surprisingly Boring Career Path That Brought Us to Financial Independence

The Surprisingly Boring Career Path That Brought Us to Financial Independence

23 Comments / Motivation, Debt, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Real Estate, Saving, Self-Employment / By /

There tends to be a stigma in society that you need to own a company, become some big real estate mogul, be a celebrity, or just come from money in order to find your way to financial independence. So then we like to come up with excuses reasons as to why we can’t do that ourselves… “If I was in that position, it would be easy! No way I can do that because of xxxxxxx [insert whatever rationalization you want …

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Evolving from Sense of Purpose to Presence: Savoring the "Now" More

Evolving from Sense of Purpose to Presence: Savoring the “Now” More

26 Comments / Motivation, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement, Spending, Travel and Vacation / By /

I’ve always thought that an essential part of life included finding a sense of purpose. After all, if you didn’t add anything worthwhile to the world, was your life just a waste of time? So that’s always been something I’ve had in the back of my mind and it certainly became a little more in the forefront of my thoughts once I retired early at the end of 2018. Like most things though, I got wrapped up in our daily …

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You Gotta Spend Money To Make Money, Right? Our Monster Travel Experiment

You Gotta Spend Money To Make Money, Right? Our Monster Travel Experiment

46 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Debt, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement, Spending / By /

We all know the saying “You gotta spend money to make money.” I’ve never bought into that but with this major change we’re making, I’ve really got my fingers crossed that it’ll run true. You see, my family and I made a big decision not even a month ago. We’ve decided to wrap up the lease to our apartment here in Ohio later this summer, put our stuff in storage, and travel around the country with an RV travel trailer …

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Limited Time, Unlimited Dreams: 3 Steps to an Extraordinary Life

Limited Time, Unlimited Dreams: 3 Steps to an Extraordinary Life

6 Comments / Motivation, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement, Panama, Saving, Spending, Travel and Vacation / By /

As I find my way closer to 50 (I’ll be 48 in a couple of months), I’m starting to see those small changes creeping up that I thought only happen to old people. Oh crap, am I old?!! Out of nowhere, my eyes have gotten a little weaker – both near and far! I can see close-up pretty well most of the time but I finally broke down and bought some readers for nighttime reading. The same goes for distance. …

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10-Year Wait Over: Our Refreshing Small Getaway Alone

10-Year Wait Over: Our Refreshing Small Getaway Alone

12 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Life in Early Retirement, Spending / By /

My wife, Lisa, and I used to be the king and queen of the small getaway. We took trips every chance we could… and then we had our daughter, Faith, almost 13 years ago. That changed everything. And that change was wonderful for sure… but the small getaway with just me and Lisa seemed to find its way out the door. Eventually, I retired from my working career at the age of 43 at the end of 2018. It was …

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Is Temu Legit? Here’s How I’m Saving Big With This Fun App

Is Temu Legit? Here’s How I’m Saving Big With This Fun App

12 Comments / Product and Service Reviews, Here's Why I'm Liking..., Saving, Spending / By /

So I’ve been playing a Mahjong game on my phone periodically when I get a few minutes here and there. My wife, Lisa, loves to rag on me and tell me that it’s a game for 95-year-old women but I enjoy it so I’ll just graciously accept my lumps from her. But the game does have its share of ads in it that you can’t pay to remove (though I’d probably be too cheap to do so anyway). For the …

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Creating Your Dream Life: The Ultimate Bucket List Blueprint

Creating Your Dream Life: The Ultimate Bucket List Blueprint

20 Comments / Motivation, Life in Early Retirement, Travel and Vacation / By /

If you’ve been following along, you know that I hit a rough patch in my mental wellness last year. You might also know that I’m now back on track and working on bringing back the eye of the tiger in life. Between reading various books on finding your purpose, doing a ridiculous amount of thinking, and spending time mapping things out, I feel more on track now than I have in a long time. As a lover of spreadsheets, I …

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Boost Your Child’s Credit Score With This Simple Trick

Boost Your Child’s Credit Score With This Simple Trick

Leave a Comment / Kids, Debt, Spending, Taxes and Financial Planning / By /

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been trying to give my daughter the hook-up on her credit lately. Yes, Faith’s only 12, but that’s even more of a reason to work on it now – this will put her on the right track so she’ll be starting out strong. A few weeks ago, I discussed Freezing Your Child’s Credit: Why It’s Critical and How To Do It. This was the first step I wanted to do to make sure she …

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Rekindling the Eye of the Tiger - Escaping Mediocrity

Rekindling the Eye of the Tiger – Escaping Mediocrity

39 Comments / Motivation, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Health and Fitness, Life in Early Retirement, Self-Employment, Travel and Vacation / By /

We all know that life’s got its highs and lows. When you’re riding one of those highs, life can’t get any better. You feel that all your hard work has paid off and you’re sitting on top of the world. But when those lows come, they can be like a sucker punch that takes you completely by surprise. Occasionally, those times can make you feel there’s no way out either. As someone who tends to have higher-than-high and lower-than-low temperaments …

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Master the Art of Anticipation: How Travel Planning Can Double Your Vacation Fun!

Master the Art of Anticipation: How Travel Planning Can Double Your Vacation Fun!

9 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement, Panama, Spending / By /

It’s hard not to enjoy a good vacation… a chance to get away from the “same old” just for a little while. Traveling can be an opportunity to visit places you’ve never been, see new sites, meet interesting people, and maybe even try some different foods! Whether traveling just a short distance away, flying to another country, or cruising around the world, just the idea of travel gets the vacation-goer chomping at the bit. And that’s what’s so interesting – …

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