Debt

What to Do with Your Money Right Now

6 Comments / Debt, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Saving / By /

We’re in an interesting cycle of the economy right now.  Things are looking good, which helps boost the value of your money.  When it comes to investments, stock prices and property values are generally up. And if you’re selling, that’s a good thing.  Retirees and folks selling their houses or some of their stock investments are partying it up during these times. However, if you’re still in the wealth-building phase of your life, this isn’t as exciting.  Sure, it makes …

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The 10 Commandments for Kids and Money

10 Comments / Kids, Debt, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Saving, Self-Employment / By /

When it comes to kids and money, we all want to ensure that they’ve got the greatest chance to succeed in life. We can push our kids to be smart and learn in school.  We can teach them to be good to other kids and to share. We can help them to understand that they should respect others.  We can show them good manners and how to be polite. But what about the money side of the formula?  Isn’t that …

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Why I Like Overdrawing My Checking Account

Why I Like Overdrawing My Checking Account

14 Comments / Saving, Debt, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments / By /

Once upon I time, a young man we’ll randomly call “Jim” was in college and barely had a dollar to his name… Ok, fine – that young man was me – dang it, you ruin everything!  Anyway, like a good number of college students, overdrawing my checking account wasn’t too uncommon. In fact, it actually wasn’t uncommon for me to blow out my balance on a periodic basis for a year or so after graduating college as well. Eventually, though, I started to …

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Why Do We Buy Crap??

20 Comments / Spending, Debt, Estate Planning, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE) / By /

Sometimes I can’t help but shake my head that we as a society feel compelled to buy crap just because we feel we “need” it. There are millions of people here in the U.S. that, although not by choice, manage to live on $2 a day.  But when it comes to the middle class, even with increasing salaries, most families buy and buy and still feel like they need more stuff. Why? Why do people love to waste their hard-earned …

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Protecting Your Assets

Protecting Your Assets

8 Comments / Estate Planning, Debt, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Insurance, Investments, Real Estate / By /

So, you’re going down the right path on the road to financial freedom slowly but surely, but you want to make sure that you’re protecting your assets in the meantime?  Well, hopefully, this post will help you with some ideas! I’ve noticed that as I’ve started to build up my assets, my needs have started to morph as well. I now have rental properties, multiple LLCs, and growing and expanding savings, investment, and retirement accounts.  And, as the accounts continue to grow, …

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Year End Review

Year-End Review

14 Comments / General Thoughts, Debt, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Real Estate, Saving, Spending / By /

Well, this is it – the last post of the year.  I hope all of you had a great holiday and are looking forward to the new year!  I thought this would be a good time to do a year-end review and look back at what I got accomplished throughout the year (and what I didn’t!). Let’s start with the 8 Financial Goals we had set at the beginning of the year for ourselves… 1) Build back up our online savings …

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It's All About the Expenses...

It’s All About the Expenses…

22 Comments / Spending, Debt, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Saving / By /

You’re doing your best to get yourself on the right track with your finances.  You’re working your way out of debt and have turned your eye toward reaching financial independence.  But the media wants you to focus on the money you have coming in.  I want you to focus on your expenses instead. First of all, know that your income is important – no doubt about it.  In my article The Steps to Wealth, the first thing I talk about is getting a …

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Downsize My House to Quit My Job Sooner?

Downsize My House to Quit My Job Sooner?

22 Comments / Debt, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Real Estate, Saving / By /

My wife and I are very happy with our neighborhood – we like where we live, we like our neighbors, and the schools are good. But I recently had a thought… the only thing holding me back from reaching FI (financial independence) is the dollars owed on my mortgage.  Granted, I’ll reach FI before the mortgage is completely paid off, but for my plan to work, those extra payments for a couple of years will make things a little tight.  So, here …

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It's Time to Step-Up Your Game for Retirement!

It’s Time to Step-Up Your Game!

16 Comments / Saving, Debt, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Motivation / By /

Hey everyone, it’s time to talk about something that most of us out there know, but not enough of us are talking about.  And with that, I’m referring to retirement savings.  Although this is a site focused on financial freedom and early retirement, the fact is that most of us out there have a slim shot at either one of these. I almost threw up when I learned on The Motley Fool that the average American’s 401(k) balance is $72,383.  And even worse, …

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I'm a Cheap @#$... and Proud of It!!!

I’m a Cheap @#$… and Proud of It!!!

20 Comments / Spending, Debt, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Saving / By /

When I was a kid, I was a good saver.  Every penny I got was definitely a penny I saved.  I wasn’t necessarily cheap and still bought candy and toys, but I was just good at saving.  As I got to high school, the trend continued and I continued to be careful with my money, especially once I got my first job and learned the importance of hard work. Then things changed. That’s not to say that I didn’t have a …

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