Education

The Biggest Secret the Library Offers to Enrich Your Life

The Biggest Secret the Library Offers to Enrich Your Life

18 Comments / Education, Motivation / /

Oh, the times they are a-changin’.  I don’t think Bob Dylan was talking about the library in his early ’60s song, but boy oh boy, libraries are much different than they were when I was a kid. Of course, you have the obvious stuff like digital card catalogs and the ability to use the computers if you need Internet access.  Heck, I even used them over the past year during those unusual times I needed to print something (I haven’t […]

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Book Review: Choose FI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence

Choose FI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence

2 Comments / Product and Service Reviews, Debt, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Geoarbitrage, Investments, Real Estate, Saving, Self-Employment, Spending, Taxes and Financial Planning / /

I don’t normally write book reviews on this blog, but I’m making an exception for the new Choose FI book.  I was expecting my opinion to sway one way with the book but my impression after reading it went in a completely different direction. Chris Mamula is the author of Choose FI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence (along with coauthors Brad Barrett and Jonathan Mendonsa).  If you’re not familiar with Chris, he retired in 2017 at the young age of

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Our First Week of Homeschooling in Panama

Our First Week of Homeschooling in Panama

21 Comments / Education, Kids, Panama / /

We’ve been preparing for our move to Panama for over a year now.  When we decided to move, we knew we were going to be homeschooling for at least the first year we’re here. Immediately, I started researching homeschooling and have been trying to figure out this new world.  There are so many different philosophies and strategies on how to homeschool that I wrote about previously in my post, Homeschooling Research… Aarrgghh!!!!. I quickly realized this was going to be

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Homeschooling Research… Aarrgghh!!!!

Homeschooling Research… Aarrgghh!!!!

22 Comments / Guest Posts, Education, Panama / /

With the Panama adventure around the corner, one of the big tasks on the list has been homeschooling research.  Until we decide we want to pursue residency in Panama, we’ll need to leave the country periodically to comply with tourism laws. Because of that, it makes more sense for us to homeschool our daughter for at least that first year.  The good news for me is that Mrs. R2R has taken on the challenge over the past several months of

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Homeschooling... a Great Start to Awkward Conversation

Homeschooling… a Great Start to Awkward Conversation

23 Comments / Education, Kids, Panama / /

As soon as you mention the idea of homeschooling, people get uncomfortable. Some shut down, go silent, and give you a stare that quietly says, “I’ll keep listening, but you’re now officially crazy in my book.” Others quickly object.  They might say, “That’ll cause all kinds of social problems for your kid!” or maybe “That’ll be too much work!” or some other wonderful expression of disapproval. Personally, I don’t have the same feelings.  Although it’s still not really mainstream, a lot of folks

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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 / /

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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There's No Easy Money

There’s No Easy Money

8 Comments / Real Estate, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Motivation / /

We’ve all seen ’em… the infomercials telling you that YOU can be rich by just following a few simple steps to buying real estate with no money down.  Think of it – none of your money is involved and soon enough you’ll be retired, sitting on the beach with an endless supply of piña coladas being served to you day and night.  Easy money… it’s that simple!! Wait – what?!  Who buys this crap anyway?? I do. Well ok, I

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What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

17 Comments / Kids, Education, General Thoughts / /

I recently asked my 6-year old daughter “what do you want to be when you grow up?”  She answered back that said she wants to buy duplexes. That’s my girl! Now, before you start chastising me for trying to force my daughter to be something she doesn’t want to when she grows up, let me explain. When I grow up… When I was young, I had my sights set on being an artist for Disney.  I had a pretty good knack for drawing and that just

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Is It Possible to Reach Financial Independence with Kids?

Is It Possible to Reach Financial Independence with Kids?

33 Comments / Kids, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE) / /

When I set out on this journey toward financial independence, I knew I had some work to do.  I started out with around $30k of credit card debt and didn’t know anything worthwhile on how to make it happen. I even bought into one of those late night real estate scams on how to get rich.  I wasted some of my hard-earned money late in my college years thinking that was the way to go… it wasn’t. Eventually, I got on track.  I read as many books as I

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Think About Working for Yourself

Think About Working for Yourself

17 Comments / Self-Employment, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Motivation / /

When I was coming back from vacation last week, our seating got a little screwed up.  Long story short, I ended up sitting next to a lady in her mid-fifties from Alberta, Canada instead of sitting by my wife and daughter.  We got to talking and had some really good conversation throughout the flight.  At one point, I mentioned something about my 9 to 5 job and she chuckled.  It turns out she’s a consultant and speaker on business efficiency.  And she talked about

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