Motivation

$1 Million Net Worth... Now What?

$1 Million Net Worth… Now What?

64 Comments / General Thoughts, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Motivation / /

Yup, you read that correctly… we now have a net worth of just over $1 million. I logged into Quicken today, updated all my accounts, and was excited to see this: Holy schnikes, a million dollar net worth!  It seems so surreal to think that we’ve reached such a big milestone. I’m really proud of how far we’ve come in our journey to financial independence. By keeping our expenses low, saving and investing as much as we can, and creating additional […]

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2017 Personal and Financial Goals

2017 Personal and Financial Goals

14 Comments / General Thoughts, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Health and Fitness, Investments, Motivation, Real Estate, Saving, Travel and Vacation / /

Well, it’s 2017, which means it’s time to take stock of how your previous year went, but more importantly, you should set your sights to the future and get your personal and financial goals put in place for the year. Here are my plans for the year… My 2017 Financial Goals   Buy another rental property Buying rental property is an important stream of passive income that I’m working on building.  Currently, we own a couple of rental properties – a single-family house and

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With Multiple Income Streams Comes Great Power!!

With Multiple Income Streams Comes Great Power!!

20 Comments / Motivation, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Real Estate, Saving, Self-Employment / /

I thought today we’d talk about little bit about how having multiple income streams can help to fortify your wealth as you continue your path toward financial independence. From the time I was six years old, my mom raised my brother and I as a single mom and did a pretty good job if I do say so myself! 🙂 One of the things I remember as a kid was that we each had our own savings account at an old savings and

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Bringing the Fun Back to the Workplace

10 Comments / General Thoughts, Motivation / /

This post is a lot different from the regular ones you’re used to with me.  I recently had a moment of reflection and wanted to share it with you… I continue to read everything I can get my hands on to help expand my knowledge and better both my life and that of my family.  I’m currently reading Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends & Influence People.  Yes, it’s a classic and I should have read it years ago, but I’m only

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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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The Quest to Trim the Fat and Simplify

The Quest to Trim the Fat and Simplify Life

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

For most of us in a first-world country, it’s almost natural in an unsettling way for us to accumulate crap. Not only do we have junk we don’t need (although we think we do when we buy it), we also spend money needlessly on things we think will simplify our lives. The problem is that most of the time we buy something – be it a product or a service – with the intent of it making life easier or better,

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It’s Not How Much You Make, It’s How Much You Keep

22 Comments / Saving, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Motivation / /

As I was going through college, I had my mind set on getting rich.  I envisioned a good job that paid a ton of dough.  After all, the more money you make, the richer you are, right?  Fresh out of college though, I wasn’t building savings, I was chasing the money to have and to spend in the present day. And I did alright.  While I was still in school, I was working at Walmart.  I started out with it being

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If You Need Money, You'll Always Work for Less...

If You Need Money, You’ll Always Work for Less…

28 Comments / Motivation, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Real Estate, Self-Employment / /

I’m a big fan of satellite radio.  I’m also a big Howard Stern fan.  Years ago, when Howard went to satellite radio, I bought the lifetime package for Sirius satellite radio for about $400. I definitely got a number of good years out that deal.  Eventually though, Sirius made my life difficult. Back in 2009, I bought a new Chevy Malibu which had XM radio.  As some of you may know, there was a Sirius XM merger years ago so that should be all good, right?

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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 / /

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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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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