Product and Service Reviews

Planning a Road Trip… Learning From 3 Simple Mistakes

Planning a Road Trip… Learning From 3 Simple Mistakes

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

In 2020, we bought a 2012 Honda Pilot and took off across the country for over a month. Even though we were planning a road trip this big, we didn’t focus too much on every detail. Instead, the goal was simple – take advantage of the less empty roads and sites during the pandemic and tour the country. Sometimes we’d sleep in the back of the Pilot, other times we’d do some tent camping, and periodically we could stay the …

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Why I Now Consider Visible To Be the Best Cell Phone Provider

Why I Now Consider Visible To Be the Best Cell Phone Provider

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

The good news is that when you’re trying to find the best cell phone provider, you have several good options to choose from. The bad news is that the most well-known carriers are generally stupidly over-priced and they tend to nickel and dime you for everything. What many people don’t realize, however, is that you have other options. You can move to a provider where you can get the same exact coverage for a fraction of the cost. This is …

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The #1 Easy Way We’re Getting the Southwest Companion Pass

The #1 Easy Way We’re Getting the Southwest Companion Pass

8 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Product and Service Reviews, Spending / By /

The Southwest Companion Pass is considered by many to be the holy grail of travel rewards. By letting you bring along a second person for free on all Southwest flights (except for a few dollars in tax), it can be a huge money-saver! Not only that, but the airline makes the Southwest Companion Pass extremely easy to use. It’s simply a matter of booking a reservation and once confirmed, tacking on your companion to it after. We’ve had the Companion …

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One of the Best Money Books I've Ever Read

One of the Best Money Books I’ve Ever Read

14 Comments / Product and Service Reviews, Debt, Education, Saving, Spending / By /

I just finished one of the best money books I’ve ever read. It’s vastly different than other books I’ve read over the years… and that’s a good thing. Alternating between reading fiction, non-fiction money-related books, and non-fiction books unrelated to finance works well for me. I love learning new takes on money but I don’t want to become completely absorbed in it. I also want some time for fiction to take me away periodically and allow my imagination to take …

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Estate Planning 101 – Getting Your Affairs in Order

Estate Planning 101 – Getting Your Affairs in Order

3 Comments / Estate Planning, Insurance, Investments, Product and Service Reviews, Real Estate / By /

I just finished reading a book called Estate Planning 101 by Vicki Cook and Amy Blacklock. If you haven’t gotten your affairs in order yet, this book can really help get you on track. You can check out the book here. Let’s be honest – estate planning isn’t the most exciting topic. That said, it might be one of the most important subject matters you ever focus on. I dug into this quite a bit in 2013, a few years …

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Switching to Ezoic Increased My Ad Income by 628%!

Switching to Ezoic Increased My Ad Income by 628%!

16 Comments / Self-Employment, Blogging, Here's Why I'm Liking..., Product and Service Reviews / By /

I switched the ads on my website from Google AdSense to Ezoic a few months ago and I have to say that I’m astounded by the results! Seeing an increase in ad revenue of over 7x what I was making before is pretty crazy. Let’s start with this though – I’m not a big-time blogger. If you think this site was the catalyst for us to reach early retirement… yeah, not so much. The money we’re talking about is still …

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One of My Favorite Ways To Learn How To Save Money

One of My Favorite Ways To Learn How To Save Money

8 Comments / Product and Service Reviews, Consumer Protection, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Saving, Spending / By /

Those of you on the path to financial independence know there are only two ways to fatten your wallet: make more money or spend less. Today, I want to focus on telling you about an invaluable tool to learn how to save money. Most folks tend to start with cutting out the excess spending in their lives simply because it can be much easier than chasing after making more money. Regardless, both areas can be largely worthwhile and beneficial for …

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The FIRE Planner – A Solid Start in the Quest for FI

The FIRE Planner – A Solid Start in the Quest for FI

3 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Education, Geoarbitrage, Investments, Product and Service Reviews, Real Estate, Saving / By /

I just finished reading a really good book. It’s called The FIRE Planner and it might be a great asset for those ready to get on the path to financial independence or those who are already on it. The FIRE Planner was written by a friend of mine named Michael Quan. I met Michael at one of the FinCon money conferences a few years ago (I believe it was the 2017 expo in Dallas). It seems like FinCon events are …

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How We’re Streaming Movies, TV, and Music for Free

How We’re Streaming Movies, TV, and Music for Free

4 Comments / Spending, Product and Service Reviews / By /

The past decade has substantially transformed how we watch movies and TV and listen to music. Streaming movies, TV, and music is a great avenue of entertainment and the technology continues to mature and become better and better. All this cord-cutting has made the cable companies cringe, but I’m happy to see it. They’ve been gouging customers for years now as what I’d say are essentially monopolies across the U.S. Right now, they can still crush you on Internet prices, …

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A Better Life for Half the Price… Sound Appealing?

A Better Life for Half the Price… Sound Appealing?

14 Comments / Product and Service Reviews, Geoarbitrage, Panama, Podcasts and Other Appearances, Spending, Travel and Vacation / By /

I recently finished reading the book “A Better Life for Half the Price” by Tim Leffel. This is the second edition of the book and it was just released this past November. Why was I reading this book when I’m already living that kind of life? Two reasons: 1) It’s intriguing to read about living in different areas of the world and compare my experiences from the U.S. and Panama. 2) I’m quoted in it a few times (how cool …

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