Spending Archives - Route to Retire

Being a FIRE Millionaire Doesn’t Mean You’re Rich

There’s an interesting mentality that I notice creeps up periodically. It’s the idea that some people think that being a millionaire makes you filthy rich with plenty of money to throw around. Folks who aren’t as entrenched in the personal finance world tend to think that if you’re a millionaire, you actually have $1 million ready to spend. In other words, if you’ve hit that mark, you must be sitting on bushels of cash just ready to be spent. This is probably a common way of thinking if you don’t fully understand how early retirement works. I know I thought the same thing before we continued to grow our finances. However, that’s really not true, particularly with those who are

The 4 Worst Words for Your Financial Future

I’m about to share something important with you. Four words that might be the worst in the English language and can crush your financial future. We’re all at different points in our financial lives and we all have different goals. However, I think it’s safe to say that we’re all here for the same reason – we want to be sure that our future is financially stable. In my own life, I started to recognize a common theme that has bitten me quite a number of times over the years. It’s a mindset that I have and didn’t even realize it until recently. I also think that the majority of people tend to think the same way. So what are

Why Less Is More and Bigger Isn’t Better

I’ll leave the “bigger is better” jokes up to you guys. But, if you’ve been around the personal finance blogosphere long enough, you’re bound to hear things like that or “less is more” or some other variations of the phrase. To me that just seemed obvious – sure, if you want to cut your costs, eliminate your cable or drive a used car and **poof** you’ve saved a few bucks. Frugality at its best. However, I’ve learned that spending less can actually lead to much bigger savings that I wasn’t even thinking about. Sometimes when you spend less in one area, it has a domino effect in other areas that make the costs even less overall. And in some cases,

For Those Who Hate Budgeting, Try Reverse Budgeting

Last week, I talked about money throughout my life. I’ve had my ups and downs with it just like most folks. What I didn’t talk about though is my hate for budgeting. I’m probably one of the most organized people with a good old case of OCD you’d love to know. I need structure in order to operate. For me, everything has its place and making a plan is always the smartest way to do something. It’s actually soothing for me to do little things like putting away the dishes from the dishwasher. I think that’s because I feel like order is being restored and everything’s going back in the cupboard or drawer it belongs in. I sound like a

There is a Secret Formula to FI, But It Ain’t No Secret!

Everyone likes a secret, but a secret formula? Even better! Now that we’re only a few months out from me quitting my job, we’re starting to share the news more with friends and family. A lot of them seem to be a little confused, but then we talk about our planned move to Panama and it takes most folks to a level beyond comprehension. Eventually though, we tend to get past that initial shock. And then the “bold” ones out there muster up the courage to ask some questions. But most importantly, they want to know how we did it… What’s the secret formula for reaching financial independence? I think it’s a fair question. After all, people as a whole tend

The Three-Year Blog Post… Finance Lessons Learned

3 years. That’s what this blog post marks… three years of blogging on Route to Retire. For new bloggers, this might sound like a long time. However, I look at some of the others out there who have been doing this for over a decade – like J.D. Roth at Get Rich Slowly or J. Money at Budgets Are Sexy. It’s then that I realize I’m still somewhat of a rookie in the blogosphere. I’ve consistently posted a minimum of once a week (haven’t missed a week yet!) and I’ve seen a steady increase in both readers and blog income. On last year’s anniversary, I talked about what I’ve learned about blogging. That seemed to help a lot of newer bloggers out.

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