Spending Archives - Route to Retire

Solving the Puzzle To Make It All Work… That’s Life, Folks!

16 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Motivation, Spending, Travel and Vacation / By Jim @ Route To Retire / May 17, 2022 May 13, 2022

We’re currently attempting to put together the puzzle of integrating back into the U.S. and trying to make it all work is tough. There are so many details with these pieces that don’t want to line up together the way we want them to – everything from scheduling to availability to cost. We’ll make it all work in the end – I’m sure of it. It might not be perfect or exactly the way we want everything, but things always …

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The Fascinating Reason We’re Traveling Over 500 Miles To Buy All Our Furniture

24 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Real Estate, Spending, Travel and Vacation / By Jim @ Route To Retire / May 3, 2022 April 30, 2022

Yes, you read that right – we’re going to be traveling over 500 miles just to bring furniture back to our place… an apartment we don’t even have yet. After two years and eight months of living in Boquete, Panama, it was time to move back. We took a bus to Costa Rica, traveled to Ajijic Mexico where we spent 8 nights, and then enjoyed 3 nights at an all-inclusive resort in Cancun that surpassed our expectations. As of last …

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Boquete, Panama vs Ajijic, Mexico… Which Is the Better Place To Live?

10 Comments / Geoarbitrage, Life in Early Retirement, Panama, Spending, Travel and Vacation / By Jim @ Route To Retire / April 26, 2022 April 26, 2022

We just finished up an 8-night stay in Ajijic, Mexico. It’s a small town in the Lake Chapala area in the state of Jalisco. Ajijic, Mexico is a place I heard brought up several times during our 2 years and 8 months of living in Boquete, Panama. Some folks were enamored by the town of Ajijic and some folks weren’t. Regardless, the town was brought up enough in conversation that we decided why not check it out on our move …

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We’re on a Bus to Costa Rica Right Now! Here’s Why…

14 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement, Panama, Spending / By Jim @ Route To Retire / April 19, 2022 April 17, 2022

You read that right… I’m typing this entire blog post while on a bus to Costa Rica. We took a taxi from our home in Boquete, Panama to David (also in Panama). Then we got on a Tracopa bus around 9 am that’s taking us all the way to San José, Costa Rica. By the time it’s done, we’ll have been on this bus to Costa Rica for probably 8-9 hours. You might think of this as a grueling day, …

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Is This Down Stock Market Problematic as an Early Retiree?

25 Comments / Investments, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Spending, Taxes and Financial Planning / By Jim @ Route To Retire / March 1, 2022 March 1, 2022

A down stock market? Is that true? Yeah, unless you haven’t been paying attention, the market’s been on a not-so-fun ride lately in the direction that most folks tend to fear. Most of last week was a stressful week for investors. By the end of the day Wednesday, 02/23/2022, all gains in the S&P 500 since 06/21/2021 had been completely erased. Thursday and Friday produced a pretty big uptick but not enough to compensate for the downward spiral the beginning …

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Stop Counting Pennies and Focus on the Dollars

33 Comments / Spending, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Saving / By Jim @ Route To Retire / February 8, 2022 February 3, 2022

I have this problem where I’m always counting pennies in my head. Not literally, but rather that I’m always conscientious of all our spending… to a fault. Don’t get me wrong, being mindful of what you’re spending is a good thing. If you don’t know what you’re spending, it can become very difficult to get ahead. The problem, however, is that counting pennies isn’t as important as focusing on the bigger money. In other words, saving a few extra dollars …

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Going to the Movies in Panama: 5 Interesting Lessons Learned

6 Comments / Panama, Life in Early Retirement, Spending, Travel and Vacation / By Jim @ Route To Retire / January 4, 2022 December 30, 2021

I’ve always been a little curious about going to the movies in Panama. How much different would it be from going to the movies in the U.S.? Are there subtitles in English or Spanish? Are the movies dubbed over in Spanish? Is it cheaper than what we’re used to seeing? What is the experience like in the theater – are the Panamanians talkers during the movie? We’ve lived in Boquete, Panama since 2019 and only finally went to see our …

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

8 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Product and Service Reviews, Spending / By Jim @ Route To Retire / October 26, 2021 October 26, 2021

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

14 Comments / Product and Service Reviews, Debt, Education, Saving, Spending / By Jim @ Route To Retire / October 19, 2021 October 25, 2021

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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We’re Saving Over $800 on Our Trip to Mexico… Here’s the Plan

12 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Life in Early Retirement, Panama, Saving, Spending / By Jim @ Route To Retire / September 14, 2021 September 26, 2021

Moving back to the U.S. from Boquete, Panama next spring is going to be bittersweet. But we’re excited about our new adventures to come… starting with a trip to Mexico on the way back! It’s still hard for us to grasp that we’re not locked into doing the “normal” type of vacations anymore. Since we’re early-retired and Faith’s homeschooling, we have the ability to slow travel or just make up new paths in life on the fly. In this case, …

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