Spending

An Overnight at Cracker Barrel and 5,863 Miles Logged

An Overnight at Cracker Barrel and 5,863 Miles Logged

14 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Life in Early Retirement, Road Trip, Spending / /

It’s hard to believe that our road trip is now over and we’re back in Ohio. It’s crazier to think that our first night of the last leg of our trip involved sleeping in a Cracker Barrel parking lot! We’ve been across a large part of this country on this journey and have had a ton of fun in the process. It’s been a good way to end the summer and have some fun while waiting and hoping we can […]

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Personal Finance for Kids... Here's a Way to Teach 'Em!

Personal Finance for Kids… Here’s a Way to Teach ‘Em!

8 Comments / Kids, Education, Product and Service Reviews, Saving, Spending / /

lt seems to be a relatively common discussion in the community here that we need some better education when it comes to personal finance for kids. The problem is that most schools don’t build this into the curriculum. Kids end up graduating from school more academically prepared but not financially prepared. That’s a huge problem. Personal finance for kids needs to be a pillar in our educational system. Not knowing even the basics such as the magic of compound interest

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FI and Early Retirement… Could It All Come Crashing Down?

22 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Spending / /

I’m not going to lie – being FI (financially independent) is a truly awesome feeling.  To realize that you don’t need to work again if you don’t want to takes such a massive weight off of your shoulders. But if you take it to the next level and throw in early retirement, you’re now solely depending on whatever you’ve put in place to sustain that financial independence. That’s scary.  No, I mean, that’s really scary. If you continue to work, you

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We Got Turned Down for a Credit Card… Ok, Four!

16 Comments / Spending, Debt, Travel and Vacation / /

Yeah, getting turned down for a credit card isn’t a good feeling. It doesn’t matter that Lisa and I each have credit scores of over 800.  It doesn’t matter that we have plenty of credit cards already and don’t really need another. We also have more of an unused credit line spanned across all our cards than we’ll never need.  And then, of course, there’s that little piece of info that we’ve saved up enough money that we never have

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Uh-Oh… Our Retirement Expenses Are Higher than Expected

20 Comments / Spending, Geoarbitrage, Life in Early Retirement, Panama / /

Retirement expenses are a tough one to plan for in life. You can budget for what you think your expenses will be, but you really don’t know if they’ll be more or less.  The biggest reason is that your life will likely be dramatically different at the time. This is probably even more on par the younger you are when you leave the workforce because you’re likely not going to be resting on your laurels.  Not only would you be

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This Bad-@#$ Expenses Spreadsheet is My Gift to You

This Bad-@#$ Expenses Spreadsheet is My Gift to You

16 Comments / Spending, Debt, Saving / /

I’m super excited about a new expenses spreadsheet I’ve been working on that I think you’re gonna love. And this ain’t just any old expenses spreadsheet – it’s focused on your recurring expenses. If you’re like me, you’re familiar with those times when you make a big purchase and have buyer’s remorse shortly after.  It happens. But those are the easy cases – it’s a one-time purchase and it’s staring you right in the face. The tougher problems to solve

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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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Solving the World’s Problems… Starting with Mine!

20 Comments / Panama, Spending / /

When it comes to solving the world’s problems, I’m the man.  I’ve got it all handled.  Call me “Mr. Fix-It”! Ok, maybe that’s far from true.  I’m not solving the world’s problems at all.  In fact, I sometimes struggle to handle my own problems. But, I’m good at adapting and actually enjoy change.  I have an engineer’s/programmer’s mindset and like to logically find an optimal solution to problems. And now that we’re living in Panama, I get to push my

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What the Hell Is Going On with Our Living Expenses?!

26 Comments / Spending / /

Boy, this has been one helluva rollercoaster lately.  Our living expenses have been all over the map this year. We’ve had a ton of abnormal spending (both more and less) throughout the year.  The biggest factors for this were: Preparing for our big move Enjoying our July adventure Living in Texas with family for most of August Now living in Panama For a guy with control issues, this is throwing me off a little.  The roller coaster ride we’ve been

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Flexible Travel Can Yield Huge Benefits

Flexible Travel Can Yield Huge Benefits

16 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement, Spending / /

One of the facets of early retirement I was looking forward to the most was flexible travel.  I knew that we’d be able to save some money by not having to be so rigid in our plans. I didn’t realize the extent of how beneficial it could be though.  We’ve been retired for less than eight months now and what we’re already experiencing is awesome! Between cheaper flights, hotels, and cruises, the price is definitely right. Then you throw in

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