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 …
It feels like we’ve been planning this for years (because we have!), but it’s finally happened… we’re now living in Panama! I wasn’t going to post about this yet since we’ve been here less than a week, but I figured a lot of you want to know the details about this adventure. Although I started this site in 2015 intending to focus mostly on personal finance, I feel like I’ve become known more for our plans to retire early and …
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 …
Our July adventure is officially over and now I’m wondering if we were spending too much throughout the month. As most of you already know, we’re moving to Panama later this month. When we booked our flight earlier this year, my wife, Lisa, wanted to wait until the end of summer to fly out so we could go on vacation with her side of the family first. Because of that, we were running a month-to-month lease on our apartment for …
I left my management job in IT at the end of 2018 at the age of 43. The goal was to reach early retirement with my family so we could live a life of freedom and adventure… and now we’re homeless. This might sound unexpected, but here’s the thing – that was exactly the plan. Being homeless is something we’ve been working toward for a long time now. For those of you familiar with our path, this shouldn’t come as …
6 Months of Early Retirement… We’re Now Homeless Read More »
Global Entry was something pretty foreign to me at this time a year ago. We love to travel, but most of it has been domestic here in the U.S. The biggest exception to that are the cruises that we love to take. But here’s the thing – all the cruises we’ve been on are considered closed loop sailings. That means that we departed and returned to the same U.S. port when the trip was over. It also means going that …
Global Entry – Why You Need It and How to Get It for Free Read More »
When we first sought out our new adventure, we thought we could basically just pack up and go. I mean, you just sell everything and move to Panama, right? Ha! Wishful thinking! There’s a tremendous amount of planning involved to make this a smooth transition. I’ve talked about some of the minutiae we’ve encountered in our planning, but now it’s time for more scoop. And considering we’re about to embark on a huge adventure, I thought it would make sense …
Ever heard of Google Voice? If not, know that this could be one of the best ways of staying in touch with family and friends while you’re living abroad. One of the small concerns we had was how to keep communication simple with everyone while we’re living in Panama. When we get there, we’re going to get Panamanian cell service for our phones. The problem is that gives us a Panamanian phone number. So if we call anyone in the …
Using Google Voice to Stay in Touch While Living Abroad Read More »
We all know that everyone loves to hear from my daughter on here more than me. So I thought that this time I’d bring her back as an interviewee. Most of you think that our plans to move out of the country later this year are pretty bold but cool (albeit, a little crazy). But the problem is that you’re only getting my perspective on our upcoming plans. And I know a lot of you want to know what the …
An Interview with My Daughter about Our Crazy Plans Read More »
Another day, another change of plans! This slight change is going to add to our already exciting adventure! As most of you already know, we’re moving to Panama this summer. I retired from my job at the end of 2018 and we’re getting closer to making this happen. In the meantime, we have two reasons we’re waiting so long to leave: We need to wait for our daughter to finish out her school year. We have a vacation planned with …
