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Mistakes and Lessons of a Real Estate Investing Newbie

3 Mistakes I’ve Made as a Real Estate Investing Newbie

10 Comments / Real Estate, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE) / /

I’ve learned that real estate rental property can be one of the best methods of passive income.  Instead of putting all your eggs in one basket with the stock market, you can set yourself up with steady rental income that can last a lifetime.  Additionally, you pick up some tax benefits and might even get some appreciation off the properties as some icing on the cake. Because of that, I’m starting to chase this a little more.  However, I’ve also made some mistakes […]

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Is 50¢ Too Much Money for Garbage?

Is 50¢ Too Much Money for Garbage?

6 Comments / Kids, General Thoughts / /

50 cents…  two quarters. That’s what we pay our daughter every week to gather the trash from all the bedrooms, put new bags in the cans, and bring all the garbage downstairs to stuff in the bag to go out.  50 cents a week for one of her chores. Ah, chores – a subject of great debate. Now, there are a couple different ways to look at this.  Maybe you’re thinking… “Jim, you can’t pay your daughter to do chores!  Aren’t

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Banks vs. Credit Unions

Banks vs Credit Unions

6 Comments / Saving / /

I’ve had a bank account for as far back as I can remember.  When I was a kid, I had an account at a savings and loan bank (remember those?!!)  In those days, I was too young to really grasp how good we had it.  Interest rates on savings accounts hit as high as 10% at some points in time.  10%!!!!  Granted, that was an account that my mom had opened for me and had just a small amount of money in it which she

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Shared Finances or Keep ‘Em Separated?

10 Comments / Saving, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Spending / /

There are a couple of trains of thought on whether or not spouses should keep their finances separated out or whether they should be combined.  Some people are very adamant that, once you’re married, you are as one and all your finances should be joined together as such.  On the other side of the fence are those who feel that merging your money spells financial doom.  That, of course, leads to the question… Shared Finances or Keep ‘Em Separated? My wife and I keep a lot

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The 3 Simple Rules of Investing

Why I Changed the Funds in My 401(k)…

6 Comments / Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments / /

I love reading.  I’ve always been a bookworm and, although I don’t have the time I used to, I still read quite a bit.  I actually find myself reading more nonfiction than fiction, but I love a good fiction book as well.  Recently though, I read a financial book that’s stuck in my head… and I’m not sure whether that’s a good or bad thing, but it made me question my retirement funds. The book I finished reading is The 3 Simple Rules of

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Top 10 Financial Goals for 2016

Our 8 Financial Goals for 2016

8 Comments / Debt, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Real Estate, Saving / /

This past year was an exciting one for us, albeit a little bit of a roller coaster ride.  However, we were able to pick up a new rental property, max out my 401(k) and contribute up to the match in my wife’s account.  We also added to our Roth IRAs and a little bit in my HSA, and continued to save a good deal in our online savings account. No time to rest on our laurels though – last year’s financial goals are in the

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What Are You Reading?

6 Comments / Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), General Thoughts / /

I read… a lot. I’m usually a non-fiction kind of guy because I enjoy learning (I’m an odd-bird!). However, I do slip in some fiction every now and again just to change things up.  With a five-year old daughter, I don’t get as much reading done as I would like, but I cram in the reading whenever I can. I also think that the Kindle E-reader is one of the greatest products on the planet. I have a ton of books on there,

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Year End Review

It’s Not Always About the Money…

4 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Saving / /

Well, it’s that time of the year again… time to spend all kinds of money for Christmahannukwanzadan whether in stores or through online shopping in an effort to buy short-lived happiness of friends and family. Ok, maybe it’s not that cold, but the stores and media sure want you to think that way.  They would love to guilt you into spending every last penny you own. I think most of us tend to loosen the purse strings a little bit over the holiday season every year.  But to help

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How Do You Keep Track of Your Finances?

10 Comments / Debt, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Saving, Spending / /

I’ve said before that Quicken was a lifesaver for me and my finances all the way back in 1999.  That’s when I stumbled across the product and it helped me realize just how much of a mess of debt I was in.  I was then able to rely on the software to really come up with a game plan and eliminate all of it over the next handful of years. Obviously software can’t get you out of debt (you need to do that yourself),

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Emergency Savings

The All-Important Emergency Savings

3 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Saving / /

If you take in any financial advice, you’re bound to hear about it.  Some disagree on when to fund it and they all seem to disagree on how much you should put into it. Either way, everyone agrees on one thing and we’ve all heard it a million times… Make sure you have an emergency savings fund! Dave Ramsey wants you to put aside three to six months for your emergency savings.  Suze Orman wants you to put aside an eight months

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