unsolicited advice on health, happiness and how to not be a dummy with finances
Hello loyal followers. I have a confession: I just spent nearly three thousand hard-earned American dollars on music gear. Do I need to turn in my frugality card? Am I still allowed to be a personal finance blogger? How ashamed should I be in myself?
Continue reading “Dear Frugality Police: I Just Spent $3,000 on Music Gear”
One of the core components of being a good financial blogger is having a great debt payoff story. In order to have a great debt payoff story, you first have to acquire a lot of debt. “I was $113 dollars in debt, but now I’m free.” Cool story, bro. Go away, you’re not a real financial blogger. “I was $113,000 dollars in debt and I’ll be free in 2047.” Now that’s an inspirational story! I will take your financial advice and subscribe to your blog.
Continue reading “How to Ruin a Good Debt Payoff Story in Seven Easy Steps”
The following is a true story: So there I was on vacation in an exotic locale. There was a timeshare convention in town. Everyone knows timeshares are one of the best investment vehicles known to man, so decided to check it out. I didn’t eat breakfast and it was now late afternoon, so I was hungry. Real hungry. It seemed like everywhere I looked someone wanted to sell me something to eat. “I’m chasing financial independence,” I stammered incoherently. I needed a sponsor, or just some free calories. I walked down an alley that led to some dingy steps. I followed them down as my delirium took over. Eventually, I saw a sign that read “Corporate Fat Cat Secret Meeting in Progress. Do Not Disturb.” I figured since the sign didn’t say anything about NOT having free samples it was probably my best bet.
The flyer pictured above was posted on the door. I opened the door and stumbled into the dimly lit room. As my eyes adjusted I saw a twenty or thirty people all facing a villain looking guy on stage. He was talking about gold bracelets and mind control. I tried to ignore him while my eyes searched for free samples. There weren’t any. A couple of big guys with pinky rings closed the door behind me so I was stuck listening to his entire spiel. Continue reading “Exclusive Gold Bracelet Company Rollout Program Secret Meeting”
By now you’ve heard me rant about pursuing financial independence (having enough passive income to cover your expenses) and you’ve heard me rant about frugality (not buying dumb sh*t). If you don’t give those ideas any context, they can each come across as pointless pursuits.
If you haven’t been slapped across the face with the ‘aha!’ moment, then I’m guessing you’ve felt something similar to this while reading my posts on financial independence:
“Oh, it must be nice for them to be able to pursue this rich person lifestyle of Financial Independence.”
Or this, when you’ve read my posts on frugality:
“Ha, what a weirdo.” Continue reading “Where Fi and Frugality Intersect”
“This is my article. I’m reading you my article,” Mr. Burrito Bowl.
“Oh…sounds great, honey.”
Such is life.
Listen, kids. Saving money is hard no matter how you slice it. I don’t really know what that saying is supposed to mean. Sayings are weird.
It’s a mental drain to think of your hard earned dollars just being socked away for some day thirty years down the road. We live in a culture where we don’t even earn our paycheck before we spend it and we for sure don’t earn it and let it sit there for a few decades.
A few of us know that saving money is important, but it’s just so hard. There’s a mental shift we need to make to motivate ourselves to save part of our paycheck.
Mrs. Burrito Bowl and I are about three years into this whole money saving cult of financial independence and there’s a counterintuitive idea that’s really helped us: Saving half your paycheck is mentally easier than saving $100. Continue reading “If You Just Save a Little Bit, It’s Not Really Worth It. Ya Know?”
You might erroneously think you don’t need to learn how to make your own kombucha. You might also think the moon landing was faked. Point is, it’s hard to know what things are important to learn. Here’s a helpful scientific quiz we’ve developed to see if this article is for you.
Are you tired of ending the day with a nice microbrew that leaves you feeling satisfied and less irritable? Does your wife and/or girlfriend continually harangue you for not spending more time making flavored beverages using bacteria and peaches? Are you a person who gets thirsty from time to time? If you answered ‘Yes’ to any of the above then this article is for you. Continue reading “How to Make Your Own Kombucha…Wait, Come Back”
Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions famously said, “Good people don’t smoke marijuana.” This is obviously asinine because lots of good people smoke marijuana. What Jeff Sessions meant to say was, “Good people don’t go Black Friday shopping on Thanksgiving.” It was an unfortunate linguistic error that has spawned more than its fair share of controversy.
My guess is that at only 5’4 tall he was unable to correct his error in pronunciation and was left with no stool to stand on other than to defend an outdated view of reefer while simultaneously letting droves of otherwise good people feel it was morally acceptable to peruse malls and retail stores on actual Thanksgiving evening.
Continue reading “Good People Don’t Go Black Friday Shopping on Thanksgiving”
Can you believe how much of your life has already passed? F-word, man. Summer has for sure faded and we’re smack dab in the middle of fall. This time of year always gets me thinking, usually about random stuff like the eternal expanse of space or wondering what the ancient Egyptians were really like but sometimes I think about money questions. Questions like should we be in camp spend for today or camp save for tomorrow? Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed and life passes us by at breakneck speeds, even if we are lucky enough to make it to this mythical tomorrow. Continue reading “Life is Short- Spend for Today vs. Save for Tomorrow”
We’ve all been there. It’s lunchtime around the ol’ office and everyone is grabbing their coats and top hats, or whatever. They’ve got to move quickly, like a herd of time-compressed sheep, because the lunch break is only so long. They rush out into the cold world to give away much of their hard-earned profit for an overpriced lunch they’ll shove down their throats with hardly a second to taste.
Not you. You’re on a different plan. You want to be financially free, frolicking on a beach, while your coworkers are still grabbing their top hats for their daily mid-work food purchasing extravaganza. Continue reading “The $2 Meal When I Don’t Pack a Lunch”
I have a great friend who is really good at making money. He’s not an overnight success or the inventor of some app that set him up for life. Instead, working hard and being willing to take risks is a calling card for him. He works long hours and is always looking for the next step to lead him to success. Over the last few years I’ve watched him and his wife move companies and countries in order to climb the career ladder. Each step has gotten them closer to where they want to be financially.
I see pictures of him and his wife eating out at nice restaurants, drinking fancy coffee, or having a cocktail in some seriously kick-ass locations around the world. He’s living the life. Work hard. Play hard. Continue reading “The Work Hard Play Hard Mindset vs. Chasing FI”
