When I gave my one year blog update, I asked if there were any topics readers wanted me to cover in year two. One reader commented as follows: You must have done a fair amount of "living like no one else" to reach financial independence at your age, especially in relation to your socio-economic peers. What were some of the specific lifestyle choices you and your family made … [Read more...]
My Savings Rate and Other Insights into My Financials
In my post titled How to Become Financially Independent a reader made the following comment: I’d love to see a yearly breakout [of your savings rate] sometime to see how it changed over the years. I’m guessing you were at a higher savings rate at the end in your largest earning years and as you had the mortgage paid off. I thought this sounded like an interesting proposition, … [Read more...]
Blue Apron and Other Meal Prep Kits Cost a Fortune
Summary: This post provides a Blue Apron cost analysis and recommends a cost-effective alternative. In late November I went back to my hometown to attend my Aunt's funeral. I stayed with my parents and while there my mom informed me that she had just ordered a package of three meals from Blue Apron. Upon hearing the details I was immediately skeptical (especially … [Read more...]
Three Simple Money Resolutions to Help You Prosper in 2017 and Beyond
This is the time of year when people make New Year's resolutions, setting goals for what they want to accomplish over the next 365 days. I'm a big resolution-setter. Or more accurately a goal-setter. Every year I develop a list of goals I commit to over the next 12 months. Some are simple, daily habits and some are more complicated and will take the entire year. I do track … [Read more...]
Buying in Bulk is Always Cheaper
Warning: You are entering the rant zone. I've been holding it in for a long time and I just can't take it any longer. Regular ESI Money readers know that I am a regular podcast listener. I've added a few more to iTunes since I wrote Lessons from a Real Estate Expert and asked for suggestions. One I picked up was NPR's Planet Money, which I am enjoying so far. But in a … [Read more...]
Save $1 Million by Not Smoking
Summary: Between the cost of cigarettes and health-care-related costs, smoking can cost you over $1 million over the course of a lifetime. Today we're continuing our series on how being healthy can grow your net worth. So far we've talked about how working out can grow your income and how you can save money by being the right weight. Today we're going to cover how you … [Read more...]
Where You Live Has a Big Impact on Your Net Worth
Summary: Were you live (and the costs associated with living there) can dramatically impact your net worth. We talked about the cost-of-living and income impact of geography in Become Wealthy by Having a High Income in a Low Cost City. This post will take the same issue and attempt to put some numbers to it. The debate still rages on as to which is better: To live … [Read more...]
Save and Make Money by Getting Rid of Stuff
"The more you have the more you have to have to take care of the things you have." Quote from a kids' radio show we listened to when our kids were young. One of my retirement activities is walking. It's always been at least a small part of my fitness routine but I've been walking more since I have extra time on my hands. I love walking as it gives me time to think and … [Read more...]
Are Newspapers Worth Anything These Days?
Warning: there may be a rant ahead. :) Today I'll be talking about local newspapers. You know, those things invented a few centuries ago that have somehow survived despite being worth very little. Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning...or at least our most recent beginning. Moved to Colorado When we moved to Colorado we thought about … [Read more...]
Stack Multiple Discounts to Save Big
One of my favorite saving activities is to stack multiple discounts to get the best deal possible. In today's post I'm going to go through the basic discounts available plus share some ways our family stacks them to save. And I hope you will chime in with some suggestions of your own! Discounts Available Before we get into the specific examples, let's review the various … [Read more...]
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