In the early days after discovering FIRE, I read some articles on insurance. Cuz I’m cool like that. Topics covered included the merits (or lack thereof) of various types of insurance and of various coverages for essential insurance. The stuff that Hollywood blockbusters are made of I think you, Dear Reader, will agree. Luckily, we…
Ask What FIRE Can Do for You AND What You Can Do for FIRE
I’ve mentioned elsewhere on this blog that my discovery of FIRE was life changing. In short order after The Discovery, we did the following, among many other things: (1) lowered our annual expenses to the tune of several thousands of dollars per year with just a little tweaking and few material effects; (2) stopped simply…
My Move to the West, Sponsored by FIRE
I’d lived in a certain Midwest city since my birth during The So, So Long Ago some time ago. Well, technically that’s not true. From about a day or three after my birth, I spent ages 0–22 either in the suburbs or in my college town in the same state. But I’d yearned to move…
I Used to Be a Sheep
Discovering FIRE and learning to question everything — even things I didn’t even know to question — has allowed us to live better lives by making changes we otherwise would not have known about. Not for nothing, it’s also allowed us to save money, increase our net worth, and lessen our carbon footprint. It’s been…
Red Bull May Give Me Wings, But Learning About FIRE Didn’t Hurt
My discovery of FIRE has led to our realizing savings, and an accumulation, of money. But for me, it’s the unquantifiable changes that have been the most valuable. Here’s a story (Story time! Whee!) illustrating what I mean. I was extremely fortunate in that my parents paid for my undergrad education. Granted, I went to…
Thanks for Not Hiring Me
When I moved from the Midwest to the Mountain West I had a work gig lined up: a contractor arrangement with the employer I was leaving because of the move. But soon after the move, and before the new arrangement was to begin, I got news that the gig went sideways. Uh oh? In the…
I Lost $750, and I’m Sort of Happy About It
In 2001, I was in the middle of my get-out-of-crippling-student-debt phase. Dear Reader, you may be surprised to learn that that time in my life wasn’t as fun as my spend-all-my-money-on-video-games-and-candy phase. But it’s true. Although I didn’t have much money, I managed to establish a very small emergency fund. But aside from knowing that…
Party Down
In a prior post, I did what about a million other bloggers have done better than me and discussed travel hacking and some of the ways it’s saved us. I also briefly mentioned a story about how we took a mostly subsidized trip instead of throwing a big shindig. Having threatened promised to give more…
Hack a World Away
We love traveling and exploring new places. But we’re smart enough to know that given our finances, big trips needed to be somewhat limited. So, each year, we’ve typically taken one big family trip — for which I’d done a pretty good job of keeping costs down — and another trip to my in-laws’ place…
PaRents
I grew up in circles wholly comprising people who thought buying a home was always smarter than renting. No one even questioned the choice. It was probably one of the Ten Commandments written in stone, if not wholly self-evident. I joined these ranks, also never thinking to run the numbers. I mean, it’s only hundreds…
