As much as some would have you believe otherwise, you are in control of your own destiny. I was guilty of not believing this myself, treading the financial waters of my life for years and living paycheck to paycheck. But just treading water means you’re one leg cramp away from drowning. And if you like to […]

There’s a lot of ongoing discussions/arguments and rules of thumb in personal finance across a wide variety of finance subjects like investing, saving, and taxes as far as what’s best. And I probably go against the grain in regards to a lot of them. For instance, I invest solely in a taxable account, with no tax-advantaged retirement […]

Special note: I’m not a physician. Please consult a physician before engaging in any exercises.  One of the ways in which I plan to limit healthcare costs in early retirement as well as for the rest of my life is to stay active. Engaging in regular physical activity is probably the cheapest form of health insurance […]

Just over four years ago I decided to embark on a journey. I cast off for the unknown determined to change my future because I wasn’t particularly enamored with my recent past. I worked far too many hours and had far too little to show for it. I was working a middle-class job for middle-class pay, and […]

So as you all know by now I’ve radically changed my life, now broadcasting this blog from Michigan. This move came with its own unique set of benefits and drawbacks, as any major change in life does. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, as a lot of time has passed between the time I […]

The last time I discussed my dietary choices on this blog it was late 2011 and I was knee deep in ramen noodles. You see, when I first started this journey I decided to get pretty extreme with many of my expenses, and my food budget was one of the earliest victims. I temporarily sacrificed […]

So for the last couple of years now I’ve had mobile cell phone service with MetroPCS. For $40 I received unlimited talk, text, and web. However, I never really used the web access because the cheapo Kyocera phone I’ve been using doesn’t really have any web browser to speak of. Instead, I just use for […]

I’ve come to place in my life where I genuinely enjoy being frugal. I no longer find it a “struggle”. I don’t believe I’m sacrificing anything by living well below my means, and I would even go so far as to say I’m not actually delaying gratification at all. I’ve been open in expressing my […]

Gold on beige, baby! No, I’m not talking about the Moving Average Convergence Divergence. I’m not a stock trader that follows charts. I’m an investor that follows the fundamentals of companies. No, what I’m talking about is the Mother of All Car Deals! It turns out in life that often it’s not what you know […]

I realized something a little while ago: It’s good to be me.  What do I mean by that? Well, sometimes it’s a bit easy in our gotta-have-it-right-now culture to get caught up in focusing on the things we don’t have in life. I can be guilty of this as well. I really crave financial independence. […]