Some of my favorite memories from my previous church involve the game nights we used to have. At the time, I was pretty terrible at first-person shooters but managed to learn enough to get into the games and play decently, which helped to make things fun. By far the coolest game “night” was the 10 […]
“What this is really about is learning to be comfortable in your own shoes,” the pastor said across the desk. These words would stick with me through the years. You see, early in my twenties, some of my greatest fears and anxieties collided in the same semester. It was a nightmare. There were too many […]
Several years ago, the thought occurred to me that it might be possible to replace my salary with income from investment dividends. I was excited by this thought, but the sheer numbers required to do this made the task seem impossible. I had also not done any investing at the time, so I quickly surrendered […]
I don’t have any friends who are interested in financial independence. A few friends have encountered Mr. Money Mustache’s blog through the course of their financial searches, but I don’t know anybody else personally who is pursuing FI. Largely, I don’t think anybody knows it is an option. I certainly didn’t. I once had the […]
“It will always be tough.” Several years ago, I experienced a significant pay raise at my job and found that my money was melting away and I wasn’t sure where to. I was living with my parents to avoid paying rent and was using a large part of my paycheck to pay off my student […]
One of my pet economic theories is that all items you can purchase can be analyzed from three cost perspectives: the initial cost, the inherent cost, and the extended cost. I’m certain I’ve picked this up subconsciously from real economists or economics classes, but it has proven quite useful in my purchasing decisions. Initial […]
Most of us have a possession or two of which we think, “Ugh, I hate this thing.” It can be anything: clothing, books, kitchen utensils, tools, appliances, decorations, gifts. This past year I’ve reduced my collection of shirts from around 60 to 36. It required a significant amount of mental effort, but I frequently came […]
It’s a warm, breezy Saturday afternoon, so I took a trip to one of the nearby pizza joints for lunch. It had been several years since I had gone there, so I had forgotten that it was more of a sit-down restaurant than a grab-a-slice-and-go restaurant. I’ve set myself a monthly food budget of $200. […]
I had never actually heard of the Joneses until I began reading Dave Ramsey nearly a decade ago, and I have mostly only heard the expression “keep up with the Joneses” in financial settings. My family has never, to my knowledge, purchased anything to keep up with their neighbors or friends. I could be wrong, […]
My quest for financial independence and minimalism go hand-in-hand. My quest began in high school. I did not grow up in a wealthy household. We were not poor, but we were not rich. Having also grown up in the Church, I believed that contentment was a virtue, but I still had a room packed to […]