My family has grown since I started this journey to financial independence. Thankfully my salary has grown along with it, and my debts have shrunk. During this time, my house has remained the same size. Don’t get me wrong, our house is large enough for both kids to have their own room, and another bedroom… Continue reading I Just Cost Myself Four Years…
Tag: retire early
Equal and Opposite Spending
I once worked with a man who came into a large sum of money. Shortly thereafter, he showed up to work in a brand new Tesla Model S. It was 2014 and Tesla’s were still very rare, even in New York. The car was incredibly impressive and people actually lined up to get a look… Continue reading Equal and Opposite Spending
My Financial Goals for 2019
Last year I had but one tiny little financial goal: Pay off the student loans. We accomplished that goal during our very expensive May 2018 “spending spree” when we sent a lump sum payment of $34,865.80 to our loan servicer, eliminating the last of our college loans for good. To celebrate that huge financial milestone, we… Continue reading My Financial Goals for 2019
A House You Can Grow Into
“I think we should look at something a little smaller, and then when you have kids you can upgrade.” That’s what I heard from my realtor over and over as I shopped for a house. I had lived in a small two bedroom condo for eight years and the idea of buying a starter home… Continue reading A House You Can Grow Into
That Fear
I’ve been poor before. Not all that long ago I was a recent college graduate with a degree in computer science living on unemployment in the post dotcomm and 9/11 New York metro area. I’d gratefully lost my first job as a C programmer and the seemingly decent income that went with it. I had… Continue reading That Fear
A True Emergency Fund
Personal finance guru’s love to talk about your emergency fund. There are varying amounts of money that they suggest you should sock away in case of an emergency. I am not taking a contrarian stance on this because I wholeheartedly agree, but…. I am old enough to have had a number of true emergencies. I’ve… Continue reading A True Emergency Fund
Paid Off Our College Loans
Freedom comes at a price. For my wife and I, that price was $34,865.80. I must be out of my mind! Being older than my wife, my college loans have been paid off for almost eight years. But we were six years from fully repaying her loans. My wife graduated right at the end of… Continue reading Paid Off Our College Loans
The PMI Problem – SOLVED
A few weeks ago I wrote about my PMI problem. To summarize, I’ve been paying $195/month in PMI. I think home appraisals are subjective nonsense. I wanted to remove PMI multiple times but the bank laughed at me. After posting the article, I manned up and called my bank. I explained how I’ve completed many… Continue reading The PMI Problem – SOLVED
The PMI Problem
I have a dirty little secret that makes me so angry with myself: I’m paying $195/month in PMI. I’ve been paying this nonsense for almost four years. That means by this October, I’ll have paid $9360 in vapor. Nine thousand, three hundred and sixty dollars just thrown into the void. All because we had to… Continue reading The PMI Problem
Why Online Wealth Trackers Suck
Every year there seems to be more and more online wealth trackers. I’ve used Mint since its early days. I’ve experimented with Personal Capital, Sigfig and a handful of others, but I always wind up wanting for a number of reasons. First and foremost, each and every time I access one of these tools I… Continue reading Why Online Wealth Trackers Suck
Freed by 50 