I woke up yesterday morning earlier than expected. I’m home for a week, and I expected to sleep in later than I usually do. This is, after all, my vacation. I couldn’t do it though. I woke up, and I was awake. Mind alert, energy flowing, anxiety pumping. I was up, I was mildly freaking […]
debt
Present Bias And Debt: A Match Made in Hell
A few weeks ago I was talking with a new college grad. I shared my journey out of debt with him, and stressed that the best thing he can do for himself now (at age 22) is to start paying down his own student loans. He listened, very politely, to my story and agreed that […]
A Financial Guide to the Wild Personal Finance Blogosphere
When I first got involved in the personal finance blogosphere I was binge reading blog posts. I couldn’t get enough of it all. I started with tips to pay down debt, and success stories of people who had reached debt freedom. I found MMM. I was introduced to a whole new world, and I couldn’t […]
Reflections on One Year of Debt Freedom
Life has been so busy that last week when my one year anniversary of debt freedom came, it also went pretty damn quick. I blinked and poof! It had passed me by. Still, June 5th 2015 was one of the most important days of my life. Even though I’m eleven days late, I do want to take […]
The Privilege I Have Despite Being Broke
Privilege is a funny word. It gets thrown around a lot these days but few people I’ve met seem to really understand what it means. People seem to think privilege means ‘no problems ever!’ when in reality it means that you simply started out in a better place than some other people. It means certain […]
Learning to Work Smart, Not Hard
On March 1st I tweeted ‘March is going to be a roller coaster. Right now it’s like “LOOK MA NO HANDS.” Two weeks in will be more like “i think I’m gonna be sick.’ Well, I’ve made it through the no hands part, but I’m still riding the ‘Am I gonna puke?” part. March is my […]
Post-Debt Spending: How to Do it Right
I’ve been debt free for almost nine months now. It’s a glorious place to be. No student loan payments hang over my head. I’m much more financially secure. I’ve stepped up my savings rate substantially. All these things are the direct result of paying off my debt. Navigating the world of post-debt spending has been […]
Turns Out I Saved 73% of My Income Last Year
It’s been in the 80’s for the past week here in Austin. It feels like spring has sprung, even if the calendar still says February. While it’s not quite spring, it is tax season! I’ve finally got all my W2’s in hand, and so I calculated exactly how much I earned last year. I earned $32,242 before […]
FIRE Advice for Noobs: Steve from ThinkSaveRetire
Do you have a dream? A numero uno, want it so bad you can taste it, dream? Mine is to reach FIRE. I want to truly own my time and money. I don’t want to have to depend on a job for my income, and I don’t want to spend my days doing something I […]
How I’m Paying off That $1,200 Credit Card Bill
Last week I went on a mind blowing spending spree. I spent $1,200 in a matter of three days, all in the name of earning credit card rewards. It was actually really fun and kind of freeing in a way. Having spent the last year and a half in extreme frugal mode, where even spending on […]