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Expense Reports, Money, Spending

Hiking Boots, Indian-style Pizza, and Other April Expenses

May 8, 2019 12 Comments

“Testing, testing,” I leaned up to the mic, holding the headphones to my ears. I was a bundle of nerves because it was one of my first podcast interviews with FIRE Drill podcast, hosted by Gwen and J. I had one interview previously with the Simple Minded Millennial Podcast, but this time I was taking […]

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Financial Independence, Intentional Living, Relationships

Guest Post: What My Other Half Thinks of FIRE

May 1, 2019 14 Comments
Mr Mechanic balancing paddle across his knees in a canoe

Mr. Mechanic joins us again today with an extra special guest post sharing his views on FIRE. After blabbering about FIRE for years, I was excited when he offered to write about his experience as an outsider looking in. Some links below are affiliate links! Discovering a New World of Finance I don’t like to […]

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Frugal, Intentional Living, Opinions

7 Reasons You Need to Stop Riding Your Bike To Work

April 19, 2019 44 Comments

There has been a recent push to get more people to ride their bikes to work. To that I say: put the brakes on, honey! The truth is that influential people are all getting into bed with the Big Bike industry. Despite how uncomfortable that must be, they continue to push for people to get […]

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Intentional Living, Money, Spending

KonMari With A Twist– When Sparking Joy Doesn’t Work

April 15, 2019 21 Comments
clothes on a hangar with pictures hung on the wall

Hangers rattled as I grabbed them eight at a time, heaving clothes onto the bed. If you have read The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up, watched the subsequent show on Netflix, or tuned in at all to the viral sensation of Americans facing their consumerism with tears and stubborn denial, you may recognize the first […]

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Frugal, Money Tracking, Spending

How I Spend $108 A Month on Groceries and Eat Like A King

April 12, 2019 30 Comments

Last year, I wrote about our attempt at meal planning and lately have been wondering if it has decreased our grocery bill as I had hoped. At the time of writing that post, my total came to $130 a month on average. Now, I spend just $108 a month on groceries. First I checked if restaurant […]

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Career, Opinions, Technology

The Side Hustle That Cost Me $2,000

April 3, 2019 22 Comments
papers on desk with hustle pen

I walked up the path, double-checking I had the right address on my phone. A dog on the other side of the front door barked madly as it hurled itself against the glass. The hound gnashed and growled, as the app on my phone had warned me he might. The notes told me he only […]

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Expense Reports, Money, Money Tracking

Ski Trips, Cider, and Other March 2019 Expenses

March 31, 2019 8 Comments
Red ski lift chairs and a snowy mountain

March didn’t mess around. We found out where we will be living for the next five years. We skied two weekends in a row, celebrated Match Day and got full use of our ski passes for the year. The cross-country move is a lot to anticipate—we will be driving approximately 3,000 miles to a town […]

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Background, Career, Opinions

How My Stay-At-Home Dad Helped Me Dream Big

March 26, 2019 18 Comments
My dad carrying me up a mountain

Every morning my sister and I would wake up to the clatter of bowls set on our dining room table. We would roll sleepily out of bed, hair sticking out in every direction, and patter over to our seats. Our dad would get us ready, pulling my favorite 101 Dalmatians T-shirt over my head. He […]

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Financial Independence, Intentional Living, Retirement

Forget FIRE– Let’s Get HOT

March 20, 2019 31 Comments

When I went to the Netherlands in November, I navigated my way through streets filled with weaving bicycles, friendly people, and best of all, shops with poffertjes in the window — mini-pancakes dusted in sugar. After those melt-in-the-mouth magic wonders, I am ready for the next big idea coming from Northern Europe. In this case, […]

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Career, Intentional Living, Relationships

You Can’t Always Decide Your Fate, But You Can Decide To Be Flexible

March 18, 2019 12 Comments
Whiteboard saying Happy Match Day Med19

I’m not very flexible physically. Even back in elementary school gym class, I couldn’t touch my toes when I bent to stretch. I can’t touch my fingers together when I reach around my back, let alone clasp my hands, and I’m miles away from being able to do the splits. But something happened this weekend […]

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The Mechanic

I'm a mechanical engineer turned programmer with a pretty big DIY project: save enough money to become financially independent. Financial Mechanic is all about frugality, career climbing, and investing.

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