the money tools you need to be set free
“But what do I do about all of my things?” I asked, standing in the hallway with my phone pressed up against my ear. All day I’d been shaking with adrenaline, my fight or flight instinct on high alert. “I remember that one of my biggest worries when I left was my stuff, but I’ll […]
Sunday Scaries (n): The Sunday evening dread that creeps in when anticipating work in the morning. Shut down Sunday Scaries with this series: Sunday Sharies! These are the articles, links, and content I’ve read this week that I think are worth sharing. FIRE Articles The Unexpected Benefit of Earning Less Money Each Year (Financial Panther) […]
There is an episode from the show Portlandia that always stands out in my mind. After months of cloud cover, a small patch of clouds opens up, letting through a patch of sunlight. People from all over the city flock to the sun and set up camp to grill and chill. Every time the clouds […]
“How much is it? Actually, wait, you know what, just put it in the cart.” After the words came out of my mouth, my sister looked at me like I had grown another head. We both come from a family of famed frugality, so she wondered what had gotten into me. May was my anti-frugal, […]
I’ve Lived In Amsterdam For One Month It feels unreal that an entire month has already passed. I’m now officially an expatriate with a Dutch bank account, phone number, and residence card. In one month I visited multiple towns, saw some friends old and new, and found a place to call home. I figured it […]
Can you feel it too? The way the mind splinters, zipping around like a hummingbird with too much sugar in its system? Bzzzzrrrr, flitting from one thing to the next. I wrote that sentence, and then I remembered that I wanted to buy my sister a gift. She had casually mentioned that she wanted a […]
I have a big announcement to make. I’m moving. Again. To Amsterdam. If you’ve been following the blog, this might come as a shock, as I just finished a coast-to-coast move. Although I thought I would be sticking around in Santa Barbara for the next four years, things changed. Life demanded a pivot, so I […]
Note: This post may contain affiliate links. For more info read my disclosure. I never much liked the dark, cold month of February. All I had to do was check out my expense report from last year to remember the snowy days. That changed when I spent it in Santa Barbara this year. I went on a […]
A new year, finally. I feel hope for 2021, even though there’s still a global pandemic, injustice and racial inequality, and things will still fall apart no matter the decade. Yet turning over the New Year still felt like a much needed mental refresher, an opportunity to squish all the negative things in 2020 into a box […]
** Financial independence has far-reaching effects on our lives, and for many the pursuit of independence and the obtaining of it has impacted us in profound ways. Today, we hear from Jenni and Chris from TicTocLife, two mid-thirties career-driven folks who reached financial independence by age 33 and retired early at 35. If you are […]