If you’re a regular reader of my monthly expense reports, you might start to believe that our monthly budge is super optimized and hyper-efficient. It’s a total illusion. The reality is, we’re NOT super optimized.
Our lifestyle is nowhere near 100% efficient or optimized for maximum savings. We do this by design…
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Everybody wants to be rich. OK, maybe not everybody… but most people! The process of actually becoming rich however, is another story. It’s not easy.
I used to believe that anybody could achieve Financial Independence before a traditional retirement age. If only they applied themselves. Once reaching the fabled financial status, they could retire early, travel the world, get in shape, or donate their time to worthy causes. I believed all of this could happen for anybody, just so long as they got exposure to the right information.
Maybe it was naive of me, but I thought anyone could do it. Now, I’m not so certain.
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Do you feel wealthy? Almost certainly the booming stock market has people feeling richer than ever, but according to a recent survey by Ameriprise Financial, the vast majority of American millionaires with between $1 and $5 million dollars don’t consider themselves wealthy. Most of the surveyed millionaires consider themselves as having a “middle-class” lifestyle. Only 13% of these millionaires consider themselves “wealthy” or “upper-class”…
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If each moment in life has a season, then June was definitely one of the busy seasons. The month just flew by! For starters, Tako Jr. #1 finished kindergarten and I went back to my full-time stay-at-home-dad gig. I decided to take it easy on blogging this summer, so I could spend a lot more time with Tako Jr. #1. So far it’s working out great, and I think he’s having a lot of fun…
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Ah, depreciation! It’s a fascinating money topic that doesn’t get nearly enough attention. If you happen to find yourself talking about deprecation … say at a dinner party, you’ll quickly find yourself no-longer being invited to those dinner parties.
Depreciation is about as popular of a conversation subject as say … differential calculus. That is to say, it’s extremely unpopular…
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The school year is over and summer is finally here! My oldest son, Tako Jr. #1, just finished his first school year as a kindergartner! I’m amazed at how much kids learn in kindergarten these days. They seem super-smart now! Tako Jr. #1 learned a ton of new stuff — reading, writing, and math. All in just a few short months!
It was an amazing school year…
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In days long past, a nap (or a short break) after a leisurely lunch was a commonplace occurrence in many parts of the world. This break was called a ‘siesta’, and was especially common in warm countries — Spain, Italy, Greece, as well as several countries in Latin America. In hot climates, taking a nap in the afternoon was a great way to escape the hottest hours of the day.
Lately though, the practice of taking a siesta has fallen out of favor. (Or at least it’s in decline) The modern world and it’s hyper-connected super-productive workplace has made the siesta a thing of the past…
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It seems like everybody has a side hustle these days. Whether it’s a Youtube channel, flipping goods on Ebay, selling hand-made thingamajigs on Etsy — there’s plenty of ways to make a little extra money on the side. Blogs (like this one) are just one example.
Most people don’t make a ton of money from these side hustles however. You don’t see Etsy many sellers driving Ferrari’s…
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I think May has to be my favorite month of the year to live in the Pacific Northwest. Everything is green and blooming from previous rain showers, and the weather finally gets warm and dry enough to spend an entire day outside with the family.
Most of the year here is cold, cloudy and wet. We spend a lot of time indoors playing board games, reading books, watching movies, hanging out with friends, and trying to stay dry….
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