In 2013 I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lymphoma. Before that, I was on top of the world: financially, physically, and relationally. It all came crashing down in an instant. People frequently ask me how surviving such a devastating disease has changed my life. I think they want to hear that I had Read more…
We all make mistakes. Today I share the top 10 financial mistakes we’ve made on our journey to financial independence. More importantly, I’m sharing the advice we’d give our younger selves to avoid those mistakes with the hope that maybe we can help you avoid them too. 1. Getting into Read more…
How to become financially independent – a 3 step plan. (i.e. how we’re doing it!) We’ve defined financial independence, but how do you actually become financially independent? In this post, we’ll describe the 3 steps we took. What you’ll learn: Step 1 – Become debt free Step 2 – Grow the Read more…
We have lived on a monthly budget for over 15 years now. Although many people have a negative reaction to the word budget, over that time, we have found it freeing and it actually causes fewer fights about our money. Let’s come right out and say that living on a Read more…
Let’s start here before this goes completely off the rails: we are huge Dave Ramsey fans. We were deeply in debt and needed his baby steps to get out of the mess we had created. His books, Financial Peace University, and radio show have served us very well. It helped build Read more…
Or “definitions for a community that prides itself on not being defined.” The irony is thick that a community that refuses to accept traditional definitions (retirement begins at 65 then you quit, travel, and grow old on a beach) attempts to add clarity to FIRE by creating definitions for the Read more…
What does financial independence actually mean? Definitions a state in which an individual or household has sufficient wealth to live on without having to depend on income from some form of employment Wikipedia (source) From Miriam Webster: financial: relating to finance – finances plural: money or other liquid resources of Read more…
Our Debt Free Story In 2005 we had an epiphany. As a young married couple, we woke up and found ourselves deeply in debt. We had two car loans, a student loan, revolving credit card debt, and a home equity loan. In total it saddled us with a $75,000 burden Read more…