I often describe my FIRE vocation as “professional goof-off,” but this week I might have outdone myself. I enjoyed a few days on an all-expenses-paid luxury award trip as an unlikely inductee into the White Castle Hall of Fame. Wait, what? There’s a Hall of Fame for that hamburger place that looks like a roadside castle? The one that’s open ‘way past midnight’ and makes … Continue reading A Quirky Award
I’ve written before about cryptocurrencies when they were growing, so I thought it only right that I also comment on them when they are falling. Bitcoin is now trading at less than half of what it was at last November. It’s gone from a peak of $69K/coin down to just $30K. That’s a sad drop for a digital currency that was supposed to help protect … Continue reading Are Cryptos Blowing Away?
Summer hit as suddenly as lightning last week in Minnesota. After one of the coldest April’s in the last 50 years (daily highs mostly in the 30s), the temperature hit 88-degrees yesterday when I wrote this. With the nice weather came all of our favorite summer activities: biking, tennis, league softball, and … Pickleball. Surely you’ve heard of the phenomenon of Pickleball, haven’t you? It’s … Continue reading In A Pickle …
We love to travel, but during the pandemic, all you could really do was read about interesting global destinations. We’re starting to plan a trip for later this year and I checked out these two magazines at the bookstore. People seem to love checking off boxes on their ‘bucket list’ and these magazines are organized in checklist fashion. The first one was for US destinations … Continue reading Bucket List Adventures
I’ve had pretty good luck with rental cars over the years. Other than the one time a city bus plowed into my (parked) SUV in front of a hotel in snowy Aspen, I’ve never had a reportable incident. Until this year. I just got back from a board meeting in Michigan, and on the way back to the airport a rock flew up from an … Continue reading Rental Car Curse!
Everyone knows the moment you drive a car off a new dealer lot, you just cost yourself over $10,000 in depreciation. That rule has been true as long as I can remember. Now, something else seems to be happening. Fueled by the post pandemic/stimulus money and car shortage, the Jeep Wrangler that I bought last year seems to have appreciatied at significant rate! As you … Continue reading New Car Appreciation?
A few weeks ago, I published an article about the financial surprise of big repairs and expenses around the house. In the comments, regular reader, Thom, mentioned that he forecasts and accrues for these ‘personal capital expenditures’ – which can occur over years and decades – on an annual basis. The key to his approach is a spreadsheet that lists all of the major components … Continue reading Accruing For Home Repairs – Spreadsheet Download
We’ve been in our house more than a dozen years now. When we first built the house, we had a list of ‘extras’ we wanted to add that stretched out a few years. We expanded our lower level, added a bar, covered & screened in our porch, and worked with our wonderful cabinet-maker on a number of built-ins. At the same time, we bought new … Continue reading Furnishing A Life …
Earlier this week, my oldest brother announced to his organization that he will be retiring next February. He’s the top dog at his company, so he needed to give his board plenty of notice to plan for a leadership transition. It’s is exciting news for him and it will be a big lifestyle change. I often joke that I didn’t find out how truly Type … Continue reading Preparing For Takeoff
Well, I blew it. I crashed my drone into a tree last week. It fell about 30 feet after shaking loose from the tree and the camera gimbal got damaged. It still flies, but you can’t really take pictures with it anymore. It was the second time I crashed it. The first time, it landed in soft snow and still worked fine. It’s a pretty … Continue reading Down & Out Drone
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