I’m excited to have put in a pre-order for the new Apple Watch. Mr.FireStation is a bit of a gadget-guy, but even so, at $399 it is about 4x what I have ever paid for a watch of any sort. I know people who wear the luxury brand watches that cost thousands of dollars, but I’ve always resisted shelling out that kind of money. Until … Continue reading Thrifty Thursday – Apple Watch Bands
I recently wrote about possible ways to countdown my last year to early retirement. I had gotten a lot of great ideas online and shared them in this post. Since it’s a couple of weeks later, I thought I would share a couple of the approaches I adopted. First, I made 52 tags out of Post-it Flags and hung them up in a colorful way … Continue reading Countdown to Early Retirement – Post-it Flags
Today is my 49th birthday. That might seem like a big number or a small number, depending on your perspective. Right now it means I’m slightly on the younger side of the 20 people in the strategic planning meeting that I am sitting in at MegaCorp. Today’s a Tuesday. Tuesday is a terrible day for a birthday, because if there are important meetings scheduled, you’re … Continue reading FIRE Countdown – Last Birthday in the Office
The EarlyRetireent.org forum recently had a post called “Early Retirement Inspiring Quotes“. Some of the quotes were really outstanding, so I wanted to post some of them here (along with some other favorites) … “The goal isn’t more money. The goal is living life on your own terms.” Chris Brogan “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t … Continue reading Time To Retire Early? – 12 Quotes That Inspire Action
I posted on a couple of early retirement sites last week to see what advice folks might have for me in my final year of work before leaving work for good. I didn’t get a lot of responses, but the advice was motivating since it came from folks that have already reached FIRE (financial independence & retired early). My DW and I have gotten to … Continue reading 7 Ways to Countdown to Early Retirement
It’s hard to believe that I have reached the one year mark on my expected early retirement on April Fool’s Day 2016. It arrived just a few days ago when I was prepping for a multi-day work offsite that my boss asked me to plan & lead. I ended up so involved in the offsite that I didn’t have a lot of time to reflect … Continue reading FIRE Escape – Early Retirement 12 Month Checklist
A few years ago, my wife & I were split on the prospect of buying a boat. We had reached the point in our financial journey that we could afford to splurge on a speedboat. We wouldn’t make a huge dent in our savings, and certainly wouldn’t take on any debt. We had friends that enjoy the ‘boat lifestyle’ and wanted to join the party. … Continue reading Thrifty Thursday – Boat Clubs
There is probably no luxury that I have done more of an about-face on over the past 20 years than luxury automobiles. My DW and I started out very humbly in our 20s when we got married. We were very practical: she had a 11-year old Ford Fairmont (boring, but mostly reliable). I had managed to drive a few junkers into the ground through college … Continue reading Grown-Up Guilty Pleasure – Luxury Cars
We just finished paying our taxes for 2014. We spent the last month working with our new accountant on the ugliness. I like to think that our taxes are pretty simple – I only work for one company – but yet they always end up being a lot more complicated that I want. And expensive… I am blessed to have a good job and … Continue reading One More Year – Income Tax Bite
“You’ll be bored.” More than anything, that’s the response I expect from friends & family that when I retire early next year. The plan is that it will be just a few weeks short of my fiftieth birthday (‘FIRE by 50’). It’s a worry that increasingly dominates my thoughts. Will I think myself a clever genius for making an early exit from the workforce, or … Continue reading Pre-FIRE Escape – “Not Bored” List
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