We had a great time this past weekend, going out to a movie, attending a black-tie gala, and seeing the hometown Minnesota Vikings win at their new stadium. It is always fun to get out and be entertained, but I am amazed at out how expensive things have become. Going through some old ticket stubs recently, I came across a stub from a Madonna concert … Continue reading The Price Of Entertainment Keeps Rocking Higher
My closet has a big hole in it. Last weekend, while getting home from a weekend trip, I noticed how many dress shirts I have clogging my closet. I decided it was a good time to go through my former work attire and “declutter” my wardrobe. While I did some major decluttering immediately after I retired, I didn’t really touch my work clothes. … Continue reading FIRE Station FUN – Decluttering Work Clothes
Last year, when I was just early retired a few weeks, I wrote this article describing the ‘honeymoon’ period of leaving work behind. I even shared a ‘5 Stages of Retirement’ academic framework that many already-retired readers immediately called B.S. on – complaining that the sudden feeling of freedom does NOT grow old and that the honeymoon of early retirement NEVER ends! These comments came … Continue reading Still On Our FIRE Honeymoon
This is the third chapter in a series of four posts that look at how our first year in early retirement has gone. This chapter covers activities related to Family/Friends and Work/Money. These are two of the busiest areas on my Life Wheel map and have been very satisfying. (Here are links to the FIRST and SECOND posts of this series) My goal wasn’t to … Continue reading First Year of Early Retirement (3) – Work/Money & Family/Friends
This is the second chapter in four posts about how we’ve spent our first year of early retirement, which started on April Fool’s Day last year. Click here for last week’s update on Travel/Play & Arts/Creative. This week, I’m reporting in on two more segments of the Life Wheel: Health/Sports and Love/Romance. I established 13 goals in these two areas and so far, I’ve made … Continue reading First Year of Early Retirement (2) – Health/Sports & Love/Romance
It’s hard to believe that it has been almost a year since I made my FIRE escape from corporate life! More than anything, people ask me “what are you doing with your time in early retirement”. Several people have asked me to provide an update on my post last year, when I introduced my “Life Wheel” and talked about the activities I am hoping to … Continue reading First Year of Early Retirement (1) – Travel/Play & Arts/Creativity
More than a year ago, I wrote this article contemplating whether or not I was more of an introvert or extrovert. Some people think that being an extrovert helps you in the business world and being an introvert helps you in retirement. The difference comes down to your need to be with other people to ‘find your energy’. Here is a link to that article: INtroverts … Continue reading Introvert or Extrovert?
More than 15 years ago, some colleagues and I were talking about how effective we were in building our savings. We were all making a good living, but some were more successful in building their net worth than others. One colleague – a single guy with a snappy car – mentioned that he started out being a good saver, but had recently been spending too much … Continue reading Stop Saving, Start Spending In Retirement?
This past Saturday (10/1) marked the six month anniversary of the day I walked out of MegaCorp for early retirement. It was April Fool’s Day, which seemed liked the most appropriate day of the year to do something so foolish. How’s it been so far? – terrific, I’d say. A friend who retired a few months early has been thinking the same thing. To mark … Continue reading Early Retirement – Six Month Anniversary
Several weeks ago I wrote about being back on campus and auditing a Sociology class at our local university, where my son is a freshman this year. The school has a ‘Parents on Campus’ program that allows parents to take up to two classes each semester for free. Before starting the class, I realized that it probably would be awkward to be a fifty year … Continue reading Old Guy On Campus – Early Reflections
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