We have had a BAD run of luck when it comes to car repairs this year. In the last 90 days, we have tallied close to $5,250 on our highly-engineered, but aging SUV and Sedan. They are nice models – a 2011 BMW X5 and a 2012 Mercedes 300C – but now that they have celebrated their 6th and 5th birthdays, they are heading to … Continue reading The Cost Of Keeping Cars Grows More Visible As Time Goes On
One of the things I enjoyed about working was coming in every morning and looking at the sales & volume numbers of the businesses I worked on. Each day, we would get a Daily Volume Report that showed how many cases of cookies, canned soup, frozen pizzas, or yogurt cups had been ordered by our grocery customers and every Monday morning we would see how … Continue reading Lifestyle Change By The Numbers
It’s now been a full year-and-a-half since I left MegaCorp and early retired. I drive by the corporate campus on the freeway almost daily and always give a quick wave or salute to my former colleagues that are still in the main buildings we used to work together in. Before I announced I was leaving MegaCorp, I wanted to make sure that I was on … Continue reading Have A Great Day, MegaCorp!
Some homes are well-cared for and maintained, while others are seemingly left to rot. Depending on the owner, it is either the best of times or worst of times for the condition of the house. My brother closed on a house last Friday that is a bona-fide fixer-upper. It is a home that was left mostly empty for the last 10-15 years and requires a … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Homes
More than anything after returning from our vacation last month, everyone wanted to know what it was like to drive on the ‘wrong side’ of the road when we were in Great Britain. All together, we drove almost 20 hours from London to Bath, the Cotswolds to York, from Edinburgh to Inverness. Like many Americans, I had never piloted a right-hand drive car and driven … Continue reading FIRE Travel – Driving On The Wrong Side
At the beginning of the year – when we have our Financial Round-Up Day – I put down my assumptions for what I think the financial markets and economy will return for the year. I try to be conservative in my expectations, but use it to set investing goals and create a spending plan for the year. With autumn now in full bloom, I thought … Continue reading 2017 Market Predictions – Autumn Review
Today we are heading home from our trip to England & Scotland over the last few weeks. It was a terrific trip that took us from the Roman Baths of Bath, to the halls of Downton Abbey’s Highclere Castle, to Old Town York, and into Scotland for a full week – all the way up to Inverness. My wife’s Dad’s family is from Scotland, so … Continue reading FIRE Travel – Edinburgh, Royal Scotland
We are traveling in Scotland this morning, so just a quick post on the personal finance of traveling. Like most people, we charge almost everything we can when we travel. We keep a small amount of cash for small expenses, but otherwise charge away. One of the questions you inevitably get when you are paying for things with a card is “do you want to … Continue reading When In Rome, PAY As The Romans Do
My wife and I are on vacation in Great Britain this week. She read in the newspaper that the average English government worker gets 28 days of vacation a year. Almost a month! While that seems like a huge amount relative to the United States, the below chart shows how many average hours are worked across a number of developed countries. You can see that … Continue reading No Vacation Nation?
We went to the Minnesota State Fair about a week ago and enjoyed all of the greasy food, unique exhibits, and saw Stevie Nicks in concert. Our State Fair, which lasts for 12 days, is the second biggest fair in the United States with attendance of almost 2 million people. One thing the fair excels at is getting those 2 million people to spend money. … Continue reading What’s In Your Wallet – Cash?
