Starting on May 1, my wife and I began a project that a friend suggested called the “30-Day Decluttering Challenge”. The concept is simple – on the first day of the month, get rid of one item. On the second day of the month, get rid of two items. Continue to do so until the 30th day of the challenge, when you get rid of … Continue reading 30 Day Post-Retirement Decluttering Challenge
Today we have an extra special guest – for the first time ever we are joined by the wonderful MrsFireStation – who will share her own thoughts on Captain Sparky’s escape from corporate life and our new life of leisure in early retirement … My background … I’ve been a stay-at-home Mom for 18 years and our son is a senior in high school and … Continue reading The Better Half – Thoughts From MrsFireStation
Like many people on the journey to early retirement, I spent a lot of time tracking the performance of our investments and growth of our nest egg. I was anxious to see the numbers grow and ultimately tested our financial wherewithal through eight different lenses to ensure we were ready to take the leap into early retirement. Many times I would check my phone or … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Enjoy Every Day
People hate Monday mornings. Today is the first day in more than a month – since I left MegaCorp for early retirement – that I am getting up for some kind of work. I’m heading out of town for a one day meeting with a company for which i serve on the board of directors. It’s a paid gig once every 90 days – but … Continue reading Monday Morning We Hate You
Yes – Mr & Mrs. FIRE Station have been very blessed to be able to retire more than a decade earlier than the average person, but it does come with an opportunity cost of 10+ years of income. While we are not living a “frugal” lifestyle, we are still making a choice to forgo the material benefits of working. Why do so? At this point … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Happiness Is Made, Not Bought
I have written a couple posts about fitness in early retirement. It’s not my favorite topic, but I learned that almost every early retiree I connect with became MORE fit after they left the workplace. I also bought a bike last summer and I set a goal of increasing my daily activity by 80% to 12,000 steps a day as a first step to getting … Continue reading Stepping Up In Early Retirement
The question I hear the most after four full weeks of early retirement is “is every day just like a weekend now?” The answer is both a “yes” and “no”. I would say overall, Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday continue to hold their special status as the best days of the week. Weekends continue to be great because there is a lot happening around town … Continue reading Everyday Is Weekend In Early Retirement?
They say you should make sure to enjoy the ‘little things’ in life and I am learning (in my fourth week of early retirement) just how enjoyable the little things are. This week, I have had very little scheduled. I had a few nice lunches and breakfasts with people, we went to the afternoon movie as a family ($5 Tuesdays), and I had a couple … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – The Little Things
Last week I published a post that discussed the ‘honeymoon’ phase of retirement and included a chart on the phases of retirement (from Forbes.com, sourced to Dr. Sara Yogev). While I certainly feel like I’m in the honeymoon phase now – after just a few weeks away from the office – I went to the forums on Early-Retirement.org to see what some more ‘experienced’ early … Continue reading Never Ending Honeymoon?
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today 2 get through this thing called LIFE.” Living in the Twin Cities since high school and through college in the 1980s, it is easy to say that Prince wrote a huge part of the musical soundtrack of my life. An amazingly prolific musician, unstoppably entertaining showman, and thoughtful but respectful activist, Prince was a true musical innovator for … Continue reading Friday Inspiration – Prince’s Independence
MrFireStation 