How to Fly to Europe for Free

Well…almost free anyway. But more on that in a moment.

Hot off the heels of our trip to Germany in June, I had no plans for any big international trips in 2019, in line with our general “Big Trip Every Other Year” family policy.

All that changed over the course of the last few days, when Mrs. CC caught wind of an incredible deal from Delta offering low-point fare to select European and UK cities, including Zurich, Frankfurt, and London.

Continue reading “How to Fly to Europe for Free”

Having Your Cake and Eating it Too: The Millionaire Dirtbag, Part 3:

When Am I Financially Independent?

This is Part 3 in the series. Check out Part 1 and Part 2 first!

Does this all sound intriguing but overwhelming? Perhaps you feel you haven’t set up your life to now embark on this journey. Let’s take a quick look at defining financial independence and a few first steps to get you on your way. Most important of all, let’s highlight the shockingly abbreviated timeframe for putting away serious amounts of money.

Continue reading “Having Your Cake and Eating it Too: The Millionaire Dirtbag, Part 3:”

Having Your Cake and Eating it Too: The Millionaire Dirtbag, Part 2.

Changing Focus

This is Part 2 in this series. Check out Part 1 here.

No matter your age (but especially if you are young), specific measures can be taken to drastically increase net worth. Generally speaking, in 10 years or less, you could be putting a traditional career in the rearview mirror, in a situation where your money now makes money for you. Your input is virtually no longer needed. The FIRE (Financial Independence/Retire Early) community pursuing this movement is loaded with brilliant minds who have gamed this system. All you have to do is make some simple — yet profound — decisions on how you structure your life. For us, these are the basics:

Continue reading “Having Your Cake and Eating it Too: The Millionaire Dirtbag, Part 2.”

Having Your Cake and Eating it Too: The Millionaire Dirtbag, Part 1.

A Look at Work/Life Balance

The binary solutions for work/life balance in climbing tend to be one of the following:

The Lifer

The lifer pursues climbing at all expense and makes ends meet as best as they can. The lifer participates in seasonal work or other flexible jobs that provide an income capable of sustaining life, but allowing for little to no saving for the long term. Individuals on this path are reluctant to place any roots: careers, property, family, long-term relationships. These individuals experience unparalleled freedom, but may harbor deep-seated concerns about their financial future after the youthful years.

The typical van scene in early spring outside St. George, UT. The climbers at these crags are often a nomadic bunch, and as such, they warm up on my projects.

The Optimizer

The optimizer pursues a career and climbs as much as they can in the margins. This is where most of us fall in modern climbing. We have careers, we may have children, perhaps even own a home. As life demands increase; careers develop, children enter the equation, climbing progressively gets shoved further towards the back burner.

These are the weekend warriors and the people who fill up the campgrounds on the holiday weekends. There is comfort in that this life is a shared experience with most others; almost anyone can relate. These individuals tend to have much healthier and stable incomes, but also tend to fall victim to lifestyle inflation: As income increases, so does unnecessary spending.

Despite vastly higher incomes, the optimizer’s financial future may be no less secure than the lifer, but they may have lots of nice stuff.

Continue reading “Having Your Cake and Eating it Too: The Millionaire Dirtbag, Part 1.”

The Goal of Clipping Chains: Linking Up Personal Finance and the Climbing World

Two facets of my life that keep me fully engaged are rock climbing and personal finance. I’m guessing you’ve come to this site because you are more interested in one of these seemingly unrelated subjects than the other, but I’ll slowly, hopefully, make the case that there are valuable lessons to learn from my experiences in wading deep into either respective…pool?

Continue reading “The Goal of Clipping Chains: Linking Up Personal Finance and the Climbing World”

Meet the Clipping Chains Family

My name is Chad Andrews and I’m a freelance writer, podcaster, scientist, and climber. I’m interested in how to live a better, more thoughtful life. My writing and interviews are rooted in the study of behavior, decision-making, philosophy, economics, and personal finance. This project began as a personal blog in 2018, grew to include a podcast in 2021, and continues to constantly evolve.

Before discovering the joy of writing, I spent over ten years as a geologist in the energy industry. It took that long to realize that (a) I was a poor fit for the role, and; (b) I could save and invest wisely to more appropriately align work with my values and interests. Before this, I embraced academia, writing and publishing peer-reviewed journal articles and dreaming of being a professor. The 2008 financial crisis changed the plan, driving me to the incandescent shelter of corporate America, where I learned to balance academic ideals with the applied reality of the private sector. I have eight years of experience in professional kitchens, working from fast food to fine dining, and everything in between. When not writing, interviewing, or talking to myself with a microphone, you’ll find me climbing or exploring the American West with my wife and elderly dog. We are natives of the South living in Colorado.

I write or produce a podcast most weeks, but don’t hold me to it. If you’d like to keep up with all the latest, I’ll even throw in a FREE spending and net worth tracking spreadsheet. It’s a fan favorite, they say.

Subscribe for new posts and recieve a FREE spreadsheet for tracking spending, income, and net worth!

* indicates required

Also, I love hearing from listeners and readers. I answer all (reasonable) emails and most comments. Please check out my contact page if you have any specific questions, comments, or other interesting ramblings. I’m here for it.

Thank you for reading!

Support this free project:


**Six Important Reasons Not to Retire Early

The New Research on Income and Happiness

The Happiness Curve: Beware of Expectations

**The Anticipation Of The Thing Is Greater Than The Thing

**Eudaimonia: Key Pillars of the Meaningful Life

**The Blue Dot Effect: Pessimism in a Beautiful World

**The Problem with Bucket Lists and How to Be Happy with Less

Uncertainty Is Forever (And That’s Good News)

All Work and No Play Makes You…Normal

What Two Writers Taught Me About How to Think

**The Illusion of Skill and How to Make Better Predictions

Financial

Saving/Frugality/Tracking

**Five “Essentials” That Are Destroying Your Savings

**But I Don’t Want to Be Frugal

**Tracking Your Spending: The Ultimate Task

**Net Worth: It’s Really Going to Matter…Someday

Do You Deserve a Life You Can’t Afford?

But There’s No Time to Save Money!

When Being a One-Car Household Really Sucks

**How to Get a Fantastic Deal on a New Car

How to Destroy Your Finances in Your 20s and 30s

Help! My Significant Other is Terrible With Money!

**Your 2021 Guide to Actually Saving Real Money

Automation: The Dirty Little Secret to Spending Less

**Value Spending: How to Really Save Money

2021 Exciting Year-End Financial and Tax Checklist

**I Bonds: A Novel Way to Save Cash

A Quick Note for Those Struggling with Spending

Student Loan Forgiveness: Here’s What You Need to Know

**What Happened to Frugality?

2024 Tax Brackets That Don’t Suck (and 2023 too)

The Psychology Behind Poor Investments and Other Important Decisions

Investing

**The CC Family Investing Strategy, Part 1: Philosophy and Asset Allocation

**The CC Family Investing Strategy, Part 2: Where Exactly Is Our Money?

We Lost Thousands of Dollars in the Stock Market, and That’s Okay

**You Know a Recession is Coming, Right?

Financial Advisor: Who Needs One?

I Have Cash! Is Now a Bad Time to Invest?!

**Shocking Headlines of the 2008 Financial Crisis (And Why They Are So Important Now)

Market Timing: Why It (Still) Doesn’t Work

Bitcoin and Other Things You Shouldn’t Own

The Simple Systems to Kicking Monetary Ass

**There’s No Way I’m Investing in this Economy!

**The Wondrous and Fantastic Power of Compound Growth (And Why It Doesn’t Pay to Wait)

The GameStop Saga: Hedge Funds, Reddit Investors, and Why They’re All Wrong

Expense Ratio & Fees: They’ll Hose You Big Time

The Long Approach to Being Scared of Investing (Also could be in “living off investments” section)

Mid-Year Financial Check & All the Latest

Sustainable Investing: Five Important Considerations

Wealth Inequality: Can We Solve This?

**War and Financial Markets: What You Need to Know

**This is the Wild Ride We Signed Up For

**The Great Comfort of Longevity in the Stock Market

Living Off Investments

Keeping the “Safe” in Safe Withdrawal Rate

Five Ways to Recession-Proof Your Life

Early Retirement: Is It the Solution?

**Six Lessons From a Year Without a Job

**The Bold and Beautiful Roth Conversion Ladder

**Seven Lessons From Two Years of Financial Freedom

**Can The 4% Rule Actually Work For Early Retirement?

**Five Lessons from Three Years of Financial Independence

Facing the Rest of the World with a Nontraditional Lifestyle

**Four Years of Financial Independence: The Slow Growth

**Life Without Money Scarcity Might Just Make You Lazy

Housing/Real Estate

Should I Buy a Home? Part 1

**Should I Buy a Home? Part 2: Opportunity Cost

**Relocation: A Guide to Moving and Housing Affordability

**This Just In: The Real Cost of Home Ownership

**And We’re Back to Home Ownership! But Why Now?

**Housing Affordability: This Isn’t Normal

**Is the Real Estate Investment Boom Killing US Housing Affordability?

**The Great Transition of the US Housing Market

Is My Rent Too High?

Healthcare

Is Healthcare Insurance About to Get a Lot More Expensive?!

**Some Fantastic News on Healthcare Costs

**How to Have Negative Health Insurance Costs

The Inflation Reduction Act: Exciting News for American Health Insurance

Motivation/Inspiration

Taking Action: Moving Beyond Inspiration

Choose FI Book Review: A Blueprint Indeed

Shades of Grey: How to Enjoy Life and Have Money

Travel

How to Fly to Europe for Free

Traveling Abroad: You’re Paying Too Much

Mallorca: January Adventures and the Cost to Do It

**Van Life: The Economics and Trade-Offs

The Astonishing Cost of Unused Vacation

A Winter in Sicily, Part 1: San Vito Lo Capo

A Winter in Sicily, Part 2: The Big City Life

Sicily, Part 3: Two People, Two Weeks, $1,300

Forgotten Lessons From a Jet Plane

Summer 2021: The Life and Times

The Long Way to Squamish

From Squamish, With Love

**The Problem with Bucket Lists and How to Be Happy with Less

An Ode to the Road Trip

**Mini Episode: Is the Best Life Lived at Home?

Life on the Road

**Selling Our House: On the Road, Pandemic Edition

Week 1: Lander, Wyoming: Working Out the Kinks

**In Contrast: The Reality of Life on the Road

One Month on the Road: Getting a Groove

Three Months on the Road: Pacific Northwest

Four Months on the Road: Can This Really Last?

Tales From the Road: Two Cows and a Horse

**The Simple and Complicated Life on the Road

The Long Way to Squamish

Career

**Maximize Adventure or Career?

**Chasing Your Dreams is Probably a Bad Idea

“Financial Freedom Is Only Possible with Your Soul-Sucking, High Income Career”

**Retirement? Don’t Worry, I’ll be Fine!

The Entrepreneur: The Head of the Chicken

Job Security: Our Catalyst to Financial Independence

Creative Craig and His Incredibly Captivating Career

Keeping Remote Work In a Post-Pandemic World

**Should I Quit My Job? I Want to Climb!

**Why Trying to Quit My Job (Sort of) Made It Better

**Three Important Myths on Delaying a Career

Climbing

The Goal of Clipping Chains: Linking up the Personal Finance and Rock Climbing World

Power Company Climbing: Training Plan Review

Rest: We Need It and We Don’t Get Enough

Ego and Mastery: Looking Good vs Being Good

Obsession and Performance Don’t Always Mix

Full Pursuit of Climbing Isn’t Full Freedom After All

The Hard Truth Book Review

Mettle, By Steve Bechtel: A Book Review

Back (Pain) in the Saddle Again

(A list of all interviews is here)

Food

On Deprivation: Food

In Defense of Stew

I Was Really Fat Until I Fixed It

How to Make Food at Home That Doesn’t Suck

Routine/Productivity

Examine the Routine: The Mindset

On Being a Slave to the Schedule

Boredom? Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That

What It’s Really Like to Not Have to Work on Monday

**The Power of the Four-Hour Work Day (even in retirement)

Q&A Posts

Moving Forward With This Website: A Request of You

Your Feedback Is Very Wonderful and I Am Weak

Your Questions Answered: Volume One

Your Questions Answered: Volume Two

Your Questions Answered: Volume 3 (Podcast)

Your Questions Answered: Volume 4 (Podcast)

Your Questions Answered: Volume 5 (Podcast)

Your Questions Answered: Volume 6 (Podcast)

QA7: Financial Freedom Fast-Tracks and Climbing Plateau Busters (Podcast)

QA8: What If We Run Out of Water? (Podcast)

QA9: What Is the Point of Financial Optimization? (Podcast)

QA10: Bear Markets and Bank Failures (Podcast)

QA11: Laying It Out in Simple Terms (Podcast)

Year-End Reviews

2018: Happy Holidays and Thanks For Your Support!

2019: A Decade in Review: Reflection and a Look Ahead

2020: An Unusual Year We Won’t Forget

2021: A Year of Accelerated Change

Posts About Other Things on the Internet I Liked

Clipping Chains Clickable Content, Volume 1

Weekend Briefs, Volume 2


Hazel Findlay: Fear is Trainable

Mike Doyle: A Remote-Controlled Climbing Life

Lauren Abernathy: Finding the Balance

Nate Drolet: So You Want to be a Coach?

Bethany Macke: The Powerful Art of the Pivot

Neil Phillips: Money as a Means to an Incredible Journey

Becky Switzer: The Powerful Pragmatist

Mike Personick: Dirtbag Entrepreneur

Lee Cujes: Super Psyched on the Long Game

The Frugal Professor: Let’s Get Deep in the Weeds

Eliza Marsh: We Can Make This Happen

Steven Dimmitt: Taking the Big Leap

The Clipping Chains Podcast: Funding the Adventurous Life

Announcing the Clipping Chains Podcast

EP 1: Mike Tritt: Rocking in the Free World

EP 2: Value Spending: A Damn Good Start

EP 3: Chris Mamula: One Bite at a Time

EP 4: How to Have Negative Health Insurance Costs

EP 5: Diana Crabtree Green: Pay Yourself First

EP 6: Sustainable Investing: Five Important Considerations

EP 7: Luke Mehall: The Dirtbag Dream is Not Enough

EP 8: Becky Switzer: This is Real Life

EP 9: Your Questions Answered: Volume 3

EP 10: Mark Anderson: The Seasons of Life

EP 11: Shades of Grey: How to Enjoy Life and Have Money

EP 12: Paige Claassen: “This Was a Big One for Me”

EP 13: Mike Doyle: Remote Work and the Climbing Life

EP 14: 2021 Exciting Year-End Financial and Tax Checklist

EP 15: Craig Faulhaber: Near-Death Experiences and Early Retirement

EP 16: The Boring Guide to Successful Investing (Part 1)

EP 17: Michael Langer: Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail

EP 18: Kenzie King: Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail

EP 19: The Boring Guide to Successful Investing (Part 2)

EP 20: Steve Bechtel: The Glass is Already Broken

EP 21: Blake Cason: Going Out on My Own

EP 22: Your Questions Answered: Volume 4

EP 23: Erik Jenson: Real Estate Investing with Training Wheels

EP 24: Bitches Get Riches: What Do We Really Value?

EP 25: Erich Purpur: What is the “Good Life?”

EP 26: How to Spend Retirement Money Early

EP 27: Homes and Vans with Tien and Brandon Rooney

EP 28: Compound Growth: Can I Catch Up Later?

EP 29: Back in the Weeds with the Frugal Professor

EP 30: Charitable Giving and Macroeconomics with Brice Karickhoff

EP 31: Your Questions Answered: Volume 5

EP 32: Steven Dimmitt: The Simple Ways to Become Remarkable

EP 33: This is the Wild Ride We Signed Up For

EP 34: Eric Horst: A Climber and Creator for Life

EP 35: Is the Real Estate Investment Boom Killing US Housing Affordability?

EP 36: Matt Samet: The Uncertain Future of Climbing Media

EP 37: Your Questions Answered: Volume 6

EP 38: A Quick Note for Those Struggling with Spending

EP 39: Peter Beal: Can You Afford to Be Sponsored?

EP 40: QA7: Financial Freedom Fast-Tracks and Climbing Plateau Busters

EP 41: Back (Pain) in the Saddle Again

EP 42: Ashley Green: How to Create Enjoyable Business Success at Age 27

EP 43: Chris Weidner: Something More To The Story

EP 44: Earning to Buy Time with Meghan and Jeff (A Way to FI)

EP 45: QA8: What If We Run Out of Water?

EP 46: Can The 4% Rule Actually Work For Early Retirement?

EP 47: It’s Not All Hard Luck with Shay Skinner

EP 48: The Anticipation Of The Thing Is Greater Than The Thing

EP 49: QA9: What Is the Point of Financial Optimization?

EP 50: Key Pillars of the Meaningful Life

EP 51: Joy and Tyler Black on Career, Money Mindsets, and Parenting

EP 52: The Great Transition of the US Housing Market

EP 53: Lee Cujes: No Free Lunch on the Life We Really Want

EP 54: The Power of the Four-Hour Work Day (even in retirement)

EP 55: Darrow Kirkpatrick: Beyond Doubt on the Colorado Trail

EP 56: Five Lessons from Three Years of Financial Independence

EP 57: Lean Out: The Achievement Paradox with Dawn Baker

EP 58: QA10: Bear Markets and Bank Failures

EP 59: Brent Barghahn: Real Estate Investing and the Future of Home Ownership

EP 60: What You Need to Know About Financial Advisors with Chris Mamula

EP 61: Heather Larsen: Risk And Reward In Outdoor Careers

EP 62: The Great Comfort of Longevity in the Stock Market

EP 63: The Blue Dot Effect: Pessimism in a Beautiful World

EP 64: Jeff and Priti Wright: You Might Need a Sabbatical

EP 65: Six Important Reasons to Reconsider Early Retirement

EP 66: Mike Piper: Down To The Essence Of Smart Money Management

EP 67: The Real Cost of Home Ownership (and a Life Update)

EP 68: What Happened to Frugality?

EP 69: The One Time to Be Average with Dave Rosen

EP 70: QA11: Laying It Out in Simple Terms

EP 71: The Great American Student Loan Debt with Emma Crawford

EP 72: Dr. Jim Dahle of the White Coat Investor on Building the Ideal Life

EP 73: The Problem with Bucket Lists and How to Be Happy with Less

EP 74: Mini Episode: Is the Best Life Lived at Home?

EP 75: James McHaffie: From Bold Climbing to Novel Writing

EP 76: Uncertainty Is Forever (And That’s Good News)

EP 77: The Social Dilemma of Extended Travel (Jeff, A Way to FI)

EP 78: Tyler Karow: The Tiny Future of Affordable Housing

EP 79: “The Rewards of Being in One Place for a While” (Meghan Walker and Callan Cooper)

EP 80: Facing the Rest of the World with a Nontraditional Lifestyle

EP 81: QA12: Will A Life Of Financial Independence Meet Expectations?

EP 82: A Unique Form of Real Estate Investment in a Tough Housing Economy (with Michael Farnsworth)

EP 83: The Psychology Behind Poor Investments and Other Important Decisions

EP 84: Four Years of Financial Independence: The Slow Growth

EP 85: All Work and No Play Makes You…Normal

EP 86: A Therapist on Satisfaction in Sport, Life, and Love

EP 87: An Emerging Revolution in the Treatment of Chronic Pain

EP 88: Is My Rent Too High?

EP 89: What Two Writers Taught Me About How to Think

EP 90: The Illusion of Skill and How to Make Better Predictions

EP 91: Life Without Money Scarcity Might Just Make You Lazy

EP 92: Cory Richards: The Color of Everything

EP 93: David Champion: The Psychological Challenge Of Early Retirement


Other Resources:

For other recommended resources, books, and other services, check out CC Recommends.