Life Archives - Page 13 of 15

December 16, 2019December 16, 2019

Charles Sheldon: FIRE Before It Was Cool

Charles Sheldon lived over a century ago. There was no Twitter, no hashtags, no websites, and no “financial independence movement.” After a brief but lucrative career in the railroad and mining industries, Sheldon became a self-made millionaire in his 30s and retired at age 35. He used his newfound freedom to track down bighorn sheep and then, you know, became the “Father of Denali National Park.”

So, it begs the question: what would we do if we were given the gift of time?

December 9, 2019December 9, 2019

But There's No Time to Save Money!

Throwing on a jacket, I hurriedly move wide-eyed about the house, gathering my crap strung aimlessly in seemingly every room. Let’s see, it’s a gym day, so I need my gym bag, chalk bucket, climbing shoes, and post-session snack. Damnit, where are my keys?! IT’S TIME TO GO!!

Ugh…honey, can you fill up the dog’s water? LOOK, I’M JUST ASKING FOR ONE SIMPLE FAVOR!!

Yes, love you too. I’m sorry I raised my voice. Kisses?

Sound familiar? Busyness, often worn as a badge of honor, is one of the prime reasons folks struggle to spend less. This is particularly true when it comes to food. Yes, spending less often requires front-end planning and action, preparing meals in advance for easy and quick deployment later. Below we examine the often-ridiculous fallacy of busyness and offer six ways anyone can free up more time to live better and spend less.

December 2, 2019December 4, 2019

From Love: Why I Care About Your Money

After over 89,000 words written here to date, I wonder if I’ve consistently taken the correct tone. It’s very easy to point the finger in judgment, to be the cynic, but there is far more difficulty in being a source of encouragement or inspiration. So, let’s take a step back today. I want to explain why I started this project, and why I care so deeply about you and your money.

November 11, 2019November 19, 2019

Creative Craig and His Incredibly Captivating Career

I’ve written much about the realities of American job satisfaction. I’ve routinely pointed out the growing sense of discontent in the traditional workforce, and that fewer people are truly passionate about their work. The ability to be creative is often associated with increased job satisfaction, so you can imagine how someone of that leaning would feel when forced to spend their days filing paperwork.

Last week I had an incredibly thought-provoking phone conversation with an old friend. My friend is one of the lucky few who are excited to jump out of bed and face the work day. But not only that, he’s also secured another foundational pillar of life satisfaction: financial security. I came away from this conversation with thoughts swirling in my head, and a clearer picture of what lies ahead for me as my corporate career comes to a close.

November 4, 2019November 4, 2019

Walking the Walk and Other Tales by Foot

I really like to walk. Or maybe I really loathe sitting still. Ask my wife or any of my family members. If you invite me over and expect the bulk of the experience to be shared on a couch, you will find me pacing like a deranged man on his third rail of cocaine. YEAH! LET’S DO THIS!

This = moving around your living room aimlessly and without purpose, probably chewing my fingernails.

The Fitbit craze of late has people obsessed with the seemingly arbitrary 10,000 steps. And although counting steps carries an essence of the bizarre to me, I’m glad there’s incentive to get out of the chairs and sofas and start moving. But perhaps one of the best benefits of walking has less to do with fitness and more to do with the mind. What are we missing when we’re not out on our own two feet?

October 14, 2019October 14, 2019

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

Yes, it’s true. Mrs. CC and I have an established high-income career in the oil and gas industry. And yes, it’s true. Our incomes far exceed our needs. So that’s it right? There’s no more that needs to be said.

Of course we can save and invest and be financially independent when we’ve sold our soul to the devil for a fat paycheck. Everyone in the industry must be wiping their oily and gassy asses with $100 bills and planning their early retirements on the French Riviera. Au contraire dear reader, for I have a story to tell.

September 16, 2019August 9, 2021

Chasing Your Dreams is Probably a Bad Idea

When it comes to jobs and careers, parents the world over tell their children more-or-less the same message: you can do anything you want in life. Follow your dreams, and the rest will work out in the end. Of course, those same parents leave early each morning to go to a job that — as statistics show — they probably don’t love.

Years later we find reality to be something a little bit different than a dream. Work is still work, we might have a boss with an ever-so-slightly different vision, and MY GOD why is that woman using the blender right now?!!

So, should we chase our dreams? Are we being misled by pages of digital content and feel-good aphorisms created by outliers? Let’s first begin with a true story.

September 9, 2019August 31, 2020

Should I Buy a Home? Part 2: Opportunity Cost

Howdy! Last week on Should I Buy a Home (Part 1), we established that home ownership isn’t really a good “investment.” Make sure you go back and take a gander at that post first. But, when compared to the cost of renting all along, is home ownership still a better long-term financial decision, especially for early retirement? Or did we pay the biggest expense of all…opportunity cost?

Stick with me here. This sort of stuff was never my forte years ago, but I’ve grown to love this like Mrs. CC grew to love sushi. We can all learn to love raw fish, seaweed, rice, and investment return analysis.

September 2, 2019October 20, 2019

Should I Buy a Home? Part 1

In the personal finance world, the decision to own a home or rent is a particularly frothy debate. Traditionally, the long-held belief goes something like this: a home is an investment and a path to building wealth. I’m here to put a gentle and understanding hand on your shoulder, but deliver the hard news that your home is no longer an investment or an even remotely efficient wealth-building machine (was it ever?). But can it still be a better long-term financial alternative to rent?

This will be the first in an on-again-off-again series as we consider selling our home over the next year. We plan to document all incurred costs of homeownership, and compare to what we likely would have spent if renting all along.

But as current homeowners, was it a mistake for us buy in the first place? What should you do if you are weighing home ownership? Quick, math!

August 19, 2019August 18, 2019

Do You Deserve a Life You Can’t Afford?

This is a tough subject, brimming with unspoken taboos. The more I’ve researched, read, and written about personal finance, the more deeply I’ve come to understand a fundamental truth: many people want a certain lifestyle, and they are going to live that life regardless of whether there is money to support it. Do you deserve a life you can’t afford?