CLIPPING CHAINS

February 25, 2019March 6, 2021

Jonathan Siegrist: Life After Professional Climbing

If you’ve been in this climbing world for more than a few days, you know that my guest interview today, Jonathan Siegrist, needs no introduction. He’s simply one of the world’s top climbers, and he’s crushed it in all major facets of this game we play — sport, bouldering, and trad.

We’re going to mix things up this week and feature Jonathan not because he’s pursuing a life of financial independence or running a business, but because he works damn hard and is a man with a plan. He is laser focused on his goals, but he knows there will be more to life than professional climbing. There’s not much luck in this story.

February 18, 2019May 6, 2020

Regrets: Any Day Could Be Your Last

I’ve been sitting on this concept for a while, but I lacked the inspiration until it hit me like a sack of bricks early last week. I stumbled upon a must-read news article with an unbeatable title: Colorado trail runner attacked by mountain lion choked cat to death with hands, arms and feet. Yes, that is the actual title. Regardless of your religious or agnostic leanings, we have one shot at this life. I know nothing about this man — clearly the stuff of legends — but a peaceful run in the mountains very nearly came down to his final moments. It begs the question: if your life ended today, would you have any regrets?

February 11, 2019February 11, 2019

Financial Independence: So Who is This For?

We’re almost five months in on this project, but I’ve never clearly defined the intended audience for this content. As mentioned here, this site was launched to link the seemingly unrelated topics of personal finance and rock climbing. No doubt, the overlap on the Venn diagram of these two communities is going to be slim. So who is both willing and able to achieve a life of financial independence?

February 4, 2019February 21, 2021

Mallorca: January Adventures and the Cost to Do It

We’ve just wrapped up a two-week stay in Europe, most of which was spent on Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands of Spain. As previously discussed, we jumped on what was essentially a free flight to Frankfurt, Germany, spending a night on either end of the trip there. We also leaned on our five key tips for saving money while traveling abroad. Shall we take a look at some pretty pictures and tally the final bill?

January 28, 2019May 4, 2019

Dogs and Your Money: An Ode to Man’s Best Friend

The pursuit of financial independence is a pursuit of happiness. Money is not the goal. Money is the vehicle that allows for a life centered around happiness. We write here about a philosophy centered around simple living and simple investing, but at the end of the day the entire goal is to provide more time to acquire true and meaningful fulfillment in our lives. Writing about this stuff often makes me feel like a bit of a used car salesman — convincing people to invest in stocks and open up credit cards — so I’m happy to take this opportunity to write more freely about, well, life. And dogs.

It’s very exciting to get wrapped up in all the ways to optimize, all the short-cuts and refinements, but I’m sometimes reminded of how quickly all the joys in life can be suddenly upended.

January 21, 2019August 9, 2021

Traveling Abroad: You’re Paying Too Much

Traveling abroad is an adventure that everyone should experience at some point in their lives. And I’m not talking about an all-inclusive stay in Cabo, where you’re shuttled from the airport and kept within the confines of a protected resort. I mean going to a place and living amongst the locals for at least a couple of weeks, stumbling through a foreign language, and learning first-hand what it feels like to be a minority.

January 14, 2019January 13, 2019

Kris Hampton: Popping Your Comfort Bubble

Kris Hampton is a hustler in the modern world of climbing. For decades he’s kept himself close to the action—not only with his own impressive climbing achievements—but, more importantly, his intense presence as a figure in the climbing world. Kris challenges the status quo and wants you to get uncomfortable. As such, he makes for an interesting guest interview. After all, we want to look at this life differently, right?

January 7, 2019October 28, 2019

Five “Essentials” That Are Destroying Your Savings

Well folks, new year, new goals. Are you looking to increase your savings rate this year?

Are you really interested in saving? “No” is a completely acceptable answer, by the way. If you prefer to answer no, you can largely disregard what’s written below and carry on with a plan more suitable for you. We fully recognize that a frugal existence is not for everyone. We cool? Cool.

However, if you’re really interested in saving tens of thousands of dollars, it’s going to require not only change, but a complete re-framing of your lifestyle.

These sort of changes will require a degree of discomfort — whether it’s physical, social, or otherwise — until you become accustomed to a new normal. That’s the beauty of the human condition; we’re adaptable. Take it from us that perceived discomfort can, with time, result in a new-found appreciation for a more simple existence. And the benefits are not purely financial. Building a new life of simplicity brings the benefits of a difficult-to-describe feeling of place in the world. A place you’ve earned, not bought. If you trust us in that, let’s read on.

December 31, 2018December 30, 2018

Getting Down with Charlie “Brown”

Charlie is indeed his first name, but I playfully made up the “Brown” part. Isn’t that fun?! Charlie has asked to remain partially anonymous (as we do here), because he’s discussing some stuff that his bosses might not like. We get it — nothing says I want a big bonus this year like “save money, retire early, blah, blah” on the internet.

The real Charlie Brown is kind of a downer, but not this Charlie. He and his wife are gaming out their life, and that’s pretty cool.

December 24, 2018May 4, 2019

Happy Holidays and Thanks for Your Support!

Yes, we’re a day early. I was nearing completion on a post completely unrelated to the holidays when I realized the timing. Instead, I just want to simply take the time to thank you all for being “here”.

I know “here” likely means hunched over a smartphone in a bathroom stall (wash your hands!). Or perhaps it means a new tab on your web browser when you hit a tiny snag at work. Either way, we’re grateful that you’ve chosen to be unproductive with us.

Consider this our digital ____________ (fill in holiday of choice) card.