Funding the Adventurous Life
Hi, how are you? I’ve been doing some traveling by plane. After a 15-month hiatus from the grind, I found refreshment in some good-ole’-fashioned civilization this week. Apologies for the departure, but you will find no tips about finances or rock climbing today. This is an essay on the inherent ridiculousness of human nature and the forgotten joys of plane travel.
Continue reading “Forgotten Lessons From a Jet Plane”
Helloooo friends, and welcome to Clipping Chains. This is your host Mr. CC. Wait…does that sound familiar? If so, you—like me—might find yourself listening to a lot of climbing’s refreshing new podcast: The Nugget Climbing Podcast, by Steven Dimmitt.
Today, we’re flipping the mic, so to speak. Steven shares with us how he decided to leave his traditional job as an engineer, move into a van, and start a podcast about life and climbing. He is cultivating a livable income from a product often given away for free. Most importantly, we discuss how Steven is honing a craft that simply cannot be ignored.
It begs the questions: What does it take to make this a repeatable path?
Continue reading “Steven Dimmitt: Taking the Big Leap”
This week’s post is not about ways to save money or plan for a retirement. There’s not even much here about climbing. I spent some time alone this week, and as such, fell (pun intended) into a bit more of a contemplative mood. This is an essay on wild places, loneliness, and the compounding emotional effects of night. Finally, and perhaps unexpectedly, we examine the continued relevance of the death of Chris McCandless in the Alaskan wilderness.
Continue reading “Fear and Limping (Alone) in Las Vegas”
Well, damnit. Try as I might to take some time away, I’m still a sucker for this stuff. Last week I asked for your feedback. I’ve been getting to the point where I felt I was hitting a lot of the same talking points week after week. And you guys delivered.
Here’s what you had to say.
Continue reading “Your Feedback Is Very Wonderful and I Am Weak”
In August, we closed on our home of seven years in Denver, Colorado. And against all odds, with a raging pandemic, unprecedented unemployment, and a very uncertain future, we sealed the deal on an offer far better than we anticipated.
In this post I run the final numbers on the economics of our seven years of home ownership. Despite the often-touted rule-of-thumb that home ownership is a great investment….well…was it for us?
This is part 3 in a series. To see other posts on the subject, check out Part 1 and Part 2.
Continue reading “This Just In: The Real Cost of Home Ownership”
We started working intently towards financial independence in 2015. Less than five years later, we crossed the finish line. I pinned the merit badge on my flair vest and decided to call it quits on the corporate world, just as COVID-19 was quietly putting the world in a strangle hold. A few weeks later, the stock market crashed, and along with it, our net worth. Is waking up each Monday without needing a job as great as it seems? Am I just running from something?
Well…maybe.
Continue reading “What It’s Really Like to Not Have to Work on Monday”
Alright, alright, I get it: not a product review! Gross! Folks, I’m with you. Any website I see that reviews almost anything, I close the page. So when I was offered an advance copy of the brand new book from the creators of the Choose FI podcast and author Chris Mamula (Can I Retire Yet website), I was…well…a little hesitant.
Continue reading “Choose FI Book Review: A Blueprint Indeed”
I’m very pleased to bring you an interview with one of my favorite climbers, Paige Claassen. Paige is an absolute crusher in the world of sport climbing, having climbed a number of notable nails-hard 5.14+ test-piece routes (Necessary Evil, VRG; Just Do It, Smith Rock), capped with her recent send of Algorithm (5.14c/d) in the Fins, Idaho.
But as usual, this isn’t really a climbing website and we’re not really here to talk about Paige’s climbing (don’t worry, we will a bit).
Continue reading “Paige Claassen: Making a Difference”
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.
Continue reading “Should I Buy a Home? Part 2: Opportunity Cost”
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!
Continue reading “Should I Buy a Home? Part 1”