In response to my post explaining our simple investment strategy of 90% stocks, 10% bonds, several readers inquired why we were in bonds at all. It’s a great question and one that I’ve been researching a bit over the past couple weeks. As with most of our financial decisions, I try not to reinvent the […]
My Latest Obsession: Obstacle Course Racing
It all started with a goal of getting into better shape that I set for myself around the holidays last year. I wouldn’t say I was ever “out of shape”, but I did manage to pack on 15 or so extra pounds and haven’t challenged myself physically in a while. 2017 would become the year I stepped […]
Our Simple Investment Strategy
We’ve been aggressively saving money for the past few years, specifically after discovering financial independence (FI). Not only are we putting aside a large percentage of our income each month, but it’s important to make sure that money continues to grow, particularly in a safe, long-term fashion. The places that we invest our money in today […]
Long Game Savings App Review and Optimal Strategy
Long Game is a new startup company based out of San Francisco that is encouraging users to save more money by making a game out of the saving experience. Instead of a boring flat interest rate like most savings accounts offer (although you get that too!), you are rewarded with coins for saving money and keeping […]
My New Favorite Everyday Spend Credit Card – 2.5% Back Everywhere
Regardless of our attempt to put all of our spending towards signup bonuses, there will always be extra spend in-between new credit cards that we can’t fit into a 5% bonus category. I recently went into great detail on how we distributed our spend across credit cards last year to earn an average 14% back, but part […]
T-Mobile Followup – International Features Worked Great and Our First Bill Breakdown
In my most recent post, I described the process we went through switching our mobile phones from AT&T to T-Mobile. This post is a followup with how the service has been performing for us, both in the US and on our recent trip to Spain. I also take a look at the first bill we […]
Our Experience Switching From AT&T to T-Mobile
There are plenty of different reasons someone might want to switch phone carriers: cost, data, coverage, features, and more. My wife and I have been on an AT&T plan together for the past 5 years or so, and haven’t really changed the plan since then. When we first joined a plan together, I was able to apply a […]
How We Booked Our Trip to Spain with Points, Miles, and $465
The next big trip we have coming up is a long week in Spain and I thought it would be useful to break down how we booked both the flights and hotels using points, miles, and a little cash. We’ll be spending 7 nights in Spain spread across 3 different cities with everything from long-haul […]
Meet Your Goals Efficiently By Tracking Them
Anyone who has the goal of improving their financial situation should at least be tracking their spending. Without knowing where the money goes once it gets into your accounts, it becomes extremely difficult to set realistic goals for yourself and build wealth over time. We use a combination of Mint and Excel to track all […]
How We Averaged 14% Back On Our Everyday Spending Last Year!
Recently, I broke down exactly how much money we spent last year and mentioned that we are pretty good about maximizing our return on that spending with the use of credit cards. I thought it would be fun to break down exactly what kind of return we got from that spending and on which cards. […]