A few days ago we had a meetup for our local ChooseFI group where the topic was cell phone plans. As is usually the case, we focused on the topic and then conversations went all over the map as the evening went on. In an effort to provide a comprehensive review of the topic for the night I came to realize that we were split down the middle of those that were still using one of the four major carriers…
There are many financial realities that aren’t communicated to us until we experience them. It’s embarrassing to admit, but I personally didn’t know how mortgages worked until I was 26. But that’s another story for another time. Today I’d like to focus on another financial speed bump that no one tells you about growing up – child care. Maybe it was a generational anomaly present in the curriculum when I was in high school, being taught by educators who more…
Whether we are talking about money or energy, a big part of keeping costs low is being able to track them. To accomplish this, I have a spreadsheet that has different tabs for each of the sources of energy inputs and outputs that we track for our primary residence. Grid Usage – Our utility company allows you to track how much energy we used on a daily basis, and is usually updated next day with information from the former. So…
It costs us less to own and operate three cars than it would to own and operate two cars. Yep, you read that right. If you’re surprised, then join the club. I was very surprised at the time that I figured this out. Before we delve into explaining our transition to our current automobile scenario, let’s start at the beginning. A Common American Car Story I didn’t learn how to drive until I was 17, this was due in most…
Walk into any conversation about cord-cutting, switching energy suppliers, or heck, even fuel-efficient cars and you will always find one person saying something along the lines of “Oh but that’s such a small amount, that won’t really make a difference”. One of the biggest obstacles to people changing their behaviors is the belief that the reward won’t be big enough to justify what is perceived as a sacrifice. I am here to dispel that myth. The first and very most…
