Whether you randomly heard about this site on social media or in the news, you might be wondering what all the fuss is about. Why do people care about this blog anyway?

Below, you’ll find the most shared, most Googled, most controversial, and most viral posts — our virtual highlight reel.

Financial Roadmap: Save Money, Travel Tons, & Retire Young

Photo of financial roadmap icon for popular articles

Our claim is simple: If you start with zero dollars today and follow this plan, you can end up wealthy enough to retire from work forever in about 10 years — even without a fancy six-figure salary.

Best of all, you can travel the world and actually enjoy your life along the way.


How We Saved $100k in 2 Years on Teacher Salaries

Photo of teaching icon for popular articles

They say the first $100k is the hardest.

Here’s how we managed to shovel over a hundred grand into our investment accounts during our early twenties, all while making no more than public school teacher salaries at work.


Inside the Investment Portfolio of 31-Year-Old Retirees

Photo of spending revealed icon for popular articles

Everybody tells you to invest your money, but what exactly should you be investing in?

Rather than giving vague advice, here are the exact contents of our own investment portfolio and why it’s structured the way it is.

Feel free to copy our work — it’s not cheating. 😉


We Signed Up for 40 Credit Cards and Made $20,000 Doing It

Photo of credit cards icon for popular articles

You might want to stop throwing away those credit card sign-up bonus offers that show up in your mailbox.

We signed up for every one we could get our hands on and made a huge profit — without damaging our credit scores.


Financial Independence 101: Never Have to Work Again

Photo of St. John for popular articles

Do this easy calculation to find out how much money you’d need to quit working — forever.

Regardless of whether you love your job today, knowing that you don’t actually need it is freeing.

Being financially independent gives you more choices. It allows you to change careers, work for yourself, volunteer, create, or just chill on the beach whenever you feel like it.


How to Take Months Off Work and Travel for $36 per Day

Photo of cheap travel icon for popular articles

Whenever we suggest taking multi-month vacations, most people immediately complain about two things: “My boss would never let me do that, and even if they did, I could never afford it anyway!”

Luckily, there are easy solutions for both of those problems.


Paying Cash for a House at Age 25 Made Us Poorer

Photo of condo icon for popular articles

When we paid cash for our very first house, almost everyone told us that we did a great thing by avoiding debt.

But would we have actually been better off financially if we got a mortgage instead?

Strangely enough, borrowing money can be a solid move — just beware of the risks.


How We Took a 6-Month Hawaii Honeymoon for $0

Photo of Hawaii icon for popular articles

Vacations don’t have to last just one or two weeks.

What would happen if you quit your job and shipped off to an exotic place for several months instead?

By living like a local instead of a tourist, your money can go a lot further while traveling.


We Saved a Quarter-Million Dollars by 26 (and Had Fun Doing It!)

Photo of quarter million icon for popular articles

Saving money gets easier over time. Unfortunately, that means that it’s hardest at the beginning.

We scraped together our first (and slowest) quarter-million dollars on salaries less than $50k per person — and even made time for fun and relaxation along the way!


Behind the Curtain: Our Household Spending Revealed

Photo of spending icon for popular articles

The key to our financial success has been realizing how little we truly need to be happy. The lower your living expenses, the more you can save — and the less you need to work in your lifetime.

We tracked our expenses for a year after early retirement to see where we stood, and shared the results.


How to Get Health Insurance Without A Job

Photo of health insurance icon for popular articles

In the United States, everybody thinks health insurance is something you have to get from an employer.

But that’s just not true.

Whether you want to start a business, take a sabbatical, or retire early, there are plenty of ways to get health insurance that don’t involve clocking in to a 9-5.


Making the Most of Your Twenties

Photo of 20s icon for popular articles

Sometimes, it feels like you have to make a choice in your 20s: Be responsible and save money, or live life to the fullest before even more obligations fall into your lap.

But here’s the thing: You can actually do both.


How Two Twenty-Somethings Visited Every National Park

Photo of National Park icon for popular articles

In 2019, we left our home and our jobs to drive a van across the country and visit every single National Park.

We rekindled our love of freelance work, started this blog, drove 40,000 miles, and came back with a lifetime of memories (and photos).

This is how we made it work.


Like what you’ve seen so far? Check out our list of all blog posts for more.

Share this and start a conversation: