Every time we scream from the rooftops that you can retire several decades early by working a middle-class job, living frugally, and investing in passive index funds, we get a few common objections yelled back at us. One of those complaints is actually super reasonable:…
On day 45 of our road trip to some of the National Parks in Canada, we suddenly changed our plans. A fellow traveler suggested we load our camper van onto a ferry and enjoy the ride along the Inside Passage from Skagway to Haines, Alaska,…
The unfamiliar Taco Bell was out of Diet Pepsi, ice, and several varieties of Border Sauce. I placed my crippled order and handed over my Citi DoubleCash card. “Our machine’s broken.” After fishing a five-dollar bill out of my wallet, I paid 19th century style…
At the beginning of 2015, I was a public school teacher, Lauren was doing marketing for a small financial company near Orlando, and we were both getting a little bored with working 8+ hours a day for ~$40k/yr. Luckily, we had a plan to fix…
I'm happy to share a nugget of success with you today: This little blog is now getting enough traffic that credit card companies have started to take an interest in us. We recently had a call with one, and the prospects of turning this site…
It’s a beautiful day — perfect weather, ready to enjoy. You decide to go on a hike, and as you approach the trailhead, you spot that familiar brown sign. "Falls Overlook, 6.5 miles one way." Your heart sinks a little. A thirteen-mile trip? Seems like…
When I'm sitting at home completely bored, I usually just turn to Lauren and say, "Wanna go on a walk?" It's not exactly “productive” in the sense of getting work done, but it burns calories and gives us a chance to connect. To me, that…
After sleeping in the leaned-back front seats of our Nissan Versa Note rental car for several days, it was time to get a car of our own (and an apartment too — but that’s another story). Our 6-month honeymoon in Hawaii in 2015 was one…
We’ve gone without live television for the last 11 years or so, but I recently installed a fancy antenna in our attic, and now we get a bunch of crystal clear local stations in high definition for $0 a month. Normally, I’d say that’s an…
When a major decision needs to be made, and you’re no expert on the issue at hand, you probably do the same thing most people do: ask around. Like, if you don’t know the first thing about what investments to pick in your 401(k), it’s…
It was late. Really late. Like, well-after-midnight late. But the summer sun was just starting to set in the northern latitudes of Watson Lake, Yukon. After driving for hours, we were happy to see civilization again. The only problem was our timing. In this small…
We’ve all played the license plate game as kids, but adults need a little more effort to stay entertained on a long road trip. One of the questions that comes up a lot when we’re traveling — especially when we’re spending 10 hours a day…
If you want to be a happier person overall, setting and achieving personal goals is one of the best ways to do it. When you set a goal for yourself, you immediately give yourself a reason to take action (also known as purpose). This alone…
The typical way to recharge your batteries after months of hard work is to take a vacation — a week (or, if you’re lucky, two weeks) off to take a breath of someplace new. This can be a lot of fun, but ultimately, these “week-short”…
