Early Retirement ExtremeEarly Retirement ExtremeThe self-sufficient, environmentally friendly, frugal, and capitalistic fast track to financial independence and a simpler lifestyle. Articles
Why it is so hard for Americans to be healthy and not spend money
2008-03-12 14:36:00 The American health care system is broken. The reason is not that employer group plans makes insurance more expensive for those who don’t have an employer. No, the reason that the American health care system is broken is because Americans universally tend to believe that Technology can solve all problems. If you spend enough, you can get ... More About: Money , Hard , Healthy
TurboTax proved too difficult for me
2008-03-11 16:43:00 This year I figured I wanted to save the 30+ hours I spent last year doing my taxes. I have heard a lot of good things about various tax preparation programs that can fill out taxes and thus obviate the need for an accountant. After all if individuals need to hire experts merely to comply ...
A typical weekday of my life - spring 2008
2008-03-10 16:26:00 Recently Trent at The Simple Dollar posted his schedule. I think it’s quite interesting to see what goes on behind the curtains because even when everybody mostly live in the same types of houses, drive the same kinds of cars, buy the same stuff and have jobs, we are all quite different when it ... More About: Life , My Life , Spring , 2008
Saturday Roundup - ecological freelance edition
2008-03-08 16:39:00 I’m off to another training session for my new job. I’m fairly excited about it because it’s a job that gives an immediate feeling of accomplishment and because of the time-control it offers. Now I discovered that it also offers significant control over our taxes. Woohoo! In other news, check out this new supposedly green dream ... More About: Roundup , Freelance , Saturday , Edition
Why I hate eating out
2008-03-07 16:37:00 You may be surprised to know that paying $10 for a $2 meal is not my biggest problem with eating out. Rather it’s the abundance of choices on the menu. I don’t like choices. Why do I have to spend time reading a 10 page booklet to decide what to eat? If I go out ... More About: Hate , Eating Out , Eating
Fit Dad Fat Dad
2008-03-06 16:07:00 The title of this post is “Fit Dad Fat Dad” partially in honor of Rich Dad Poor Dad and partially to stir up some controversy in exactly the same way as RDPD does. RDPD has a fairly poor reputation amongst pf bloggers. I think the reason is that it questions widely held beliefs on personal ...
Why do so many people hoard so much?
2008-03-05 16:20:00 In a comment, Hannah wrote: I have to wonder: Is the inability to value one?s time (rather than hyper-accumulating Things) simply an inability to accept one?s inevitable departure from this world? Do people who have an acquisitive mentality towards life have an inherent denial of death, and thus seek to ?escape? into their goods, which are ... More About: People
Is ?cheap? the new ?green??
2008-03-04 16:28:00 I just read an interesting post from Escape the cube asking whether we are part of a trend where “cheap” is the new “green”. My guess is a qualified yes. It is a co-opted kind of “cheap” that might be popular for a few years after which it will be replaced by another commercialized version ... More About: Green , Cheap
The Early Retirement Path
2008-03-03 16:33:00 In this guest post Tim from Canadian Dream: Free at 45 shares his path to early retirement at 45. If you like to read more about the road to early retirement you can subscribe to his RSS Feed here. I like to think of myself as fairly ordinary. To outsiders I seem to ... More About: Retirement , Early , Early retirement , Path
My favorite writings of February 2008
2008-03-02 18:59:00 It is interesting how valuation is sometimes determined by things other than value. For instance, if a reader agrees with an author the reader will say that the post is well written and vice-a-versa (*). So with that in mind (given that I like myself), here are my favorite posts for 2008 .html">February 2008 , hmmm ... More About: Writings , Favorite
Saturday Roundup - This page intentionally left blank edition
2008-03-01 16:45:00 Currently I am in training as freelance editor for an academic publisher. In addition the spring season of the adult league is commencing, so now I play hockey three times a week. Therefore I need to reclaim some time over the weekends and thus there will no longer be any regular posts during the weekend ... More About: Roundup , Page , Saturday , Left , Blank
When Good People Give Bad Financial Advice
2008-02-29 16:22:00 In this guest post Hunter Nuttall talks about the challenges of giving financial advice. Although well intended, some advice can be ill suited for the person or just plain wrong. It is something we should all be aware of whether we are giving advice or taking it. If you like this post and want to ... More About: Advice , People , Financial , Give , Good
What people ought to know about the different kinds of personal finance blo
2008-02-28 16:18:00 Personal finance blogs primarily fall in three major categories. First, there are the “getting out of debt” blogs. Second, there are the “just got out of college” personal finance blogs. Third, there are the “career track” personal finance blogs. Of course there are more categories such as retirement blogs or I-won-the-lottery blogs, but these are ... More About: Personal , People , Personal Finance , Finance
The efficient market hypothesis
2008-02-19 16:13:00 The efficient market hypothesis underlies much of modern portfolio theory (such as index investing). One particular nasty consequence is that this assumption makes a lot of investment theory mathematically tractable. The problem is that many people believe that a theory is credible once it is presented in the precise language of mathematics. Read about the ... More About: Market , Efficient
No need to save millions - here?s a quicker way to financial independence
2008-02-18 16:22:00 With a name like early retirement (extreme) I get a lot of inquires about how many millions one needs to become financially independent. A brief search in the personal finance blogging world reveals several bloggers that are aiming for the millions. Not this guy. The idea that you need to be a millionaire is predicated on ... More About: Financial , Independence , Millions , Save , Financial Independence
The secret of education
2008-02-17 16:55:00 Warning: this is a contrarian post and as such it may question some deeply held beliefs. If you keep going you might not like what you read. The education industry has successfully installed the meme that not going to college (buying their product) putatively leads to a life in poverty. A common selling point is ... More About: Education , The Secret , Secret
Saturday roundup and festivals - novocain edition
2008-02-16 20:08:00 This week I overdosed on novocain at the dentist and almost passed out, reached my threshold for turning earlyretirementextreme.com into a business, and scored 4 goals in a pick up game (personal record). Other than that it was a fairly uneventful week. I bookmarked the following links: Turbotax 2007 premier contest - Generation X Finance has a ... More About: Festivals , Roundup , Saturday , Edition
Now you can have a 7 year car loan. Outrageous!!
2008-02-16 16:47:00 In an effort to sell cars to debt laden consumers Toyota is now offering 84 month car loans(*). The immediate effect is to lower the monthly payments. In the long run this could have two effects. The first long term effect is an increase in the price of new cars (relative to inventory) just like lower ... More About: Loan , Year , Outrageous
Bicycle commuting: Needs vs wants.
2008-02-15 16:25:00 Lately I have been lusting for some winter/fall season cycling clothes so I have been trying to invent all sorts of excuses to justify my sudden need(*). I need a jacket because my tex jacket has this thick collar that makes it hard to see around, also it flaps a bit in the wind. I ... More About: Commuting , Bicycle
Downsizing by giving to charity
2008-02-14 16:44:00 Sometimes when my brain is busted from the triple whammy of work, studying, and writing, and I can’t find the motivation to go stick handling in the garage, I start pacing the room restlessly. My next step is to dash (yes, I run indoors because it gets the dog hyper) into a random room and ... More About: Charity , Giving
Guest posts
2008-02-14 05:37:00 If you would like to do a guest post on earlyretirementextreme.com, send me an email. The address is < my first name > @earlyretirementextreme.com Also if you would like me to do a guest post on your blog, let me know. The condition here is that you have to suggest a topic where I can play ... More About: Posts , Guest
Precision, accuracy and the importance of using the right model
2008-02-13 16:22:00 One of the things I think about a lot is the difference between precision and accuracy or from a modeling perspective the difference between verification and validation. The difference between precision and accuracy can be understood in terms of measuring tools such as a clock. A precise clock measures time very consistently. For instance, if ... More About: Model , Precision
The two personal finance books that changed my life
2008-02-12 16:32:00 I really like “Rich Dad Poor Dad” . I forget which one I read, but I would put it in my top two list of entry level books, the other one being “Your Money Or Your Life ”. While Your Money Or Your Life made me reevaluate whether an expense was really worth it, Rich Dad ... More About: Personal , Books , Personal Finance , Finance
On minimizing depreciation expenses
2008-02-11 16:26:00 We don’t pay for our furniture. I haven’t paid for my watch. Also I haven’t paid for my HiFi system. If I was a little bit smarter, we wouldn’t be paying for our car either. On the other hand I have paid way too much for computers. That is not going to happen again. How much ... More About: Expenses , Depreciation
How I became financially independent in 5 years - Part IV - the investments
2008-02-10 16:36:00 I posit that most people can attain financial independence in less than 10 years and in less than 5 if they are truly determined. I also submit that many people are not willing to make the necessary changes. Read part I here Read part II here Read part III here But cutting all expenses to the bare ... More About: Part , Years , Independent , Investments
Saturday roundup and carnivals - What?s in your wallet edition
2008-02-09 22:04:00 I got tagged by the what’s in your wallet meme by Prime Time Money. Must resist. Can’t resist. So here’s a picture of my wallet. Pretty crappy, eh? DW tells me that if I ever go for an interview I have to get another wallet. Actually I do have another wallet. However, it is too big ... More About: Carnivals , Roundup , Saturday , Edition , Wallet
Time to be proactive about a possible recession
2008-02-09 16:37:00 Actually the time was several months ago, but since the recession has not been officially declared there is time to prepare. You can still make a difference in your life at this point by adopting a few of these measures. Establish a cash position. During a recession cash is king. The reason is that credit is ... More About: Time , Proactive , Recession
What cycling taught me about personal finance
2008-02-08 15:52:00 Thanks to the Superbowl there has been a lot of comparison between football and personal finance. Now whereas football is a game where a bunch of girls wear protective padding and slap each others’ butts, cycling is a sport for real men who shave their legs and wear spandex. All this is besides the point ... More About: Personal , Personal Finance , Finance , Cycling
5 ways to help get a prosper loan funded
2008-02-07 15:39:00 As someone who has lent out over $12,000 over the past 1.5 years here is what I prefer to see in a loan request before I bid. Be accountable! The original idea with peer to peer lending was that a group of people (like a knitting club) would get together and hold each other accountable. Needless ... More About: Loan , Prosper
Potato pancakes - dinner for less than $1
More articles from this author:2008-02-06 15:49:00 You need a bag of mealy potatoes, an onion, some eggs, and a ton of cooking oil. This will basically be a meal so full of fat, starch, and cholesterol that you’ll be able to hear your arteries hardening while you eat it. Peel about 2-3 times the number of potatoes you would usually eat as ... More About: Dinner , Potato , Pancakes 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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