Early Retirement ExtremeEarly Retirement ExtremeThe self-sufficient, environmentally friendly, frugal, and capitalistic fast track to financial independence and a simpler lifestyle. 
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Vegan slow cooker chili
2008-06-08 16:49:00 This recipe is grand because it can be cooked in the morning and eaten in the evening. Start in the evening by soaking some black eyed peas and some navy beans. These can be pressure cooked in the morning while DW takes a shower(*) and you cut up some green onions (I found a few in ... More About: Chili , Vegan , Slow
Volunteer opportunity on ERE
2008-06-08 03:34:00 Some people have asked me what they can do to compensate me for all my rants on this site. Usually I tell them that while I won’t accept any tangibles — mostly because I got enough stuff as it is but mainly because I don’t want the IRS to get a cut — they can ... More About: Opportunity , Volunteer
Deodorant refurbishing
2008-06-07 20:19:00 I’ve been annoyed at having to throw out the last 5% of my (stick) deodorants that doesn’t come up no matter how much the dial on the bottom is turned. Now, I have a solution to that. Take an old stick and put it in the microwave until the deodorant melts (don’t boil it!). Then ... More About: Deodorant
Learning to cook saves at least $5000 a year
2008-06-06 16:22:00 I’m constantly blown away by people who spend $250+ per person per month. Over time this adds up to tremendous amounts of money. Most likely, such huge food bills are due to eating out or eating preprocessed foods, so this is likely to be followed by substantial sick care costs down the road. The simple answer ... More About: Learning , Cook , Year
Retiring happy in the 21st century
2008-06-04 16:37:00 One must save to retire, because savings transfer purchasing power from the present to the future and in order to stop working one must have claims on future goods. That much is obvious (if not, read this post). Since such claims are dollar denominated, the purchasing power is set by the supply and demand of ... More About: Happy , Century
Vinegar and soap
2008-05-29 16:11:00 I have started using vinegar and baking soda for basic cleaning. Generally I spread baking soda of the grime and then soak a rag in vinegar. When the acid of the vinegar comes in contact with the baking soda a chemical reaction ensues which works very well for cleaning (for extra effect heat the vinegar). I ... More About: Vinegar , Soap
Accident by construction - why technology and regulations increase risk
2008-05-28 16:32:00 In retrospect it is amazing how subprime loans could go so wrong? Who in their right mind could believe that real estate always goes up? For that matter, what about the dot.com craze and the new era? What makes people appear so stupid in retrospect? Here’s why. Accident s does not happen by chance (by “accident”). They ... More About: Technology , Construction , Regulations , Risk
You are not irreplaceable
2008-05-27 16:32:00 According to google I am now the second highest ranked authority on extreme early retirement. I suppose this comes about because I have a “google ranking” of 4 which again comes about because I have yet to bother with monetizing this site as it would require advertising it in the local paper for 4 weeks ... More About: Irreplaceable
The vehicle dependent mindset
2008-05-26 16:12:00 I am convinced we could live without a car. Granted, there are certain conveniences we would have to go without, but having given it some thought, I think going without a car would not be an unsolvable problem. Reading a post on AL6400 about the vehicle lifestyle got me thinking. I don’t think it’s a lifestyle ... More About: Vehicle , Mindset , Dependent
How to get a solid desk for free (this opportunity doesn?t last)
2008-05-25 03:12:00 When it comes to consumer durables, I rarely pay retail. These days stuff is generally well made (lasts for years), yet people have a desire to buy things as if they were going out of style — well, maybe they are, I wouldn’t know — so I prefer to pick through people’s overflowing garages and ... More About: Free , Opportunity , Desk , Solid
Bicycle riders on the freeway
2008-05-13 04:42:00 Maybe when oil reaches $200 in a few years as predicted by the same Goldman-Sachs analyst that predicted $105 dollar oil by 2009, part of the freeway system, which is now overpopulated by cars and SUVs(*), will be converted into bicycle paths. One can dream, right? (*) I can’t help but compute (with a certain schadenfreude) ... More About: Freeway , Riders , Bicycle
The Gamesmen
2008-05-11 19:54:00 I was inspired to post the following by a recent mail from T. and some earlier writings on the ecology of society. I would like to draw your attention to The Gamesman by Michael Maccoby. In this book, which I have not read yet but I got a summary from Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter ...
Reinventing yourself
2008-05-10 18:05:00 I get a couple of mails a week from people in the same situation as me (enough money, what to do now?) and it strikes me that most people(*) pursue a “the grass is greener” strategy when it comes to free choice. For instance, the entrepreneurs don’t want to start yet another company, the computer ...
Endurance events
2008-05-06 06:29:00 One possible way of spending retirement is to enroll in marathons, ironmen (or is that ironmans?), ultracycling, etc. all over the country or planet depending on ambition. Last Sunday I completed my first century (actually it turned into 123 miles (197km) since I took a wrong turn at some point) which was quite fun ... More About: Events , Endurance
The opportunity cost of early retirement
2008-05-04 03:50:00 Adolescents have a sense of die-hard immortality that comes from having given no thought to their future. I realized that I wasn’t immortal when I was 21-22. This implied the full realization that my life span was finite although I hadn’t yet reached the sense of time that I have not that “old” people frequently ... More About: Retirement , Opportunity , Cost , Early , Early retirement
New schedule
2008-05-03 03:00:00 In order to keep the content interesting and novel, I’ll be moving from a 5+1 posts a week to a more or less random schedule. Ahh, the luxury of a noncommercial blog More About: Schedule
My favorite writings of April 2008 - including ecological budget
2008-05-01 16:10:00 A better way of “growing” in a limited world is to increase quality. Make things better fitting, smaller, and more efficient instead of just making them bigger and more powerful. With that in mind, here are the best posts of April 2008 . Making changes Row, row, row your boat ? On the law of comparative advantage Why ... More About: Writings , Budget , Favorite
Quo vadis?
2008-04-30 16:00:00 In many ways I consider the problem of early retirement solved. I [think I] have shown what kind of choices that must be made, how to make them, and what it takes to reach financial independence in a handful of years. Following that, anyone can either accept or reject the conditions. It was never my ... More About: Quo Vadis
Good housekeeping
2008-04-29 16:04:00 From a minimalist/financial independence extremist perspective ordinary books on good housekeeping (in case you need to learn it from a book ) just won’t cut it. Actually when it comes to financial independence, information targeted at “normals” is frequently useless(*). Hence, one must look elsewhere. I get my inspiration, not from run of the ... More About: Good , Housekeeping
Why this early retirement blog continuously talks about cycling and cooking
2008-04-28 16:37:00 Financial independence comes from the combination of having enough money and spending sufficiently little so that interest from the former covers the expenses of the later. The biggest sources of personal expenses are generally Children Housing Transport Food Taxes Reducing expenses in these areas will make a much larger impact that token efforts such as using CFLs, turning the thermostat down, ... More About: Cooking , Retirement , Cycling , Blog , Early
The psychological requirements for going the distance
2008-04-27 18:47:00 This blog is turning into a cycling blog. The past few weeks I have posted several times on the century (100 miles) I’m doing next Sunday. Although I have now been told that this have little or nothing to do with running a marathon, I think that the underlying requirements are the same. The requirements ... More About: Psychological
Saturday Roundup - One day late edition
2008-04-27 04:55:00 I can manipulate the date on posts, so this was actually written tomorrow. Similarly, most posts around here are not written on weekdays between 7 and 8 am but rather on day before between 5 and 7 pm. Sometimes (especially Sundays) I write several posts and space them out. Very many bloggers do that. This ... More About: Roundup , Saturday , Late , Edition , Late Edition
Food Rationing
2008-04-25 16:34:00 Food rationing has returned to the US for the first time since World War II. Along with the ongoing bet of which will reach $5/gallon first — gas or milk (I say gas)– this is one of an emerging list of symptoms that the idea of exponential growth of the economy and people on a ... More About: Food
Don?t wash your clothes every day
2008-04-24 16:18:00 When my mom was a kid, they had something called school clothes and play clothes. School clothes had to be kept clean and play clothes was something one changed into after school. The washing machine is sometimes said to be the factor of the 20th century that liberated women. I do think though, that the ... More About: Clothes , Wash
That was horrible!
2008-04-23 16:20:00 So yesterday I was out all afternoon training for the upcoming 100 miler. It’s the Sunday after the next one which leaves me two weeks to get ready for battle. During my lunch break, I rode up to the top of the local hill. Based on my rough estimate this is a 4-6% climb over ...
Letter from the establishment
2008-04-22 16:12:00 Jacob’s posts on how frugal living and only buying what one really needs allows one to save up to three quarters of one’s income to reach financial independence and early retirement seem to be irresponsible and unsafe according to our collective mind. We would like to stress the importance of a shopping and working as ... More About: Letter , Establishment
Maximize your 401k early in the year
2008-04-21 16:25:00 Compared to the IRA with its $5,000 limit, the 401k with its $15,500 limit possesses an unfair advantage. Everybody with a W-2 income can get an IRA, whereas not everybody is lucky enough to have access to a 401k with the higher limit. These tools are useful because they minimize taxable income. In this household I ... More About: Early , Year
My weekend
2008-04-20 06:13:00 Today I went riding on a 20M loop. I passed 10-12 riders heading in the opposite direction. First the was the sole riders in team wear, then a couple of riders well sucking following by other couples (husband & wife). These were followed by the hoi polloi, people riding three or four abreast chatting, a ... More About: Weekend
The frugal century
2008-04-18 16:01:00 First some nomenclature: A century is 100 miles on a bicycle. It is something serious cyclists would maybe call a long ride, but which weekend warriors have elevated to event status as a testament to the fact that in our culture doing things with other people somehow validates crazy behavior. In case you want to join ... More About: Frugal , Century
How we eat
More articles from this author:2008-04-17 16:07:00 A reader asked me how I combine the warrior diet with extreme frugality. The simple answer is that I don’t. I don’t follow the warrior diet to the letter, nor am I nearly as frugal with the food budget as I used to be (less than $200 per month for two people in NorCal is ... 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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