Category: Awesome!

A Day Of Early Retirement – Going on a Walkabout

Awesome!, Lifestyle, Travel

After a cold and abnormally snowy winter, the first day of beautiful spring-like weather came calling last week. We answered that call by getting outside and enjoying the fine weather. Even though it was Monday, a day that normally brings dread to cubicle dwellers the world over, we found ourselves embarking on foot for a journey to… a gas station? That rather strange destination, especially given our mode of transport, was sheer pretext to pull us out of doors and into the great urban Wilderness that surrounds us.

It was the most ordinary of mornings in the most extraordinary sense possible. We caught the budding cherry trees just before the blossoms opened. We passed by an empty bird nest temporary vacated or possibly deserted. A recent ice storm deposited scattered hulks of downed branches across the neighborhood’s yards, some already smartly stacked by the sidewalk obediently awaiting a ride to the city yard waste center.

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Crazy Things Made Possible By Early Retirement

Awesome!, Lifestyle, Parenting, Travel

For those who love their jobs or those that can’t manage to ever save any money, they may not understand why anyone would want to retire early. “Won’t you get bored?” they ask. Not yet! In fact, having huge blocks of free time opens up a lot of possibilities that aren’t very feasible while working full time.

I used to write a monthly summary of what I’m up to in early retirement like this, this, this, and this. I haven’t kept this diary of excitement up to date lately, but I wanted to share a small sample of the tiny and huge things that early retirement permit.

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Black Friday / Cyber Monday $20 Amazon.com Giveaway

Awesome!

Do you like free money to spend at Amazon.com? I know I do! This Black Friday you can get a free $20 gift card* to Amazon.com courtesy of Personal Capital. All you have to do is sign up for their free investment management and expense tracking service and add at least one “financial account”* to the Personal Capital dashboard and they will email you a $20 Amazon gift card. Hurry, because quantities are limited and it’s first come, first served.

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Case Study: High Earning Attorneys Shun High Spending Lifestyle

Awesome!, Case Studies, Financial Independence, Lifestyle

After graduating from law school ten years ago, Jane has practiced as an attorney and ended up in Washington, DC married to another attorney. Most 30-something attorneys working at big law firms in big cities are making a ton of money and spending most of it living the high life.

Jane and her husband made the conscious decision to split from the herd of her high-spending colleagues and do the bizarre. They paid down huge law school debts, saved boatloads of money, tactically bought a home at fire sale prices, and carefully managed their expenses and investments to bring about a certain level of financial independence in their mid-30’s. Though they won’t be retiring early immediately, their money savvy behavior will allow them to execute a “coup de career” very soon so they can get back to living life on their own terms.

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