Lifestyle Archives - Page 10 of 18

Cruising through Fall – October 2017 Financial Update

November 7, 2017 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Lifestyle, Personal Finance, Travel

October was another great month for us! We had a blast, blew some money on a quick jaunt on the high seas, and enjoyed the outdoors. And grew $42,000 wealthier while having all that fun. No complaints here.

In financial terms, our net worth climbed to $1,978,000. Income remained steady at $4,573 while total spending for the month of October remained modest at $1,748. Given that we don’t even spend our current income, I’m starting to unravel the mystery of why our cash balance continues to grow month after month. Spending less than we make – an old habit we can’t kick.

Enjoying The Alcazar and Jamon Iberico in Seville, Spain

October 17, 2017 JustinRoG Lifestyle, Travel

We’re on the road again with installment #4 from our nine week voyage across Europe. This week we’re highlighting our last stop in Spain: Seville! Quick recap: after visiting Lisbon, Portugal, we flew to Malaga in southern Spain then took a bus to Granada. After Granada, we traveled a few hours west to Seville.

We spent four nights in central Seville in an Airbnb overlooking the Alameda de Hercules plaza. Capital of the Andalusia region of Spain, Seville overflows with history and a sense of the past. Romans first settled the area more than two millennia ago and remnants of their city remain visible today in and around Seville. Over the centuries Seville was inhabited by the Vandals, the Visigoths, then the Moors. In the 13th century the Castilians conquered the city and it has remained under Spanish rule for the past 750 years.

From the Alcazaba to Sea in Malaga, Spain

September 26, 2017 JustinRoG Lifestyle, Travel

Now that we’re back in Raleigh I’m planning on releasing a more regular stream of trip reports from our nine week summer vacation in Europe. After we spent five nights in Lisbon, Portugal, we took a short turboprop flight to our second destination of Malaga, Spain for a quick two night stay. What started out in the planning stages of the trip as a pit stop in Malaga on the way to Granada turned out to be a surprisingly interesting city to spend a few days.

August 2017 Financial Update

September 11, 2017 JustinRoG Lifestyle, Personal Finance

Greetings from Raleigh! We are back home after nine weeks in Europe. School is back in session and fall is just around the corner. Our five year old started kindergarten and we are transitioning into empty nesters. At least on weekdays between 8:30 AM and 2:45 PM.

Our financials for the month were once again wonderful. Once I arrived home from Europe, I deposited an accumulated stack of checks from the blog and elsewhere which led to a superb monthly income of $6,281. Expenses were tiny at just $1,390 in spite of spending two weeks of August in Europe and picking up a ton of back to school supplies and clothes. Our net worth crept up another $8,000 to $1,890,000 – another all time net worth high.

Surprising Finds in Lisbon, Portugal

July 27, 2017 JustinRoG Lifestyle, Travel

The Root of Good family started its grand nine week European vacation with five days in Lisbon, Portugal. After a short flight from Raleigh, Lisbon is an easy 7.5 hour overnight flight from Washington, D.C., so our transatlantic flight to Europe was relatively painless. We arrived at 10:30 in the morning the next day. After an arduous journey through the immigration lines, we left the airport by metro for a quick ride to our first (of fourteen) Airbnb apartments that would serve as our homes away from home for the next nine weeks in Europe.

To battle jet lag, I followed the advice to stay awake the whole day of our arrival and DON’T take a nap. We dropped our bags at the airbnb apartment, hooked up to wifi, unpacked a bit, and did a quick inventory of necessities (“Do we have soap, shampoo, conditioner, and breakfast for tomorrow?”), and headed out for an afternoon of exploring downtown Lisbon so we would be forced to stay awake. Easier said than done, we had an overly exhausted five year old that fell asleep on the metro ride back to our apartment, and it’s the first time I’ve nearly fallen asleep while standing up (waiting for the metro).

June 2017 Financial Update

July 10, 2017 JustinRoG Lifestyle, Personal Finance, Travel

This month’s financial update comes to you from Ljubljana, Slovenia – an undiscovered gem in Europe. We are about to head to Lake Bled, Slovenia for some hiking, lake-lounging, and more relaxing. After that we’re on to Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic for the next month before ending our vacation in Amsterdam. It’s hard to believe we are almost half way through our nine week summer vacation in Europe!

June was another great month financially. Net worth increased $14,000 to $1,842,000. Income was very strong at $7,793 during June, while expenses remained moderate at $2,629. Such a great feeling to watch your assets continue to grow for you while you’re on the other side of the world exploring and relaxing!

When is Enough Enough?

April 27, 2017 JustinRoG Awesome!, Financial Independence, Lifestyle

Guest post from Early Retirement Dude:

It’s May of 2005 and I’m officially quitting my job this morning—or, technically, I’m being laid off because I’ve turned down a directed transfer—and part of the process is an exit interview with our divisional president.

I’ve just turned thirty-six.

Cliff is a good guy, and for a couple more hours I’m two tiers down from him on the org chart. I report directly to a woman who reports directly to him, so he and I have gotten to know one another and become friends. He’s also helped me out career-wise; involved me in higher-level meetings, invited me to the right cocktail parties, and been solicitous of my opinion.

Summer Vacation for 5 in Europe: 9 Weeks, 8 Countries, 14 Cities, $10,000

March 22, 2017 JustinRoG Awesome!, Lifestyle, Personal Finance, Travel

The Root of Good family is ramping up for an epic adventure across Europe during the summer of 2017. The five of us will spend nine weeks traversing an all new (to us) continent by train, plane, bus, car, and foot.

We really struggled to narrow down the itinerary to something feasible for a family with three young children. As a result this trip will NOT include London nor Paris nor a dozen other cities we would have loved to visit. What we will see are museums, parks, castles, palaces, cathedrals, caves, mountains, seas, rivers, lakes, and canyons scattered about the rest of western and central Europe.

Many will view this as a “trip of a lifetime” or a “dream trip” but I choose to view this as just another cool vacation in a series of vacations we have already taken and will continue to take.

Living a $100,000 lifestyle on $40,000 per year – 2016 Expenses in Review

January 30, 2017 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Lifestyle, Personal Finance

“Oh you live on $40,000 per year? Guess you like camping in the van underneath the highway bridge huh? Still enjoying those rice and beans? Three kids cost $40,000 per year right off the bat so it’s clearly impossible!”. This complainer clearly doesn’t know how we spend money.

Living well on $40,000 per year is possible and I’m here to explain exactly how by going over all of our expenses during 2016. Later in the article I’ll explain why our spending affords us a lifestyle that costs most other people $100,000 per year. And I don’t think many would argue that a $100,000 per year lifestyle is a tough way to live.

Cruising the Caribbean aboard the MSC Divina

January 17, 2017 JustinRoG Awesome!, Lifestyle, Travel

What’s the best way to fight off winter’s chill? Spend a week cruising the Caribbean of course! Right before Christmas the Root of Good family did exactly that. I wanted to share a few pictures from our eight day, seven night cruise aboard the MSC Divina sailing out of Miami, Florida.

After two lazy days at sea, we reached the island of St. Maarten where we watched airplanes zip by just feet off the beach. The next day we docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico where we explored the city and toured the Castillo San Cristobal fort. Then we enjoyed another relaxing day at sea before we reached Nassau, Bahamas. We didn’t get off the boat in Nassau since we seem to visit the island on every cruise we take. Relaxing on the ship while everyone was on shore proved to be the perfect way to spend the last full day of our vacation.