Ever since I tried my first Chipotle burrito many years ago, I knew the company would be successful. They had a great concept that’s now been duplicated with myriad other cuisines, and they’re able to serve hundreds of customers per hour with that fast-casual concept. But even great companies will hit some hurdles. As you … Read more
“Should I rent or buy?” As a realtor, I get asked some form of this question often enough from people in my age group (late 20s / early 30s) that I thought I should address it in a blog post. Many people feel that renting is like throwing away money or paying someone else’s mortgage for them. … Read more
It’s been 2 months since we set a goal of paying off the mortgage by 2020 and to have a net worth of at least $1M by 2025. This is the 2nd update on the progress of the goal. If you’re wondering why we set this goal, see here. Mortgage progress: This month, we paid a … Read more
If you shop online and don’t have Ebates, you’re missing out on some easy cashback! Ebates was founded in 1998 and has paid out over $325 million since then. It’s free to use and easy to sign up. How does it work? Ebates has a relationship with over 1800 online stores. When you shop using Ebates, they … Read more
Why FI (Financial Independence)? People have different reasons for seeking financial independence. For some, it’s to buy big houses and fancy cars and live a life of luxury. For others, it may be to travel the world. Still for others, it may be to dedicate their time to a cause they feel passionate about. So … Read more
If you’re like most people, you probably have at least a small collection of DVDs that you don’t watch anymore. We had about 40 DVDs in our collection before we unloaded some of them on decluttr. I’m slowly trying to declutter our home, and decluttr was a great way to get rid of DVDs that we … Read more
See the update for March spending at the bottom of the page. We started tracking our spending this month on the Every Dollar app/website. I created a trial budget for February 2016 to compare how much I think we spend in each category vs. how much we actually spend. I was pretty accurate on most of … Read more
If you’ve ever contemplated the idea of becoming an Uber and/or Lyft driver, I’m about to give you a realistic look at how much you can expect to earn (figures are from the D.C. Metro area). As a side hustle / learning experience, I signed up to be an Uber and Lyft driver in the Northern … Read more
I’ve had enough people ask me about this topic now that I feel it deserves an additional blog post. I briefly addressed it here, and I’ll address it briefly again. Why pay off a low interest rate mortgage (~3-5%) early when you could earn ~8-12% in the stock market? To most people, the smarter and … Read more
Don’t get me wrong, I love Costco. But today, I want to pose the following question to you: Are you really saving money at Costco? If your experience is similar to what mine is usually like, then the answer is probably not. Here’s how it usually goes. We drive over to Costco planning to get a … Read more