Owner: Early Retirement Extreme URL:http://earlyretirementextreme.com Join Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:04:39 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: The self-sufficient, environmentally friendly, frugal, and capitalistic fast track to financial independence and a simpler lifestyle. Site statistics:Click here
The opportunity cost of early retirement 2008-05-03 20:50:08 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 [...] Read more:retirement
Endurance events 2008-05-05 23:29:52 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 [...] Read more:Endurance
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Reinventing yourself 2008-05-10 11:05:06 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 [...]
The Gamesmen 2008-05-11 12:54:25 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 [...]
Bicycle riders on the freeway 2008-05-12 21:42:43 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) [...]
The ultimate cheapskate - reflux 2008-05-19 20:00:33 While trying to avoid repeating myself by not blogging daily anymore, I have been reading a lot of books lately. I got 13 checked out from the library, another 9 on request, and I got a stack from paperbackswap (link to the lower right). I haven’t really read anything that was not somehow “productive” in [...]
Dear unborn grandchildren 2008-05-19 01:18:38 Thank you for the generous $1200 stimulus package gift we just received from you. You know, traditionally it’s been the obligation one generation to help the next generation along. Parents help out their children, even their unborn children, by saving a little start up money so that the next generation has enough to start out [...]
Early Retirement Portfolios 2008-05-22 22:11:32 As I have mentioned before extreme early retirement (<35) does not happen due to a prudent investment plan. It happens either by following an extreme savings plan or by being lucky (rich uncle, lottery, penny stocks, real estate, …). These reason is that the time it takes to reach financial independence, around 5 years, is [...] Read more:Early
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How to get a solid desk for free (this opportunity doesn’t last) 2008-05-24 20:12:18 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 [...]
The vehicle dependent mindset 2008-05-26 09:12:19 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 [...]
Accident by construction - why technology and regulations increase risk 2008-05-28 09:32:17 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.
Accidents does not happen by chance (by “accident”). They [...]
You are not irreplaceable 2008-05-27 09:32:47 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 [...]
Vinegar and soap 2008-05-29 09:11:15 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 [...]
Retiring happy in the 21st century 2008-06-04 09:37:25 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 [...] Read more:Retiring
Learning to cook saves at least $5000 a year 2008-06-06 09:22:55 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 [...] Read more:Learning
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Volunteer opportunity on ERE 2008-06-07 20:34:35 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 [...] Read more:Volunteer
Deodorant refurbishing 2008-06-07 13:19:54 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 [...]
Vegan slow cooker chili 2008-06-08 09:49:38 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 [...] Read more:cooker
On cars and jitneys 2008-06-09 20:47:46 Carpooling has been suggested as a solution to alleviate increasing gas prices. The problem is that finding someone to carpool with is a difficult task requiring much research into whether the driver is dependable, etc. Except for major cities it is even to time-consuming/costly to get a cab. Thus today it is highly convenient to [...]
Modified Navy Showers 2008-06-11 18:55:52 According to wiki, a normal ten minute shower uses as much as 60 gallons of water. This means that the water tank of an boat or an RV(*) will be exhausted after a single shower. Therefore we’ll have to adopt to some kind of Navy shower.
The thing I don’t like about Navy showers is having [...] Read more:Showers
Dear Graduate, do you want to retire in five years? 2008-06-17 09:08:34 Dear Graduate
,
By now you should have obtained a degree. While this shows you have no particular useful skills, except for a few notable professions, it will make you employable in the corporate world. You now have a choice to make. You can join the majority, have a career, and work for the next 30 years [...] Read more:retire
Quotes relevant to extreme early retirement 2008-06-16 13:25:09 “Thus, when the marginal cost of participating in a complex society becomes too high, productive units across the economic spectrum increase resistance (passive or active) to the demands of the hierarchy, or overtly attempt to break away. Both the lower ranking strata (the peasant producers of agricultural commodities) and upper ranking strata of wealthy merchants [...] Read more:Quotes
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What I “pay” for health care 2008-06-18 08:55:43 Disclaimer: I have a decidedly unamerican attitude towards health. As a general rule I refuse to take pills for headaches, I don’t take pills for allergies, and I eat food I drop on the floor (rule: if it’s on the floor in less time than it takes to eat it, it’s good, just rinse it [...]
Retire Early: The Importance of Getting Out of Debt 2008-06-24 09:10:59 This is a guest post from Miranda Marquit. Miranda Marquit is freelance writer and personal finance blogger. She also edits information on debt consolidation for DestroyDebt.com.
My husband and I have discussed retiring by the time we’re 50, and one of the major requirements that always comes up is how we want to be completely debt [...] Read more:Early
Weekly roundup - RV edition 2008-06-23 20:04:05 Wow, I almost managed to post every day last week. Maybe taking a break from the blogosphere and reading a lot of books helped. One book I particularly enjoy(ed) is The Last American Man, which I think readers would enjoy.
Saturday, DW and I went to an RV show and checked out the goods. The “as [...] Read more:Weekly
Big sacrifices now make all the small differences later 2008-06-20 09:08:05 Yeah, hey what wait, isn’t it the other way around? As regular readers will know I have a manical obsession with turning things on their head and making fun of them (just ask our dog), but there is some truth to this.
Consider the regular idea of making small sacrifices now to get big differences
[...] Read more:later
Thank you commenters for the library tip 2008-06-19 09:05:18 I would like to thank my commenters for harassing me about getting a library card every time I have been ranting about swapping books or otherwise buying them used as a way of saving money. While this does indeed save money, it does not beat free. The same goes for DVDs. While the library or [...] Read more:Thank
Downsizing for an RV 2008-07-08 09:38:07 This Saturday we almost bought an RV. We have been prospecting for the past few weeks and visiting various local RV dealers. At our third RV dealer, we got double teamed by a couple of manager+trainee (I believe). After mentioning our frugal budget, we got steered in the direction of a 34′ class A (1991 [...]
Advanced cash flow diagrams 2008-07-07 11:57:32 One of the things I get paid for on a daily basis is to sit and stare at large amounts of numbers and try to make sense of them. The thing that has repeatedly helped me understand those numbers is to develop some way of visualizing these numbers. It is not a popular method because [...]
Saturday Roundup - 4th of July edition 2008-07-05 09:55:33 Great success! I asked the big question and DW finally accepted. “Should we walk down to Walmart”, I asked and she said yes. We were walking down there to get some red vines, which in case you don’t know them are molasses, flour and corn syrup with taste and color. On the way we saw [...] Read more:Saturday
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