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
Need suggestions on how to catch stripers 2008-08-16 12:35:44 I was just wondering if any readers would have some suggestions on what kind of tackle/bait/lure I should get to catch lake/reservoir stripers (live bait is verboten!). Naturally, I prefer to spend most of my money on fishing passes rather than equipment. I got a 6.5′ fast action medium power rod and a spinning wheel [...]
What competitive swimming taught me a about professional careers 2008-08-16 10:30:25 Okay, so here’s a little known fact about me. I used to be a competitive swimmer. Not exactly Mr Phelps et al., but I did spend 9 hours a week training in the water, I did smell of chlorine at all times, and I did participate in a few regional championships. My swimming career lasted [...] Read more:careers
, professional
How to retire in 5 years 2008-08-14 19:45:14 After going on about the zen and glory of padded envelopes for some time now, I have realized that a refresher on how to retire
extremely early (for those who are younger than 35) and how to retire in short order (for everybody who is older) might be in order. After all, this is this [...]
Using paper bags instead of padded envelopes 2008-08-13 09:32:18 I have gotten more brutal in terms of selling out of my library and hence I have run out of padded envelopes. No problem. I now make my own. Freecyclers seem to collect bubblewrap (as do I) so the first thing is to ask for some. People usually have so much they are glad to [...] Read more:paper
Our new small kitchen 2008-08-11 21:01:13 In the previous post I introduced our new 289 sqft home. We, that is to say, I have slowly begun prospecting the shelf and cupboard space. DW prefers to wait until the RV gets serviced next week, but I can’t wait. As mentioned in the post linked above, we have everything a normal “foundation” house [...]
How we found a place to park and live in our RV 2008-09-13 11:57:58 When we bought our RV we honestly had not done any research on where to park it. First we looked (googled) for RV parks which was not entirely encouraging. Not many parks are online and google maps seemed to show a vacuum around where we wanted to live. The selection on craigslist was also limited. [...]
What should my savings rate be - some comments 2008-09-12 09:57:32 When I write posts, I face the same dilemma as a researcher presenting results. If you have hung around the research circuit for a while, you notice that there are different ways of thinking about exactly the same thing. Some focus on the detailed technical aspects of the calculations: “This is described by this ginormous [...]
What should my savings rate be? 2008-09-11 08:53:16 Most people (especially financial planners and pf bloggers) make the idea of retirement savings much too complicated talking about index funds, 401ks, and compound returns. Many people blank out and simply follow the well-intended advice without questioning these experts. However, it is really not that difficult.
The quintessence of saving is to spend the money while [...]
Most people … 2008-09-10 02:33:36 Most people
have been told
what to think and what to think about,
Most people have been rewarded by focusing on
what they have been told to focus on.
Most people, therefore, are not curious.
Most people are told
what to do and get rewarded accordingly
Most people follow
procedures and tradition.
Most people, therefore, are not creative.
Most people hope
that their dreams will come [...]
I need suggestions for better blog post categories 2008-09-09 20:05:58 As my writing has divergeddeveloped I have come to the conclusion that the categories I use to classify my posts no longer cover my subjects very well. Also there are too many categories with some being used only rarely (sub-prime anyone). If anyone, perhaps someone with some experience in library-science or whatever it is called, [...] Read more:better
Done in by consumption 2008-09-08 02:39:19 Those with lower wealth will eventually get done in by consumption. They’re simply spending too much to be able to invest significant amounts overseas.
— from the book Richistan by Robert Frank
I’d make that “invest significant amounts” period. Wealth is defined as the ratio between investable assets (not consumer assets like the house you live in [...]
Carnivals reflux edition. 2008-09-07 11:36:12 I have started participating in carnivals again to draw in new readers. I’m not a big fan of using blog rolls for link exchanges preferring instead to keep them structured and pointing towards blogs I read actively (not many actually).
If you are a new reader, welcome to ‘ERE”. If you like what you see, please [...] Read more:Carnivals
Challenge: Wear something out 2008-09-07 10:27:24 When was the last time you actually wore something
out? I’m not talking about socks or underwear or things you use for work. I’m also not talking about things that could be repaired like a TV with a failed component that costs too much to replace. I’m talking about the things that usually gets “upgraded” [...] Read more:Challenge
Are we qualitatively different? 2008-09-05 09:33:12 If there is anything this country enjoys, it’s measuring things by numbers and then comparing numbers. We divide people into percentile according to net worth, credit score, GPA, GDP, IQ, etc. with the implicit assumption that it is possible to understand the entire scale simply by multiplying by a number. For instance, someone spending twice [...] Read more:different
How do I get my spouse to go along with my frugal plans? 2008-09-04 08:35:16 So you have joined the ranks of enlightened people, who want to retire early, move to another country, or redesign their lifestyle, and now you want your spouse or partner to go along
with it?
Not so fast! While winning friends is easy, influencing people is a lot harder, but it can be done. I am [...] Read more:plans
Second day in the RV 2008-10-02 21:15:55 Did gas check. We have a gauge. I have to find out of if this comes standard or if it it reliable. Needless to say, it failed the gas check. This is possible because I do not know how to switch of the pilot lights in the gas heater, furnace or fridge or if they [...] Read more:Second
First day in the RV 2008-10-01 21:06:34 I have written a few words about my experience moving into the RV so I’m posting them whenever we get to the library (still no internet).
Spent all day moving. I had moved my couple of boxes last week. The only thing remaining was , therefore, mostly DW’s stuff (), so I could not do much [...] Read more:First
We finally moved into the RV 2008-09-29 21:37:25 We have finally moved into the RV. I will return to regular blogging hopefully sometime next week when I get around to installing net access (I’m writing this from the library parking lot ). If I get some time in between fixing the water pump, getting the fridge to run, reinventing indoor plumbing, and [...]
Manifesto 2008-09-26 02:51:41 In a home I need walls, roof, windows, and a door that can be opened and closed. I also need a place to cook, a place to eat, a place to sleep, a place for a guest, and a place to write. More space is not better. More space means a bigger house. A bigger [...] Read more:Manifesto
On dealing with flakes on craigslist and freecycle 2008-09-25 02:51:50 One thing about craigslist
and freecycle which can be quite frustrating is that about half the people are (consistently) flaky! Come on! If someone goes through the trouble of listing something for free and putting it in a bag for you to pick up and you say you want it, the least you can do, [...]
Credit crunch 101 2008-09-24 02:53:55 After about one year in the making, the current credit crisis has finally reached a point where people are starting to ask questions like “should I sell my stocks now”, “what does these banking failures mean to me”, and “does this handbag make me look fat”. Thus financial questions outweigh random matters of concern by [...]
Moving day 2 2008-09-23 02:57:03 We just sold the couch/loveseat and took a $200 hit on it. That is to say, we paid $300 new (reduced from $600 as if that means anything at all in a furniture store) and had it for, I think, no more than 3 years, so that is close to $100/year. Ouch!
This leaves us with [...] Read more:Moving
, Moving day
Is being process-oriented better than being goal-oriented? 2008-09-22 09:51:15 After several years of resisting, I have come to the conclusion that sport can teach us about life at least as well as any philosophy class. More if we use it to grow rather than solely focus on winning. Sport then becomes process-oriented rather than goal-oriented. When something is goal oriented, the end is more [...] Read more:better
Moving day 1 2008-09-20 12:02:12 Yesterday, I went to our RV space for the first time (DW has been there before). There is a 30A electrical outlet, three water faucets, and a sewer connection. More importantly, there is also a shed. Taking advantage of my highly scientific training, I used the theory of multiplication to calculate that the shed holds [...] Read more:Moving
, Moving day
Day trading these days is a hairy business 2008-09-19 10:59:20 Today is witching day (options expire every third Friday of the month), so I have been busy this morning covering a short option position on Wells Fargo at $37.5. I definitely had not anticipated that this stock would shoot up 20% over two days. Yet in these days of socialized capitalism (as far as I [...] Read more:hairy
Why we bought an RV to live in 2008-10-15 22:23:08 The answer is that is simply comes down to the optimal choice for our personal situation. We paid $14200 out of the door and about 20% on top of that in repairs and equipment. We pay $475 a month + electricity and gas (water is included) to park it. Compare this to $1100 a month [...]
Market is crashing, sky is falling, and still no internet 2008-10-11 14:06:32 To make a long story short. After 11 days and 5 hours on hold with AT&T, they still have not transferred our DSL connection to our new address. Future posting will continue to be sporadic.
In other news, the market continues crashing
. It is a small consolation that while I’m down as well I generally beat [...] Read more:falling
, Market
After two weeks in the RV 2008-10-10 08:34:56 Someone asked me what the difference would have been if we had bought a new RV instead of an old used one. We paid $14200 OTD (out the door), whereas a new one of the same size and quality would have cost $75-85000 OTD. The answer is easy. I would never have bought a [...]
The death of index investing 2008-10-09 09:18:15 Today the S&P500 continued its downward trajectory. If you had bought index funds 10 years ago or 5 years ago, you would have gotten exactly nowhere(*). In October 1998, 10 years ago, the S&P 500 traded around 995. In September 2003, 5 years ago, the S&P 500 also traded around 995. In between those dates, [...] Read more:death
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