It’s official – we’ve moved! We’re finally all settled into our new house in our new city, and we’re loving every minute of it! This is only the second house my wife and I have purchased in our adult lives. Our first one was back when I was 24 years old. With our first house for sale on the market at almost the same price we paid for it back 11 years ago, this got me thinking: What if we hadn’t bought a house when we first got married, and did something else with our money? Would we be better off financially? Although this is a fun little question to ponder, it’s actually a very real and tough choice for lots of young working professionals today. Many of them are faced with the decision of whether to find a place to rent or … [Read more...] about Could Buying Your First House Be a Financial Mistake?
My Money Design Turns 4! Plus Tips on Building a Better Blog
(If you'd like to start your own blog, then feel free to check out our free guide at this link here.) Can you believe it? The day is finally here that this blog turns 4 years old! It wasn’t all that long ago that I was all pumped up after reading ProBlogger and decided to spend a whooping $58 to start this little blog. All I wanted at the time was to get a few of my ideas about money out there in the world for other people to check out and talk about. Now, almost 450 posts later, here we are! No matter what your traffic numbers or stats are, there’s always something to learn when it comes to building a better blog. Most blogs fail in their first year, and somehow this one has kept churning along for 4 years now. If nothing … [Read more...] about My Money Design Turns 4! Plus Tips on Building a Better Blog
How to Use the Power of Customer Retention to Lower Your Bills
Me: So I get to add an extra line, get a brand new iPhone 6, and my monthly bill is going to be exactly the same? Sales Rep: Yes. Me: You’re sure? It’s not going to go up after a month or two? Sales Rep: Correct. Me: And we’re not getting any less service at this price? Sales Rep: Right. Oh, there is one thing … you’re also going to get this new Samsung tablet as part of the package. That’s already included in the price I quoted you. Shopping Around for a Cell Phone: That exchange of words above is exactly what happened just a few months ago when I started shopping around trying to lower my bills and find a cell phone for my daughter. Originally my wife and I were planning to get her an older, used one off … [Read more...] about How to Use the Power of Customer Retention to Lower Your Bills
Niche Website Income Report 32 – $1,172 for July 2015
Hello and welcome to the July edition of my niche website update and income report. Every month I like to share with you what’s new with my website-building efforts and where the business is going. It’s been one of my favorite ways to build passive income because the more I find success the more income I stand to bring in every month. My hope is that you’ll be able to take some of these tricks and use them for your own good; whether it be for a new blog or any other entrepreneurial effort. July was a busy time for me with the release of my new ebook plus a lot of other big news going on in my personal life (like finishing chemotherapy and deciding to move to a different city!) However, I still made time to stay dedicated to the … [Read more...] about Niche Website Income Report 32 – $1,172 for July 2015
What If You Stopped Saving Money for Retirement?
Here’s a fun little game to try on yourself and see how your finances are coming along. (… Depending on the answer, it might also make you feel really good about your savings efforts so far!) Suppose you were suddenly let go from your job. You find a new place to work, but it doesn’t pay as well. So in order to maintain your standard of living you decide you’re going to cut corners and completely STOP saving money for retirement. The big question: Would you still be able to comfortably retire when you want to? My Answer … (... Kind of a funny question to ask on a personal finance blog, right? ...) I tried this little experiment on our current retirement savings, and you want to know what I found out? We’d … [Read more...] about What If You Stopped Saving Money for Retirement?
Cancer Update – The Battle is Won!
I have some very exciting news to share … As of my last PET scan, my cancerous tumor is gone! Finally! My cancer is in remission! Last Thursday was also my last treatment of chemotherapy. Even though I’m thankful the infusions got rid of my cancer, I am SO glad for that whole process to finally be over! From here on out it’s going to be CT scans every 6 months for the next 5 years. As you can bet, I’ll have my fingers and toes crossed every single time that I get nothing but good news. Cancer Really is a Silent Killer: Throughout this whole experience cancer has been a very mysterious thing. It sneaks in on you when you least expect it and then does nothing but completely consumes your life once you discover … [Read more...] about Cancer Update – The Battle is Won!
Learn How to Save MORE, Earn MORE with My New Second eBook
Have you ever thought to yourself: Outside my job, how do I actually go about getting enough money for the things I want in life? That's what my new ebook, Save MORE, Earn MORE, is all about! Everyone knows financial freedom sounds great! And we all know we’re supposed to save/invest our money if we want our nest eggs to grow into the life-preservers we want them to become. … but how do we get there? How do we do a better job of saving and managing our money? And how do we actually make more of it (beyond our regular paychecks) so I can have more to save? You don’t have to tell me how hard it is. My wife and I started out in exactly this same situation. I remember when we were got together we struggled to save even $100 … [Read more...] about Learn How to Save MORE, Earn MORE with My New Second eBook
What is the Best Safe Withdrawal Rate for Retirement?
The 4 percent rule… It’s arguably one of the most highly debated figures in retirement planning. Since its inception in 1994 by Bill Bengen, it seems as though you can find just as many people who love it as those who hate it. Why so much fuss over one tiny, little number? Because of what it stands for! Planning your nest egg size using the right safe withdrawal rate figure can mean the difference between playing with fire during retirement or having 100% confidence that you’ll never run out of money. But if you pick a number that is too conservative, it can also mean the difference between trying to save up for a $2 million dollar nest egg instead of a $1 million dollar one. Obviously it would be great if we didn't have to … [Read more...] about What is the Best Safe Withdrawal Rate for Retirement?
