Posted by Tim Stobbs on November 23, 2012
Sorry for not having a bit more of a substantial post for you today. I’m redoing my retirement calculation series of posts for next week and got sucked into writing that, so today’s post is really just a few links of stuff I liked reading in the last while.
Career and Passion are not linked. So to the “do what you love” crowd this post was a blow, but very good reading. I suggest watching the video if you have the time.
I loved this post by Kerry as it proves eating health doesn’t have to be expensive.
Meanwhile MMM mentioned he is off to Hawaii for the winter. I suspect this should triggers some people’s entitlement reflex on “where are our regular posts?” Keep in mind he actually is retired…he likes to write, but doesn’t need to.
I love this kind of post where retirees share their lives after they leave work and their thoughts on the everyday. Thanks Syd.
If you have a link to something you enjoyed reading please share it in the comments. Just try to keep it to one link if you add too many you might get sucked into the spam folder.
Posted by Dave on November 15, 2011
My wife and I had a big day last week – we finally reached the top of our piggy-bank (an empty three liter bottle of Canadian Club – a remnant from a party in my past) and were able to count all of our change. Although it may not be a momentous occasion to most, it’s fun for us because it essentially means we get free money to do something fun for a weekend (we’re thinking Niagara Falls during off-season or Toronto to see a show). Because we rarely spend cash, this level of change saving (quarters and below) has taken us around three years to accumulate, so we are going to enjoy ourselves on this miniature “windfall”.
Besides our “adult” piggy-bank, I utilize an ING account for my own personal spending – I save $20 per paycheque that I use to save up for golf, video games, and other money-losing purchases. Because I don’t make withdrawals from this account very often once in a while I’m able to have a balance over $1,000 to finance my expensive hobbies.
None of these savings amounts are working towards my end goal of financial independence. Slowly but surely, I have built a buffer for my sometimes poor purchasing decisions, a strategy that could be carried into my early retirement years, either because I have stopped making these kind of decisions totally (which would certainly help in reducing the amount of stuff in my house), or because my “fun” savings has built up significantly.
This kind of long-term saving, something that I have done from a young age onward (something my parents both drilled into me) bodes well for an early-retirement goal – expanding the same type of mentality to gradually watch my debt decrease (my mortgage disappearing) and eventually passive income increasing (dividends or interest) is something I have “trained” for over a 20-year period.
If someone has never experienced delayed gratification, they would think I was nuts, waiting until all that loose change reached to top of the bottle before making plans for a relatively cheap weekend away in the grey days of January. Yes, I could easily afford this purchase but I have already ear-marked a significant portion (around 75% of my paycheque) to paying down my mortgage. If I chose to spend that money on a weekend away it would be putting me further away from my ultimate goal of exiting the workforce as quickly as possible.
Do you have a “piggy-bank”? Do you never splurge, or how do you afford the odd amount of overspending?
Bonus content:
- This article shows how not to spend a $6 billion fortune (Not a problem I’m concerned with, but I’m not exactly sure what demographic reads this Blog).
- I recently taught myself how to bake pies (from scratch). This discovery has definitely made it much easier to decide what to bring to people’s houses when you’re invited over – everyone loves homemade pie. I would highly recommend learning how to make this relatively cheap dessert for the holiday period.
Posted by Tim Stobbs on November 4, 2011
TGIF! It’s my Friday off today and hence the later post than normal. Like any other good day off, I try to let myself sleep in a bit. Have I mentioned lately how much I love not working full time. 
Now onto the links:
Speaking of part time work you have to read this post from Mr. Money Mustache: The Joy of Part-Time Work.
JD over at Get Rich Slowly talks about what to buy and stuff. Given my recently challenge on not buying stuff it was interesting food for thought.
Preet has a good post over at the Globe and Mail on being wary of online financial advice…I hope that wasn’t including me!
Krystal has a good post which is debating are teenagers out of touch with financial reality…good points on both sides.
Boomer Echo has a interesting post on the penny. I’m personally ok with getting rid of it, if for no other reason that it costs 1.8 cents to make a penny!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Tim
