Get a push lawn mower

Published in December 31st, 2007

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Americans have a strange fascination with lawns. Even in the rolling hills of California, where grass is normally brown, people maintain luscious green lawns. The squarish plots of green in the middle of all the brown are some of [...]

Cooking for 6 days in 30 minutes for less than $4

Published in December 30th, 2007

Posted by Jacob in cooking, frugal, recipe

1 Comment

These are the instructions, I mean recipe, for what I ate 90% of the time when I was in grad school. It is a healthier alternative to ramen and it takes no time to do (the 30 minutes includes the time needed to clean up). We are going to cook two different meals at the [...]

The economics of Robinson Crusoe

Published in December 30th, 2007

Posted by Jacob in economy

8 Comments

Basic economics courses often use the example of Robinson Crusoe stranded on a deserted tropical island. This is to show that even in the case of one person, economic principles still work. These principles are so fundamental that they ought to part of everybody’s basic knowledge. Here goes.
Having just stranded on the island, Robinson starts [...]

Marathon running and personal finance

Published in December 29th, 2007

Posted by Jacob in fitness, motivation, personal finance

2 Comments

Recently Lazy man illustrated the keys to financial success by comparing it to the Patriot’s success on the football field. I don’t know much about playing football, but if it is anything like hockey, it is less easy than it looks and requires tremendous skill. Not only do these athletes need to have a high [...]

Envelope recycling

Published in December 29th, 2007

Posted by Jacob in ecological footprint, recycling

4 Comments

Here is a chance to take advantage of some economic inefficiency: Recycle your envelopes. DW and I used to run an amazon store selling used books and recycling the padded envelopes which I got from buying other used books is really a no-brainer when padded envelopes easily cost north of $0.75. Some used book sellers [...]

Taking back personal financial responsibility

Published in December 29th, 2007

Posted by Jacob in personal finance

2 Comments

Some people seem to take pride in their ignorance of specific topics. For instance, I used to know a couple of overly educated intellectuals who seemed to make a point out of not knowing how to program a VCR (yes, I show my age here). Not only did they not know how, they specifically did [...]

What spatula would a Marine choose?

Published in December 28th, 2007

Posted by Jacob in cooking

4 Comments

I am not a US Marine, but I have watched a lot of war movies, which I believe makes me an eminently qualified arm chair general with some say in the preferences of military personal, or maybe not. Anyway, one of my favorite war movies is Heartbreak Ridge starring Clint Eastwood. In the movie Eastwood [...]

Early Retirement Extreme gets its own domain!

Published in December 28th, 2007

Posted by Jacob in announcements

2 Comments

First, the new site for Early Retirement Extreme is
http://www.earlyretirementextreme.com/
Please update your bookmarks and RSS feeds if you need to. I hope I don’t lose anyone in the transition!
Second, I would like to thank my readers for the positive comments. Knowing that some my blog entries are appreciated is very encouraging and makes me want to [...]

How I became financially independent in 5 years - Part II

Published in December 27th, 2007

Posted by Jacob in assets, budgeting, clothing, cooking, cost of living, spending, standard of living

13 Comments

I posit that most people can attain financial independence in less than 10 years and in less than 5 if they are truly determined. I also submit that many people not are willing to make the necessary changes.

Read part I here
One thing I noticed early on was that small expenditures could quickly add up. [...]

Read this rant and save 50-70%

Published in December 27th, 2007

Posted by Jacob in personal finance, shopping

2 Comments

All too often shoppers are baited with savings on sales. Sometimes these so-called savings are even “instant”, whatever that means. I’m guessing it means not having to navigate the hell of cashing in rebates? Rebates belong right up there with gift cards as horrible consumer finance inventions but I digress. Such offers of “savings” concern [...]

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