How I invest when the markets are bleeding

Published in January 23rd, 2008

Posted by Jacob in assets, economy, investments

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!It is times like this when the markets are falling almost on a daily basis that I remind myself of why I invest. I invest for the following reasons.

The main reason is to provide an income stream; usually in [...]

If I retire with a million dollars how well can I live?

Published in January 22nd, 2008

Posted by Jacob in assets, budgeting, cost of living, financial security, personal finance, standard of living

7 Comments

Financial planners universally use a rule of thumb that you can deduct about 4% of your retirement account annually without compromising your principal(*). With a retirement account of $1,000,000 you can therefore spend $40,000 a year.
As for how well you can live on $40,000 a year that is another question entirely.
If you live in New [...]

So you say my blog is worth $15000 already?

Published in January 21st, 2008

Posted by Jacob in assets, blogging, investments

5 Comments

I came across this tool for calculating the worth of your blog. I got $15000 which is not bad for 6 weeks of writing. I’m not sure exactly how this is calculated though. Is this a pure play estimate of what similar blogs have sold for. Quite possibly it is just a measure of some [...]

Am I cheap?!?

Published in January 20th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in anticonsumerism, consumerism, ecological footprint, financial independence, standard of living

17 Comments

Sometimes I’m accused of being cheap or living in squalor because I prefer to ride a bike, eat at home, and because I generally don’t buy very many things. This does not sit well with the prevailing consumerist attitude in this ownership society. I suspect ownership society means that people are owned (pwned!) by their [...]

Comments on my favorite posts from this week’s carnivals

Published in January 19th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in announcements, carnival

1 Comment

Plonkee presents the carnival of personal finance: photo quiz edition. For me the most useful contribution was A Frugal Person’s Guide to Fair Tax. Fair tax is a 28% consumption or sales tax with credits an deductions being designed to make people that live at the poverty level pay zero taxes. For those of [...]

Eliminating heating bills and cutting down on heating costs

Published in January 19th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in expenses, freebies, household

7 Comments

With the thermostat currently sitting at 55F(*), we hope to save a pretty penny this winter on heating - in fact, it’s been several days since the AC last switched on. Wearing layered loose clothing and getting up and lifting some weights from time to time, 55F is no big deal. Of course for those [...]

Dollar cost averaging at the pump for cheaper gas

Published in January 18th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in budgeting, expenses, freebies, transport

1 Comment

This may be taking it to extremes, but try dollar cost averaging at the pump for cheaper gas. Obviously this does not work if you have to detour to get gas, but if the gas station is on your route and you merely have to pull over, do this. Instead of filling the tank up, [...]

How I became financially independent in 5 years - Part III

Published in January 17th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in cost of living, financial independence, household, motivation, personal finance, recycling, voluntary simplicity

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 are not willing to make the necessary changes.
Read part I here
Read part II here
Having just graduated with a PhD and paired everything [...]

Thoughts on blogging, popularity, and history

Published in January 16th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in culture

No Comments

One of my early writings on How I became financially independent in 5 years got “stumbled upon” a couple of days ago and I got my 15 minutes of fame. Well, actually a few days of fame. I am fairly sure that the story above has now been read by far more people in two [...]

What’s it like to marry a frugal guy - DW tells her story

Published in January 15th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in frugal, household

5 Comments

Frugal guys are hot, attractive, handsome, … and always willing to walk that extra mile with you to save 50 cents on the bus fare, so what’s not to like? Today DW is on the keyboard talking about how it was for a normal girl to marry an, as she puts it, unusual guy [me] [...]

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