Early Retirement Extreme

Financial independence, frugality, self-sufficiency, ecology, capitalism, and voluntary simplicity

Retiring happy in the 21st century

Published in June 4th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in assets, consumerism, ecological footprint, financial security, inflation, planning

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!One must save to retire, because savings transfer purchasing power from the present to the future and in order to stop working one must have claims on future goods. That much is obvious (if not, read this post). Since [...]

My favorite writings of April 2008 - including ecological budget

Published in May 1st, 2008

Posted by Jacob in announcements, ecological footprint

2 Comments

A better way of “growing” in a limited world is to increase quality. Make things better fitting, smaller, and more efficient instead of just making them bigger and more powerful. With that in mind, here are the best posts of April 2008.

Making changes

Row, row, row your boat — On the law of comparative advantage

Why [...]

Food Rationing

Published in April 25th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in cooking, ecological footprint, economy, planning

6 Comments

Food rationing has returned to the US for the first time since World War II. Along with the ongoing bet of which will reach $5/gallon first — gas or milk (I say gas)– this is one of an emerging list of symptoms that the idea of exponential growth of the economy and people on a [...]

Tap water

Published in April 7th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in ecological footprint

8 Comments

I’m blown away when a person is able to spend more than $20k a year on living expenses. But then I realize that they have little appreciation of the value of money [relative to what the money is spent on]. It’s treated like water and it slips through their fingers. Turn on a pressurized faucet [...]

Minimalist inspirations

Published in March 27th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in anticonsumerism, ecological footprint, voluntary simplicity

6 Comments

I find great utility in being a minimalist. Having less stuff makes it easier to maintain, move, and store. This frees both precious time and money, which can be used to reach a higher standard of living(*) Forsooth, I can not rationalize the tendency to accumulate stuff for the sake off stuff at the expense [...]

Saturday Roundup - ecological freelance edition

Published in March 8th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in announcements, carnival, ecological footprint

2 Comments

I’m off to another training session for my new job. I’m fairly excited about it because it’s a job that gives an immediate feeling of accomplishment and because of the time-control it offers. Now I discovered that it also offers significant control over our taxes. Woohoo!
In other news, check out this new supposedly green dream [...]

Is “cheap” the new “green”?

Published in March 4th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in ecological footprint, expenses, frugal

10 Comments

I just read an interesting post from Escape the cube asking whether we are part of a trend where “cheap” is the new “green”. My guess is a qualified yes. It is a co-opted kind of “cheap” that might be popular for a few years after which it will be replaced by another commercialized version [...]

My favorite writings of February 2008

Published in March 2nd, 2008

Posted by Jacob in announcements, ecological footprint

7 Comments

It is interesting how valuation is sometimes determined by things other than value. For instance, if a reader agrees with an author the reader will say that the post is well written and vice-a-versa (*). So with that in mind (given that I like myself), here are my favorite posts for February 2008, hmmm [...]

MBTI and societal behavioral patterns

Published in February 26th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in consumerism, culture, ecological footprint, personal finance

9 Comments

I think the reason that many people have the need to spend so much money and save more than 1 million for retirement is that is that they feel that security is achieved through ownership of multi-bed/bathroom houses (castles) that are built around car garages that house full size cars or big SUVs sometimes in [...]

Ecological capitalism and consumer capitalism

Published in February 3rd, 2008

Posted by Jacob in culture, ecological footprint, economy, financial security

17 Comments

The Master said: “Ci, do you regard me as someone who learns much and commits it all to memory?”
Zi-gong replied: “Yes, are you not?”
The Master said: “No, I use one string to tie it all together.”
— from the Analects of Confusius
Have you ever noticed that what used to be referred to as citizens or [...]

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