Early Retirement Extreme

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

Money for nothing and the shirts for free

Published in July 22nd, 2008

Posted by Jacob in anticonsumerism, freebies, frugal, recycling

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!I have noticed that there is a limited number of dominant freecyclers in my group (find your local group by going to freecycle.org) so I have started to pick up cues on who wants what. If someone offers something, [...]

Cheap fruits and vegetables via loss leaders

Published in July 3rd, 2008

Posted by Jacob in budgeting, cooking, frugal

4 Comments

The cheapest fruits and vegetables are the one’s you grow yourself (we’re working on it). A secondary choice for the more social and enterprising kind is to ask people if you can come and pick it off their lawn or trees in exchange for, say, half the loot. For the less enterprising, I suggest loss [...]

The ultimate cheapskate - reflux

Published in May 19th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in books, frugal

No Comments

While trying to avoid repeating myself by not blogging daily anymore, I have been reading a lot of books lately. I got 13 checked out from the library, another 9 on request, and I got a stack from paperbackswap (link to the lower right). I haven’t really read anything that was not somehow “productive” in [...]

The frugal century

Published in April 18th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in fitness, frugal

5 Comments

First some nomenclature: A century is 100 miles on a bicycle. It is something serious cyclists would maybe call a long ride, but which weekend warriors have elevated to event status as a testament to the fact that in our culture doing things with other people somehow validates crazy behavior.
In case you want to join [...]

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 [...]

The Early Retirement Path

Published in March 3rd, 2008

Posted by Jacob in financial independence, frugal, household, standard of living

5 Comments

In this guest post Tim from Canadian Dream: Free at 45 shares his path to early retirement at 45. If you like to read more about the road to early retirement you can subscribe to his RSS Feed here.
I like to think of myself as fairly ordinary. To outsiders I seem to [...]

A plan to financial independence at 35

Published in February 25th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in financial independence, freebies, frugal, saving

14 Comments

This is a guest post by Elizabeth from Working for Rachel. Elizabeth is starting her savings and plans to gain financial independence in 8 years at 35. If you like to read more please consider subscribing to her RSS feed.
I’m 27, and I want to retire at 35. I live in a big midwestern city [...]

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] [...]

Getting in shape without paying a dime

Published in January 13th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in fitness, frugal

2 Comments

Using body weight and leverage is possible to put stresses on the body that would correspond to a couple of hundred pounds in the gym. For strength, there is the one-armed push up and the one-legged squat as described in The Naked Warrior. The best thing about these exercises is that they can be done [...]

Making socks last

Published in January 11th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in DIY, clothing, frugal, recycling, voluntary simplicity

3 Comments

Get identical socks. First of all, they are easier to pair up after doing the laundry. More importantly though, if one sock fails you don’t have to throw out the pair or wear mismatched socks like Pippi Longstockings. Simply pair it with another sock. I don’t think you have to be a mathematician to appreciate [...]

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