If you're new here, this blog will give you the tools to become financially independent in 5 years on a median salary. The wiki page gives a good summary of the principles of the strategy. The key to success is to run your personal finances much like a business, thinking about assets and inventory and focusing on efficiency and value for money. Not just any business but a business that's flexible, agile, and adaptable. Conversely most consumers run their personal finances like an inflexible money-losing anti-business always in danger of losing their jobs.
Here's almost a thousand online journals from people, who are following the ERE strategy tailored to their particular situation (age, children, location, education, goals, ...). Increasing their savings from the usual 5-15% of their income to tens of thousands of dollars each year or typically 40-80% of their income, many accumulate six-figure net-worths within a few years.
Since everybody's situation is different (age, education, location, children, goals, ...) I suggest only spending a brief moment on this blog, which can be thought of as my personal journal, before looking for the crowd's wisdom for your particular situation in the forum journals.
If you enjoy the blog, also consider the book which is much better organized and more complete. You can read the first chapter for free, listen to the preamble, or see the reviews (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,Z). Subscribe to the blog via email or RSS. Get updates on the facebook page, join the forums, and look for tactics on the ERE wiki. Here's a list of all the ERE blog posts.
Some people have asked me what they can do to compensate me for all my rants on this site. Usually I tell them that while I won’t accept any tangibles — mostly because I got enough stuff as it is but mainly because I don’t want the IRS to get a cut — they can do me a favor by ranting about this site on other sites.
However, if someone has a lot of time on his/her hands (like 15 minutes) a week and would like to contribute more effectively towards “spreading the word”, I got a job that basically entails submitting relevant articles I write to the appropriate blog carnivals (something I’ve been neglecting for the past couple of months) and keeping track of where they go (no double submissions, etc.). If you’re a regular reader and think that would be fun, write me at jacob earlyretirement extreme com.
