At first glance, Forest doesn’t seem to fit the profile of a successful entrepreneur and world traveler. He grew up in a working-class neighborhood. He dropped out of school at age 16. He endured a tragedy in his early 20’s. But our early life doesn’t determine our future. Forest is living proof. He’s been traveling…
Afford Anything turns 3 years old! (Which is 87 in blog years, as my friend J. Money says.) This lil’ website officially launched on March 1, 2011, with a handful of posts about (what else?) retirement and travel. Little did I know, at the time, that the Afford Anything tribe would begin brewing a rebellion ……
Finance nerds have strange habits. Here’s one of mine: Once a year, I lock myself in a room with nothing but a laptop, spreadsheet, and boatloads of determination. The mission: Decipher my savings rate. Am I saving 30 percent of my income? 40 percent? 60 percent? As longtime readers might recall, my then-partner (now ex)…
One Afford Anything reader asks: In my area, I can buy a quality house/duplex for $45,000 – $100,000. My partner and I want to get a house with great rentability. We’ll live in it for 4 years while I finish graduate school, at which point we’ll move. We hope to keep the place – as…
You can summarize the answer to almost every financial problem in two words: Earn more. Snag extra work on the side. Save every dime of this extra income. (After all, you don’t “need” the money. You’re already living fine without it.) Boom — you’ve instantly super-charged your savings. When I wrote that, a few readers…
I’d like to tell you about a stupid money mistake I made last week. I’ll share why it was so dumb … and how you can do the opposite. Let’s go: During the past three months, I’ve been overseeing the renovations on one of my six rental property units. We’re ripping everything out of the…
One reader asks: I’m young (23), and my fiancee and I are looking at getting her a used car to replace her old clunker. We’re looking in the $6,000 – $10,000 range and easily have the cash to pay for the car. (This is seperate from our emergency fund, we both have 401ks, etc). I’m…
Finish the following sentence: “My dream is _____.” Maybe you want to buy a house, or backpack Europe, or retire early. No matter what you want, having a Big Ol’ Heap of Savings makes each these goals a million times easier. “Gee, thanks Captain Obvious,” you’re probably thinking. “Easier said than done.” Do you think…
During the holidays, millions of Americans swarm upon stores across the nation. Stores respond by dropping prices. Why? Why does a surge in demand trigger lower prices? If demand spikes and supply stays (mostly) the same, prices should rise instead of fall. Right? Humor me for a moment: Imagine that you own a retail store….
You can smash almost any limit. You can escape the cubicle. You can fire your boss. You can overcome your internal self-doubts. You can sculpt a flat stomach, make dozens of new friends, and speak a foreign language. Heck, you can even learn to dance. Limits don’t apply to you. Well, most limits. Unfortunately, there’s…