Interesting in learning more about the Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) movement? We share our thoughts on FIRE strategies here.
Welcome to the site, Marketplace Money listeners! If you turned on NPR this past weekend, you might have heard me tell a musician to drink more beer. Weirdest personal finance advice ever. But what do you expect from me? I don’t give boilerplate advice. I talk about mindset. And strategy. And beer. Here’s how it…
In the 18th century, a French writer named Denis Diderot received a gift: a beautiful scarlet dressing gown. The fabric was gorgeous. The colors were rich. The craftsmanship was spectacular. Diderot immediately threw his tattered old gown away. He didn’t need it anymore. His new gown was breathtaking. Of course, he needed to make a…
A few years ago I went camping in southeastern Utah with a group of friends. “I love this place,” I said, gazing at the towering sandstone canyons. Then, ever so casually, I commented, “Hmm. Maybe I’ll come live here for a summer. Just two or three months. Could be fun.” One of my friends glanced…
Myth: You can either have free time or you can make lots of money. But not both. Fact: Money buys time. When I was a kid, I didn’t care about making a lot of money. I’d rather have the time, flexibility and freedom to enjoy my life, I thought. In hindsight, I was buying into…
Time for a round of Answer the Reader’s Question: Ignorance vs. Bliss. Today’s question comes from a reader in his twenties who says: “I was wondering if you have ever written an article on converting the (financial) ‘non-believers’? “I’ve been trying to get my girlfriend to … help us be financially free, but I am…
Two weeks ago I went camping in the desert, without a phone signal or Internet connection. During the 10 days when I was “unplugged,” a handful of urgent issues formed. A nasty virus infected Afford Anything, triggering “malware” alerts every time a reader tried to visit. Google de-listed me from its search rankings until I…
Ever met a “should” – er? A person bound by invisible scripts who wants you to conform to their world view? People seem to crawl out of the woodwork with opinions about how you should spend your money and manage your career. “Now is the best time to buy a house!” “You have to go…
Today, Afford Anything turns one year old. Exactly a year ago today I wrote my first post on this website, and geez, it was a terrible post. I’m too embarrassed to link to it. I had no clue what I was doing when I started this site. I didn’t know HTML coding. I didn’t know…
This was originally published in 2012 as a series of separate blog posts. For the sake of simplification, we have consolidated these blog posts onto this one page that you’re reading. Unless otherwise noted, the information has not been updated, so all numbers and information reflect 2012. I’m changing careers. Well, sort of. About two…
Sophia from Minneapolis says: “The more I sit in an office, the more I want to be location independent. … I feel this need to travel more, to explore, and not be tied to an office in Minnesota.” In my last post, I told Sophia how she can see the world for the price of…