Tag: Saving

The Saving Strategies that Work for Me

- Alexis Leave a comment
Close-up of twenty-dollar bills

Not all that long ago, I had quite a bit of debt and virtually no savings, aside from a couple of meager retirement accounts. Now, my net worth has flipped solidly positive, I’m debt-free aside from my mortgage, and I’m stashing away a lot of money for my future. Below, I discuss some of the saving strategies I used to get to where I am today.

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Some Upsides of Social Distancing, Part II

- Alexis Leave a comment
A toddler sitting in the woods reaches his hand into a stream

This is a continuation of my series on the silver linings of self-isolating. (Click here for Part I)

  • It’s easier to prepare healthy meals. Believe me, I’ve eaten my share of junk food over the past month, thanks to anxiety, boredom, and always being so dang close to the fridge. But I’ve also prepared a number of nourishing meals. I’ve tried to stock my kitchen with healthy snacks like fresh and frozen produce, nuts, dried fruit, and dark chocolate. It’s easy to cook a real meal for lunch when I have access to a full kitchen and don’t have to plan ahead and remember to take a bunch of ingredients with me in the morning. I can start dinner earlier in the day and eat a freshly cooked meal at a decent hour — I don’t have to rush to get something on the table after getting home at 6:00 or later. By preparing more meals myself, I know exactly what’s in my food. I’ve also unintentionally eliminated fried food now that I’m not eating out much.
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The Weekend Listen

- Alexis Leave a comment

A pair of wireless headphones for podcast listening

I listen to a lot of podcasts while driving, working out, and doing chores around the house. In this weekly feature, I’ll tell you about one episode I particularly enjoyed that week.

Note: This week’s podcast episode contains explicit language that may be objectionable to some listeners. 

I’m a little behind on my podcast listening, and this week’s selection is about two weeks old.  I’m posting it anyway because it serves as a nice follow-up to Sunday’s post on financial management.  On the Tim Ferriss Show, the author of The Four Hour Workweek interviews top performers in a variety of fields about their habits, beliefs, experiences, lifestyles, and how they do what they do.  Tim recently talked to “Mr. Money Mustache,” Pete Adeney, about how he retired at 30 and lives comfortably (with a family of three) on $25-27K of passive income per year.  I was not familiar with Mr. Money Mustache before this podcast, but I’m intrigued by his advice and plan to check out his website (which apparently has a cult following).

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