Ideas on Personal Finance
Small and recurring expenses can be a significant drag on savings. We used to pay many monthly bills without even thinking twice about them – for example, magazines, subscriptions, mobile plans, etc. Over time, we either eliminated or cut back on our monthly expenses. I also severely cut back on small impulse shopping that I … Read more
We make hundreds of choices every day, from small choices like what to eat for breakfast to big ones like where to invest our money. Easy choices are fun. Like spending money shopping. Or buying the latest gadget. Hard choices are not fun. Like saving money. Or eating healthy food. Or going to the gym. … Read more
One of the things that surprise me when I hear people talk about their investments is – ‘Our biggest investment is our house!’. A house that you live in, by definition, cannot be your investment. An investment is something that you can sell. If you sell your house, you will have to pay rent or … Read more
The simple difference between working for money and having money work for you can be the difference between being poor or becoming wealthy! In the first case (working for money), people work to earn money every month. But after earning money, they proceed to summarily spend it by the end of the month. So they … Read more
I used this quote a lot on my FI journey. At the start of my FI journey, I tried everything under the sun to make sure I got to FI sooner. I pulled all the levers I could find to reduce spending and improve investment returns. And I spend a lot of time trying to … Read more
This is a line from the Avengers movie. Although this is a finance blog, it is important to remember that money is not an end in itself. Money is very powerful, no doubt. But we should make money just for the sake of making money. Money should be used to enable our life. We only … Read more
A classic quote that I have, sadly, seen play out many times. Spending money to impress others is nothing new. However, it has been supercharged now with the overabundance of credit and the proliferation of social media. The sad part of this is that there is no end to buying bigger / better things. No … Read more
This is a funny quote on Financial Independence (FI). It basically says, once you get to FI, you can do what you want and don’t need to work based on other people’s schedules / agendas. However, I have found that people who get to FI do not like sitting around and doing nothing. Typically if … Read more
This quote, I think, is particularly applicable to me. After I reached FI, I decided to continue working. There is nothing wrong with quitting your job after FI. In fact, that is what many people do. I think I will do that also, eventually. But for now, I am using my FI superpower to get … Read more
Although I don’t want to spend my time fishing all day, I do like this quote because it contrasts life before and after FIRE. Most people are not in their dream job. It may be because the dream job does not pay much. Or because it is difficult to get. Or maybe because a dream … Read more