Ideas on Personal Finance
Our Gifting Culture It was late at night. We had just returned from our cousin’s housewarming party when my phone rang. It was my cousin calling. ‘Did we forget something in their house?’ – I wondered as I picked up the phone. “Hey! Can you guys come back again tomorrow afternoon? We need help with … Read more
A walk amongst the wealthy… A small change in our normal, daily routine can sometimes lead to a big discovery. On an unusually pleasant summer day, MrsFiner and I were taking our usual evening walk. Feeling a bit adventurous, we went farther than we usually do. As we strolled through the new neighborhood, a magnificent … Read more
The real cost of an item is not just the number that appears on the price tag. The Real Cost Before buying anything, it is important to know the cost of that item. Not the amount etched on the price tag, but the actual cost. The actual cost to you! The philosopher Thoreau said: The … Read more
This article is part of the My FI Journey series – click here to access the full journey. Shifting Focus I am now focusing on Saving in addition to Investing. As any good consultant knows, you cannot improve something if you don’t measure it. So we keep track of every single Finer household purchase for a month. At … Read more
Lifestyle Inflation is a silent killer of wealth. Thinking differently about Lifestyle Inflation may help in dealing with it. What is Lifestyle Inflation? Lifestyle inflation (lifestyle creep) happens when people spend more and more money to achieve a higher standard of living. Lifestyle inflation can occur in any area – from everyday expenses like a … Read more
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I was skeptical if I should save money on health insurance. As it turns out, I was able to save a lot by making a few changes! Health insurance was the second biggest spend item for the Finer household (after housing). For the longest time, I did not pay attention to how much we paid … Read more
After struggling to track our spending for a long time, we came up with a simple method. This helped us gain many insights into our spending and eventually helped us get to Financial Independence (FI) a lot sooner. Background: Tracking Our Spend Just like everyone else, we were skeptical about tracking our spending. It is … Read more
Traditional ways of reducing grocery spending (coupon clipping, price comparison, checking items on sale, etc.) were time-consuming and tedious. So we came up with simpler strategies. The average American household spends $6,000 a year on groceries. If you also include the spending on restaurants, the number goes above $10,000 a year. Not to mention more … Read more
Of all the ways to achieve Financial Freedom / Early Retirement (Earning, Saving, Investing), Saving is the most important. Pillars of Financial Independence / Early Retirement There are only three ways to achieve Financial Independence (FI): Earning: Earn more money Saving: Spend less money (Save more) Investing: Invest the savings wisely All three pillars are … Read more
A short but sweet quote that reminds us not to get into debt. Not all debt is bad, though. For example – I have a mortgage (home loan) with less than a 2% fixed interest rate. I am okay with that. It is better to invest the money to make more than 2% rather than … Read more