The Frequent Flyer Points Game – How to Master Air Miles Rewards Programs Without Going Bonkers!

If you are serious about financial freedom, one area to explore is maximizing frequent flyer points programs as well as cash back credit cards.  You can lock in upwards of $4000 to $5000 per year in air miles rewards (or just cash) without damaging your credit.  But, honestly, it can be a real time sync […]

Do You Have An Emergency Fund? Should You?

An emergency fund is generally three to six months’ worth of living expenses.  An emergency fund is just common sense and not structuring your life so that you are a whisker away from disaster.  If you haven’t created an emergency savings account, here is the order we suggest you take as you get started: Scaling […]

When It Comes to Saving Money, Focus On The Big Financial Wins

When you start down the path towards financial independence, there will come a moment when you realize the importance of each and every dollar flowing through your life.  Those money flows form the foundation of your emergency fund and financial buffer.  Especially if you read Your Money or Your Life, your perspective on saving money […]

Smart Savings: Hang At The Library On Vacation

Sometimes on vacation you just want to chill.  You don’t need a beer.  You’ve already had your coffee.  You just want to read a book or newspaper and soak up the atmosphere. Here’s a suggestion you might not have thought of: Hang Out At The Library You get a real flair for the place sometimes […]

Checklist Manifesto – Can A Simple Checklist Revolutionize Your Financial Life?

Have you heard of the book Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande? It’s written by an elite hospital surgeon who found that using simple checklists can dramatically reduce errors in a hospital setting. The quintessential example of checklists being deployed effectively is aviation. Do you want your pilot skipping the pre-flight checklist and just winging it? […]

Simple Tastes

The Quick And Dirty Guide to Buying A Used Smart Phone

I’ve written about riding to financial independence on the trailing edge of technology.  One area where you can save massively this way is by buying used cell phones.  You can usually get last year’s best phone in the universe for about half what it cost new 12 months prior–saving roughly $400 on a high-end phone. […]

Tell Them To Waive The Flipping Fees…

Many of you are likely harvesting credit card points by signing up for new cards with fat ($500-$800) bonuses.  Some of the best cards continue to pay about 2 percent cash back in perpetuity.  There is a catch, however.  After that first year, many cards with the fattest bonuses charge a fee, usually from $50 […]

Negotiate to Win Big – The Perpetual War of Subscriptions

As a full-time investor, there are two publications that I can’t live without, The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times.  The thing is, these papers are expensive.  I’ve tried to give each up at various points, but simply can’t.  It’s like functioning without oxygen as an investor to not have access to the information […]

Cheaper Insurance – 60 Minutes, Two Phone Calls = $4,187.69

I got a letter this week that kind of got on my nerves.  My car insurance rates were going up by $200 per year with USAA.  This on the heels of those same rates going up another $140 last year.  So, in 18 months, my insurance had gone from up $340 per year.  I hadn’t […]