I love DIY because I make it amusing. Design is fun, especially when you nail it. So is construction. Except when you nail your hand. Never mind. Drinking a beer after looking at a great space you created is fun too. Just don’t drink the beer beforehand or you’ll nail your hand even more. During […]
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Lazy Photo Edition
Writing is at its easiest for me when I have mental bandwidth. I need time to observe, listen, absorb, and think. Quiet walking is usually the best way for me to come up with some material. Now that I’m not formally employed, my brain should be spewing a geyser of words. Without a job, the […]
Joining The Multimillionaire Club (And What I’ve Learned About Money)
I started my first real job right around 1/1/1998, about 20 years ago. To get my investment portfolio (primary home excluded) to the first $1,000,000 (Double Comma Club), it took a long time, almost 17 years. Or, because I like to measure stuff in days: 6,174! During that period, I worked hard at various programming […]
Living In A Land Of Infinite Possibility
Today’s guest post comes from Alan Donegan. I first met Alan at Chautauqua in Ecuador. At first, I was intimidated by his booming voice and extroverted nature. Then I had a conversation with him at lunch one day and knew he was a good human. Then, I saw him speak about PopUp Business School and […]
October Performance Update (Day 2494): So It Begins…
My main goal* was to build an investment and cash portfolio of $1,120,000* in 1500 days**, starting from 1/1/2013 and ending in February of 2017. I made my goal in 2016, my 1500 Days are over, and I’ve left my job. In the interest of openness, I’ll continue to share my numbers. So It Begins… Mindy and I built the core […]
The Why Of DIY
We’re BIG do-it-yourselfers. I love to look at a dated home and imagine the possibilities. Give me your teal toilets. Show me your brown bathtubs. Let me tear out your 1970s decor. I shall make it beautiful. The sense of accomplishment I get from doing the work is incredible. The home we just completed in […]
Ask The Readers: How Are You?
This was a busy year for Mindy and me: New house: I’m typing this article in the home we just moved into a couple of days ago. We’ve been casually looking at acquiring more real estate ever since we moved to Longmont and have even made some offers, but none were accepted. Until now. It […]
Richer In Retirement
I vividly remember struggling with money at university. My apartment was paid for, but I supported myself otherwise. I had a part-time job at a computer lab that paid $4.25/hour. From this money, I had to buy food and everything else. My diet suffered the most. I’d buy the cheapest tomato sauce and cook a […]
10 Questions With Stoj Finance
Today’s 10 Questions submission comes all the way from The Land Down Under, Australia! I’ve never been, but it’s a bucket list vacation item for me. Take it away StojFinance! There are approximately 476,492,692,958 personal finance blogs last time I checked. Why should we read yours? Good question. What sets me apart is my unbiased […]
Five Tips For Finding Your Next Frank Lloyd Wrong Home To Flip (with Video)
Live-in flips are how Mindy and I built the core of our nest egg. The huge advantage of a live-in flip is that unless you’re making loads of money, you don’t have to pay taxes on the gains. As long as you’ve lived and owned the home for 2 of the past 5 years, a […]
September Performance Update (Day 2464): Hello New House, Goodbye Old Car
My main goal* was to build an investment and cash portfolio of $1,120,000* in 1500 days**, starting from 1/1/2013 and ending in February of 2017. I made my goal in 2016, my 1500 Days are over, and I’ve left my job. In the interest of openness, I’ll continue to share my numbers. September was a very, very busy month: We sold […]
Live-In Flip: YouTube Home Tour
I never thought that I’d bother with a YouTube channel. Who wants to watch me yammer on? Yikes… But, what better way is there to show a home remodel than with video? So, I started a channel: https://www.youtube.com/1500days YouTube Channel! The purpose of this YouTube adventure is to document our live-in flip. A live-in flip […]
Funny Money Portfolio Update
Ever since JL Collins showed me the wisdom of index funds, I’ve been a big fan. Prior to that, I invested in individual stocks. Stocks worked out pretty well for me. I’m a tech nerd, so I was heavily biased towards geek stocks. I bought Google when it IPOd in 2004 at a split-adjusted $42.50/share […]
Honey, We Bought Another House! (Why We Now Own Two Homes)
We never intended to live on Spruce Avenue when we bought the home in 2012. We planned on fixing up the sad little home and then turning it into a rental. And sad is an understatement: But then, something unexpected happened; we discovered that we liked the street… Letting Loose On Spruce The first thing […]
Why We Sold Our Fancy Car (the Acura NSX)
The Acura NSX debuted when I was in high school way back in the 90s. It was my perfect car. I’ve always been a car guy and the NSX was: light simple: normally aspirated, no power steering great in the corners: its chassis was tuned by one of the best F1 drivers in history reliable: […]
August Performance Update (Day 2435): Pour Some Lifestyle Inflation On Me
My main goal* was to build an investment and cash portfolio of $1,120,000* in 1500 days**, starting from 1/1/2013 and ending in February of 2017. I made my goal in 2016, my 1500 Days are over, and I’ve left my job. In the interest of openness, I’ll continue to share my numbers. First and foremost, there are big, big changes happening […]