With SO much FIRE information online it got me thinking, what am I doing? Why do I add words to the interweb? Why?

There are already so many amazing blogs. Many are from smart people in FIRE and more from people leading up to FIRE. Not to mention those planning way in advance for FIRE.

There are so many perspectives: people with/without pensions, people with/without kids, people who spend very little, people who spend more than a little. There are those who are in “FIRE” even though their spouse still works—I thought that was called “stay at home someone…” There are so many different perspectives.

I have realized that:

1) sometimes I can find people who are close to my situation. This is great.

2) sometimes people who have different situations who also have the same mindset—some don’t.

3) sometimes people who are far from FIRE, yet have great perspective and refresh my ideas—some of which I had a decade ago—this rejuvenates my thoughts.

4) I sure like the snide people. It’s obvious they are proud of being different (those thinking/living FI are very different from the masses). They don’t mind pointing “things” out—things other people do that seems strange or even negative.

5) FI bloggers (and podcasters) are very special people. There is so much to learn from everyone.

6) I’ve realized that I’m not a social media promoter anything. I don’t get active and promote myself trying to jack up my passive income (I should self-promote my bad ass self, but I’m sure that’s only in *my* head). Maybe someday I’ll yell, “I’ve got this!”

So, why am I here? I just enjoy getting my thoughts and perspectives out of my head and onto the screen. I like to keep my thoughts pretty short since I don’t pay myself by the word. No need to ramble on in too much detail. I don’t know who reads these thoughts, but I know these thoughts are successful—they have been for me for decades so far.

So I’m just sharing thoughts a few times a month. Hopefully, some of my thoughts will spark something great for you too. I love my life.

Sameness Stability can lead you to a stronger foundation in many aspects of life, not just financially. Having a strong, stable, consistent foundation is required for long-term anchoring for most items.

Houses have concrete foundations, rather than sand or dirt. Multistory buildings have pillars buried deep into the ground for stabilization. Professionals often have years or training to base their current work activities on.

Swapping to new homes, cars or spouses may cause to you rebuild or adjust your life foundations. Obviously, there may be reasons for changes at times in your life, but I want to encourage and embrace the importance “sameness.”

I truly believe cost controls based around your income—spend less than you earn—steer you towards financial success. I do agree there are many ways to increase your income—hopefully to help increase your saving/investing rate—but controlling costs are the first structural building opportunities.

Spouse: I’m super lucky in finding a wife that shares my values. She has been supportive of my somewhat structured spending for over two decades. We still buy things we want, but we seem to use a delayed gratification window to research and make sure we want these items and possibly see if we can get a better price. This delaying/researching methodology seems to work out great.

Kids: Our personal lifestyle does not include children. It could be that we’re missing out on special life moments, but we also seem to be missing out on some random expenses that the two of us do not generate. I said “some” because we have MANY nieces and nephews that seem to constantly have some gifting event. It’s nice to enjoy the children—and then go back to our quiet stable life. That’s just the way things turned out.  And according to the USDA  children are quite expensive to raise, so planning wisely becomes even more critical.

House: We’ve purposely stayed in our same home for well over two decades. Yes, it’s a 1026 sq ft “starter” home with three little bedrooms, but we love the location—three houses away from a huge park/preserve where we run, bike, hike and just look at the mountains or climb a little and look at the city. Having a small home tends to force you to have less stuff. For instance, we have a small amount of furniture. Over the years I’ve watched ALL of my close colleagues upgrade their homes as their careers grew (hedonic adaptation) or family size grew. So we still live in 30+ year-old architecture. Note: yes we do have a vacation trailer that we visit multiple times per year, but these additional costs are controlled by our years of living in a “below our means” home.

Cars: As mentioned above, we’ve watched many of our colleagues acquire new cars. Many new vehicles turned up in the parking lot after a round of bonuses or salary adjustments. It was totally obvious. That’s fine if people love their new cars. We’ve heard “buy used and drive 5+ years or buy new and drive 10 years” to optimize the depreciation hit. We chose to maximize both ideas and buy our main vehicle 3 years old and drive it 10 years. I’ve always had a quite-used card and we’re only on the 2^nd round of the “used + 10” strategy—as it takes a decade per round. As for the other vehicle (mine), it’s always been an older Toyota truck. Currently, I’ve had my 2000 Toyota Tacoma since 2004. I hope that no matter how many “Do you want to sell your truck” notes left under the windshield wipers, that I keep the truck a LONG time. I’d estimate we’ve avoided hundreds of thousands of lost dollars of costs with our buy used +10 plan. Note: some of those savings have gone into a classic mustang. Interestingly it has been a value increasing asset (not investment). Life can be a balance of happiness, lifestyle and net worth.

Our plan doesn’t have to work for everyone—or anyone else—but it has worked for us. We love our life. We try to balance the typical large family costs (home, cars, children, marriage), and just make it a point to enjoy every day. If you can’t enjoy every—or most—days, then it’s time to regroup! Right?

With all respect to Hal, I have a slightly different perspective of The Morning Miracle.

I agree with Hal’s book. I love the thoughts. I just found my application strangely different—which I know Hal wants from all his readers—for my Miracle Morning.

I differ on the awakening time. Yes, each day we all must wake up (it’s MUCH better than the alternative) and take on the day. No dreaded BEEP, BEEP, BEEP or for me it’s the opening of songs on my phone alarm (like an upbeat song or sometimes Metallica -For Whom The Bell Tolls, if you’re heard the beginning, this is funny/ironic) these alarms are not too welcoming when I’m comfy in bed.

Hal’s goal is to drive the start of the day in an awesome way—again perfect. Hal explains most of us have a hectic morning: damn alarm clock, shower, dress, food, kids, traffic, WHAM work $h!t stuff.

Oh, but the magic of FIRE (or even FI) giving you the power (and perspective) to know you’re in control. I’m super lucky. I do not have to wake up at a specific time to “be at work.” Therefore, I don’t have to set my alarm earlier to set up my positive passion for the day. In FIRE, I get to start my own day. THAT IS THE MIRACLE. Well, it’s a miracle if you choose it to be.

So, my step one—of waking time—is already my own miracle. When I wake up, I feel positive, how can I not? I actually don’t sleep in much at all, because I’m so happy to get up and have my day.

It’s interesting that I’ve followed many of Hal’s ideas for years, somehow instinctively. I have silence and reflection time when I’m sitting in my spa every morning. The spa used to be my “commute” time—between my bed and my home office when working. In addition to the silence/thinking/reflection in the spa, I also will read to learn, grow, motivate myself while I’m in the spa.

I ALWAYS drink a large glass of water first thing so I’m hydrated and my blood is full and fueling my brain with oxygen… or whatever it all does.

I know what exercise I’m going to do for the day. I know what my main/priority tasks are for the day. In FIRE, I can even push those tasks to a future date because I don’t have to cram everything into the weekend. [side note: FIRE is so worth the planning and effort it takes] I often perform some of my tasks first, then head off to exercise somewhere between 8-11a. My body doesn’t want to run, bike, swim or gym at 5 or 6a, but that’s OK. I can still get my body engaged and activated in the “morning,” just later morning.

Going to sleep is AMAZING in FIRE. Every single night when I lay down, I think about the day and how it was great, how my life is great, and how tomorrow is all mine. That is GREAT. It makes falling asleep very easy.  See my 2 am secret on middle of the night activities.  All of this thoughts makes waking up positive and motivated natural.

I love my miracle life. I mentioned that in posts. I have a t-shirt stating “I love my life” and wear it often (around the house).

YOLO—Enjoy your life, your days, your mornings!

I can’t seem to get enough knowledge about personal finance. I constantly read—and calculate—personal finance. The personal finance topic seems to have transitioned from one of my interests, to a hobby, to a passion, to my current “job.” It is by far the most important job I’ve ever had. It’s actually more like a ‘career,’ probably a lifelong career.

To put my personal finance education into a structured progression, I broke it up into the familiar US education structure.

• Preschool – This is the “I want…” mentality. The pure desire to get stuff. Shopping to acquire items with no understanding or regard on how to pay for it. Charge it!? No understanding of incoming bills (or income) and no consideration for any form of saving. There is no correlation between stuff and money.
• Elementary school K-6 – Building some logic. The understanding of how money comes in through job earnings and is spent on life expenses. There is some correlation here, but no calculations.
• Jr High – A more clear understanding of needs/wants. You understand you need to build up some money to make the purchases. Deep down you still feel the ‘wants’ are very important in your enjoyment of life, more important that pulling the money together for the purchase.
• High School graduate– Threshold of being able to manage your income in relation with all expenses to the point of knowing you should have money left over income to put towards savings. Wide range of knowledge at this level:
  • Some high school students leave school with a higher level of knowledge than others. The equivalent of this higher level may be an adult family that puts some money away, at least for emergencies. These people have a financial cushion.
  • Functioning a little lower: It may be just as some people who squeak by in high school, similarly, some do the same in personal finance. They pay their bills on time—most of the time— but sometimes they’re late or miss payments (just like homework assignments).
  • Those over achieving type students may put a chunk of money away each pay period into a retirement account—along with their savings and in their emergency fund.
• College graduate/Trade certification – A full giant step above the masses (millionaire). These are the people who put in a major amount of extra effort to learn. They try and place themselves above others who didn’t—or weren’t able to—grow to a higher level of accomplishment. So many “experts” seem to feel this is the level of major differentiation. It’s not a guarantee of a great life (job or net worth), but it may move you far ahead of the masses/the average. Keep in mind that this level (college degree/millionaire) becomes less valuable as more and more people reach this same level over time.
• Master Degree – Advancing knowledge in a specialized area (multi-millionaire). This must be where you have your foundation (high school) and you’ve built a solid first floor (college) and now you are building a second story or third story to your financial home. At this level, you may have the best opportunity to keep yourself differentiated from the growing number of people one-step below/behind you.
• D Degree – Rarified knowledge and skills (deca-millions). Some people just far exceed those at the high school/monthly bill level. They extremely knowledgeable and experienced in areas that most people have no knowledge. They’ve become experts who operate within organizations (finances) at very high levels.

Specialist– Some people (families) have so much education/skills, knowledge, experience, global influence that their education is only foundational to their achievements (COE’s, political leaders). This may be the equivalent of hundreds of millions or billion+ in net worth. This massive level of responsibility is almost unattainable to mere mortals.

As in real life, many people have accomplishments that do not require a “college” education. These are often entrepreneurs who start a business, develop the skills and knowledge to deliver products which are in demand—high demand—to the marketplace. These smart people may not have extended formal (classroom) education, but the have MASSIVE amounts of life and people education, far exceed many of us college educated people. There are many paths to success, and far more to happiness.

What do you feel your personal finance education level is? Is it similar to the long grind of college or starting your own business and working so hard year after year after year? Are you trying to improve your high school level of foundational skills, or learning more and more to be an over achiever type?

I’m sure no matter what level it is, be proud of the knowledge you’ve gained. Of course, you know you could learn more—we can all learn more. I’m sure you realize that the foundational material changes over time (i.e. fewer company pensions, future social security concerns, today’s incomprehensible interest rates, possible inflation changes, future medical costs, tax optimization—doesn’t this all sound exciting to keep learning more about?

I’m talking YEARS here! 5, 20, 50 years.

The span of 5 years when you’re 15 to 20, seems to feel about the same elapsed time as say 20 years when you turn 50. I’m serious here.

Those long 5 years when you’re young are a big chunk of time. You may go through many living situations, multiple relationships (with people or employers) and so many experiences.

When you’re nearing 50 and look back 20 years, WHOA, how time flies. Maybe you were in a similar routine over those 20 years. Maybe you had some sort of super stable life and 27 became 47 so quickly.

To me, this is some form of time-warp of life.

Think I’m wrong? Think about how LONG the school year took when you were in high school. 9 months seemed like forever until summer vacation. You had day after day of sitting in classes, at stupid desks, listening (or not) to something you weren’t interested in, maybe while it was nice (definitely nicer) outside.

I’m sure you will agree, that as an adult 9 months zips by in the blink of a few sunrises/sunsets… You really notice this time warp if you happen to live in a location that has very little seasonal change like the south, west, even Hawaii? All of a sudden a few years have passed. Or you ask “when was it that we did XYZ” and realize it wasn’t “two years ago,” but rather SIX years ago.

In terms of financial sense, don’t wait to start saving and investing. You will lose all those [time warp] years of contributions/savings deposits and their compounding. For all the new purchase items you think you need, you may not realize how quickly—seemingly immediately—those items become “old.” It must be really cool to be a wise old man, but it seems like it would be so much better to get some of that wisdom early on.

Don’t become “warped out.” Take the time to find some enjoyment every day. Find some zen in your morning routine, find something special from your day, or in your evening routine. Use the opportunity of a new month—or quarter— to realize all the great things that have happened. I guess ‘they’ are right YOLO!

Side note: after writing this post, I saw a big truck who’s license plate said “BROYOLO.” That’s Zen.

You have to be thinking, how could someone (a normal, non-Wall St, non-C-level exec) earn a bonus that large? I have to admit, I was shocked when I realized that working in my little second job/side gig teaching at a local community college for 15 years earned over 100k.

Why is that a “bonus?” It’s a bonus because 1) it is not money that was tied to job/career/salary. 2) it was a few hours one night per week 3) more importantly, because I never spent a single penny of that side income. Not spending the money at first was just an accident. I made enough money in my main job to cover my savings, my bills, and my spending/fun activities. That left those extra direct deposits available for an easy transfer into my savings account, then a transfer to my investment account.

To be clear, my “bonus” goes straight to my net worth number. That is freakin’ awesome.

Let’s break this down. The small income of $2900ish per class/semester over time has grossed over 100k. The nice thing about my adjunct faculty salary is the small inflation adjustments I’ve received over the past decade (now $3300). In preparation of leading up to FIRE, I added a second night class. Unfortunately, the second class has been hit or miss for registration over the past few years, mostly not filling and being canceled. That sucks for my side income, but I understand that paying me requires student tuition (plus county/state funding?) which is logical.

Takeaway: 1) you’ve heard a side gig can give you more income. Absolutely, but I suggest finding something where you have a unique skill that may allow a higher hourly rate than what something the masses could do. 2) If you can use the opportunity to save that gig’s money, AWESOME!

Side note: did other tech nerds think “gig economy” had something to do with gigabytes? How dumb and literal nerds can be!

How many homes are on your street? Ten? Twenty? Are any of your neighbors rich? Probably yes.

After reading Thomas Stanley’s The Millionaire Next Door years ago, It never occurred to me that some of my neighbors had crossed that massive threshold. Then I started looking for Camry’s and F150’s and wondered if those people were the rocking rich. Those people who might be living a possibly financially independent or secure life.

Wow, just thinking about those millionaires that must be around me is particularly intriguing. My wife and I live in a “normal” basic neighborhood with 25-30-year-old houses. Yet interestingly, not too many young children playing in driveways or the street. Side thought: could these childless households around us have, or be on their way to substantial wealth? Could there be millionaires around us?

I’ve read multiple articles lately that say there are now over 10 MILLION households in the US with millionaire net worths. It’s strange that these articles tend to pop up when stock market values are high and people may be more flush with higher net worth.

So I calculated, if there are say 125 million households in the US, then there may be one millionaire household in every 12-ish. One in a dozen. That seems amazingly great. Maybe that’s why some people say “a million’s not what it used to be.” But “millionaire” sure sounds great to me.

Call to action: Can we all take some of the principals from the millionaires profiled in books and articles and use these as a framework for our own finances? Absolutely. There is no doubt you can learn from others. Why not take some learning from “normal” people who managed their finances well.

Off the top of my head:

• Spend less than you earn – BAM! Nothing more to say.
• Pay yourself first, save/invest – Find a way to remove some income from your monthly money visibility. Each paycheck, get that money out of your checking/debit account immediately.
• Purchase wisely – need or want?, delayed gratification skill, can you buy used and let someone else pay retail/the depreciation? To ease the used item argument, I say “everything has a ding.” It helps me rarely require a new item (notice I didn’t say “need” a new).
• Pick the right partner – Your partner needs to compliment/support your daily activities and dreams.
• Maybe even, start your own business – “Wealth flows to owners” of successful businesses. Even on a small scale, owning equities has worked for all US history. Being a principal owner could even lead to more opportunity.

If you don’t care to be a millionaire right now, that’s OK, because in 20 years it will twice as easy to get there. Maybe at that point, it will be your goal.