Got this note from a reader and been obsessing about it lately:

“I just wrapped up a 10 – 2 challenge. Here’s how it works – You work on a long term project for 10 minutes a day – every day – for approximately 2 years. The thing is, you have to work on the project every day. If you travel, you have to either improvise or do make up work for the days you missed. I even use a stopwatch to make sure I work on the project for a full 10 minutes. You’ll be amazed at what you accomplish!”

Love it! Super easy sounding, right?!

And if I whip out a calculator here, hold on one sec…  It looks like it actually adds up to… 7,300 minutes!! Or roughly 122 hours! WOW! Imagine dedicating that many hours to *one* single goal of yours? What would you be able to achieve?! How better off would you be? Physically/mentally/professionally?

It’s hard to fathom the number of things we let fall by the wayside just because they’re “too big” to start, so let this be the kick in the ass you need to actually GET GOING on a dream that you may be putting off. Or even just something annoying that really needs to get done but you know will take forever! Lol… Literally stop reading this right now and get going if you already have it in your head – I promise it’ll be better than reading the rest of this post

If nothing crosses your mind, let me throw out some ideas:

• Review your finances every day (expenses, credit cards, budget, net worth, subscriptions, insurance, credit score, credit report – plenty of things you could keep tabs on and improve)
• Declutter your entire house (each drawer, closet, *gasp* garage!)
• Get a new job/promoted (research, apply, improve skills)
• Get a new girlfriend/boyfriend/friend (same examples as above )
• Write a book! (might feel choppy with only 10 mins applied, but you’ll probably find you’ll spend more time once you’re “in the flow”)
• Start a passion project (blog, book, TikTok, coin collection!)
• Work out every day (go for a walk, go for a run!, lift some weights, do some yoga, play some basketball – you only have to do it for 10 mins!)
• Work out your mind every day (meditate, read, crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles! (Remember that time I got obsessed with them for like two months??! Man I went bonkers…))
• Study the bible (my friend who came up with this 10-2 idea did exactly this – used his time for the past two years to devour the bible and create a “spiritual warfare database!”)
• Weed/Garden/Landscape (after a month you’ll probably just be *maintaining* from that point on!)
• Learn a new language (Spanish? French? HTML?)
• Learn something else entirely new! (Programming, Video Editing, Baking)

The options are endless…

And I don’t care who you are, everyone can spare 10 mins a day towards something that’s important to them. The years are going to pass anyways, why not get something extra out of it with minimal effort?!

I found the perfect book too yesterday for tracking it all:

I scooped it up at Goodwill as a future gift to my sister (it was only $2.99!), but now I’m thinking I need to keep it for myself, lol…

But how perfect is this for tracking?! Each date has a small section to jot down quick notes, and they’re stacked on top of each other so every year going forward when you come back to the same date you can see the previous years’ notes on it. Which hopefully will keep you motivated and inspired!

Here’s an inside page so you can see exactly what I’m talking about… And yes, I just wrote in it so it’s officially mine

So you can see there’s a section there for each of the 5 years, so over time you’ll be able to reflect on the previous years’ successes and notes and you don’t have to keep getting a new journal :) In fact, you could even turn this into a 10-5 Challenge if you really wanted to! Haha… And I just found it on Amazon too in case you want one for yourself (currently $15):

One Line A Day: A Five-Year Memory Book

But really, you can use anything to track this – what’s important is just that you do! Use a Notes app, staple some blank papers together, or use a good old fashion Google Doc, it doesn’t matter – just track it however is most natural to you.

And as you’ll see, I’ve already started this challenge :) Which for me is to do *one thing a day* for someone, or some place, that helps them. I had been trying to get to a WEEK in a row of helping someone each day – and even pulled it off once (see the PS at the end!) – but if I could accomplish it for 2 YEARS straight that would be amazing.

And on Nov. 6th you’ll see Day #1 was completed! I gave a microwave to my friend Debbie whose old one just broke down (it had been sitting in my basement for 5 years!), and then I called my mother “just to check on her” and not to ask for something which is usually the case And since I had extra room there at the end, I made a note that we had won our league’s soccer championships (and I scored in it!), so that future me will be reminded of the feat a year from now.

Now some days I already know I’ll have trouble finding someone to help, or maybe not even be IN THE MOOD to help!, so on “off” days I’ll carve out the 10 minutes to simply strengthen my *mindset* overall, whether by reading or brainstorming or even by meditating – that way with each passing day I’m even more *conscious* about the mission. The more you practice doing something, the better you get at it right?! And we have 7,300 mins with this challenge so we’re gonna get GOOD!!

So yeah – I’m pretty stoked about this, and hopefully you are too :) Spend a few minutes thinking it over today, and then tomorrow get right to it and start tracking it all. It doesn’t matter if it’s something big or small or somewhere in between – just get crackin’ and feel good about it!

Remember – the time is going to pass anyways, so why not get something out of it? And I want to hear all about it!

PS: The one week I accomplished this!

• Day 1: helped serve a community dinner for our homeless friends
• Day 2: helped give out free food and veggies at our local food bank
• Day 3: gave a buddy of mine a haircut as he was low on funds, and also just really doesn’t like going to barbers! (And if you’re wondering, yes – I gave him a mohawk!! I can’t be trusted to cut anything else! )
• Day 4: helped my church archive old documents in their archives room – not only fascinating to hold and touch old artifacts, but to learn the overall process of *properly archiving* too!
• Day 5: helped a friend get a website off the ground and move her childhood dream further along
• Day 6: brainstormed marketing and fundraising ideas for a new garden opening up in our city
• Day 7: co-led an after church youth session – the scariest of all as a) I don’t know or fully understand the bible at all (!!), and b) pre-teen kids are so awkward and quiet and really don’t like to talk, haha… Though I did find a secret weapon: snacks!

It was a pretty fantastic week, but also exhausting… I’ll have to be careful of my energy levels and find ways to self-care throughout the next two years so I don’t accidentally burn out.

// Link to book is an Amazon affiliate link

[This post, The 10-2 Challenge, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

“You must begin from where you are”

What a perfect truth right there.

Where else could you even start? The past is gone no matter what you desire, and I suppose you could start in the future, but we all know that will never happen, lol, so you gotta start right now wherever you are ;) We’re only guaranteed THIS MOMENT RIGHT HERE anyways, and what a gift it truly is!

Everything in life has brought you to this very exact article right here, and lucky for me you’re reading whatever I type right now…

I could say:

I am a poopy head!

And you read it! Lol… Or even:

Saving is so sexy that my life has changed forever and now all the ladies love me.

BOOM! And now:

The tumbleweed refused to tumble but was more than willing to prance than dance.

Okay I’ll stop

But seriously. Everything has led you to this one point where you’re able to start anything new because of how life has unfolded. Maybe it’s a career choice. Maybe it’s a new relationship. Maybe it’s getting your finances together for the first time and this is the first blog you’ve ever stumbled onto (sorry about that!). Whatever the new journey is you can only start NOW as there’s no going backward, so please don’t beat yourself up over it.

The important thing is that at least *the light bulb went off* in the first place! Do you know how many people wake up in their 50s or 60s and still haven’t paid attention to their debts or health or worse – their dreams?! I WISH I could have started saving in my teens vs my 20s or got excited about working out and yoga in my 20s vs my 40s, but thank God I started as soon as everything clicked.

You must begin where you are, there is no other way.

Now you might think this quote came from a philosophy book or maybe it was something Oprah once said, but it actually came from my favorite yoga book: “Yoga Girl” by Rachel Brathen:

It’s a great read mixing in her story along with killer yoga poses, and it’s chock full of epic one-liners that not only apply to yoga, but to life – and particularly money! – too. I re-stumbled across it again on my bookshelf and totally forgot I had dog-eared a bunch of these lines which I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading.

And in the spirit of crossing my ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY doing yoga (255 classes later – what!), I present them to you below in hopes they inspire you just as much as they did me :)

Most are copied as-is, and others I’ve tweaked to better prove my financial hypothesis here, haha…

Let me know what you think!

********

“You don’t need to change anything about who you are to start a yoga practice paying attention to your money.”

Yes! You simply take notice one day and actively start looking at where all your money is going. Your debts, your bills, your income – everything. You don’t need to *change* any of it right away, you just stop and start *noticing* and getting the lay of the land!

Once you know what you’re dealing with, then the game plan can be activated from there. But it doesn’t require changing who you are, and in fact, over time it should help you become a BETTER version of yourself! Because the more confident you get in your finances, the more confident you get in all other areas of your life

“Be the best you can be.”

Most of the insecurities we struggle with come from thinking that things should be different from reality. But reality reflects exactly where we are right now, and all we can do is strive to improve!

“You don’t need to know every step ahead of you to be able to move forward.”

All you need to know is the general *direction* you want to go towards, and then you put one step in front of another and let forward momentum carry you from there. It’s not as complicated as we often make it out to be! Just do one little thing, and then another, and then another.

“Much of what we eat spend in a day is simply a result of boredom!”

Yup! You gotta do your best to not put yourself in situations where it’s easy to cave. And one of the best ways is by putting yourself into more positive situations than negatives. I remember when I first started blogging I immediately had less time to go to the mall and aimlessly shop, and BOOM – half the problem was immediately eliminated just because I kept myself busy! I replaced bad habits with good habits, and the same holds true with my time these days as well… Hitting the gym has replaced staring at a screen all morning, volunteering has replaced wasting time dawdling around, and finding more veggies and foods I equally enjoy has replaced more sugary ones. As the saying goes, idle hands are the devil’s workshop.

“The thing that hurts us in the long run is our mind, not our body.”

So absolutely true… Our mind is the most dangerous thing there is. This quote by Marcus Aurelius sums it up well:

I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.

This has to be one of the biggest bugs in human development! We spend too much time caring about what others think about us!

“Trust in your own ability to create magic.”

100%. Put those beautiful skills God gave you to work. No one else is going to do it for you!

“Practicing naked is extremely liberating. Love your body. Think about all that it does for you every day.”

Haha okay this one might be a stretch, but we all know budgeting naked does make it way more fun ;) I’ve been watching a lot of Naked and Afraid episodes too here lately, and there’s something beautiful about going back to the basics of both nature and survival. Similar to loving ourselves just for who we are, we should be very much loving our bodies just the same!

“Be kind to yourself!”

You will without a doubt make mistakes along your financial journey, so don’t even pretend you won’t. Just expect them and do your best to be patient with yourself! Treat yourself like you do a best friend or family member. Again, you are worth it!

“The goal is serenity. Balance. Truly finding peace in your own skin.”

The whole point of working so hard on your finances is to one day NOT have to work so hard on them! In fact, once you’re financially free you don’t even have to THINK ABOUT IT anymore! It’s ironic, yes, but also magical. Peace with your finances = peace in many other areas in life too.

“Worrying is praying for what we don’t want to happen. Focus on what you want, not what you fear!”

Positive thinking can go a looooooong way with this stuff! You’ll not only reach your goals faster, but you’ll feel better generally when you’re more optimistic! Most things we’re afraid of never even come true.

*******

Other great lines for life in general:

“Life is not as serious as your mind makes it out to be.”

Yup! Laugh a little!

“Don’t judge your life as good or bad. Love what is.”

Acceptance is an underrated super power. The moment you stop pretending or wishing, the better you’ll be able to see the beauty in what is. Meditation helps immensely with this.

“Remember that you are the only one suffering by clinging to the past.”

And you can’t change it no matter what you do!

“The first thing you do in the morning should not include social media or e-mails!”

Gosh I wish everyone realized this… And especially IN BED! A sacred space for you and anyone else laying there with you. Not only does it let *the outside world* set your tone for the day, but it doesn’t even let you fully wake up and process life before you get the day started :( You’re immediately blasted with the world’s problems before you even get out of bed!!

“Allow yourself to feel.”

There’s a place for action and moving on, but first – just feel. The highs, the lows, and everything in between.

“Do no harm, but take no shit.”

So good  :)

“The only thing that matters is how much you love… your purpose on this Earth is to love.”

Gosh this one is just so beautiful…  What a world if we all focused more on this than ourselves. I think about this often, and is partially why my last tattoo was a heart where I constantly see it and get reminded to do exactly that: love.

******

I hope this has inspired you at least a little today :)

If you’re interested in the book, you can usually find it at your local library (it’s a popular one!) or of course over at Amazon: “Yoga Girl“. It’s one of the few books I keep on my bookshelf

See ya back here again soon.

Namaste,

// Links to Amazon above are affiliate links

[This post, You must begin from where you are, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Morning, y’all! Been a while! Jordan over at The Wealth Letters prompted me to share my thoughts on “wealth” for an upcoming book of his (cool!), and what began as an outline for an article somehow managed to morph into a poem, lol… So please to enjoy today: a poem about wealth!

*******

“Wealth is freedom”

Wealth is freedom.

Freedom to create.
Freedom to live.
Freedom to love!
Freedom to sleep in, or hustle, or do whatever your spirit is moving you in the moment.

Wealth is freedom from worry of the things you have control over
(and grace over the things you do not).

It’s the ability to drop everything and help out a friend when they most need you,
or jump on a project (or quit a project!), or re-arrange life whenever it gets too out of balance.

Wealth is health – in both body and mind.
And being able to say “no” when you want to say no,
and “yes” when you want to say yes!

It’s choosing love over hate,
and recognizing what your gifts are as early as possible so you can give them back to the world.

Wealth is having enough money to not worry,
but not too much where it makes you worry.
It’s the stuff that brings you joy,
but also the stuff that challenges you and makes you stronger.

Wealth is the ability to believe in yourself and know that you are “enough”,
and also that you are loved and worthy and very much needed in our world.

Wealth is peace.
Wealth is freedom.
Wealth is contentment.
Wealth is something we’re always striving for, but not everyday getting. (And that’s okay!)

Wealth is a state of mind, and it flourishes within each and every one of us.

Wake up. Be You. Be thankful. Do your best. Be wealthy

And how blessed are we ALL to have at least a little wealth within us? :)

Wealth is about being good stewards of our money, yes, but it’s also so much more than that. It’s how we live and think and shape our lives no matter what’s going on in our worlds. And the beautiful part is we ALL have the power to grow it! For ourselves, for our loved ones, for our community!

So thanks, Jordan! That was a fun exercise to go down, and hopefully y’all got something out of it too :) If you like this sorta stuff (the meaning of wealth, not poems lol), check out his site where he features dozens more from all walks of life –> TheWealthLetters.com

And he’s always looking to add more too! So if you have a few moments this weekend, maybe marinate on it yourself and then pass your thoughts over to him and perhaps you’ll be featured next?!

Until next time, stay wealthy amigos…

PS: If you’re reading this on the blog today, did you notice anything different?! Like no ads?? ;) I officially got rid of them all so hopefully it makes it even smoother to read… Probably not the smartest decision business-wise, but hey – it just felt right

Hope things are good in your world! I’ll be back again soon’ish hopefully!

[Photo up top via Pexels]

[This post, What Wealth Means (To Me), was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

It’s funny how you can make anything into a game.

On gym days I’ve started doing this thing where after our boot camp I reward myself by grabbing a basketball and shooting around for a while, patting myself on the back for making it. But then I started feeling guilty for having fun when I’m supposed to be “working out,” so I made this arbitrary rule that I can play for however long I want, but I’m not allowed to *leave* until I make a half-court shot :)

Which in itself is pretty hard of course, but then I added a twist where when I miss it I have to RUN AFTER THE BALL and try over and over and over again, running back and forth from opposite sides of the court, until finally making it. And when that got easier because I’m now better at making shots!, I upped the game to making THREE half-court shots before leaving, and then after each one I drop to the ground and do 15 pushups for good measure

I often wonder what the people around me must think watching this lunatic running around launching balls into the air and then falling to the floor, but it’s made my gym days 3x more exciting while still accomplishing the mission.

I thought of this when I got the following message, only instead of silly basketball games it’s a savings one!

Years ago you shared a simple grid which my husband and I call the bingo sheet – each square contains a dollar amount to put away each week and at the end of the year, if done faithfully, results in saving an extra $1k.

I use this every year, but with a twist: I try to double or even triple the amount each week to save even more. This year I’m on track to hit $4k… it’s really a fun way to save, so thank you for sharing that!!

– Denise B.

Beautiful!! She made savings fun by taking on the challenge, and then when she was ready to up the game she threw in a twist! Because why not?! Life is boring playing it straight… Sometimes you gotta shake it up!

Here’s that “bingo sheet,” made by the fabulous Jamie from MediumSizedFamily.com:

[Click to download]

As Denise mentioned, the game is pretty straightforward: each week just pick a new square, then throw in the corresponding amount right into savings – and BOOM! You’ll have an extra $1,000 by the end of the year, which just so happens to be the amount you should spend on me for Christmas ;)

And if you really want to *see* your results, open up a brand new savings account and start saving fresh so it doesn’t get muddled with all your other dollars! You want to SEE and FEEL your progress as much as you can so it continues to motivate you. Then when you’re done, empty it out and challenge yourself next year with a twist!

It really can be as easy as that. This stuff isn’t complicated, but oftentimes our *emotions* can be. I don’t know why we’re wired like we are, but keep trying new ways to keep it fun and fresh, and with a little luck you’ll be FIREd in no time…

Thanks for reading today! Have a very merry holiday season, and we’ll see you out there on the courts (like a wild man)

PS: If this challenge doesn’t dingle your dongle, here are 8 more to try on.

[This post, The Bingo Sheet 💰, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Another spreadsheet success story!

I’ve been using your simplified early retirement spreadsheet now for the last 8 years. I have obviously tweaked it some to reflect our income and estimated expenses, but it still works great! I have also shared this with friends!

Yes!! Brilliant! Especially that last part. As a good friend of mine likes to say, “never keep knowledge to yourself – share it!”

I asked Kristy if she’d be willing to share her tweaked spreadsheet for us to gander, and she not only obliged but also gave us some juicy background on along with it :)

• You can find her spreadsheet here: Kristy’s Early Retirement Spreadsheet
• And my original one here if you want to compare: J$ FIRE Spreadsheet

SPOILER ALERT: Her and her husband’s net worth is right around $1.5 Mil (nice!!) and looks like they’ll hit FIRE at 58 (they’re in their 40’s now).

Take it away Kristy!

*********

I graduated college in 2000 and started working as a chemist making $36,000 per year. I had met my husband the year before, just a boyfriend at the time. We decided to quit the corporate world and move to the beach!

He worked at a liquor store and I waited tables for a few months. Then I found an apprenticeship job, as a real estate appraiser trainee. I decided to go for it and become a real estate appraiser as I hated the chemistry field and there were no jobs at the beach for chemistry at that time. My husband ended up managing the liquor store where he was just an employee and has been doing that ever since!

I got the education, experience, etc working as an appraiser for two years. Then I decided to switch and start appraising commercial properties. I continued my education and eventually received my MAI designation. This is the highest designation for real estate appraisers. This was in 2009.

I stayed with my company for 11 more years. I made pretty good money for a commercial appraiser, though it varied from $90,000 to $120,000 per year. In 2020 I quit my job and started my own real estate appraiser firm. I make about the same and work half as much… it’s awesome!

My husband went to college and obtained a finance degree. He worked at Vanguard for about a year (J$: Dream job!! :)). He started us investing in retirement at our first jobs. He taught me about finances, saving, investing, etc. over the years. Eventually we hired a financial planner. I know about the fees, but it has been worth it for us. We just don’t have the time anymore to handle our investments.

Current age: 44, my husband is 46. We have two kids, 17 F and 14 M. We will not be paying for college for both kids, but have been saving money since they were babies for college. We were able to save roughly $50,000 per kid.

We do have a house within walking distance to the beach and it’s our only debt. No car payments, no CC debt, no other debt.

I have attached the spreadsheet I have been using. Have fun with it!

*******

*******

What a journey! From chemist to beach to waiting tables to apprenticeship to business owner! Not to mention a hearty mix of liquor and finances in there from her hunky husband, haha…

Always interesting what life has in store for us despite our own plans :) And of course, as they show, how much power WE have to change our own direction as well! Nothing stopping us from making big moves TODAY if we really want something. And it doesn’t even have to be something major either like a move to the beach or cross-country trip or whatever… Sometimes just taking that first step to *anything* feels good. And the flow might take you exactly where you need to go from there!

Awesome story, and awesome spreadsheet. Thanks so much for sharing with us, Kristy. And again, you can find her spreadsheet here if you want to download and tweak it yourself: Kristy’s Early Retirement Spreadsheet

To first steps!

PS: Here’s the original article if you missed it years ago –> The Early Retirement / Financial Freedom Spreadsheet. I created a *super* simple spreadsheet to tell me generally what I was looking at FIRE-wise, and then my man and fellow $$ blogger Go Curry Cracker got a hold of it and made some of his own tweaks which you can also find included there. Hope it helps!

[This post, Kristy’s Early Retirement Spreadsheet, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Got this note recently, and it reminded me what a difference adding a little color to things can make ;)

Hi Jay,

I just wanted to take the time to thank you for the free template that I found on YouTube.

I think this will get me to value money a lot more and I really like how you used “sexy income” because I think it’s a great mindset shift to make when valuing money and finance.

Thanks again. I’m really looking forward to using this everyday! I think I might add-on a daily log of my expenses and also even enter notes as to why I decided to take on that expense.

Take care.

David

Love it!

And as you can see from the snapshot up top the spreadsheet is nothing fancy, but boy – look at all that color!! Literally and figuratively! Lol..

I remember seeing a similar one 15 years ago before I even started this blog and wow did it make all the difference in the world to me. Again, not because it was set up differently or better or anything, but just because it was so bold and happy and *inspiring* looking! It taught me you don’t always have to stick with the tried and true (and boring!) with this stuff. It’s fine and it’ll work, but you’ll have a MUCH better chance sticking with it if you have some fun along the way :)

And how cool this guy wants to take it a step further and add in expense logs* to it?! It’s all about adapting it to your own needs for better motivation… In fact, this entire spreadsheet was built out of that same one I found all those years ago, just tweaked more to my liking with the colorful words and addition of a built-in net worth tracker! Which was the element that REALLY kept me going year after year, until I eventually just focused on that part only and got rid of my budget altogether

At any rate, you can check out this spreadsheet, and download it (for free), below if you’re looking for a new one… I always recommend *manually* tracking your finances for at least 3 months until you get a good sense of it all before moving to more automation:

J’s Financial Snapshot Spreadsheet

And be sure to tweak it away! There are no rules with this stuff – it’s your world, baby!! Do what you need to do to stay motivated

*The expense logging reminded me of another idea: adding notes to your net worth timeline! Here’s what mine looked like back in April of 2019 – it’s an interesting exercise to go down :)

And here some other juicy extras you can track in your spreadsheet as well:

• Your FI date
• Your credit score
• Your Debt-to-income ratio
• Your Lifetime Wealth Ratio (Net Worth ÷ Total Lifetime Income Earned!)
• Net Worth forecasts
• And my personal favorite –> the years left until your expected death ;)

Happy tracking!!

[This post, Sexy income., was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Good morning!

So after rejoicing in all my kids’ challenge accomplishments last week, I was feeling a bit left out and wished someone had granted ME a challenge I could try too ;) And particularly, one around exercising more as I’m now 20 pounds overweight from all the meds I’m on!

And then out of nowhere, BOOM – a challenge fairy swooped by and dropped off a doozy in front of me:

The 100/day #PushupChallenge:

100 push-ups every day, for an entire month – eek!

At first I hummed and hawed as it seemed like A LOT, but then I did what you always do when you secretly want to do something but are too scared to commit – I tweeted it out loud ;) And just like that, I got dozens of accountability partners and it was on!

So as of November 1st, the push-up challenge has officially been activated and so far it’s been going brilliantly… I’ve knocked out all 100 of them each day so far (amazing what you can do when you actually try hard enough!), I’m motivated, I feel like I’ve got way more energy, my confidence is up, and I’m actually having some fun! Exercising – hah!

But best of all – my family started seeing what I was doing and now they’re in on the action too :)

So what started out as a simple personal challenge, has now turned into a community of 20+ of us doing it together and cheering each other on – so cool.

We even have a spreadsheet tracking it all like nerds ;)

[Add in your own name and join us!]

It reminds me of my early days in the PF community… Where you stumble across a whole new world and one challenge leads to another, and then before you know it it’s gone on to completely change your entire life :)

Which I know is a long shot here since exercising really does NOT interest me and we’re only on day #3, lol, but I can see how the community and side effects of it all might change my mind. Or at least get me into the HABIT of exercising more which is really the ultimate point of it all!

The push-ups aren’t going to do much to my weight, but it IS getting me going so far, and if there’s one thing I know about myself it’s that I’m really good at habit stacking once I get rollin’. One of the guys doing this with us has even added *other* exercises to the challenge which I can totally see myself doing later too!

One habit leads to another, and then another, and then before you know it it’s just your usual routine!

This is the hope with it all, at least :) Perhaps next week I’ll burn out and have to come back here and delete this whole post, haha, but in this moment I’m feeling good and really hopeful it’s the start of a brand new (healthy) me.

If you need a push too, come on over and join us!! Just add your name to our spreadsheet or follow along on Twitter and we’ll gladly welcome you aboard.

Even if you can’t do the full 100, *any* will work as again, it’s the habit we’re really going for here. And if you prefer to stick with *money* tracking instead, I’ve got some goodies for you there too!

• The “Financial Snapshot” Spreadsheet
• The Early Retirement / FI Spreadsheet
• The “When Can You Retire” Spreadsheet (pay particular attention to the “years to live” line, lol…)

Whatever your mission though, JUST BE SURE TO TRACK IT ALL!!!

It’s all in the tracking…

and the starting…

and the wanting…

and especially in the surrounding yourself with accountability partners…

It’s never an overnight thing though. Big goals take daily practice and commitment. But one day compounds to more days, and before you know it you’re a rock star millionaire with 6 pack abs becoming the best version of yourself you can be ;)

And I don’t know about you, but that’s sexy as hell.

Let’s get it.

UPDATE: It looks like I had tried this challenge over 10 years ago too! But never made it past Day 1, lol.. I’m proud to say this time around we’re much better, now going into week 3 without a single day missing it ;) It’s actually getting easier as the days go by – I’m already feeling stronger!

UPDATE 2: Mission completed!!! Over 72,000 push-ups combined from the community and the habit has now sunken in… So much easier to do with other people joining and cheering you on :) Month #2 of challenges will be 100 SQUATS a day – spreadsheet here if you want to join/track! #LETSGO

[This post, The 100/Day Push-up Challenge 💪, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

[Hey guys! Re-sharing this post from I Dream of FIRE back in the day because not only is it just damn good, but it’s also something I’ve never stopped thinking about ever since first reading it… I see these “desire paths” everywhere now and they’re so fascinating! See how many you can find in your community!]

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Near my house there are two well-worn dirt paths through the grass.

The first cuts just a dozen feet from one sidewalk to another, and the second travels down a small slope to meet up with an asphalt park trail below.

I live in a master planned community, where the roads, trails and sidewalks are meticulously designed and maintained to direct travelers along a predetermined route.

Yet the people who take those dirt paths have a different idea.

Anywhere you walk, you can almost always find these bare dirt paths leading away from the pavement. They may be a few feet long or hundreds of feet, but enough people have taken this same unofficial route that it has become an obvious option – the proverbial road less traveled.

We often just call these shortcuts – and indeed Wikipedia suggests they are often “the shortest or most easily navigated route between an origin and destination” – but they have an official name in the urban planning lexicon: Desire paths.

Desire paths are not created by design; rather, they are the natural result of people who look around and see a better way to get where they’re going. Over time, as these trailblazers prove this new route’s success, the path becomes visible even to those who wouldn’t naturally think to take it. Now they can see there is another way, and they can choose to follow it or stick with the more conventional path.

Clearing The Way

I heard about desire paths on the 99% Invisible podcast and was immediately smitten with the name and concept. The phenomenon originates in urban planning, but it also crosses into technology. Twitter’s hashtags and @ mentions were not functions created by Twitter’s developers, but rather conventions it adopted after seeing how its users were communicating with one another.

It’s also a perfect metaphor for the FIRE movement.

What we’re seeing now with the proliferation of personal finance blogs and podcasts that have a financial independence and early retirement theme is a digital desire path. Enough trailblazers have proven there’s a faster way to get where they are going – a shortcut to retirement – and we can choose whether to break from the expected path and follow their lead.

Is that the right choice for everyone, however? Of course not.

But there are some who spy that developing shortcut and think, “I’ve got better things to do with my time than take twice as long to get where we’re all going.”

The Pioneers, The Early Settlements, And The Railroad

Perhaps the most famous desire path in the U.S. is the Oregon Trail. From 1840-1880, nearly 400,000 people loaded up wagons and headed west to a brave new world.

“As the Oregon Trail evolved, thousands of wagons wore ruts into the ground that acted as an ad-hoc road for the settlers who followed. But they didn’t follow a single solid path. Rather, wagon wheels left ruts across the country as pioneers found various shortcuts and easier routes along the way.” –  Smithsonian Magazine

There were desire paths sprouting from desire paths – just as there are many paths to early financial independence! (By the way, do you know where The Oregon Trail officially began? Independence, Mo. How’s that for an FI tie-in?)

So obvious was the success of The Oregon Trail, along with other similar trails, that it became a more permanent path that future travelers would take as riders on the Transcontinental Railroad.

The history of the financial independence/early retirement movement is very similar. As Early Retirement Dude writes in his brilliant “The History of the FI/ER Movement (2.0)”:

“It hasn’t been that long since anyone who was pursuing it was operating in a near-total vacuum: one where you had to collect and assemble your plan’s components without much, if any, outside help… You’re living in a perfect storm: a moment in history when circumstances have never been more favorable for achieving financial independence and early retirement.”

He talks about the early pioneers whose footsteps today’s FI seekers walk in. People like Amy Dacyczyn, Vicki Robin, Joe Dominguez, Jacob Lund Fisker, and those posting on early-retirement.org. Their contributions in the form of “The Tightwad Gazette,” “Your Money or Your Life” and Early Retirement Extreme were the original waypoints along the trail where travelers could stop to rest and commiserate. They inspired others to keep going.

There’s No Stopping an Ingenious Mind With a Deep Desire

Later travelers of The Oregon Trail created alternate routes from the original path to shorten the trail or to get around obstacles. These “cut-offs” would themselves become established options for those who came behind them.

In the FIRE community, people like The Mad Fientist guide people in tax optimization and Roth conversion ladders – laying out cut-offs for financial obstacles others just accept as part of the journey.

Many of the voices in the personal finance community are software engineers and entrepreneurs – people whose nature is to create something from nothing. Such was the constitution of the pioneer stock, who were undeterred by what was because they saw what could be.

The FIRE writers, bloggers, podcasters, and forum members are the equivalent of the Transcontinental Railroad. They offer a proven, relatively safe, way to reach an endpoint at a speed once thought impossible. Big names like Mr. Money Mustache help spread the word and get curious people thinking about what such a trip might be like. His “The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement” article is essentially a railway fare board, showing people the price of a ticket to freedom and a life they currently only dream about.

But, of course, there are many vehicles and routes to financial independence. Not every path suits every person or every situation.

Which Brings Us Back to Desire Paths

We may share many of the same predictable, paved roads along the way. But each of us has a chance to pick up our head, look around, and decide which way we’ll go. For some, that rock-solid sidewalk with its well-defined edges and overhead lighting is soothing and secure.

For others, the allure of a well-worn path and a little adventure is a chance too hard to pass up. And then there are still those who envision an entirely new way to their dream destination, whose desire to create one may someday inspire others to follow.

This passage from Robert Frost perhaps says it best:

“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

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I Dream of FIRE is written by an early 40s married father of two adult stepchildren and a 10-year-old daughter. He works in financial education and coaching, and explores the realities and challenges of seeking financial independence with a family.

[Desire path up top via Duncan Rawlinson / Others by the author and Google Maps]

[This post, Desire Paths: The Unconventional Way to Live Your life, was first published by Guest Author on Elite Edge Money]

Good morning!

Got a great guest post for y’all today by a long-time reader of the blog, Adam, who I once had lunch with back in 2017 as his money and mind was morphing…

He had written me the first part of this story years ago, and then it sat in my inbox until we re-united last month with the news of Budgets coming back ;) I asked him how things have changed since, and wow did I get an answer! Which is what Part II of today’s post will cover…

Always amazing how much life can change in only a short amount of time! And also what can happen when you go ALL IN on yourself! Though cashing in all of your investments for a dream like this takes a whole extra level of boldness ;)

If you ever wanted to know what it’s like to open up your own gym though, or to go from being stressed out and in debt to FIRE’d, this one’s for you! Take it away, Adam! And looking forward to checking it out in real life sometime soon

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 Phase 1: The Finances
(July 1, 2011 – March 3, 2017)

It was July 2011. I was $50k in debt ($40k in graduate student loans and $10k in car loans). I had my own group fitness training business in Bethesda, MD. I was 24 years old and ready to take on the world. I wanted to make money and be successful just like my dad who had his own business.

I would get upset when my clients wouldn’t get the results they initially talked to me about before joining my program. It took about 6 months to realize health and fitness was not everyone’s top priority. Some clients just wanted to talk, others wanted to check a workout off their daily to-do list, some wanted to look good for the summer or their partner. But the vast majority were just regular people trying to release some endorphins before they had to go back to their high stress jobs and lives.

I was good at reading my clients. So, I became what they needed to feel good for that one hour of their day.

It turns out that being everything for everyone though, and providing a positive experience for all of my clients at all times, is not realistic – who knew?

In hindsight, this was the worst thing I could do because it was so draining. At the time, all that mattered was the money coming in and to keep the money coming in meant sacrificing myself for my clients. I maintained the status quo and it worked.

I grew my business. I would literally do back flips during workouts and display crazy amounts of energy to keep my clients motivated. People kept signing up. I couldn’t stop. I was addicted. I loved signing new people up – I would hear the sound of the cash register ring every time someone entrusted me with their health and fitness.

My favorite part was faxing in the customer’s contract (yes, I used a fax), but I learned very quickly that I didn’t like waking up everyday way before the sunrise and not finishing work until after sunset. I am a creature of habit so the routine kept me on track, but I knew this was not sustainable. I painted myself into a corner, and I didn’t know what to do to get myself out.

The Plan

In an attempt to get myself out of debt, I found Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps as well as 4 blogs that changed my life: Mr. Money Mustache, JLCollinsNH, The Mad Fientist and Elite Edge Money.

These men helped mold my life and provide a blueprint to reach this new concept of Financial Independence (FI). I devoured every piece of content from these guys that I could find. Finally, I had hope again. After all, the Bible says, hope deferred makes the soul sick.

I knocked out my $50K of debt in less than a year!

After getting out of debt, the plan then was to accumulate 25 times annual expenses so I could live off of the 4% safe withdrawal rate – a hypothesis deemed safe by the Trinity Study. I knew I could live off of $40k per year so my arbitrary goal was to save $1 million dollars. I was fired up!

Once a game plan is laid out, I become very “coachable.” I played sports all of my life including football and track in college. I like having a plan, a direction, a purpose. My purpose was to step off of the hedonic treadmill to live a life on my own terms.

I decided that my money needed to start working for me, so I talked with an advisor and opened up my first IRA.

Because I was a business owner, I elected to open a Simple IRA. I also opened a Roth IRA. I was in a front loaded 5.75% mutual fund for about a year before I made the switch to Vanguard in July of 2013 into Vanguard’s Total Stock Market Index (VTSAX) for ALL accounts (Simple/Roth and HSA). Best decision I have made. Thanks Jack Bogle! [Editor’s note: This is where my $$$ is too ]

Training clients was on auto-pilot by this time. There were so many days I remember sitting in the personal training office reading my personal finance blogs and wishing and praying to escape this torture. Some days felt like an eternity. I thought nothing would ever change.

Little did I know, big things were actually happening. My mindset was shifting. I was fortifying an idea that few people are willing to put the work and sacrifice in to achieve. The math for FI is easy, but the discipline it takes to achieve is not.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

– Hebrews 12:11

My main objective since opening up my retirement accounts has been to max everything out. A high savings rate coupled with time in the market will help any person achieve FI. Things start off really slowly. But, I could feel a transformation happening. I knew the eventual outcome was going to help me lead a much simpler life. A life on my terms.

Freedom was the objective. Money was the tool to help me get there.

I was still burning both ends of the candle though. I was growing my business and saving for FI at such an aggressive rate that I sacrificed everything else including relationships and my own mental well-being.

My body was breaking down. I started experiencing chronic pain. I attended 36 doctor visits in 7 months. My life was spiraling out of control, and I didn’t know what to do.

At this point, I was ready to jump and build the proverbial parachute on the way down. I was in a great financial position as a 29 year old, so I decided to try my hand at semi-retirement. I actually didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing anymore, and the fear of staying the same was greater than the fear of change. So, I changed.

In February of 2016, I quit the personal training gig and started my first semi-retirement.

It’s funny how things start to align when you are living a life true to yourself. I soon found another opportunity where I could get people excited about fitness but not have to coach them, found two real estate opportunities that I jumped on, and continued maxing out my IRAs.

It’s been a little over a year and everything has not worked out perfectly, but I am so happy that I jumped. I now do some freelancing/personal training on the side when I want and I am starting to live a life of purpose. I am following my passions again and now have the capacity to be picky when it comes to work. I only want to do things that excite me.

Phase Two: The Gym
(June 5, 2017 – Present Day)

After a year of mini-retirement, I was finally ready to jump back in and do more work that mattered to me. My educational background is in Public Health which is all about primary prevention through accessibility. I decided what better way to enact change than to open up a gym?

Luckily, my soon to be business partner shared similar values and had over 20 years of experience in the gym business as well. We teamed up in June of 2017 and started our journey together.

We wanted to have multiple studios under one roof all led by coaches.

It would include a CrossFit gym, boot camp studio, Olympic weightlifting area, as well as an entire free weight/cardio section that members had access to called “open gym” with memberships costing between $59 – $79 a month (a 50-60% discount for this type of training in our area).

We also wanted to bring on a multitude of health and fitness practitioners including trainers, physical therapists, massage therapists etc. so that they could work in tandem with one another to actually help clients achieve their goals.

The concept was simple. Make it affordable. Make it look awesome. Help A LOT of people.

This was our way of intertwining public health with the gym. The goal was lofty, but if done correctly, could help usher in a new primary prevention care facility of the future.

In January of 2019, we finally opened our doors to our 20,000 sq ft facility in northern Virginia with the idea of making training affordable.

We poured everything we had into this business.

I liquidated everything: my Roth IRA, Simple IRA, HSA, Savings, etc. My business partner did the same, and without his major contributions we couldn’t have done it!

When it was all said and done, we were well over 7 figures into the business. We went ALL in and burned all the boats (this is not financial advice – please consult with a financial professional if ever faced with a similar decision!!).

As they say in business, everything takes twice as long and it’s twice as expensive as anticipated. However, we pre-sold enough memberships to cover the massive rent and utilities costs as well as the paychecks for our trainers.

Work consisted of long 12 -14 hour days for the first two years which included one year of building out the gym from scratch and getting all the necessary county permits to operate the business, and another year to get the business profitable.

Truth be told, those two years were some of the best years of my life. We often laugh at all the stupid things we did as well as the money mistakes we made, especially when the county makes you install two 50 Ton HVAC units and the landlords only allotted a $50,000 HVAC credit leaving us with an $85,000 bill. Business is fun!

Fast forward to the present day, Halo Fitness Experience/CrossFit 703 in Burke, VA is still providing affordable training.

We have a multitude of different health care professionals all working together to get our athletes healthier and happier.

Every year, we choose to donate to a charity that our community backs. In the past 4 years, we have donated over $70,000 to charities such as Shelter House, Charity:Water, Anti-Trafficking International, and Convoy of Hope.

Taking a leap of faith all of those years ago, albeit scary, has put a calling on my life. It reminds me of my favorite bible verse:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

-Romans 8:28

So, the question you are all probably wondering if you made it this far is, “Was it worth it?”

For me, yes. Having a business running that’s not dependent on me or my business partner doing everything is worth every penny invested.

If we wanted to take a week off to travel or 10, we could. The funny thing is, we tend to show up to the gym everyday because we love what we do.

By F.I. standards and according to the 4% rule, I am financially independent. My monthly expenses are around $3,500 per month which are covered by the business returns. F.I. is great, but I am forgoing the R.E. portion for doing the work I love. Besides, we want to open more gyms!

I talk to so many people who feel trapped in their dead end jobs, and I remember that feeling. It’s not fun. I want to encourage you that there is hope. It won’t be like this forever. You can take steps to change your life. However, unless you’re fired up, and willing to make a change, progress won’t happen.

– Adam

[This post, From Debt to FIRE’d and Building Out a Dream Gym 🔥, was first published by Guest Author on Elite Edge Money]

Let’s be honest, ANY paycheck is a good paycheck…

But sometimes, an extra special payday rolls around and the money makes you feel absolutely on top of the world! It’s not about the size of the check but rather *how and when* the money is received that makes it stand out.

Here’s a countdown of the best 9 paychecks in the world, ranked by how awesome they make you feel… 

9. Payday when you are on vacation

You’re sitting there, poolside, sipping on a pina colada… as you reach down to grab your cell phone, a message pops up on your banking app: “Cha-ching! You just got PAID!” You’d forgotten all about what day it was because you were too busy relaxing on vacation.

The feeling of getting paid while doing nothing on vacation is awesome (even though you know in the back of your head that you busted your ass to earn time off and that paycheck) because it’s a glimpse into what future financial independence feels like!

8. Payday falling on your birthday

It’s always fun when it’s Friday, your birthday, AND payday all at the same time. Three separate celebrations, all coming together on one glorious day!

(What are the chances of having a payday on your actual birthday?   I thought the answer would be about 1 in every 14 years… But after researching a bit more, this is actually a really complex problem to solve given the weirdness of a perpetual calendar and the doomsday rule. Any math nerds out there care to figure this problem out?)

7. A random cash bonus (or tip!)

One of my old bosses stopped by my cubicle on a random Friday afternoon. He pulled out a crisp $100 bill from his pocket, placed it on my desk and said, “Thanks for all your hard work this week, Joel. Why don’t you knock off early and take your girlfriend out for a nice dinner.” I’ll never forget how appreciated I felt that day.

Teacher appreciation cash, thank you gift cards, large tips in the service industry… Random acts of kindness combined with cash = A GREAT DAY!

(Not to mention when you get a CASH gift – usually you don’t pay any taxes. Double bonus!)

6. The paycheck you forget about

You know when you do contract work for someone, or maybe you lend money to a friend that’s hard to collect on… After chasing payment for a few months, you kind of write off the money and put the whole experience out of your mind…

Then out of nowhere one day, a check shows up! You think to yourself, “Dang! I’d forgotten all about that!” What a great feeling that all is right in the world again.

5. First paycheck from a new side hustle

Whether it’s making your first $1 online or picking up a new side gig to increase savings, getting that first initial paycheck is such an empowering feeling.

No matter the size, first paychecks are proof that your ideas and efforts are paying off. Hustling can be hard (which is why most people don’t do it!), so the rewards are truly well earned and they taste sweeter because you’re earning money on your own terms.

4. The biggest, baddest paycheck you’ve ever received

I know I said size didn’t matter, but in this case it does. Massive paychecks are memorable moments!

I remember the first massive commission check I ever made. It was like $30k, paid in a lump sum after finally bringing in a huge new client for my company. The sale took ~18 months, countless client meetings and problems to solve, but all my effort was worth it in the end.

Selling a house, your business, or another big investment has the same big paycheck feeling. When the money hits your account, you have to do a double-take because the balance is so unusually high… What a great feeling! (Until you “spend” the money a few days later by moving it into your brokerage account. )

3. First rent check from a rental property

Buying a rental property takes a TON of time and effort. Not to mention a pretty hefty down payment saved up from years of hard work.

There’s a lot to be excited about when real estate investing, but there’s no better feeling than the day your first incoming rent check hits your bank account. Ideally, tenants are paying down your mortgage, as well as giving you some excess cash flow for the month. It’s time to celebrate!

2. Your final debt payment!

Being in debt means a portion of everything you earn is going to someone else. Credit cards, auto loans, student loans, etc. all have interest payments that can hold you back and make you feel trapped.

Well, when that last paycheck rolls in and it’s applied to your final debt payment, the freedom feeling is euphoric. It makes you want to SCREAM with joy. In fact, Dave Ramsey built an entire show about having people share their feelings and give a debt free scream!

Congrats to all of you who have achieved and felt this. Truly, you are amazing.

1. Any PASSIVE paychecks after achieving FIRE

And the No. 1 best paycheck you can receive is ANY and ALL paychecks that come to you passively, fully covering your cost of living.

The road to financial independence is loooooong. It requires hard work, sacrifice, and consistency. But all that hard work pays off when you’ve built enough investments to provide a passive income stream for the rest of your life. At that point, you never have to work for money again — if you don’t want to.

What did I miss? Any of you guys celebrating any of these right now!!?!?!

Have a great weekend, y’all!

Love, Joel

[This post, The 9 Best Paychecks in the World 🏆, was first published by 5am Joel on Elite Edge Money]