Reaching Financial Independence

It is possible to reach financial independence, but there is no secret formula.  What you need to do (and you probably already know this) is to work hard, save your money and follow these steps.

First up is GET OUT OF DEBT!  Our society makes it easy for us to get into debt with credit cards and everybody wanting it now, but debt kills.  You pay more in interest than what you may have purchased.  And it compounds over time.  And being in debt stops you from saving money.

Other than your mortgage (you get a tax break), all other debt does nothing for you, so get rid of it as quickly as possible.  Cut up those cards, purchase only necessities.  Work with someone to reduce that debt and you will feel so much better when you no longer have to pay.

Just think if you pay off that car loan, student loan, credit card, then maybe you can start paying more into your mortgage.  Before you know you will have no debt.  And believe me that feels very good.  I k now I can sleep better at night knowing that I don’t have the worry of where I am going to get money to make those payments.

Photo courtesy of Vecteezy

Next CUT THOSE EXPENSES!  I’m not talking about the necessities like food, shelter and clothing, but do you really need a brand new car, eat at a five-star restaurant or own a house too big for you? The answer is no.  In previous posts I’ve mentioned how we cut costs and save money.  That’s what needs to be done.

We are down to one car and it is 4 years old.  We’d have paid it off already, but my wife got an interest free loan, so we didn’t and use that money elsewhere.  You don’t have to starve yourself to ne financially independent, but you can save put really putting an effort in how you grocery shop.  There are savings out there.  There are many times when I’ve cut my grocery bill in half by using coupons (both paper and digital) and buying BOGOs (buy one get one free).  I also have a grocery list so I do not buy on the fly.

You may love to eat out at restaurants, and guess, what food is food.  You can find a decent restaurant that makes a decent steak (if that’s what you like) and no need to go to an expensive restaurant.  You may love taking a lot of vacations.  We do, and save in advance for every one of them.  If we don’t have the money, we don’t go on vacation.  We also find inexpensive ways to travel and enjoy ourselves.

My wife and I both work from home, but we used to commute.  Commuting expenses were a big chunk of our money.  Suggestion, if you cannot telecommute, try moving closer to your job.

Now that there are many options out there, you can cut cable, change to a cheaper phone plan, cut your own hair, cut your own lawn, and cancel magazine subscriptions and even subscription boxes (which seem to be the craze lately).  I’m sure you can find a way to eliminate a lot and save.  Then take that savings and put in the bank or invest it.

You’ve cut those unneeded expenses, so what’s next.  INCREASE YOUR INCOME.  How can you do that, you may ask?  You could always ask for a raise.  If you love your job, you could stay the course and, work hard, maybe get a promotion, and increase your salary.  You could look for another job with a better salary.  That’s up to you.

You can also take on a side gig?  Maybe, there is something you enjoy doing as a hobby that could make you some extra cash.  Maybe there’s a weekend or seasonal gig that you want to do.  Who knows?  Just look at yourself and see what matters to you.

SAVE YOUR PENNIES.  And your dollars too!  You’re making money and cutting expenses.  What’s next?  Save as much as you can.  Don’t go for that 10% of your income, but try for more.  The more you save and the earlier you save, the bigger the pot will be when you are older.

INVEST.  If you have saved a lot of money and have an emergency fund.  (We all know what that is, right?)  Then maybe you should invest.  I am not a financial advisor and am only talking about what I have done.  Start small, and invest wisely.  Don’t think you will make a killing in the stock market.  I have an account at discount brokerage and invest in income generating stocks (those with big dividends).  If you are younger, you may want to invest in growth stocks or funds.  That’s totally up to you.  My IRA is mainly in growth funds because I want it to be big when I retire.

That about wraps it up.  Get out of debt, cut unnecessary expenses, make more money, save and invest.  Easy said than done.  That’s is correct.  You must have the right mindset to work at it.  If you want it you can achieve it.  Track your expenses.  Know your net worth.  Plan ahead.  I wish I had the mindset when I was younger.  Who knows what I could have accomplished.  No crying over spilled milk.  I am doing it now, still enjoying life, living frugally and reaching for financial independence.

Saving on Shampoo

Since I mentioned ways of not wasting money in my last post, I just wanted to show how we also save some money.  In that post, it was mentioned that it was a waste of money to buy Salon products as Suave shampoo does the trick and cheaply at that.  I rarely buy shampoo or conditioner.  Why?  Because we travel a lot and hotels always have those little tubes of shampoos, conditioner and body cream and I always take them.  Well, not the body cream (don’t use much of that).  Also, the little bars of soap, since we bring our own soap.  And if it piles up in our home, then we would donate it.  So that saves us some pennies during the year.

Yes, I also take the coffee (not the tea since we rarely drink tea) and the hot beverage condiment packets.  The packets are great for when we go camping.  See nothing goes to waste in our household.

Keep on reading my blog on other tips or tricks on how I save.  That’s me, Mr. Frugal.

20 Ways To Stop Wasting Money - Reading Another's Blog and adding my thoughts

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I recently read a blog article from A Binge Worthy Life about way to stop wasting money.  There were 20 to be exact.  Although, I subscribe to many of the ideas that were mentioned, I thought I would go through the list and give my thoughts on those money wasting actions.

via GIPHY

First on their list was greeting cards.  Greeting cards are expensive and it is a shame that many people don’t even kept cards that they receive for any amount of time.  She suggest making your own.  That’s a great idea if you have kids.  Or buy the cheap ones from the Dollar store.  What we do it subscribe to an online card company and print our own.  It’s a year fee, and you make it up, especially if you print a lot of cards.  Not only that, you can customize and personalize the cards.  I believe people appreciate them more, but that’s my opinion.

#2 is cable.  Get rid of cable.  I think many of us have gotten addicted to cable television when it first came out and now we seem to be a slave to the cable company and pay up the wazoo.  With so many digital options today, cable has some composition.  My daughter has never had cable and gets by fine.  So what are we going to do?  We’re going to start slow and get a Roku for one television to see how it works.  That will get a receiver rental and if all works out then we say goodbye to cable for good and save about $1,200 a year!

Moving right along to #3 are magazines.  I stopped my subscriptions years ago and read what’s online or at the library.  Don’t need no stinking magazines.

From magazines to books:  I used to collect books and had many of them.  And then I would get rid of them.  Rarely would I reread a book.  Turns out used book stores (do they still exist) wouldn’t give much for them.  Then I discovered paperbackswap.com, but then shipping costs were too much.  Since downsizing, not only books but life in general, I get my books from the library.  I don’t buy books either hard copies or digital.  If the library doesn’t have it, I can still request from paperbackswap.  But there are so many free book sites out there, like goodreads, librarything and netgalley, where you can win copies, that I don’t need to buy books to read.  Then there are little libraries all over the place where you can exchange books.  My town has about eight of them all around the town.

Next is Starbucks or other coffee houses.  Since I make my coffee at home and drink at home, we never go to a coffee house and if so, a coupon or gift card is how we save money there.  And only when we travel.  Speaking of traveling, when staying at a hotel they always supply free coffee anyway!

She mentions that bottled water is a waste.  Yeah, it is a waste of plastic.  One can buy bottled water so cheaply now, but the waste comes with the plastic.  We don’t drink bottled water at home, since we filter our water.  But I recycle the bottles of water at home to fill up once with filter water before recycling the bottles.  Bottled water comes in handy when traveling long distances.  Short distances we have our own larger reusable water bottles.

Manicures and Pedicures:  Since I don’t get either, no money spent there and now my wife cut back to only a few times a year.

#8 is Paper plates.  Who uses paper plates?  I understand they are great for picnics and barbeques, and are a time saver, but they are a waste of money.  I have no problem washing dishes and I don’t own a dishwasher!

#9 Individual bottles of soap.  I don’t buy liquid soap, so I am already saving money. Ha-ha!

#10 – Dryer Sheets. So she says they are a waste of money and also can cause harm to your skin because of chemicals.  I am not sure about the harm to skin but I am agreeing that they are a waste of money.  I see no different with my fabrics whether I sue dryer sheets or not.  So I think, I will stop buying them altogether.

#11 – Fabric Softener.  I don’t buy that either as I get the laundry detergent that already has it in it.  Saves money and space and garbage.

Staying with the laundry theme here, #12 is Laundry Detergent.  I am NOT going to make my own but I buy in the largest size when I have a coupon and when it is on sale.  Just check the price per ounce when buying and you can see the savings in buying bigger.

#13 is Salon Hair Care Products.  Don’t buy them.  If I buy shampoo and conditioner it is always Suave products.  But I get a lot of little bottles from hotels when we travel so I am saving big time there!

#14 – Name Brand Products.  There are some name brand products that are much better than the generic brand.  She doesn’t buy generic cereal or generic butter or cream cheese.  To me, there’s no difference, raisin bran is raisin bran. All you are paying for is the advertising.  Canned foods are similar.  The two things that I always buy Name brand is Q-Tips (nobody does it better) and if I feel like indulging, Oreo cookies (but that is rare, we bake our own cookies).

#15 – Name Brand Medication.  We don’t buy much medication, but when we do it is generic.  We don’t use it a lot so why waste the money.

#16 Dining in Restaurants.  Yes, that is a big dip into one’s budget and we’ve cut back a lot.  Eating healthy is expensive and we don’t do fast food restaurants.  We go out on special occasions, when there is a coupon/deal or when we are traveling.  I love to cook, so our grocery bill is bigger than our restaurant bill.

Almost done going through the list. We’re up to #17 – Shredded cheese.  Yes, it is convenient, but check out the cost per ounce and you’ll see you’re almost paying double then block cheese.  And I buy block cheese when there is a BOGO sale so it is even cheaper.  I can shred my own no problem.

#18 – Frozen TV Dinners.  The only ones we used to purchase were Weight Watchers and Lean Cuisine because they were cheap and we were trying to lose weight.  But now I just cook healthy and freeze extra proportions for the time when I don’t have the time to make a fresh meal.  And that’s not too often.

#19 – Pre-cut Fruits and vegetables.  Again, it is all about the convenience and you are paying up the wazoo for someone else to do your work for you.  I don’t buy precut produce.

Last but not least is Alcohol.  Now, that’s a tough one.  One would save a lot of money is one stopped drinking alcohol.  Me, I can get beer on BOGO sales and with Ibotta, I can get cash back which saves on buying liquor.

What are you ways to stop wasting money?  You can check A Binge Worthy Life to see the original post as she also has added tips.  Enjoy!

June Passive Income Recap

June is over and my passive income is better than the previous month.  Mostly because of dividend income.  I believe dividend income is the easiest income to obtain, as long as you have money to invest.  I’ve been putting a little away at a time for investing.

Other income was small and not much happening online.  Still collecting gift cards though.   I have added a spreadsheet which includes the first four months of the year.  Just for me to see how the whole year pans out.

 Overall, my net worth increased 1.69% of the previous month and 15.14% the previous twelve months.

July will be the first month that we will diligently track out expenses, because now my wife is interested in retiring early.  She has started to save her pennies and put more into her 401K.  More on this as time progresses.

The Achievement App - Get Paid to Be Healthy

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Get paid to be healthy! Join Achievement, connect apps, start earning. Use this link and we both get 250 points!

Achievement is a free service used by over 1.5 million members. You'll be able to see all your health apps in one place and earn points for activities you already do!

I started using it last week and already accumulated 1800 points just by walking, drinking my water, running and recording my sleep, heart rare and more!.  I am 18% towards reaching my first payout.

Toluna Influencers

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So many survey sites out there and they have to spread the wealth, I guess.  Another one that I have been a part of for so long and am thinking of in subscribing is Toluna Influencers.  In the past, they had more than just surveys.  You could apply to get samples, use your points to win gifties (games and sports items) and virtual prizes.  They are no longer doing that.

My biggest gripe is that your points expire.  I didn’t go on for a while and poof, my points were gone.  It’s like they want you to continuously take surveys to accumulate points.  And all they have to offer are gift cards and sweepstakes.  You have to get 30,000 minimum to get a gift card.  Since, I am not always eligible for certain surveys, it is a waste of my time to keep on trying just to a gift card.  I really liked using my points to possible win a game (I never did).

Between 2013 and 2014 I received $265 in cash and in 2016 I did get a $10 gift card.  But I lost a lot of points in 2015 since I wasn’t completing surveys and that put a damper on things.

Is anyone else a member and what do you think?  Me, I am saying good bye and moving on.

Why I Don't Invest in Real Estate

I’ve been reading a lot of blogs regarding FIRE (Financially Independent Retire Early) and I’ve noticed that many of them have included real estate in their equations.  Many have rental units that generate passive income.  It almost seems like a good way to make more money while not working for it.

Photo credit: Mike Yakaites

So why don’t I invest in real estate and rental properties?  With rental properties, I wouldn’t make a good landlord.  Since the law seems to be on the tenant’s side, I would be afraid to rent to a bad tenant.  And I don’t want to be that person that has to listen to every little complaint and fix every little problem.  I hate doing work inside my own home, but I do it.  I hate even paying more for a professional or handyman to do simple tasks.

There is a blog post that I read recently that sums up real estate expenses, and it is not for the lighthearted (me).  This blogger owns properties and had some unexpected expenses recently and lists them in his post.  Real estate expenses most be planned and prepared for.  It is not all easy money, that’s for sure.  Check it out here.

Now getting back to owning real estate that is not rental property.  I have owned three houses during my lifetime and it all didn’t end up to so well.  Our first home we purchased in the high market and although didn’t some minor work on it while we lived there (14 years), it sold for far less than we paid for it but at least it covered the remaining mortgage.  I had a second house that was once a summer cottage that has had so many problems (can you say money pit?) that I fear is not going to turn out well when and if it sells.  Finally, since we moved to another state, we have a modular home (or some say mobile home, but isn’t).  It was inexpensive, so no mortgage therefore no tax credit.  We thought this would be our forever home but are making plans to move again and are hoping once again to break even on this one.

Although, I have given up on owning real estate, I have been thinking of real estate crowdfunding.  Have anyone else checked into that and/or have investing in such?  This blogger is interested in knowing your thoughts.