What up, what up!

Happy New Year! Lol…

It’s me J$ – remember that guy?? Mohawk rockin’, FIRE wielding, personal finance nerd who went rogue and forgot all about his blog?!

Sorry about that. The rumors are false though as I am still very much alive, just living more in the “real” world than the online one :) I also don’t nearly think about money as much as I used to so I don’t have as much to say about it!

But lately a few things have reminded me of the joy of finance so I’m going to furiously try to type it all out before life pulls me back in again…

The best gift money gives you is not having to think about money.

Whenever I think about money this is the part I think about the most. How when you’re IN IT you’re solely focused and grinding and just spending all your hours being scrappy and hoarding as much as you can going for “your number”, but ironically once you hit it money drops wayyyy down on the priority list. At least if you’re doing it right, in my opinion. There are certainly millionaires and billionaires and trillionaires who most definitely want MORE no matter what goals they hit, but I am not one of these people. The only thing I want more of is tacos! Mmmm…

But once you activate “not needing any more ” status, life gets exponentially easier. Yes because you can afford stuff and don’t have to work as hard, but also just in mental energy alone. Whenever something breaks down, or you’re shopping for gifts for someone, or you simply just want to order WHATEVER YOU WANT off the menu without having to worry about being able to afford it (like tacos!!) you can do it! And don’t have to ask permission! This alone is one of the best reasons to save and invest early.

The other – much bigger benefit, of course – is because you then get to choose 100% for yourself what you spend your time on. AKA Freedom. And this is the part I’m reminded of at least three times a week when someone asks me what I do “for a living” as I’m standing there giving away free clothes left and right!

I used to say I was “retired” and just doing this on the side (I tried once saying I was FIRE’D but then they felt bad for me and asked if they could help me find a job! Lol), but now that the “side” project is no longer on the side and it’s become a 40-hour week “job” just without pay,  I now say I run my Free Closet as a job. Just without pay. It doesn’t save me from still having to answer a million questions on how I can afford to do so, but it’s great for reminding me of all the hard work Past J. Money put in in order to get Present J. Money to this stage here! What a guy! So I always welcome the interrogating :)

Speaking of this “new” project, it actually turned 1 year old last month!! And we’ve since hit over 50k items of clothing and essentials given out!! Crazy!

And remember how I was looking for a van or truck of some sort to have a “mobile closet” vs running it out of my minivan (which I still have! And you were right it grew on me!) ??? Well, none other than fellow blogger Gwen from Fiery Millennials stepped in and generously donated her huge Cargo Van to me so I can continue to do more good in the world!! How awesome and beautiful is that??!

[This is Gwen – who I love to embarrass :)]

And I can tell you that just from this action alone you know she is on her path to Freedom as well, forfeiting $5,000 she could have easily made selling it. Sure she got a tax deduction from it (of course – we’re still money nerds!) but I’m sure 2006 Gwen would not have been as gracious as 2026 Gwen :) Money opens up a world of opportunities like being able to give away money when you want to!!! lol…

Which brings me to the 2nd thing I’ve been working on lately…

The Arsenal of Good

Do you remember that goal I had where I wanted to donate $20/mo to 100 local organizations? Well I made it up to around 16 or 17 organizations I want to say, but recently decided to change my giving strategy back to *direct giving* for even more impact. No doubt spurred by my latest Free Closet project.

I cancelled 12 of the automatic donations (always automatic so you never have to reconvince yourself to give every month!) and redirected these future funds ($240) right into a new “community fund”, aka savings account, where I now distribute it to *individuals* I think could best benefit from it. It’s been great because it doesn’t “cost” me any more money than I’ve already allocated to it, but now I have an Arsenal of Good I can deploy at any given point in time! Some towards people who shop my closet each week (mostly unhoused friends), but also to young entrepreneurs trying to get projects off the ground where money is the only thing holding them back.

In the few months I’ve started this I’ve given out three no-interest micro-loans totaling about $2,000 (one to a baker, one to a photographer, and another to someone to fix their car for more employment opportunities). It’s been so fun exploring and keeping my eyes and ears open!

And the cool thing with these micro-loans is that the repayments will keep funding The Arsenal so I can continue to loan out more and more over time… And if they default? Well, that’s how it goes sometimes. I have no intention of ever fighting to get it back, it’s more about the responsibility and holding yourself accountable aspect. You tend to want to succeed more when you have skin in the game!

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And lastly in the world of J. Money’s errr… money, I may or may not have invested in some pretty risky investments lately!

“You need some Sexy on the side”

Someone once told me this years ago and I’ve never forgotten it. Having some “sexy” on the side basically means that you should do the smart boring stuff at least 90% of the time, but then make sure to save a little bit for fun too to stay sane! Whether in life, or career, or finances, or whatever. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and all that…

In that line of thought (and also because it’s fun to try something new!!) I invested $10,000 into three private companies over the past year+ that I have an “edge” in. I.E. I personally know the founders who all have insane track records. Two are in the VC (venture capital) world so I’m just begging to lose money, haha, and the third is with my old friend Ethan from Digit days who retired when he sold it, and then came out of retirement exploding with energy and wanting to BUILD again! He just launched the first product a few months back – HIRO Finance – and is having fun doing all the things he once dreamed up but which technology couldn’t do yet. Now with AI a lot of it is possible!

I don’t expect all of them to take off, but if just one does it’ll definitely pay off. And it’s just fun getting off the bench for a bit and being sexy again!

So that’s what I’ve been up to lately…

Thanks for being here whoever’s still left here, and hello to all new readers giving the blog a chance!! Sorry you found me during the end of my blogging career, lol, but hey – we got an archives of 1,800 posts if you want to start from the beginning and pretend it’s 2008 all over again! I’m sure most of the stuff there is still accurate today as money is essentially the same now as it was thousands of years ago:

Spend less than you earn, bank the rest, enjoy your freedom.

The trick is just staying motivated!! So keep reading and watching financial content out there, and then start experimenting and seeing what sticks! All you need is one or two things to go right and then you can pour fuel on the FIRE (sorry – I had to…)

And I’ll be here rooting you on, virtually and in spirit

Update on that AI company I started with Nate last year… It’s been added to the Resume of Fails!

Update on our general finances… it continues to climb, due to the 90% unsexy! AKA Index funds! I barely remember to keep our net worth updated, but I’m always glad when I do so it forces me to pause and reflect and change something if something needs changing… But I’ve long stopped budgeting

Update on my three boys – they are now 7, 11, and 13!! CRAZY!! It’ll really be a logistical challenge next year when we have one in elementary school, one in middle school, and one in high school (!!!)

[This post, The best gift money gives you., 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!

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“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.

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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.

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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]

Good morning!

Here’s an outline of tips and tricks I do to help me live my Best Life :)

I started putting it together for a possible book or PDF or something?, but I also just wanted a place that captures it all for easy reference later… If you like it, I’ll do an update as other ones come to mind!

It really is amazing how good habits can compound over time… Bad ones too, but we’ll save that list for another day ;)

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A bunch of things that have gone on to
change my life:

Money:

• Tracking my net worth
• Automating all bills
• Consolidating all banking
• Rounding up all debt payments/investments
• Using one credit card for everything (and paying it off monthly)
• Maxing out retirement accounts every year
• Storing all tax documents in one spot
• Tipping 20% no matter what
• Always keeping cash in my wallet (money clip)
• Always keeping a $20 bill in the car for emergencies

Shopping

• Always buying it if it’s a book
• Always buying it if it’s under $10.00
• Asking: “Would I rather have this thing or cash?” before any purchase
• Asking: “Would I wear this out the dressing room?” before any clothes purchase
• Shopping thrift stores for cheap fashion experimenting
• Always having a back up plan for stuff you buy
• Leaving all packages needing to be returned in the trunk so they’re always ready

Productivity:

• No coffee until you’re ready to do the “real” work!
• Answering emails in batches
• Answering emails with emojis and gifs (quicker *and* fun!)
• Answering emails via iPhone (more acceptable for writing less)
• Answering emails but *not sending* them until later (slows down the back and forth)
• Only keeping emails needing attention in the inbox (archive the rest)
• Setting calendar items for all your friends’ birthdays so you never forget (esp old college ones as time passes on…)
• Spending just 15 minutes to jump start the stuff you hate (you’ll often end up doing more once you get going!)
• Going “all in” when you find something you love (It may change later, so soak it all up while you’re excited!)
• Stacking habits for better efficiency
• Re-reading Essentialism every now and then

Household:

• Making your bed every morning
• Cleaning the litter every morning
• Putting away the dishes after every meal
• Doing a load of laundry every day
• Lighting a candle at dinner
• Keeping books easily accessible around the house
• Spritzing plants every day with water (easiest way to keep them alive!)

Clarity/Mind:

• No phone in bed!
• No phone *in front of other people*
• Wearing a watch so less times picking up the phone
• Keeping phone notifications turned off
• No working on the weekends
• No working at night
• Hitting inbox zero every day
• Waking up at 5am and getting the day started on your own terms

Kids:

• You can never love them too much!
• They’d rather play with YOU than a toy
• Keeping an “adventure bag” in the trunk (with extra clothes, toys, bathing suit)
• Keeping their scooters/skateboards in the trunk (for more sporadic adventures!)
• Going with the flow while playing, even if it’s not fun (they’ll quickly move on to something else!)
• Sticking to a loose schedule for play time, nap time, screen time
• Urging them to do as much as they can by themselves
• Bribing them if it leads to better habits
• Not letting them get free stuff at yard sales…

Minimalism:

• Keeping key chains minimal (house and car keys only)
• Keeping money clip minimal (only cash and cards)
• Keeping clothes to *only what fits in a suitcase*
• Giving every thing a “place”
• Keeping a box for all stuff that needs to go out
• Keeping all email accounts/website accounts/other accounts consolidated
• Removing areas of the house that accumulates stuff easily (usually flat surfaces)
• Walking around the house looking for stuff to declutter when bored
• When stuck on an item, asking: “Would I go out and buy this again?“
• Re-reading The Power of Less every now and then

Health:

• Banana and water in the mornings
• Cut up apples w/ peanut butter in afternoons
• Stop eating when 80% full
• 1-2 walks every day!
• 100 push-ups every day
• Brushing your teeth right after dinner so less temptation to snack/drink late night

Charity:

• Always saying “yes” when asked for money
• Giving the largest dollar bill in your wallet/purse/pockets
• Setting up *automatic* donations to organizations that matter most to you
• Becoming a Lifetime Member of the clubs you belong to
• Keeping your eyes consciously *open* for opportunities to help

Reminders to self:

• No one can ever take away your success!
• Freedom > Money > Stuff
• It’s either a Hell Yeah or a No – Sivers
• You can get equal happiness from stuff that costs money and stuff that doesn’t
• “Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage.”- We Bought a Zoo
• When in doubt, ask yourself: “Do I like who I am when I’m doing this?”
• “Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” – Earl Nightingale

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[This post, 75+ Things I Do That Improve My Life 🔥, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Good morning!!

So after devouring Gucci Mane’s autobiography last week – now one of my favorites – I quickly snapped up his most recent book hoping to get some more insight into his success, “The Gucci Mane Guide to Greatness.”

(FYI Gucci’s a platinum selling recording artist/rapper/producer)

Sadly it wasn’t nearly as good as the first one and very self-indulgent at times, but despite the half naked pictures of himself on every other page there were some great gems in there ;)

And I’ll admit, I probably didn’t get as much out of the book as others might due to being on a self-improvement kick for over a decade now. If you’re just starting out on your own personal journey it might just be the kick in the ass you need to turn up the burners!

Still, it was a quick read and kept my interest enough, and now it makes me want to work out LIKE CRAZY seeing how ripped you can get in a relatively short amount of time! He basically went from 300 lbs and on drugs the entire time in the last book, to now completely sober and 100 lbs leaner (!) just a couple of years later, now out of jail and OWNING his life.

And if he was dripping with confidence back then, you can only imagine how confident he feels now ;) (Hence – all the half-nude pics!)

It’s a pretty inspiring book on that regard, but only if you know the background and what a drastic journey he’s been on. Still, it gives you hope that you can really change your life if you want it enough and put in the time. He mentions over and over again there are no secrets to this stuff – which I liked to hear – however if you can commit and believe in yourself enough the world is at your fingertips.

Here were my favorite lines from the book – maybe they’ll inspire you too?

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You either practice quitting or you practice winning.

“Everyone’s going to fail at some point, so which one are you going to be? Are you going to be somebody who’s faking, not going hard, and making excuses? Or are you going to be the person who’s aware, who’s practicing and pushing yourself to do what’s right no matter what it is? I now know who I am and what I want to do. So stop underestimating yourself and just do it.”

(That last part is an important part – knowing WHO YOU ARE and what you want to do… It’s hard to chase something when you don’t know what you’re chasing or what you believe in.)

You can change the narrative.

“We are the authors of our lives. We are the writers of our own stories. We have the power to say who we are and what we want to be… If you don’t like the story you’re living, change the narrative.”

(Yes yes yes to all of this! If you’re not living the life you always wanted for yourself right now, change the story and make some moves! It doesn’t have to be like this forever – you have the power to change it up on *any* given day. Even today!)

The less you need the more you have.

All minimalists will appreciate this one ;) And it applies to more than just the “stuff” in our lives too. Specifically even FIRE! The less you need to live off, the less you need to save up/earn! An epiphany I had only a few years ago that completely blew my mind as common sense as it is. As Mr. Money Mustache famously stated:

“The most important thing to note is that cutting your spending rate is much more powerful than increasing your income. The reason is that every permanent drop in your spending has a double effect: it increases the amount of money you have left over to save each month, and it permanently decreases the amount you’ll need every month for the rest of your life.” – The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement

Every day is a chance to get better.

100% true. Learn from yesterday and do your best, but today is a brand new day and if you’re fortunate enough to still be on this Earth breathing, push yourself to make the best of it! Even if it’s just 1% every day! It all compounds, and the days are going to pass anyways…

Avoid lazy and miserable people.

This one’s so good:

“When you start living by this principle. You’re looking in the mirror and telling yourself, “Hey man, I expect a lot out of you.” You’re demanding the best out of yourself. You are your best asset. And when you get rid of people around you who might disrupt that, you stop being naive. You become more aware. A lazy and miserable mindset leads to a lazy and miserable life. So avoid lazy and miserable people.”

Pay attention to women. They are brilliant.

No further explanation needed :)

You’ve got to do more if you want more. There isn’t any secret to it.

YES!! You do average, you get average. You do less, you get less (generally speaking). Everybody wants to get rich and famous but not everyone wants to put the time in. Unless you’re Matthew McConaughey whose autobiography I’m reading now (so wild!!) you’re gonna have to up your game if you want anything extraordinary in this life. It doesn’t mean you have to hustle forever, but if you’re chasing something bigger than yourself you’re gonna have to buckle up and immerse yourself…

(I will say, though, that the one thing I did *not* agree with in this guide was the constant reminder to hustle hustle hustle and keep going after “more”. We all know you have to grind and some seasons will be longer than others, but at some point you have to be able to know when you’ve reached “enough.” I’m not sure Gucci will ever come to that part despite how successful he’s been.)

Never let being liked get in the way of being respected.

This is probably my favorite line of the whole book, but also one of the hardest to follow!

“Don’t compromise your principles or your integrity just to fit in or be liked. Don’t succumb to peer pressure or waver on what you stand for. Being respected is far more valuable than being liked. Not everyone is going to like you. That’s just the reality… If you are too focused on being liked, you start to make decisions that don’t reflect who you are. You start trying to please people. Once you start trying to please people, you lose sight of who you are and where you’re going.”

(And of course this is both true in terms of your actions, as well as your purchases. I.e. buying fancy clothes, cars, houses, etc to show off more than to enjoy… which there’s nothing wrong with if you genuinely like them and can afford ’em! But we all know people tend to over-extend themselves in the name of looking good and fitting in better with certain groups of people…)

Either do what you say or stop saying it.

Love this one too so much!!  Start doing something about it or stop complaining… As a good friend of mine likes to say, “I will listen to your complaints twice. Once right now, and one more time later. And then it’s done or solved, and you can’t complain to me about it again.” Complaining feels good, but it gets you nowhere… Either start doing something about it or keep it to yourself!

Nobody cares. Work harder.

Another great one:

“I got these words of wisdom from Lamar Jackson, quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens. I find myself saying it in my head all the time. I always go back to it, but it can’t really give you any solace. Because you’ve got to work hard. That’s what it is. It doesn’t matter if you’re sore, if you’re tried, if you’re behind on the bills. Nobody cares. You’ve got to keep going.”

(I like to think about it as “nobody cares” about your life as much as YOU do so take control and do your thing, but this interpretation works too… Nobody cares about what’s going on behind the scenes, they only want to see the results! And unfortunately to get to those results it takes a lot of hard work and pushing through the frustrations to achieve ’em… (as well as ignoring all the people who actually want you to fail!))

The world never stays in place…

“You can’t stay in place. The world never stays in place, so how are we going to stay in place? How can you be like, “Okay, I’m good.” Then two years from now, you’re going to be good? No. You’re not going to be good, man. There isn’t anybody who is secure in the world, man. The world keeps spinning. We could all fall off at any time… That’s why you need to be prepared, have a backup plan, and make today count.”

(And also why you gotta keep on adapting!! Your opinions and plans! Things change. You change. The world changes. If you’re constantly holding onto your old thoughts/habits you’ll be left behind while everyone else moves forward… Accept the changes around you and keep adapting!)

God blessed you with two ears and one mouth so you can listen twice as much as you talk.

“I’ve got more money. I’m way more calm. Life is way smoother. But when I didn’t have it, I made a lot more noise coming down the road. I wanted everybody to hear me… When you see a bunch of people, the loudest ones are usually the ones that don’t have anything going on. They’re the ones that want to start a mess. Everybody that’s got something going on, they’re calm. They’re respectful and nice.”

(Stealth wealth at its finest ;) There’s no need to draw more attention to yourself when you’re already winning! More listening, less yapping!)

And then lastly, here was just an interesting nugget I liked because you always assume singing or acting are peoples’ passions, but sometimes it’s just a means to an end:

“With my music, it was never about being a rapper or waking up making music. It was different for me. I didn’t start rapping at eighteen and immediately was dope. It wasn’t a childhood passion of mine, something I dreamt about as a kid. It was always, “How can I be creative enough to be productive enough to make a living off of rap? How can I turn my 2005 tax returns into a big one?” By 2007, it was, “How can I employ more people? How can I sign better artists?” The albums were just a tool to get me where I’m trying to get to, which is financial freedom. That’s how I always approached rapping.”

Well, it might not have been a dream of his but it sure is a helluva way to get to FI! And yet another reason to go “all in” if you’re really good at something, whether you’re passionate about it or not… Get as much as you can out of it, and then change it up later once you’ve capitalized on it all! Or keep going if you like the thrill of the hunt!

It’s pretty obvious Gucci likes the thrill of it all, so unless his mouth stops working one day I’m pretty sure we’ll continue hearing from him ;) Which I love – he’s a bit extreme, but it’s hard to deny how far he’s come. So thanks for putting it all out there for us, GM! And I’m glad you’re back at the top and staying there!

Here’s to all of us becoming better versions of ourselves… All we can really shoot for

*******

You can pick up the book here if you’re interested in it:

“The Gucci Mane Guide to Greatness“

(Though I’d recommend checking with your library first ;))

*Links to the books in this post are Amazon affiliate links

[This post, The Gucci Mane Guide to Greatness, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Good morning!

If you’ve found yourself in a continual loop of obsessing about the future lately, STOP IT!! Do not wish your days away! Today is more important!!

I know we all want to hit our millions and retire all proud of ourselves on the beach/tiny house/camper van, but don’t waste your precious God-given time waiting for it! It shall come and you shall be just as sexy when it does! :)

I had to remind my own self of this after getting an email asking for advice around precisely this same thing… It was in response to our book giveaway last week on financial fails (winners announced at the end of this post, btw!)), and here’s what it said along with my response back:

*****

“My biggest regret is not learning about FI, budgeting, saving till 30. I missed critical years in my 25-30 period which could have already made me FI…

The biggest problem I have now is, I cannot wait to get FI and leave my job. Makes it hard to concentrate. I know I should be kicking ass in my job, which I am but can do better. Leaving the job for now is not an option for my plan, but even with a 64% saving rate FI feels so far.

Have any words of wisdom to keep kicking ass in job while still knowing this is just a side step in the grand scheme?”

*****

I couldn’t think of anything at first, and then it hit me…

“Haha…

Not really, other than DON’T WISH YOUR LIFE AWAY!!!

Yeah FI is going to be great, but once you’re there you’re now gonna be X years older (if you’re even still alive!) so better to focus on the *daily* stuff and lifestyle, and then whenever you hit it you hit it… and I bet you find ways to enjoy life better so that once FIRE does come it’s actually not that much of a difference!

Daily happiness > future happiness”

*****

BOOM.

Was pretty proud of that last line ;)

But it’s true, right?? Who wants to age themselves like that just for the sake of more dollars or titles to their name? Who knows if we’ll even be ALIVE by the time we hit it too?!

And damn. He’s crushing it with that 64% savings rate – that is insane… I shoulda prob told him to slow down a bit and actually use up some of that money now too while he can, but didn’t want to get in the way of his killer system there…

Now it’s just maintaining his daily happiness until the future happiness hits! Which is bound to w/ a savings rate like that – only 10.5 years left according to Mr Money Mustache’s famous chart:

That other line I threw in there deserves some special attention too:

“I bet you find ways to enjoy life better so that once FIRE does come it’s actually not that much of a difference!”

This should actually be a prerequisite for ALL of us pursuing FIRE, and not that hard to do if you start years ahead and habit stack. Most things people want to do in their free time can easily be done today with a little finagling… Taking more walks, going fishing, golfing, traveling, volunteering, spending more time with family, grandkids, granddogs, spending more time on your hobbies, writing, thinking, building, creating.

$hit – I was just complaining to myself the other day that I didn’t have enough time to read, and then after sending our friend here that response I decided to shut down the computer IN THE MIDDLE OF MY WORK and pick up a book (Atomic Habits). 30 mins of bliss later I came out totally refreshed! And do you wanna guess if it ruined my entire work day?? Of course not :)

Now you can’t *always* sneak in stuff as some days are more demanding than others, but getting into the habit of at least trying to grant yourself 1-2 small joys on the daily will up your mood pretty handily. This is not an All or Nothing play here as much as it sometimes seems like it is! You do not have to wait until XYZ days/years/months later for happiness! Grab it now and feel more FIREd while you’re on your way!

*****

I had the following note back from our friend the next morning:

“Daily happiness > future happiness” should be printed and put in eyesight by everyone (specially people pursuing FI) on a daily basis :D Thank you for reminding this, it is just so easy to forget.

Started my work day 1 hour late, with a walk in a park, coffee and croissant. Starting to incorporate more “daily happiness” tasks ;) will incorporate more of this every week.”

*****

“A walk in a park, coffee and croissant.” Gosh… so magical…. And how hard do you think it was for him to pull this off?? Not very if he did it within hours of my email! I’m sure he had all types of things pre-planned that he just moved around or better yet canceled after realizing it was busy work, lol…

But THIS is the stuff that makes living life so joyful… The big goals are important and you get a bigger boost for hitting them, but they’re sooooo far and few between and if you’re not paying attention enough you’ll speed through life and miss out on everything else.

And believe me – you do not want to Rip Van Winkle it and wish you could go back in time! Even if you’re nice and FIREd by then!

People like to think they want to be Warren Buffett or Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates, but if it means turning 92 at the end of the month like Buffett is about to hit, something tells me they’d change their mind quick. I can tell you what HE’d choose if given the opportunity to switch with you ;)

Money can buy a lot of things, but extra time on Earth is not one of them.

Anyways, something to remind yourself of today, and I hope it pushes you to focus more on the present than the future too.

If you’ve got the foundation set and game plan going, your money/business/career goals will eventually get hit. So if you already know you’re going to reach it later, why not shift the focus back on the present and how you can win TODAY as you wait?! There’s no rule saying you can’t enjoy both the present and the future! Go for it all and be a greedy little bastard!!

Happiness today > (potential) happiness later. Pick it up where you can get it and enjoy your damn life

UPDATE: From our friend above:

Some more incorporations into my “daily happiness”:

1. Using Pomodoro at work, concentrated work for 40 mins, 10 mins my time (in which I do some German, read “The Great Mental Models”, meditate or just go and make a nice cup of home made tea (performance is up, happiness is up))
2. Not checking Slack after hours (shutting it down on my phone gave me mental peace)
3. Reminding myself about my 8 month emergency fund (so less worry if I get fired)
4. Not constantly looking for promotion or raise (if it comes good, if it doesn’t also good)
5. Meditation (been doing this on and off for a year, and this is definitely the biggest one)

* Winners of last week’s giveaway, that should have only been two, but I accidentally picked a 3rd so now one of you got doubly lucky! –> Diane C, Amy Capone, and Katherine Euliano – congrats! For everyone else that was interested, make sure to pick up the book at Amazon or your local library – it’s now out!

Taking Stock: A Hospice Doctor’s Advice on Financial Independence,
Building Wealth, and Living a Regret-Free Life
(Amazon affiliate link)

[This post, Daily Happiness > Future Happiness, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Good morning, sunshines! How y’all doing this fine day?

I picked up a cool book recently as part of my never ending quest to be better with time. The book is called Time Smart: How to reclaim your time, & live a happier life. (Cheers to Ben Miller over at Chronifi for recommending it to me. Great book!)

Right from the first page I found myself scribbling notes, ideas, and things I want to try changing in my life… So I figured I’d share some of the stuff with you in case it’s helpful in your life, too.

Specifically, I’ll note 6 common time traps most people fall into. Recognizing these and combating them will make you more time-rich and lead to more peace and happiness in life!

Also, if you want to check out the full book yourself, here’s a link to grab it on Amazon. —-> Time Smart  (Or you should definitely see if the local library has it in stock – and borrow for free like I did!)

6 Common Time Traps

Just like bad finance decisions, most humans naturally make poor time decisions. This leads to people feeling unhappy, time poor, and discontent.

So check out these 6 of the most common time traps… Identify the ones you fall into → do less of them → be more time rich and live happily ever after!

1. Technology Interruptions & the Autonomy Paradox

Most new technology is invented to save us time and money. But, if we’re not careful it can actually rob us of our time and money. This is called the autonomy paradox.

For example: Checking email on your cell phone → this awesome technology helps you work anywhere, anytime. But, somehow this has encouraged people to work everywhere, all the time. Helpful if used in the right way, but harmful if used in the wrong way.

Interruptions are also extremely harmful. It’s not just the amount of time we spend on something, it’s the intermittent distractions that screw us up.

For example: Instead of checking social media for 30 mins in the morning and 30 mins at night (60 mins total), people check it for only 30 seconds at 120 different times during the day (still 60 mins total). Same 1 hour spent on social media, but the sporadic checking during the day completely interrupts and robs time from other tasks — including much needed leisure time on weeknights/weekends!

Insta, Facebook, Tweets, texts, emails, activity alerts, shopping notifications, stock price checking, etc. can be like death by 1,000 invisible papercuts.

2. We Are Too Focused on Money

One of the reasons people feel time-poor is because they trade too much of their non-refundable minutes in life trying to get richer.

While money can protect against sadness, it can’t purchase joy.

**This is one of my fav things to discuss on the blog. Money is an important cornerstone in life!… But, once you have “enough” (when your basic needs are covered), excess money starts to have diminishing returns on happiness.**

3. We Don’t Value Our Personal Time Very Well

Most people misunderstand what their time is worth. Or, they don’t account for it at all when planning or doing activities.

We also protect our money in ways that are counterproductive to time affluence.

For example: While booking a vacation, Sally finds flights and hotel deals that save $200 on the overall vacation cost. But, she forgets to account for her time. The flights she booked mean 4 hours of vacation time were cut out of the first and last day of the trip, and the hotel is an extra 10 min walk from nearby attractions, etc. All in all, she might have saved $200, but at the cost of 10 hours total vacation time. Worth it?

4. “Busy” Is Becoming a Status Symbol

When most people see someone driving a Ferrari with fancy clothes and jewelry, they think, “Dang! That person must be rich! I better go out and buy me some fancy clothes and jewelry too, because that’s how rich people live!”

The truth is, conspicuous consumption is typically done by people with low wealth.

Sadly, it’s the same when we see people who are very busy. We think most busy people are important and probably successful. Then we try to search for “busy work” ourselves, thinking it will bring us success.

But the truth is many busy people are actually very time poor.

In fact, research shows that employees who boast about working a lot and not having any free time are seen as better workers with more prestige and wealth — even if they are not.

Beware of conspicuous time consumption! It’s a trap. And practice Stealth Wealth with your money ;)

5. Inability to Sit and Do Nothing

People have a really hard time switching off their brain. Sitting idle is extremely hard for most people, because they feel the need to be productive or stressed about something.

Probably the best example of this is sitting and eating your lunch. Most people can’t sit for even 15 minutes and enjoy their meal by themselves without pulling out their phone, consuming media, thinking about work, stressing about tomorrow, etc.

Instead of a full mind, try to be mindful!

6. We Say Yes Too Much

Want to hang out on Saturday? → Yes!

Have you read this new book? It’s great. → Sure, I’ll check it out.

Can you help me move this weekend? → Yep!

Want to be on my podcast? → Sure, how ‘bout next week!

The reason we say yes to most future commitments is because we believe that we’ll be less busy in the future. But, in reality this isn’t true. The best way to determine how busy you will be next week is to look at how busy you are this week. 

Saying No more places a higher value on your time.

Recognizing and Avoiding Time Traps!

The good news is, most of these time traps are relatively easy to avoid. Just knowing which ones you regularly fall into is half the battle. 

Everyone’s schedule and life is different, so some of these might not be applicable to you specifically, but here are my notes and things I’m thinking of working on:

First, document your time and recognize which traps you fall into most. Also, note *how you feel* after specific activities.

• Was xyz activity productive/unproductive?
• Was it for simple pleasure or true meaning?

This is kind of like tracking your finances. Figuring out where your money has been spent is the easiest way to project the best budget moving forward.

How to Find Spare Time

Simply put; do less of the things that don’t provide you value, to make room for more of the things that do provide you value.

This means transforming bad time: like removing an hour of TV to play guitar or go to bed early instead.

Also augmenting good time: leaving your cell phone in the car while playing with your kids at the park.

Lastly, buying spare time: like outsourcing tasks to free up time and then spend that time on higher value activities.

A Few Work Hacks to Save Time

You probably know about these, or even use them already, but here are a few underrated hacks to try at work:

• Set 10 minute meetings instead of 30 min meetings. Or skip unnecessary meetings altogether and ask for an email summary from another attendee instead. If you host a meeting, set and stick to an agenda.
• Guard your time by showing unavailable IM status, blocking your calendar, and not letting people interrupt you.
• Put your phone on airplane mode for large chunks of the day to focus. Or at least turn off all notifications.
• Negotiate coming in 2 hours early or leaving 2 hours late (just an example) to avoid heavy traffic. Or, negotiate working from home. Or, try asking for 4 x 10-hour shifts instead of 5 x 8’s.

These little changes might seem uncomfortable at first. But in the long run you’ll feel more in control of your time and less time-strapped.

******

The last thing I’ll say is that small daily habits have HUGE ripple effects in life. Even just getting up 10 minutes earlier each morning (and going to bed 10 mins earlier at night) can have massive positive effects on your time affluence.

Wishing you all a lovely week ahead! And thank you for spending some of your time reading this article.

Love, Joel

PS: Amazon links to the book above are affiliate links.

[This post, 6 Time Traps That Are Stealing Your Time and Happiness, was first published by 5am Joel on Elite Edge Money]

I received a sobering comment the other day…

“Joel, thanks for the nice stories and happy emails but please give us some content that’s actually worthwhile in terms of making and saving money.”

Ooops … I guess I’ve been a little sidetracked with random stories on the blog. I figured that most regular Budgets readers already know the basic “how to” stuff. But now that I think about it, maybe getting back to money basics is necessary sometimes.

So, here’s a quick-and-dirty brain dump of money advice all in one post. This is the stuff I wish I had been told when I was younger. (Actually, maybe I *was* told this stuff when I was younger – I just was too dumb to listen at the time. )

It’s split into three sections: making money, saving money, and investing money.

How to Make More Money

If you’re looking to increase your income, do some (or try all) of these things — presented in no particular order:

1. Start a side hustle. Here are 80+ side hustles listed in detail. Most require no money to start and little experience.
2. Ask for a raise. Careful here — you mostly deserve a raise if you are doing more work or providing more value than what you originally signed up for. If you’re giving your employer excess value, you are worth more. Create a win/win scenario. (Listen to these 2 ChooseFI podcast episodes: Ep.221 How to negotiate salary and Ep.147 Negotiating salary with Tori Dunlap
3. Change jobs or careers. If your current workplace doesn’t value you, another one might. NOW is a great time to explore opportunities! It’s never too late to change career paths and find a more lucrative industry.
4. Sell stuff around your house. OfferUp, Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace are good places to start. You can also find free stuff on these same apps and resell them for a 100% profit.
5. Rent out your stuff. People pay for the most random things to rent. List your unused equipment/space/car/stuff online to see who wants it. Here’s a list of about 40 websites to list and rent out stuff for quick cash.
6. Sign up for bank and credit card promotions. Finance companies will PAY YOU to try their services and meet certain transaction criteria. Some of these transactions you are doing anyway, so you may as well get paid for it. Personally I make about $2k per year from bank account churning. If you can handle credit and have excellent attention to detail, try credit card churning.
7. Start a business. My friend Alan Donegan co-founded the Rebel Business School. This is a FREE resource with on-demand videos, blogs and podcasts full of practical information to help get your business idea up and running.
8. Create art for the world. Build, draw, type, sing, photograph, cook, repair, perform, teach, or do whatever you can dream up. Chances are you have a talent that many others don’t have. Figure out what it is, pursue it with passion, and monetize it. Here are a 41 other ways to make money fast!

To build financial independence, your income MUST be higher than your spending. The more you earn, the faster you can achieve independence.

How to Save More Money

Saving money sometimes feels easier than increasing your income. But be careful not to reduce your expenses to the point where you’re not enjoying life!

Again, in no particular order, these things will reduce your cost of living:

1. Aggressively pay down consumer debts. Having high interest loans is like running up an escalator that is cycling downwards. You need to crush high interest debt ASAP, as it’s one of the biggest prohibitors in wealth-building.
2. Get rid of unused vehicles. Cars/motorbikes/boats are silent money thieves. Even when they’re not in use, they erode your savings. I’m not saying to never drive or own a car… Just saying that it’s most people’s No. 1 money pit, so it’s worthwhile evaluating your vehicle situation.
3. Track your spending and challenge EVERYTHING. For everything you buy, ask yourself these 2 questions:  a) Do I really need this?  b) If yes, where can I buy it cheaper?    (J. Money did this for years and wrote several posts about the money he saved. It’s all here on this page [Challenge Everything] as well as hundreds of reader comments and helpful examples. Tiny savings across many categories can add up to huge amounts.) One of the quickest ways to save money is getting a cheaper alternative to Cable TV and “cutting the cord”!
4. Use coupons, promotions, and bundled discounts where available. Most grocery stores have a mobile app that has digital coupons. Every time I go to Vons, I use the $5 OFF coupon, which gives me instant savings for 10 seconds of work.
5. Do chores yourself. Cut your own hair. Clean your own house. Wash your own clothes. If you have the skills and time to do something yourself, do it yourself and save the cash.
6. Learn to cook. Restaurants charge an average of ~300% markup for prepared food compared with the cost of ingredients. You can save money by purchasing groceries and cooking meals yourself. This includes packing your own lunches for work. It’s easier than you think, not to mention healthier.
7. Rent instead of buy. Remember those websites to rent your stuff out online? Well you can use them to rent other people’s things occasionally instead of buying stuff. Instead of buying a $400 snowboard that you only use twice, rent one for $30 each time you go.
8. Move homes. If you have a lengthy commute to your workplace, consider moving closer to where you work and reducing transport costs. If you work remotely full-time, you could move to a lower cost of living area without harming your job status.
   
9. Learn to negotiate. One of the most valuable skills in saving money is negotiation. Sometimes even just asking the awkward question “Do you have any discounts available?” opens negotiations you wouldn’t have known about otherwise.
10. Travel like a local. Vacationing in your own city/state can be just as fun as luxurious destinations. But if you do decide to travel to faraway places, try to spend money like a local person would. Eat where locals eat, use public transportation, avoid tourist traps, etc.

Reducing your cost of living not only increases your savings rate and shortens your FI timeline, it also lowers the amount of money you actually need to save for retirement.

OK… so you’re maximizing your income and reducing your costs… Now what do you do with the money you are saving?

How to Invest Your Money

Investing isn’t optional. It is necessary.

Your money will compound over time and ideally transform your retirement nest egg into a passive income stream.

Everyone invests differently because of their knowledge, experience, and opportunities. I’ll focus on the simplest and most proven investing methods most people can use to fast-track financial independence.

1. First, increase your knowledge. Learn about investing for beginners and the FIRE movement. Read these 3 books: The Simple Path To Wealth, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing, and Your Money or Your Life. Listen to every episode of these FIRE podcasts: BiggerPockets MONEY, ChooseFI, Mad FIentist and Afford Anything. (Yes, it might take a few years to get through all this information … That’s OK — learning takes time, and nobody is born an expert.)
2. Max out your 401(k). Or any employer-sponsored retirement programs you have available to you. If you are a contractor or business owner, consider opening a Solo 401k. It’s OK if you can’t contribute the maximum, just add as much as you can each year.
3. Open a Roth IRA. Add as much money as you can each year. If you’re not eligible for a Roth, open a regular IRA.
4. Open an HSA. If you have a high-deductible health plan, you’re eligible for an HSA account. Try to max it out each year. This is the most tax-efficient investment vehicle available to Americans.
5. Invest everything in broad, low-cost index funds. Inside each retirement account, choose highly diversified funds that have low management fees. The FIRE crowd’s favorite is VTI or VTSAX.
6. Open an after-tax brokerage account. After contributing the maximum to your pre-tax retirement accounts, put any excess money in a regular brokerage account.
7. Automate contributions. Set all of your contributions to automatically transfer and invest so you don’t have to worry about it every month. Out of sight, out of mind.
8. Dollar-cost average. Don’t try to time the market or “beat” the average. Even the smartest investors in the world can’t do this consistently. Don’t worry about how much stocks are going up or down each month, just keep investing on a regular basis regardless.
9. Limit your cash on hand. Apart from a small emergency fund, make sure all of your money is working for you, all of the time. (You could even opt to invest your emergency fund, like me .) The more cash you hoard, the more you lose value to inflation each year.
10. Invest in real estate, if you must. There are a TON of opportunities investing in real estate. My only recommendation here is to learn and network as much as you can before jumping into anything you’re unfamiliar with. Listen to every episode of the BiggerPockets Podcast and attend local meet-ups to network with successful investors. Avoid advice from people who don’t have a proven track record.
11. Lastly, don’t gamble, break the law, or cheat anyone. The long-term costs of being a fraud outweigh any short-term benefits. It’s never worth it.

So there you have it … my brain dump of advice for making, saving and investing money. You don’t have to do ALL of these to grow your wealth, doing just a handful is usually enough to ensure a comfortable retirement.

My guess is that most of y’all knew this stuff already. But it never hurts reading again.

What is this list missing? (Yeah yeah I know I didn’t mention cryptocurrency…)

Have a great day ahead!

– Joel

PS. *Attention anyone living in Los Angeles**  FIRE legends Katie and Alan Donegan are visiting LA and hosting a free 90 minute lunch ‘n’ learn finance course! November 15th at 11am at Pasadena Comedy → Register here!

[This post, My Cliffs Notes on How to Make, Save and Invest Money, was first published by 5am Joel on Elite Edge Money]

Back in 2013, I bought 25 shares of Tesla stock. I remember seeing electric cars starting to pop up around my neighborhood at the time and thought they were so cool!

Like most beginning investors, I checked the stock price every 15 minutes after making the trade. (Actually that’s a lie — I probably checked the prices every 5 minutes! ). My $1,350 investment in Tesla started to rise and rise over the following weeks, and I was excited that I had picked a winner!

Just 18 days later, I was so incredibly pleased with an amazing ~70% return that I sold the 25 shares. Making $900 profit in just a few short weeks felt amazing! Woohoo!

Looking back now, however, I realize how much of a fool I was. (Still am in a lot of ways!). Tesla’s stock price has since increased more than 5,000%. If I had just held onto my original 25 shares, my $1,350 investment would now be worth about $106,000.

I bet we all have stories like this. Shoulda woulda coulda.

Advice for My Younger Self About Stocks

I shared this same story with a friend the other day. They laughed and said, “I bet you wish you could go back in time and tell your younger self not to sell those shares!”

While, yes, that’s a fun thought, truthfully if I could go back in time and give my younger self advice, I wouldn’t talk about Tesla at all. I would encourage myself not to buy any individual stocks whatsoever.

A lot has happened since 2013. A lot of changes and growth — and I’m not talking about in the stock market — I’m talking about changes and growth within myself. My personal financial education has grown by leaps and bounds. Over the last 7 years:

• I’ve read 100+ books on investing.
• I no longer try to time the market.
• I don’t pick individual stocks anymore. 
• I don’t get emotional about investing anymore.
• I don’t invest in things I don’t understand.
• I think long term. Quick profits don’t interest me anymore.
• My mindset is slowly shifting to capital preservation.
• I no longer want to be a mega bajillionaire. Just making $2-3M is plenty enough for my lifestyle.
• I’m not in a hurry to make money anymore. Time + compounding is my advantage.
• I don’t look at stock prices every 15 minutes. I try not to check the markets at all.

Going back in time and telling myself that Tesla will grow 5,000% sounds really cool. But it would be WAY cooler if I could go back and teach myself the 10 things I just outlined above. It would probably result in way more than an extra $106,000.

Here’s another big mistake I made. This time in real estate …

Advice for My Younger Self About Real Estate

In 2008, I bought an apartment in Hawaii. This was at the start of the housing collapse, so I thought it was a killer deal.

It started as a house-hack, but I transitioned it to a full rental property as soon as I moved out. From all the numbers I ran, the property should have broken even on cash flow each month.

But, after 2 years of ownership, I realized I was slowly losing money. Not a huge amount — but enough to get me scratching my head at the end of each year. Although I slowly increased the rent over time, it was not enough to cover the constant increase in expenses. HOA fees, leasehold fees, taxes, vacancies, etc… Death by a thousand papercuts.

I should have sold and cut my losses, but I couldn’t. I became emotionally attached. I fell in love with that apartment. I thought that if I held on longer, it would eventually increase in price and make up for all my losses. Houses always increase in price if you hold them long enough, right?

5 years later, still losing money, didn’t sell. 7 years later, still losing money, didn’t sell. 9 years later, still losing money, didn’t sell.

I really am a stubborn investor. This was a classic sunk cost fallacy.

Finally, after 10 years, I listed and sold the apartment. My rough estimate is that I lost about $50k over that 10 year period. It averages out to losing about $5k each year. It adds up quickly over time!

What I’ve Learned About Real Estate Investing

Same story with my stock trading mistakes… Changing 1 decision from 10 years ago would be freaking awesome. Oh how I wish I could go back in time and slap myself in the face.

But, the real estate knowledge I’ve accumulated since then (much of it learned from this failing property) is worth way more to me than saving $50k on 1 investment. Given the chance to go back in time, I would mostly preach to myself about basic real estate investing principles. Over the last 10 years…

• I’ve listened to 100+ episodes of the BiggerPockets real estate podcast, read tons of books/blogs about property investing, how cashflow works and managing properties.
• I went to real estate meet-ups in multiple cities and made friendships with other investors. I have mentors and investing partners now.
• I don’t get emotional about real estate anymore.
• I have very specific deal criteria when evaluating new opportunities.
• I hire other people for tasks I’m not good at (like property management).
• I scour my monthly management reports and look for errors and things to improve.
• I evaluate my Return on Equity constantly.
• I stay away from leasehold properties, HOAs, any anything that is not income producing from day #1.
• I learned that leverage only works in your favor if you borrow money at a lower rate than the rate your investment is increasing at!
• I consider my ongoing TIME investment before buying → passiveness is my priority now.

Going back in time and advising myself to not buy this property (or to sell it sooner!) would be nice. But I think having better principles as a young investor would have been way more valuable to me in the long run.

Should Have, Would Have, Could Have

There is nothing we can do to change the decisions we made in the past. And even if we could reverse a few big investment decisions, it would only change our bank balance — not the *more valuable* knowledge that comes from failing so hard.

OK, your turn… tell me some of the missed opportunities and screw ups you’ve had. Better yet, tell me what you’ve learned since then. Going back, would you give yourself individual stock tips, or broader investment principles?

[This post, 2 Big Investing Mistakes That Actually Made Me Smarter, was first published by 5am Joel on Elite Edge Money]

Digging through my old emails, I found this one I sent to my brother five years ago…

> On May 27, 2015, at 10:03 PM, Joel <@gmail.com> wrote:

> Good news: We have signed all closing documents and transferred closing money to the escrow account. Just waiting for confirmation that all was settled correctly. We are officially homeowners as of 5/27/15!

> Bad news: I lost ALL of the digital data I have been gathering for this property. I kept everything on a USB stick, that encountered an error yesterday. Sadly, I have only back-up emails with some documents I’ll have to collate again.  The worst thing is my daily log of calls/email activity and lessons learned. I wish I could transfer the knowledge to someone, but i guess it’s just all in my head moving forward.

Bugger! I really wish I still had those notes right now. This was back in May 2015, when my wife and I were purchasing our first out of state rental property.

Actually, this investment was a series of “firsts” for us…

• First time investing out of state.
• First time buying “sight unseen.” We had never visited the property, and never even met our real estate agent or property manager in person. Whole process was managed remotely.
• Our first investment together as a couple (we were engaged at the time, but not married yet, so mingling money and sharing debt was still a strange new feeling)
• First time getting an investment loan. And the first loan with a new bank.
• First time inheriting existing tenants – (one of them was mid-eviction while we were in escrow, so we got to watch the whole court process happen during the purchase)

I learned more in that 60-day period than I learned in the whole previous year of study. I was smart enough to keep an awesome daily log of activities, but dumb enough to lose them immediately. :(

Advice to new investors: Start an investment diary. Take notes on everything you learn. Record your wins, losses, and lessons learned. (and keep a backup of it )

I was given this same advice as a young investor. And while I’ve done a half decent job of taking notes, I wish I had done better! Detailed notes from the past are handy in so many ways.

Why New Investors Need to Start an Investment Diary

Here are some reasons I encourage investors, particularly *new* investors, to document everything they learn:

1. Writing stuff down helps you retain information better: No secret here, most of us learned this in school… Whether handwriting or typing, you remember more when you take notes.
2. It helps create a “repeatable process”: My original goal of writing everything down for the rental purchase was so that I could create a personal “playbook” for buying my 2nd, 3rd, and more properties. Constant note taking along my journey builds a solid book of knowledge for future investments and hopefully profit.
3. It limits repeating past mistakes: Some of the best lessons learned are from trial & error. Making silly mistakes or hitting unforeseen challenges. My past notes help remind me to avoid the same problems. (Eg. Note to self: Stop day trading. It only ends in tears. Keep buying that mutual fund!)
4. Theory vs. practice: There’s a million books on investment strategy and How To Guides… But putting that information into practice brings a whole lot of experience and emotions you can never plan for. Documenting the feelings along your journey is a really important part of investing when looking back … and that’s solid investment advice no matter if you’re investing in the stock market or real estate or for retirement vs. another long term goal. It applies to everything!
5. New epiphanies:  When I read my past notes and learning materials, I see brand new ideas and thoughts I couldn’t see at the time. It’s weird to think that your future self can learn from your current self.
6. Others can benefit from your knowledge: The main reason people follow this blog is because J Money documented his net worth growth in real-time. Following his journey was so useful because a lot of it came from a beginner’s perspective. Your notes could help other individual investors save time, money, and build their stock portfolio!
7. Knowledge > Money:  Would you rather have Warren Buffett’s wealth or Warren Buffett’s knowledge? OK, bad example, don’t answer that — you would take the $$$… but you get the point… The knowledge of how to fish is sometimes more important than the fish itself. Treasure the knowledge you gained from any investment decision, not just the money made!

Take notes about what? Where should I write this stuff?

How to Create an Investment Journal

Here’s a couple examples and things you might want to try as you make a record of your investment process …

Things you learn from books and podcasts:  Let’s say you regularly listen to the Choose FI podcast… Start up a spreadsheet with 3 columns: (date | episode | biggest takeaway). Then each time you listen to an episode, make a quick note in the spreadsheet. After 1 year you will have 100 personal FIRE notes to look back on. Any time you are feeling uninspired, overwhelmed, or want to recall a specific memory, just go back to your spreadsheet.  You can do the same with technical investing podcasts and personal finance books you read.

Notes when tracking your net worth:  A great example is J$’s net worth reports. He included a ton of valuable notes! Not just for your reading pleasure but for his own records later in life. Each month he detailed new investments he tried, things that went well, things that went wrong, changes in his income and his spending … Valuable to us, but valuable to him more so. Here’s how to start tracking your net worth.

Call logs with accountants, agents, property managers: I’ll admit I’ve gotten lazy in this area… Back when I was first getting to know my property manager, I would keep a brief log of each call we had. It helped me record action items and answers to questions I forgot immediately after hanging up. Very handy when you’re starting new business relationships or interviewing a bunch of potential partners.

Starting a business or side hustle: Open a new Word document and write 3 quick points on *why* you want to do this new business. (The main reason people give up on their side hustles after a few months is because they forget the reasons why they started them in the first place!)  In this document, you could also write your next actions to take, small and large goals, any risk you anticipate, lessons you learn along the way, etc.  Doesn’t have to be a formal business plan – Any sloppy notes are better than no notes at all!

Write down your growth goals: I keep a very basic goals tab in my net worth tracking sheet with about 6-7 bullet points of things I want to do for the year. I don’t really update or modify it much, but just the act of writing goals down brings me closer to achieving them :)

I know note taking can be boring and monotonous — but that’s what some people think about budgets — and we all know how $exy budgets are! You’ll be thanking yourself later in life when you’re reading your investment diary from years past. We all know that past performance is not indicative of future results … but knowing what we did back then helps us make decisions about what to do now.

What about you – are you a note taker? You bloggers out there, have you noticed any huge benefits in simply writing stuff down and documenting your processes?

[This post, Why You Need an Investment Diary (With a Backup!), was first published by 5am Joel on Elite Edge Money]

Happy Friday, you stunningly beautiful and handsome people! (I don’t know what you actually look like in real life, but when I close my eyes and imagine, you’re all gorgeous!)

Today’s guest poster — Jesse from the Best Interest blog — learned all his personal finance knowledge from his dog! Just kidding — Jesse has a natural gift for breaking down complex personal finance concepts and explaining them in simple (and funny) ways! I think you’ll enjoy this post that explains necessary personal finance practices … using stories any pet owner can relate to :)

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A Dog’s Guide to Personal Finance

This is Sadie. Like all dogs, she’s the best dog — apologies to the logicians out there. Sadie is going to show us a dog’s guide to personal finance. It’s gimmicky, but there will be plenty of dog pictures. And even I was surprised by some of the obvious corollaries. Let’s embark! (Get it?)

Bury It For Later

Dogs like treats. About a quarter of the time, Sadie will take her treat, her bone, her new shiny toy, and bury it. She does it in stealth mode. I don’t catch her in the act. All I find is a dog’s attempt at refilling a hole, and zero attempt at actually fixing the landscaping — c’mon Sadie!

For humans, burying cash in the ground isn’t smart. And neither is burying food (unless you’re hoping to let some seeds flourish). But what is smart is proverbially burying your cash into an emergency fund, or saving for later in life via a long-term investment.

Emergency funds and long-term investing are two different ways of saying, “I don’t need this bone money today, but I think I’ll need it someday in the future.” Sadie is smart!

So, what’s the difference between an emergency fund and long-term investing? Liquidity. That’s a fancy way of describing how quickly you can get your money when you need it.

An emergency fund should be highly liquid, meaning you could access it right away if needed. That’s why many people keep their emergency fund in a high-yield savings account (HYSA). This is most similar to Sadie’s buried bone. It’s ready for retrieval at a moment’s notice.

But long-term investing is a choice designed for 10, 20, or even 30+ years in the future. Some long-term accounts — like a 401(k) — might actually penalize you if you try to access your money before a certain age. Before you bury that long-term bone, you’ve got to be sure you don’t want it anytime soon.

I know life is short — memento mori — but saving money for later is a worthwhile safety net.

Automation

Sadie’s habits are second nature. She eats breakfast and dinner at regular times. She has her afternoon nap. And her morning nap, her late morning nap, and her post-dinner nap. The same regularity applies to high-energy playtime and nature’s calls.

Suffice to say, Sadie’s routine is pretty automated. Not electronically automated, but naturally automated. She doesn’t have to think twice about her essentials.

For us humans, electronic automation in your finances has been proven (by science!) to be beneficial for your bottom line. Richard Thaler won a Nobel Prize for his work on this topic.

What are some simple examples of personal finance automation?

• Bill pay. Every month, I pay my mortgage, utilities, and a few other smaller bills automatically.
• Investment contributions. I deduct 401(k) contributions from my paycheck automatically. I contribute to my Roth IRA and brokerage account automatically. Don’t think twice, it’s alright.
• Funding my “future spending” accounts. I’ve got a few different “future expenditures” that I’m saving up for. Vacations, Christmas gifts, the undeniable truth that my beloved Toyota will eventually eat the dust and be replaced. I use my budget to automatically set aside money every month to fund these eventual expenditures.

Don’t let the stress of finances affect your nap time. Sadie sure doesn’t. Just automate.

Identify Mistakes, Then Learn From Them

We already covered that Sadie is the best dog. But, sometimes the best dog is a bad dog! Bad dog!

Thankfully, Sadie is very aware when she’s been a bad dog. She reads human body language like a blaring neon sign. OWNER UPSET, OWNER UPSET, RED ALEERRRRRTTT!!

Where Sadie shines in this regard is that she learns from those mistakes. Her emotional if-then circuitry is on-point. IF poop on floor makes owner upset, THEN no poop on floor makes owner happy.

Unfortunately, we humans like to muddle up this simple logic when it comes to our personal finance. IF buying speaker system leads to credit card debt, THEN buying new Corvette is good investment.

Wait…huh?!

Half the battle is simply learning what’s smart and what isn’t. I’ve written before that personal finance is a dense jungle, but the trail through the jungle is well-defined. If you’re unsure about the smart path through your personal finance jungle, odds are that the right answers are already out there. You just have to go find them a.k.a. use Google.

And then once you find the right answers, you’ve got to execute! Take your knowledge and put it into action.

Sadie has thousands of years of “human = master” evolution guiding her to better behaviors. Your psychology is much more complex. It might take some practice to re-wire your brain towards the best financial behaviors. That re-wiring, my friend, is what learning is all about.

Keep on Smelling. Stay Curious.

Every hole. Every pole. Dead moles and stale rolls. Sadie will smell anything and everything. And once in a while, that persistence pays off. Last week she found a piece of hamburger in the yard, fallen off a plate the night prior. Jackpot! Even when she hits a cold streak of olfactory failure, she keeps on smelling.

I see two corollaries to personal finance. And no, it doesn’t involve sniffing fresh $100 bills for that “new money scent.”

The first lesson is to keep searching until you find what works for you.

I started budgeting right when I entered professional life. I used an Excel spreadsheet, but found it clunky. After some sputtering, I eventually found Mint. I enjoyed Mint more than my spreadsheet, but found Mint’s automatic categorization inconsistent. And so Mint fell by the wayside too.

Yet my budgeting itch still tingled. I didn’t enjoy being unaware of where my dollars were going. Like Sadie, I kept on sniffing for success. What are other people using, I wondered.

And then I found YNAB. Queue the angelic music. YNAB isn’t for everyone, but it’s certainly for me. All the app asks is that you follow a few simple rules — which turn out to be great habits. And the result is that you receive full knowledge of where every dollar you own is going. You can easily track your net worth. I credit YNAB with saving me hundreds of dollars every month, especially when I first started using it.

And the second lesson from Sadie’s sniffs is simply to remain curious. For you, it’s more about your personal finance education than holes in the ground.

For example: just Google “Buy vs. Rent.” It’s a classic question for the young professional. Do I buy a home, or rent an apartment?

The answers you find will be diverse, conflicting, educational, confusing (and confused), simple, complex, etc. A thousand bloggers — and even a couple experts! — have their opinions whether renting or buying is best and why. And within all those opinions, you’ll find some kernels of truth that apply directly to you.

Sticking with the first answer you find is unlikely to lead you to the best answer. Stay curious, keep learning, and understand why certain answers are what they are.

Don’t Binge Your Resources

Ok, Sadie is still working on this one. Left to her own devices, Sadie will eat a cup of kibble in about 17 seconds, and then promptly look at me for more. Since I want her to maintain her sleek build, I resist her puppy eyes. But it’s tough.

In a way, Sadie’s consumption reminds me of a common financial cautionary tale. Maybe you’re already familiar with it. The trope involves someone spending the majority of their paycheck as soon as they get paid, only to then look elsewhere — presumably with puppy eyes — in need of more money.

Don’t spend all your money in one fell swoop. In food, we’d call that rationing. In money, it’s called budgeting.

I don’t really need to explain it any further. You get it.

Give When You Can, Take When There’s Enough

Note: This is just one stranger’s (a.k.a my) opinion. Don’t take it as gospel. And don’t feel like you need to listen to a dog nor a biased dog-owner.

We first got Sadie as a foster in May 2020 (yeah, we “foster failed,” adopting her ourselves). She was a stray in Houston, found on the street along with her three 6-week old puppies. We (and Sadie) took care of those puppies for another two weeks until they all got adopted out. Yay!

When Sadie arrived, she weighed 26 pounds. This (still) makes me sad.

Sadie’s food intake (a.k.a. street scraps) and energy stores went towards feeding her kids. Not enough was left for Sadie. She was just following her natural hormonal protocol — feed the babies. It probably wasn’t what humans would consider a “conscious choice.” Nevertheless, Sadie gave a lot.

And then she came to our home. We were able to give her plenty of dog kibble, but also eggs, sweet potato, pumpkin, cottage cheese … lots of high-calorie foods that are recommended to help dogs add weight. And Sadie took advantage.

She’s now a healthy 41 pounds. Her fur looks great. She goes on boat rides and camps in the woods. Her name-tag petitions readers to “Rub My Belly!”– it’s her favorite! She’s a long way from the streets of Houston. Great success!

A lot of us (you know, humans) find ourselves on both sides of this story at one time or another.

Sometimes we’ve got enough resources to give them away freely. To lend a hand. To volunteer. Helping others. To give to charity. To rub a belly in need.

At other times, we’re the underweight momma dog looking for any port (pork?) in the storm. And if there are enough eggs and cottage cheese to go around, there’s nothing wrong with taking full advantage of that meal.

Even a dog knows to pay it forward.

The Tail End

It’s nap time for me. This dog’s guide to personal finance is exhausted. 

Hopefully Sadie’s adventures will remind you to:

• Bury some money for later
• Automate your personal finances, like instinct
• Know when you’ve f’d up and learn new tricks
• Stay curious — sniff new smells
• Don’t consume all your resources in 17 seconds
• Give when you can

If you’d like to see more dog pics or read more interesting articles (let’s face it…it’s the dog pics), I publish weekly at my own blog, the Best Interest.

Have a great weekend!

[This post, A Dog’s Guide to Personal Finance 🐕, was first published by 5am Joel on Elite Edge Money]