We just completed a bathroom renovation for our primary residence in New York City. Updating our 5x8 bathroom set us back almost $15,000! We replaced everything, so labor is the bulk of the cost. Our fixtures and finishes are pretty standard, and this kept the total budget down – yes, $15,000 is still a standard bathroom renovation for NYC. You can find a handy remodel calculator on HomeAdvisor. Did we [...]
We were in Houston because Caroline was a featured speaker at the AAJA conference. Since she spent time each day at sessions of the conference, and I spent time working on my own things, we didn't have time to fully get out and explore, but we did find the time to do something interesting every day. We explored the Japanese Garden, caught a game at Minute Maid Park, and enjoyed a great local restaurant.
Travelling the world has always been a dream for us. Once we set it as one of our life-goals, along with establishing location-independent business ventures, we knew we would get there some day. We still have a long way to go to fulfill the dream, but we are on the path, the journey ahead is becoming clearer, and meditation has played a big role! A few years before Scott officially left [...]
Last year, Caroline and I took a trip to England with our younger daughter over her spring break. We've been wanting to take a trip to Europe for quite some time, with the intent of exploring some countryside and sights outside the big cities and looking forward to going at our own pace and interest by renting a car and driving around. We settled on England because Manchester is where [...]
When we bought our first international rental property (Condo Boom in Tamarindo, Costa Rica), we decided to do a cash-out refi of another investment property to buy it all cash. Damn Millennial asked us a question on Twitter that we also asked ourselves: Out of curiosity why did you choose the cash out refi over the Heloc? The way I understand it the cash out is more expensive isn't it? [...]
Flexibility to accommodate mid-week movies is one of my favorite perks of the FIRE lifestyle. This past Tuesday, I took my youngest daughter to an advance screening of “Crazy Rich Asians”, including an Asian-American business pre-show talk, by Nielsen, and an Asian food-themed after-party. A few years earlier, I took my oldest daughter to an advance screening of “Today’s Special” including a talkback with the movie’s star and creator, Aasif [...]
This week Caroline is speaking at the AAJA conference in Houston, TX, leading sessions on negotiation and difficult conversations, which are areas of expertise for her. Since my schedule is flexible these days and public speaking is one of the seven skills that enables travel, I tagged along, planning to split my time between working and exploring the city. Texas is #85 on our list of 100 travel destinations, so [...]
I had been reading business and personal finance books and news since college, but didn’t focus on real estate topics. Once we realized real estate could be the linchpin of our FIRE journey, I did start reading more real estate news and resources. Here are my favorites.
