On a recent road trip from Florida to New York, we had rain the whole way, and as we drove north, we hit colder temperatures, more wind, then sleet and sometimes even snow! The week before our trip, we had an internet outage in our service area, exactly at the time I was presenting a training webinar, Scott had a client meeting and our oldest happened to be at our [...]
I’m a self-employed CPA struggling with the R in Fire. Financially I have the means to retire and I have been saying “no” to prospective new clients. I can’t believe it’s so hard to prioritize restructuring my business to free up my time. I’m always tackling client affairs and mine go on the back burner. Making myself priority #1, is tough!I’m not looking to retire 100% at this point but [...]
I think it’s one of the work hazards of being a coach, but I spend an inordinate amount of money on learning & development, self-help and other personal and professional improvement resources. We spent just over $6,000 this year, and since 95% of that was directly attributed to me, I feel wholly responsible for the training line item. This is actually a pretty mild year in comparison. A few years [...]
I have worked from home for 12+ years now, so the shelter-in-place orders didn’t change my work routine too much. The biggest change is a more crowded household -- our empty nest stage was short-lived, as our youngest is now attending college virtually. That said, I do find myself on many more video calls than before. Click to pin me! Now that everyone else is #WFH, even a typical phone [...]
I am writing this post before Feb 29, so I can only project how I will have spent my extra time from leap day. However, I know two things for sure: I will be on a road trip from picking up my youngest for college spring break; and I will be just a few days into my return from a trip to the Philippines. I think I’ll be too jet-lagged [...]
I feel lucky that I have always had good money management habits – e.g., I don’t overspend, I save and invest regularly. Therefore, I don’t think much about basic money management strategies, and I don’t cover these tips in this blog. However, I was reading a great money habits post from PlanEasy, and it struck me how much the widely accepted good money management rules also apply to time management. [...]
It's a bit hard to believe how quickly the time goes by, but one year ago Caroline and I started our new website, Costa Rica FIRE! It was not our first attempt at a website. We had created one previously, while I was still working my corporate job, and over time we felt the name of the site and the direction of the content just didn't fit our passions and [...]
A few years ago, I read the book, “One Word That Will Change Your Life” by Dan Britton, Jimmy Page and Jon Gordon The premise is alluringly simple, yet powerful: instead of a long list of goals and resolutions for the year, pick one word that captures the essence of what you want. Your One Word gives you focus when you need to prioritize day-to-day and make longer-term decisions. It [...]
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