We are both pretty frugal, which has been our saving grace when it comes to our FIRE journey. We were always able to live on one income, saving (and later investing) the remainder. It got us where we are today, which is pretty darn awesome. So you’d expect us to only have good things to say about being frugal. But the downside of frugality is also becoming clear to us. We can’t spend money…. The downside of frugality Frugal vs cheap There is a fine line between being frugal (which is generally a positive thing, with a balanced approach to spending money wisely) and being cheap (which is a negative thing, where the only goal is to minimise spending at all costs). We all have our cheap moments, but we generally are actually frugal by nature. However, there are moments you just don’t want to be frugal. There are moments you just want to spend money. Just because you can or because it just feels damn good! But you can’t, because some little voice in your head is putting on the breaks… What works Okay, so I’ve been testing my boundaries the past year or so. So far I have been able to drop €225 on a weather station, which I gave myself for last Christmas. I’ve also spend about €1.000 on three Lego Technics sets in the past two years (albeit via Marktplaats). More recently I have dropped €220 on two tickets and a night our with Mrs CF at the Amsterdam Dance Event. And I’ve spent about €200 on bird food for the coming winter. This might go up too, as I’m being generous and return on investment is awesome! The whole yard is buzzing with life. Everyone that is visiting is noticing this too, and they love it, and obviously so do we. But as you can see, I’m able to fairly easy drop up to about €500 on stuff I don’t really need, but that do give me a lot of joy in the short or longer term. However, this seems to be the limit as to my frivolous spending ability. And what doesn’t… Lately I decided to see if I could up this a nudge (or more). I’ve been looking at a new (used) electrical car. Do we need one? No, the Prius is still going strong with no major issues. Damn you Japanese build quality! Would I like a new (used) car. Yes, of course! Who doesn’t?! In the past I always wanted an Aston Martin DB9, still think this is one of the prettiest cars ever made. Having said that, we actually sat in one and now know why Jeremy Clarkson was complaining about the space. Now, a DB9 can now be bought for around €40-60k. Mind you, you would have a 20 year old car, with very expensive spare parts and hydraulic hoses and seals that are slowly disintegrating. Financially not a great choice, duh! Nor a practical one either, with a

The holidays have a way of magnifying everything…our joy, our generosity, and sometimes…our stress. Between the pressure to find perfect gifts, attend every event, and make the season “magical,” it’s easy to feel like the true meaning of the holidays gets lost in the chaos. But here’s something interesting: studies and real-life stories alike show that frugal people are happier during the holidays. I’ve learned over the years that being frugal during the holidays doesn’t mean missing out…it […]

Feeling the itch to update your home but don’t want more stuff? Here are my favourite clutter-free ways to refresh your space and make it feel new again. The post Clutter-Free Ways to Update Your Home (Without Buying A Ton of Stuff) appeared first on Simply + Fiercely.

When money is tight, groceries are one of the first areas where you can save a lot of money fast. You don’t have to overspend to feed your family well. With a little strategy and an intentional shopping list, you can stock your pantry with cheap, filling, and versatile foods that help you cut down … Read More about 40 Cheapest Grocery Items to Buy When You’re Broke The post 40 Cheapest Grocery Items to Buy When You’re Broke appeared first on Budgets Made Easy.

Thanks for all the comments and tips on my last post about our upcoming trip to Washington DC and NYC! I’ve compiled all the suggestions and plan to use many when we travel! I realized I hadn’t mentioned a timeframe – we won’t be going until the Spring. Hopefully by then the government shutdown will be resolved! Thanks again to everyone who reached out and left a comment! Today, I wanted to talk about budgeting for home improvement projects. Since moving into our house just over 5 years ago, we’ve made it a goal to do one or two small projects each year (usually $2,000 or less). Past projects include adding astroturf to our backyard, installing solar screens to help with electricity (and protect us from the Arizona heat!), and replacing our too-small water heater with a tankless option. These were done gradually across time, and usually paid for with a “third paycheck” month, so the cost didn’t disrupt our regular budget. That system has worked well, but lately I’ve been wondering whether we should intentionally set money aside for these projects each year. We already have a house “emergency fund” for major issues like an HVAC replacement or roof repair, but I see that as separate from smaller planned upgrades. One part of me thinks – “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” Why complicate something thats working? The other part of me thinks – “What if we want to take on something bigger that isn’t an emergency?” The thing that comes to mind is replacing our downstairs flooring. Currently it’s a mix of tile and carpet and both are in pretty rough shape. We have several cracked tiles (from the home settling) and the carpet is pretty beat up from dogs and kids. I’m not rushing out to make any flooring changes right away (frankly, the price tag scares me!), but it’s something I think about – especially if we plan to stay here another 5 years (which is our current plan). When I did some googling, I learned there’s no “one” answer for how much people spend on home improvement annually. This one article suggests the average is about $9,000 per year. Then I googled what Dave Ramsey says. I’m not a 100% Ramsey-follower, but his debt aversive thought process appeals to me. According to Ramsey, no more than 25% of your budget should go toward household expenses, including mortgage, property taxes, insurance, and any home improvements or upgrades, combined. Using that as a guide, we have some room to start saving for future projects, if we want. So now I’m curious – what do you do? Do you plan and budget for home improvements that occur regularly across time? Do you live with things as-is and then tackle everything before selling? With my first home, we did almost nothing until the end, when we spent thousands fixing it up for sale. It would have been nice to enjoy some of those upgrades while we still

The 2025 Canadian Financial Summit took flight this past week. It features presentations from a who’s who in the Canadian financial education space, and then it includes a few also -rans such as me, Dale the creator of Cut The Crap Investing and Retirement Club. My presentation covered the most common mistakes in retirement. In the mix of the common mistakes was insufficient (or no) estate planning. That can begin with not having a will […]

When my wife and I started planning for retirement, it was confusing and complicated. We turned to a “financial advisor” who didn’t have our best interests at heart. He was more of a salesperson than an advisor. I wish I had access to some of the best retirement calculators available today. Tools like these make it easy to see exactly where you stand and how to reach financial independence on your own terms. Fortunately, there […]

Before the article, check out the latest on my podcast, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors: On Apple Podcasts On Spotify On YouTube Now, here’s today’s article: Reader Lisa wrote in this week, Jesse – my understanding is that both stock prices and stock valuations matter for long-term returns. So…with both pretty high like you mentioned last month, what are your returns expectations going forward? Is it something different than 10% per year? That’s what I’m using in my spreadsheet. Is there a “math-y” way to better find a % return number for the future? Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote this post: What Long-Term Stock Returns Should I Assume For My Plan? What Long-Term Stock Returns Should I Assume in My Plan? It’s a complicated answer, and I recommend you read that article. I ended that article with this statement:  If I’m doing literal back-of-the-napkin math for someone, my go-to numbers are 9-10% for diversified stocks, 4-5% for diversified bonds, 3% for inflation. But I know the limits of such simple assumptions, and I know when not to use them. I want to amend something. Specifically – I think my stock return assumptions of 9-10% per year were TOO OPTIMISTIC. I’ll tell you why today. I want to dive deeper on valuation and the equity risk premium today and suggest some reasonable math-based models for including them into our forward-looking return assumptions. These numbers matter because they trickle down into other areas of our financial planning. How much do we need to save for retirement? Should we invest in stocks or pay off debt? Etc. It’s all based on our assumed future returns. To truly understand this topic, we need to define a few terms first: Real returns (vs. nominal returns) Valuation The equity risk premium But First…The Usual Preamble Before the good stuff, please know this: I’m not predicting the future. I don’t know how the stock market will actually perform. I don’t have a crystal ball. For those keeping track – yes, Saruman two weeks in a row! Financial planning isn’t about predicting the future. It’s about preparing for it by narrowing the range of possible outcomes. Along the way, we make assumptions about the future, and then continually test, refine, and correct them as reality unfolds. That’s all we’re doing today. Refining some assumptions. Real Returns vs. Nominal Returns Hopefully, you’ve heard these terms before, and this definition makes sense to you. Real returns include the adverse effect of inflation, whereas nominal returns do not. Some quick, easy math might show you that a 10% nominal return minus 3% inflation leads to a 7% real return. Real returns are the metric of merit. Real returns explain how much your actual purchasing power has grown, or shrunk, over time. Source – Ashby Daniels / Retirement Field Guide