081R | The Fear of Letting Go

081R | Strategies for decluttering and living with less (reflecting on Cait Flander's interview with us on Monday), life hacks from the community, and a winner for the free ticket to CampFI in Joshua Tree!

• The ChooseFI community is growing and gaining national attention.
• • How This Couple Saved $1 Million in 11 Years and Became Financially Independent Before 40
  • Nine Money Podcasts You Should Be Listening To
• Local Groups are really effective in some parts of the ChooseFI community.
• Jonathan joined some members of the Richmond local group to purchase a mosquito fogger to share between them.
• What else could be a shared purchase?
• Cait Flanders, from Monday’s episode, talked about taking control of your life, and decluttering her whole life.
• How do you take control of your life?
• Could you live with less?
• Why doesn’t Brad use a budget, and how does he still manage his finances well?
• Why does Brad hope his daughter reads Harry Potter?
• Voicemail from Kristyn, from fortheloveoftidy.com and the Spark Joy podcast, talks about her FI progress, and tips for decluttering:
• • Map out your ideal living environment; think about how your clutter fits into that.
  • Ask yourself tough questions about the clutter in your life.
• What is tough about decluttering for Jonathan?
• How does Kristyn keep track of her “bit-sized wins”?
• Why did Jonathan finally get rid of his grad-school notes?
• Voicemail with a suggestion based on advice from The White Coat Investor, to employ children as models for his website, to add legitimate money to his kids’ retirement accounts.
• Facebook post from Heather about how her son found a job without a car.
• Message from Louima, who was inspired by Cait’s Monday episode, and is contemplating a reduction of her FI number.
• Email from Mark with some FI hacks:
• • Food:
  • • Choose smaller dishes
    • Put chips, pretzels, etc., in a dish, don’t eat directly from the bag
    • Don’t eat alone: Why Eating Alone May Be Bad for You
    • Don’t eat while watching TV: The Danger of Eating in Front of the TV
  • Finances:
  • • Use credit cards for travel rewards
    • Shopping portals – some opportunities to earn 4-10x more points
    • Earny: a price drop protection app
    • Feex.com: finds hidden fees in your investment accounts
• Update: Brad is working to establish a scholarship for a Treehouse student to learn coding, in partnership with Every Child’s Hope.
• Winner of the ticket to CampFI in Joshua Tree: Danielle!

Links:

The Simple Path to Wealth

Design Your Future

Freelance to Freedom