Travel Hacking is becoming extremely popular in the Financial Independence (FI) Community. For those of you who don’t know, travel hacking is taking advantage of credit card sign up bonuses by hitting the minimum spend and canceling the card. If someone completes this cycle multiple times again they can accumulate large amounts of credit card reward points. Those points can be used to purchase travel (Aka: expensive plane tickets), book hotels, and even rent cars. Travel Hacking is a great way to save money on travel, but unfortunately it is not for me. Therefore, I will not recommend it to anyone else.
Apple, Android, Huawei, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T & Verizon. The juggernauts of the mobile phone industry have been pulling the strings of our pockets for two decades. Some spend hundreds per month to operate these devices that are digital extensions of ourselves. Fortunately, in April 2015, a large data company saw an opportunity in the mobile device industry, Google. Continue reading “Can you hear me now? The new Mogul in Mobile Phone Service- Google FI”
January 2019 was a good month, both personally and financially. My girlfriend and I started a 21 day fast of Video Media (YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, etc), fast food, alcohol, meat, unhealthy snacks. We were pretty disciplined and stuck to our sacrifices, even though we had with a few slip-ups along Continue reading “January 2019 – Net Worth Update”
In November of 2018, I packed my bags and moved to Shenzhen, China. Unfortunately, this happened to be in the midst of blistering political drama and trade tensions between the World’s largest economies, China & the United States (US). I worried how this would affect me, my salary, and my future. I realized that I my new salary was going to be paid in ChineseRMBand I was now exposed to a new, well new to me, risk: currency risk. Continue reading “Currency Risk (Exchange Rate Risk) & Teaching English in China”
After high school, I never REALLY knew what I wanted to be or do. Does anyone, really? I did know one thing. I was going to college! My older sister was the first person in my immediate family to receive a bachelor’s degree, and later a Masters Degree. Being the competitive little brother I am, I went out and chased the same goal. Fast forward a few years, I’m walking across Continue reading “Degrees with Debt: How I paid off $27,000 in Student Loans in 2 years”
Hello W-T-Fiers! This is my first Net Worth Update of the blog. I want to use these post to track my progress towards FI, and to determine what my key objectives or “Action Items” are moving into the future. All values arelisted in USD ($). I hope you enjoy! Continue reading “December 2018 – Net Worth Update”
Welcome W-T-Fi’ers. I’m a 25 year-old millennial from Atlanta, GA. After 3 years with a “real” job, I quit, moved to Shenzhen, China (aka the “Silicon Valley of Hardware”) and began to teach English as a Second Language (ESL). (Did I mention I’m a millennial?) One thing I haven’t changed is my coveted goal of reaching Financial Independence (FI). This blog is about my path to reach FI, and maybe a few travel and expat experiences along the way. Enjoy!
Goal
My goal is to reach FI in ten years (2029). With annual expenses of $24,000 (USD) per year. Using the basic rule of 25x times your annual expenses, I will need approximately $600,000 (USD) to never have to trade my time for money again.
History
I first discovered the FI “rabbit hole” when I was 16 years old. I was working a summer internship at my local water department. The internship went well but, I spent most of my time surveying old pipes in bad parts of town. Fortunately, I made friends with the construction crews. One day, one of said crew members, “Big Mike”, introduced me to Dave Ramsey while we were eating lunch in the truck. I heard a loud-mouthed, big personality, radio guru who preaches about the benefits of living a life with no debt. This was my first exposure to personal finance. I was hooked! I spent every free moment absorbing personal finance blogs, podcasts, and books. Unfortunately, even with this knowledge, I managed to accumulate more than 40k (USD) in student loan debt. I was so disappointed in myself that when I graduated college and got my first “real” job, I paid off 30k of my debt. And I won’t stop there.
Thank you for taking the time to join me on my path. Feel free to comment and give me ANY feedback, suggestions, or encouragement to reaching my goal.
