I used to live just a block away from Central Park in Manhattan. This morning, I want to share a story from mochimac, a personal finance blogger at “Save. Spend. Splurge.” mochimac managed to pay off $60,000 of debt in 18 months and now lives in a hotel full-time, working less but earning more as…
Carrie recently reached out to me, sharing her struggles in achieving financial freedom. She expressed frustration over her inability to save money, despite her efforts. She’s a 21-year-old college student, engaged, a business owner, and a pet owner. Her savings account is empty, which understandably makes her anxious about not having a financial cushion for…
This week I’m hitting the four-month mark here in Guatemala. Since catching the travel bug back in 2003, I haven’t spent many consecutive months in one country. After a round-the-world trip that ended in 2004, I lived in Guatemala from 2004 to 2006 but was always on the move, exploring the region, returning to Europe,…
In a recent post, I shared a simple method to calculate your debt’s weighted average interest rate. For example, if you owe $1000 at an interest rate of 6% and another debt of $2000 at 0%, your total debt is $3000 at an average rate of 2%. This rate is crucial because it represents the…
There’s been a lot of chatter lately about handling debt. On one side, some believe you should stop enjoying life until you’ve paid off all consumer debt, pouring every extra dollar into your debt snowball. On the other side, some argue that life is too short, and debt shouldn’t make you miss out on good…
As parents, it’s natural to want to give your kids the best life possible, but there’s a fine line between providing for them and spoiling them. Let’s explore different aspects of this balance. ### Clothes When I was a teenager, I had various odd jobs like tutoring and babysitting. My parents covered basic expenses, including…
Happy Monday! Here’s some uplifting news from sunny Guatemala. This recap was delayed due to the storm, but now things are almost back to normal. I’m on a plane to France as you read this, so enjoy the update! After a bustling Easter, life is returning to its usual pace, and we’re wrapping up the…
This week was quite eventful as I found myself alone at home with a new room being constructed and a handyman assisting me in setting up a vegetable garden. In small Guatemalan villages, men often have a macho attitude, making it challenging for a woman like me to be heard. On the first day, the…
On January 1st, I set several financial goals and will be updating them every couple of months throughout the year. Here’s the first review. Already, two months have passed! My main financial goal was to grow my net worth by 30%. However, with the purchase of a car, a boat, over $12K of home improvements,…
Good morning! Today, I’m sharing step 5 of the “13 Money Resolutions for 2013”: reviewing your expenses. You can catch up on the previous steps if you haven’t done so yet. I accidentally published this post on Sunday instead of scheduling it, so to avoid flooding your RSS feed with multiple posts, I decided to…