July Highlights - Best Posts in the Blogosphere

Happy Friday! It's been a crazy hectic week in the FIRE household, which means it's time for another blog appreciation post!

I've been swamped with freelance work, joined the board for my Roller Derby league, and my 9-5 job has picked up. Unfortunately, I haven't had any time for writing posts, but I've read some great ones, let me tell you some of my favourites.

How The Pursuit of FI Almost Ended My Life

Over at the Retirement Manifesto Fritz fell off a roof. He didn't almost fall off a roof, he actually fell off a roof! He recounts the story in a humorous and slightly terrifying way, while skillfully making me question what lengths I'll go to in the pursuit of saving a buck. Having nearly been killed twice in 24 hours by inattentive drivers while riding my bike to work, this really resonated with me.

The Point of Retirement Inevitability

The Frugal Vagabond writes a very comforting post about the concept of retirement inevitability. This is the point where (if left alone) your investments will grow enough to guarantee you can retire comfortably. From that point you only need to earn enough to cover your day to day expenses. 

Naturally the first thing I did was check my own 'retirement inevitability'. If I count my home equity in my net worth, I will inevitably have enough to retire in 17 years at the still young age of 43. If I only count my actively invested funds, it will take 32 year, at 58 I'd still be retiring early by two years!

Reaching Milestones on the Journey to Early Retirement

This is a short sneaky post by Adventures with Poopsie, but i's such an exciting milestone I need to call it out. Their July dividends were enough to cover an entire years worth of Bills! That's a line on their budget line they can official call covered by their investments.

Congratulations AWP!

Lessons Learned as a Lifeguard

Mustard Seed Money takes us back to our childhood when jobs were simple, they could be fun, and in his case it was outdoors in the sun! He outlines important life lessons like backing yourself, perseverance and carefully selecting your workplace. The kicker for me was how easily this post awoke my longing for a simpler time of being a youngling, and the craving for a job I truly enjoy, the sort of thing I could switch to once I was happy with my Retirement Inevitability.

What a Frugal Weekend! July 16

Mrs. Picky Pincher runs a regular weekly spot where she talks about what she, Mr. Picky and their cat Zap got up to over the weekend. While it won't be the magic light bulb moment that changes your life, this post contains the best damn granola recipe I have ever come across. I've been caught standing in the kitchen eating this stuff by the handful, it's that damn good!

Can you get filthy rich by spending more money every year?

I feel like it's cheating a bit including my own post, but I really loved writing this. In this post our two case studies, John the Great Dane, and Cindy the Poodle show two different kinds of lifestyle inflation. Strangely, the dog who spends more money with every passing year retires first. Take that lifestyle inflation haters! It can be done, kind of... check out the post.

May Highlights - Best Posts in the Blogosphere

Morning Everyone! It's been a hectic week and as you read this Mr. FIRE and I are sitting in a hospital waiting for him to go in for knee surgery. This will be our third winter in a row with one of us hobbling around on crutches so we really hope it's the last.

Unfortunately this also means I haven't had the chance to write anything for today's update. I tapped this out on my phone in the waiting room, please forgive the formatting and lack of pictures. Instead of my thoughts, here are my favourite personal finance posts from May.

Number Five

Fiery Millenials - Never say Never

Gwen from Fiery Millenials is a huge inspiration for me, we're at similar life stages but she's winning the FIRE race. In this post she brilliantly captures that it's not always about money. It's also about your entire approach to life.

Number Four

Mr. Tako Escapes - Investing in Avocado Toast

Mr. Tako is rapidly becoming on of my favourite FIRE bloggers. He's witty, funny, really knowledgeable and really easy to understand. This post is about why stock market dives are like avocados going in sale, a great thing!

Number Three

Bayalis is the Answer - The 4 Percent Rule

I've mentioned the 4% rule a few times, but another post on it is always welcome, and Mrs. Bayalis is laugh out loud hilarious. I keep getting busted at work laughing at her posts.

Number Two

Hey, It's Just Money - Winter Ready

Mr. FIRE and I were excited for our first low electricity bill winter this year. The last two years we've both had surgery (his ankle, my knee) and no one wants to be cold while recovering so we cranked the heat. 

Well Mr. FIRE is about to have surgery, so looks like we're having another expensive year for us, but maybe you could save on your power bill with some of these tips from Hey, It's Just Money.

Number One

Picky Pinchers - Skip the Tampon Tax

Turns out this was written way back last year, but I stumbled across it in a couple of days ago, so it's in my highlights reel.

As a woman I hated paying for tampons constantly so I turned to using a menstrual cup. Turns out Mrs. Picky Pincher is a cup user too! Check out her review.

Hey readers, I'm considering making the monthly highlights reel a regular post - what do you think?