Many of you are focused savers. You appreciate frugality and the wise use of money for its own sake. I’m in that camp too. And when you’ve got big goals like financial independence and creating freedom in your life, that makes perfect sense. But I’ve also come to realise that some of us can get a little too passionate about it.  To the point where we begin to think in black and white: saving good, spending bad. And while that can be a useful framework when nailing down your costs to reach FIRE faster, it’s not the optimal approach. In this article, I want to talk about Deliberate Spending ..read more

I recently became the owner of a brand new Tesla Model 3. Not gonna lie, it feels very strange. After not buying all that much (besides investments) for the last 15 years, I decided to indulge in some luxury. While this might seem like a wildly out of character purchase (and let’s be honest, it is), when put into the correct context it might not be as crazy as it seems. In this post I’ll explain… — Why I bought it (and how) — The experience so far  (what I do/don’t like) — How much it cost, and ongoing savings/expenses — Charging options + EV basics — Tax rebates + subsidies — Whether you ..read more

“Stage 3 tax cuts!” You’d have to be living under a rock to not have heard about it. The media has been having a field day with the pros and cons of the upcoming changes, with various talking heads giving their opinions. It’s received a lot of attention.  And fair enough I suppose, given there’s a lot of tax dollars at play. The recent amendments to the initial proposed changes have heated the discussion further, and (annoyingly) forced me to re-write some of this article! Honestly, I’m not interested in debating the merits of it, which you would’ve heard endlessly about by now.  Ins ..read more

With the new year racing along, let’s take a step back for a moment. As I’ve done for the last few years, I’m about to share how much we spent in 2023. The aim behind this is to illustrate that a happy existence doesn’t have to cost a ton of money. “$100k is barely making a living” “Family scrapes by on $250k” “(Insert ridiculous media story or statement here)” The idea of life being expensive is so pervasive that it’s widely accepted as an unavoidable reality.  But as most of you realise by now, that’s just not true. We get to decide our own lifestyles and make our own decisions.  A ..read more

I’m sure you’ve heard of the Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 rule. It’s a principle which suggests roughly 80% of outcomes are driven by 20% of factors… 80% of sales come from 20% of products.  80% of crime is caused by 20% of people.  80% of your results come from 20% of your actions. You get the idea. And while it’s often more like 90/10, 75/25, or whatever, the principle itself is sound.  A minority of inputs are typically responsible for the majority of an outcome. So the implication is clear: whatever we’re doing, we should figure out the most impactful things that will crea ..read more

The start of the year is such a fantastic time. We’re optimistic about what the new year might bring.  We leave last year’s baggage behind, and get a totally new fresh start! So how will we approach it?  Just cruise along and let life decide for us? Sure, maybe if you’re a normal person.  But not around here! We decide what we want to happen, then we go about making it come true. In this post, I want to offer my best suggestions to help you make the most of 2024.  I’ll give you some ideas and strategies to level up your life and finances, starting with…   Mindset & ..read more

One of the biggest debates in personal finance is whether to pay off your mortgage or invest. Both camps put forth well reasoned arguments on the benefits and drawbacks of both options. I’ve written an article on it myself along with a podcast on the same topic. But when interest rates shoot up, as they have recently, it prompts many people to ask questions: “Is it still better to invest when rates are this high?” “Maybe I should pay down my mortgage since the savings are better now” “Does debt recycling still make sense? While these are all good choices, surely there has to be a right move on ..read more

A few months ago now, I said goodbye to my dog of 10 years, Boss the Bulldog. Many of you will know how big a part of my life he was. It was my first dog, so I’d never experienced that kind of long term bond with an animal before. As you might imagine, that’s left a decent sized hole in the space he occupied (in many ways). Despite that, I’m doing okay.  Much better than expected actually.  And because I tend to process things by thinking and writing, I ended up jotting down a whole lot of thoughts over the month or so since his passing. By the way, I don’t want you to think of this ..read more

  Hey there – welcome to the Early Retirement Resources page! Think of this like a central hub for all my ‘post FI’ related stuff. This page is for you if you’re approaching the later stages of your journey or hoping to transition to a more freedom-focused lifestyle sometime soon. Whether that’s full financial independence, or a version of semi-retirement, that’s totally up to you. Below you’ll find content tailored around the transition stage, which will help you know what to expect, how to plan, and craft your mindset to build the confidence you need to step towards the life you really ..read more

WANT MORE PRACTICAL NO BS FINANCE CONTENT EVERY WEEK? Join thousands of readers and subscribe to the Strong Money Newsletter below.   A while ago, I posted the following on my socials… I thought this was a fairly mild and straightforward statement.  But as it turns out, several people strongly disagreed with it. Not only that, but they couldn’t even fathom how it could possibly be true. Now, I’ll probably still write a fully updated Rent vs Buy post soon.  But since my comment prompted such a mixed response, I thought it was worth unpacking. If your initial reaction is, “Dave ..read more