Dec 20, 2013
Part One: Avoiding Pitfalls when Buying Shitloads of Stuff The New Old House project is going very well, thanks for asking. Slowly, if you measure the progress by any sort of professional standard, but very well, if you consider the fact that I am having an absolute blast working through it bit by bit. “What…
Oct 15, 2012
A few weeks ago, a scary piece of paper came in the mail, addressed to Mrs. Money Mustache. It was an order that she report to the downtown Boulder courthouse for jury duty in early October. The letter was careful to remind us that jury duty is an essential part of our justice system. Without…
Sep 6, 2012
There’s quite a bit of interesting stuff circulating in the mainstream media these days on the topic of personal finance. You’ve got the Whiny articles, where high-income people with terrible spending habits talk about the crushing cost of living these days, and how “we’re the first generation that will never be able to retire”. Waah,…
Oct 6, 2011
It was a beautiful evening in my neighborhood, and I was enjoying one of my giant homebrews on a deck chair I had placed in the middle of the street, as part of a nearby block’s Annual Street Party. I was talking to a couple I had just met, and the topic turned to the…
Dec 10, 2022
One of the reasons I don’t write as often these days is that my life has gradually evolved into a Personal Finance Bubble. The people around me have learned to be purposeful with their money, which means they now have plenty of savings and never have to stress about the stuff. Good ideas have naturally…
Dec 17, 2020
A close friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer this year. It was the serious kind, where you need to treat it quickly and aggressively or it will spread through your body, stick to all of your organs, and kill you. The diagnosis was a shock to my friend and her loved ones – she’s…
Oct 5, 2018
In case you hadn’t already noticed it in the news, it seems we are hitting a turning point in how the rest of the world perceives this lifestyle that you and I have been enjoying. First, we were ignored. Then, there were a few stories that just focused on the strange lives of Mr. Money…
Oct 6, 2017
Just a few days ago, I got a surprise in the mail. It was a very expensive registration renewal bill* from Boulder County, reminding me that my brand-new 2016 Nissan Leaf was already a whole year old. The car has now been through the full cycle of Colorado’s interesting driving conditions including blazing sunshine, blowing…
Jun 20, 2017
A Note from the Future: This article was first published in June 2017, and at the time of course we had no idea when the next recession would be. Some doomsday types thought it was imminent, and others thought the boom was just getting started. In retrospect, the correct answer turned out to be “33…
Jun 8, 2017
In this extremely wealthy country of ours, the chief barrier to wealth is often the information, or misinformation that gets stuck inside our own heads. People with the right knowledge can develop the right habits, and these habits lead them to accumulate wealth very quickly. Meanwhile, the majority of people pick up incorrect financial ideas and…
Oct 2, 2016
In September 2016 I bought a brand-new Nissan Leaf SV with the new 25% bigger battery (30 kWh) This page will keep track of ongoing data, modifications, observations, and such. A Brief History of the Leaf As of 2018, the Nissan Leaf is currently in its fourth revision, although mine is a third generation. If…
Sep 12, 2016
Beneath all the fluff, this blog exists for only one purpose: to encourage people to change their behavior. So naturally, I am very happy when I hear from people who are actually making big changes. And I’m even more excited to hear about people making big changes early in life, because then they get to enjoy…