FIRE Without The Burn

January 2004 was a time of great economic growth in the US. As you can see in the chart, there is a slight concave curve and a positive slope.

In August of 2006, the yield curves had inverted, showing a convex shape. The economy had not been impacted yet; however, The Great Recession was less than 18 months away.

Source: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=nf0p

This graph shows the 2 year and 3 month yield curve spread over time. The shaded areas are US recessions.

I mentioned this book and Brendan’s 10 life arenas:

• Health

• Family

• Friends

• Intimate relationship - partner/marriage

• Mission/work

• Finances

• Adventure

• Hobby

• Spirituality

• Emotion

He recommends writing out goals and ranking these areas from 1-10 weekly. To get a copy of the book, I would sure appreciate it if you use my affiliate link here: https://amzn.to/2C3fufM

1. Rate myself 1-10

2. Did I accomplish my goals from last week?

   1. Yes 100%

   2. Partially

   3. Not at all

3. What are my goals for the coming week? (open ended)

I really like spreadsheets in general, but I absolutely LOVE this spreadsheet! You plug in all your debts, decide how much extra you can pay each month, choose which payoff method you want to use (snowball [lowest balance first] vs avalanche [highest interest rate first] vs custom) and watch as the spreadsheet populates a wealth of information! Details include a payoff graph, how much interest you’ll pay, how long it will take you, and a full amortization schedule if you want to get nerdy with me. Change your payoff method and watch everything update automatically! What happens if you get a bonus or a tax refund you want to throw at your debt? Go to the payment schedule tab and you can add one-time payments in column D. This shows you exactly how much to pay to each debt each month.

Okay, okay, that’s enough excitement about this tool. Grab it for free here.

Tom’s podcast has been instrumental in my life. I am sure that I could not have changed my finances without first changing my mindset, which is directly related to me listening to his show. If you haven’t checked him out, do yourself a favor and listen wherever you get your podcasts or here.

I mentioned that I began using Mint.com to budget and track my net worth in 2017. They’re a completely free (albeit ad-based) platform that easily links all your accounts to one place. It enables you to import your transactions, categorize, and summarize them easily. It also links to sites like Zillow for home value and Kelly Blue Book for car values, which can save a lot of time.

I mentioned that reading Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover,” motivated me to start making changes. While I disagree with a lot of his advice, I agree that his debt pay down strategy called the “snowball method,” can be very powerful psychologically. If you want to read the whole book, get it here*.

*This is an affiliate link, so I will be compensated if you purchase after clicking it. If you hate me and the show, don’t follow the link! On the other hand, if you’d like to support the show, please purchase through the link. :)