The Financial Independence Show

The first portion of this podcast is feedback from last week's episode: The Low-Hanging Fruits of FI.

Anonymous talks about Project FI and tells us about calling to get cell phone data reports.

Cody's mom asks us to clarify how WiFi works.

Luke from Forming the Life talks about the power of automation.

Jeremy corrects Cody about AskTrim and mentions Truebill.

Mike weighs in about Sling TV for watching football.

Emily tells us about saving money on groceries with Checkout 51.

Camp FI South

The second portion of this episode was recorded LIVE from Camp FI South! Whitney Hansen of Money Nerds, Paul Thompson of Ready Investor One, TJ and I all asked the attendees to share their #1 takeaway from Camp FI. Enjoy!

Doc G – “Knowing that you have a group of people to support you at a hard time in life, who come to the world with the same worldview is really magical”

“Content creators tend to shout at the world, but there a lot of people out there who are whispering and if you listen closely you can learn a lot.”

Contact him at Diversefi.com!

James Lowery – “You don’t need as much… it seems like it takes a long time to see any progress, but then once you notice the progress it’s already taken off at that point”

Contact him at RethinkTheRatRace.com!

Ruth Bresnahan – “Personal growth is the most important thing. If you’re not experiencing personal growth, then your quality of life will go down no matter where you are in the journey”

Justin Taylor – “Stop being so focused on this large nest egg number…giving me that confidence to step away and make it all work out”

Contact him at Saving-Sherpa.com!

Captain DIY – “Remove the idea of the nest egg number and take away the money aspect. Learn to enjoy the journey… The FI journey itself is such a growth experience”

Contact him at DIY2FI.com!

Doug Nordman – “I did not expect the level of interest in raising a money-smart kid… I’ve learned as a blogger that when you get the same questions over and over again you probably should write about it”

Contact him at The-Military-Guide.com!

Stephen Baughier – “I appreciate you guys coming this weekend, and all of the other people who are listening who have come to a Camp FI previously this year, I appreciate you for being a part of this and hopefully we’ll have a successful 2019 and make more connections.”

Contact him at CampFI.org!

Join the Community

We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in the FIRE Below Zero community!

Join our Facebook Group

Sign up for our newsletter

Leave us a voicemail

Links from the Episode

Camp FI

______

Project FI

Unreal Mobile

Ask Trim

Truebill

Sling TV

Project FI

Ready Investor One

Money Nerds

Forming The Life

Diversefi

Rethink The Rat Race

Saving Sherpa

Diy2fi

The Military Guide

Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog)

Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)

The first portion of this podcast is feedback from last week's episode: The Low-Hanging Fruits of FI.

* Anonymous talks about Project FI and tells us about calling to get cell phone data reports.

* Cody's mom asks us to clarify how WiFi works.

* Luke from Forming the Life talks about the power of automation.

* Jeremy corrects Cody about AskTrim and mentions Truebill.

* Mike weighs in about Sling TV for watching football.

* Emily tells us about saving money on groceries with Checkout 51.

Camp FI South

The second portion of this episode was recorded LIVE from Camp FI South! Whitney Hansen of Money Nerds, Paul Thompson of Ready Investor One, TJ and I all asked the attendees to share their #1 takeaway from Camp FI. Enjoy!

Doc G – “Knowing that you have a group of people to support you at a hard time in life, who come to the world with the same worldview is really magical”

“Content creators tend to shout at the world, but there a lot of people out there who are whispering and if you listen closely you can learn a lot.”

Contact him at Diversefi.com!

James Lowery – “You don’t need as much… it seems like it takes a long time to see any progress, but then once you notice the progress it’s already taken off at that point”

Contact him at RethinkTheRatRace.com!

Ruth Bresnahan – “Personal growth is the most important thing. If you’re not experiencing personal growth, then your quality of life will go down no matter where you are in the journey”

Justin Taylor – “Stop being so focused on this large nest egg number…giving me that confidence to step away and make it all work out”

Contact him at Saving-Sherpa.com!

Captain DIY – “Remove the idea of the nest egg number and take away the money aspect. Learn to enjoy the journey… The FI journey itself is such a growth experience”

Contact him at DIY2FI.com!

Doug Nordman – “I did not expect the level of interest in raising a money-smart kid… I’ve learned as a blogger that when you get the same questions over and over again you probably should write about it”

Contact him at The-Military-Guide.com!

Stephen Baughier – “I appreciate you guys coming this weekend, and all of the other people who are listening who have come to a Camp FI previously this year, I appreciate you for being a part of this and hopefully we’ll have a successful 2019 and make more connections.”

Contact him at CampFI.org!

Join the Community

We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in the FIRE Below Zero community!

* Join our Facebook Group

* Sign up for our newsletter

* Leave us a voicemail

Links from the Episode

Camp FI

______

In this week's episode, Cody and TJ discuss the low-hanging fruits of FI. These are the changes you can make in your life today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, and so on that can drastically improve your financial position. Tune in and get ready to pick these low-hanging fruits!

Episode Summary

Housing:

Makes up 33% of average American household expenditure

House hacking – Purchasing a primary residence and renting out units/bedrooms in order to subsidize the cost of your housing.

Downsizing / Living Below Your Means – Find the most affordable housing option in your area that suits your needs. This strategy is less extreme than house hacking, but still a powerful tactic for reducing your monthly expenses.

Transportation:

Makes up 17% of average American household expenditure

Leasing a car is one of the worst financial choices you can possibly make. You are literally throwing money out of the window. Don’t do it!

Buy a car outright. Find something that is fairly cheap and if possible, pay in cash! If you need to make monthly payments, pay it off as soon as possible.

Never buy a new car. The car loses more than 20% of its value the second it leaves the lot. Find a used car that’s “like new” and save yourself from giving up your hard-earned dollars.

Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses... Cody and TJ bet that you can find a decent car for $10,000 or less.

Food:

Makes up 13% of average American household expenditure

When grocery shopping, make a list and stick to it! Cody recommends the AnyList app. However, if there is a similar on-sale item to an item on your list, go for it!

Do what makes sense. You don't need to spend hours clipping coupons to save $0.35 here and there.

TJ highly recommends Aldi... he spends $50-70 per week for a family of three and claims that he "splurges"! If there isn't a location near you, figure out which store has the best deals and shop intentionally.

Limit eating out at restaurants. Once in a while is okay, but too much eating out can substantially impact your ability to save money.

Services:

You have a lot more power than you think when it comes to service companies. Whether it be insurance, power, or electric -- these companies want your business! Shop around, pick up the phone and negotiate your rates.

If you don't want to call the companies yourself, sign up with AskTrim and they will negotiate your rates for you! They take a 33% cut from whatever they save, but this completely eliminates the efforts on your end.

Discretionary Spending:

Cody and TJ are a bit more lenient in this category if and only if you have a solid financial footing. If you've done everything else right, a Starbucks coffee won't break the budget. However, if you are living paycheck to paycheck, these are things you need to cut out!

Track which clothes you actually wear. Donate what you don't! Cody cleared out 75% of his closet and feels great.

Phone, Internet, Cable:

Cut the cord on cable!

You can just have WiFi and watch your favorite shows and movies online. Use an HDMI cord to hook up your computer to the internet. Don't get suckered into the fancy bundles.

C'mon... you don't need a landline.

Some cheap cell phone plans include Project FI and pre-paid plans. Stop paying for crazy, unlimited data plans and switch to something cheaper!

Football Season

You don't need cable to watch the game! Every NFL game is available on Reddit.com/nflstreams. Or, check with your local channels to see if any games are available.

Join the Community

We'd love to hear your comments and questions about this week's episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in the FIRE Below Zero community!

Join our Facebook Group

Sign up for our newsletter

Leave us a voicemail

Links from the Episode

The Company Men Movie

AnyList Grocery App

Aldi

AskTrim

Project FI

Unreal Mobile

Reddit NFL Streams

Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog)

Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)

In this week's episode, Cody and TJ discuss the low-hanging fruits of FI. These are the changes you can make in your life today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, and so on that can drastically improve your financial position. Tune in and get ready to pick these low-hanging fruits!

Episode Summary

Housing:

Makes up 33% of average American household expenditure

House hacking – Purchasing a primary residence and renting out units/bedrooms in order to subsidize the cost of your housing.

Downsizing / Living Below Your Means – Find the most affordable housing option in your area that suits your needs. This strategy is less extreme than house hacking, but still a powerful tactic for reducing your monthly expenses.

Transportation:

Makes up 17% of average American household expenditure

Leasing a car is one of the worst financial choices you can possibly make. You are literally throwing money out of the window. Don’t do it!

Buy a car outright. Find something that is fairly cheap and if possible, pay in cash! If you need to make monthly payments, pay it off as soon as possible.

Never buy a new car. The car loses more than 20% of its value the second it leaves the lot. Find a used car that’s “like new” and save yourself from giving up your hard-earned dollars.

Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses... Cody and TJ bet that you can find a decent car for $10,000 or less.

Food:

Makes up 13% of average American household expenditure

When grocery shopping, make a list and stick to it! Cody recommends the AnyList app. However, if there is a similar on-sale item to an item on your list, go for it!

Do what makes sense. You don't need to spend hours clipping coupons to save $0.35 here and there.

TJ highly recommends Aldi... he spends $50-70 per week for a family of three and claims that he "splurges"! If there isn't a location near you, figure out which store has the best deals and shop intentionally.

Limit eating out at restaurants. Once in a while is okay, but too much eating out can substantially impact your ability to save money.

Services:

You have a lot more power than you think when it comes to service companies. Whether it be insurance, power, or electric -- these companies want your business! Shop around, pick up the phone and negotiate your rates.

If you don't want to call the companies yourself, sign up with AskTrim and they will negotiate your rates for you! They take a 33% cut from whatever they save, but this completely eliminates the efforts on your end.

Discretionary Spending:

Cody and TJ are a bit more lenient in this category if and only if you have a solid financial footing. If you've done everything else right, a Starbucks coffee won't break the budget. However, if you are living paycheck to paycheck, these are things you need to cut out!

Track which clothes you actually wear. Donate what you don't! Cody cleared out 75% of his closet and feels great.

Phone, Internet, Cable:

Cut the cord on cable!

You can just have WiFi and watch your favorite shows and movies online. Use an HDMI cord to hook up your computer to the internet. Don't get suckered into the fancy bundles.

C'mon... you don't need a landline.

Some cheap cell phone plans include Project FI and pre-paid plans. Stop paying for crazy, unlimited data plans and switch to something cheaper!

Football Season

You don't need cable to watch the game! Every NFL game is available on Reddit.com/nflstreams. Or, check with your local channels to see if any games are available.

Join the Community

We'd love to hear your comments and questions about this week's episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in the FIRE Below Zero community!

Join our Facebook Group

Sign up for our newsletter

Leave us a voicemail

Links from the Episode

The Company Men Movie

AnyList Grocery App

Aldi

AskTrim

Project FI

Unreal Mobile

PT Money is the founder of FinCon and a personal finance blogger at PTMoney.com. In today’s episode, I get a chance to interview him LIVE at FinCon to share his financial journey.

Episode Summary

Around age 24, PT realized that he was “not moving forward financially”. He describes how he “had debt” and “wasn’t saving at all”.

After discovering Dave Ramsey, PT used the debt snowball approach to pay down his loans.

Diving deeper into the rabbit hole, PT started reading personal finance websites and learning that he should max out his 401K, IRA, and HSA accounts.

PT’s savvy investing was mainly driven by his “anti-government, anti-establishment” mindset and the notion of “reducing taxes as much as possible”.

In order to further advance his financial position, PT started to automate his contributions and invest in a taxable account (after maxing out his pre-tax accounts).

Around this same time, PT started his blog PT Money in order to document his financial journey.

He soon discovered that this “hobby” could earn him some real money. He went from earning his mortgage payment, to 1/3 of his W2 income, to ½ of his W2 income before quitting his day job in 2010.

Running PTMoney.com soon became his day job, so naturally, he needed a new side hustle!

In 2011, FinCon was born! PT was not satisfied with the other personal finance conferences he attended, so he decided to start his own.

He created a map outlining the location of all of his personal finance blogger friends. After careful deliberation, he decided that Chicago was the best location to host his first event.

In order to make the event successful, PT diligently studied other conferences and leaned on his network for their expertise. He says “I tend to lean on people I trust”.

The first FinCon had nearly 250 attendees (compared to the 30 expected from PT).

At this LIVE FinCon 2018 interview, there were OVER 2,000 people at the event!

Key Takeaways

Just get started! – PT says that he had no idea what he was doing when he first launched his blog in 2007. He just “leaned into the passion and put down the distractions”. Fortunately, he quickly realized that this hobby of his could bring in some real money. His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is “don’t feel like you need to jump into it… don’t be afraid to do it on the side”. It took PT three years after starting his blog to quit his day job, you don’t have to take a crazy entrepreneurial leap if you don’t want to.

 

Leverage Your Network – Having a strong network is so powerful for an entrepreneur. PT leaned on the expertise of his friends and colleagues to make FinCon successful. His first three employees were all friends from college! He warns “don’t feel like whatever you've created needs to be solely under your control or in your name.” Open-source entrepreneurship allows you to play to your strengths and to let others complement your weaknesses. Don’t be afraid to leverage your network!

Join the Community

We'd love to hear your comments and questions about this week's episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in the FIRE Below Zero community!

Join our Facebook Group

Sign up for our newsletter

Leave us a voicemail

Links from the Episode

PT Money | Twitter

FinCon 2019

Dave Ramsey

Consumerism Commentary

Bargaineering.com

Automatic Contributions

WordCamps

Blog World Expo

Affiliate Summits

Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog)

PT Money is the founder of FinCon and a personal finance blogger at PTMoney.com. In today’s episode, I get a chance to interview him LIVE at FinCon to share his financial journey.

Episode Summary

Around age 24, PT realized that he was “not moving forward financially”. He describes how he “had debt” and “wasn’t saving at all”.

After discovering Dave Ramsey, PT used the debt snowball approach to pay down his loans.

Diving deeper into the rabbit hole, PT started reading personal finance websites and learning that he should max out his 401K, IRA, and HSA accounts.

PT’s savvy investing was mainly driven by his “anti-government, anti-establishment” mindset and the notion of “reducing taxes as much as possible”.

In order to further advance his financial position, PT started to automate his contributions and invest in a taxable account (after maxing out his pre-tax accounts).

Around this same time, PT started his blog PT Money in order to document his financial journey.

He soon discovered that this “hobby” could earn him some real money. He went from earning his mortgage payment, to 1/3 of his W2 income, to ½ of his W2 income before quitting his day job in 2010.

Running PTMoney.com soon became his day job, so naturally, he needed a new side hustle!

In 2011, FinCon was born! PT was not satisfied with the other personal finance conferences he attended, so he decided to start his own.

He created a map outlining the location of all of his personal finance blogger friends. After careful deliberation, he decided that Chicago was the best location to host his first event.

In order to make the event successful, PT diligently studied other conferences and leaned on his network for their expertise. He says “I tend to lean on people I trust”.

The first FinCon had nearly 250 attendees (compared to the 30 expected from PT).

At this LIVE FinCon 2018 interview, there were OVER 2,000 people at the event!

Key Takeaways

Just get started! – PT says that he had no idea what he was doing when he first launched his blog in 2007. He just “leaned into the passion and put down the distractions”. Fortunately, he quickly realized that this hobby of his could bring in some real money. His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is “don’t feel like you need to jump into it… don’t be afraid to do it on the side”. It took PT three years after starting his blog to quit his day job, you don’t have to take a crazy entrepreneurial leap if you don’t want to.

 

Leverage Your Network – Having a strong network is so powerful for an entrepreneur. PT leaned on the expertise of his friends and colleagues to make FinCon successful. His first three employees were all friends from college! He warns “don’t feel like whatever you've created needs to be solely under your control or in your name.” Open-source entrepreneurship allows you to play to your strengths and to let others complement your weaknesses. Don’t be afraid to leverage your network!

Join the Community

We'd love to hear your comments and questions about this week's episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in the FIRE Below Zero community!

Join our Facebook Group

Sign up for our newsletter

Leave us a voicemail

Links from the Episode

PT Money | Twitter

FinCon 2019

Dave Ramsey

Consumerism Commentary

Bargaineering.com

Automatic Contributions

WordCamps

Blog World Expo

Affiliate Summits

Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog)

In today's episode, we get a chance to talk to Lily from The Frugal Gene about her accelerated path to financial independence. By choosing to avoid lifestyle inflation, Lily and her husband are able to save 90% of their income. The crazy part is that she thinks this is "normal"! Tune in to hear her incredible story about intentionality, happiness, and frugality.

Join the Community

We'd love to hear your comments and questions about this week's episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in the FIRE Below Zero community!

Join our Facebook Group

Sign up for our newsletter

Leave us a voicemail

Key Takeaways

You can never be too careful - Lily highlights the insane returns that investors have enjoyed during this bull market. She advises that you should build some kind of side income streams, or wait until the next recession hits before you pull the trigger on early retirement. Even though Lily and her husband are at FI by most standards, she suspects that they will continue to work for 10+ years in order to build a colossal safety net.

Live the life you want to live TODAY - You don't need permission to pursue your dream lifestyle. Create a plan and take action! You don't have to take the "normal" route and suffer for countless years at a job you don't enjoy. If you don't like something... don't do it!

The benefits of a high-cost-of-living area - If you are intentional with your money and with your savings, you can thrive in a HCOL area. Here are some of the benefits that Lily explains: Ability to charge higher rent, tons of free activities, access to public transportation, and more!

Links from the Episode

The Frugal Gene (Lily's Blog) | Twitter

Airbnb

Mr. Money Mustache

Financial Samurai

Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog)

Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)

In today's episode, we get a chance to talk to Lily from The Frugal Gene about her accelerated path to financial independence. By choosing to avoid lifestyle inflation, Lily and her husband are able to save 90% of their income. The crazy part is that she thinks this is "normal"! Tune in to hear her incredible story about intentionality, happiness, and frugality.

Join the Community

We'd love to hear your comments and questions about this week's episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in the FIRE Below Zero community!

Join our Facebook Group

Sign up for our newsletter

Leave us a voicemail

Key Takeaways

You can never be too careful - Lily highlights the insane returns that investors have enjoyed during this bull market. She advises that you should build some kind of side income streams, or wait until the next recession hits before you pull the trigger on early retirement. Even though Lily and her husband are at FI by most standards, she suspects that they will continue to work for 10+ years in order to build a colossal safety net.

Live the life you want to live TODAY - You don't need permission to pursue your dream lifestyle. Create a plan and take action! You don't have to take the "normal" route and suffer for countless years at a job you don't enjoy. If you don't like something... don't do it!

The benefits of a high-cost-of-living area - If you are intentional with your money and with your savings, you can thrive in a HCOL area. Here are some of the benefits that Lily explains: Ability to charge higher rent, tons of free activities, access to public transportation, and more!

Links from the Episode

The Frugal Gene (Lily's Blog) | Twitter

Airbnb

Mr. Money Mustache

Financial Samurai

Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog)

Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)

How to Get a Full Ride to College

Noah and Becky worked as Caddies all throughout high school, making a good amount of money during the summer, but most importantly earned a full-ride scholarship (The Chick Evans Scholarship) to Purdue University (tuition and housing).

This set them up to graduate college without debt. Because of the intentionality of both Noah and Becky and their parents they started their career at a zero net worth vs a negative six-figure net worth like most couples today.

One too Many Promotions

After graduating and finding the concept of FIRE, Noah and Becky saved diligently, because they wanted to be responsible with their money.

Their saving and investing really found purpose when work became so stressful. Becky had risen up the rungs of the corporate ladder, and found herself feeling very stressed.

This is when FIRE became a logical alternative. Build up enough cash reserves to walk away or take a Gap year, which they are doing at this point.

The Gap Year FI

After coming up with the plan to take some time off, Noah and Becky begin to take action toward realizing that goal.

They liquidated everything in their house and began renting it. They got a storage unit to shelter some of those important keepsakes, and then they hit the road in their Mazda 3 Hatchback.

Noah and Becky are traveling the country together, with a very modest amount of items, but most importantly they are having the adventure of their lives together, seeing these amazing sites all through the country, but also stopping to spend time with friends and family along the way.

Funding the Gap Year

Noah and Becky made the plan to fund this trip without drawing down on any investments. So in the months leading up to taking their gap year, they saved cash outside of retirement accounts, specifically to fund this trip.

They racked up a ton of travel rewards, which has helped them supplement their trip. Back in Seattle Noah and Becky were spending somewhere around that $60,000/year threshold, now they are traveling the country full time, having the trip of a lifetime, and only spending $40,000/year!

75 Credit Cards to Free Travel

Noah and Becky discovered travel hacking on Reddit. They quickly implemented the strategy, churning credit cards (opening new credit cards for the sole purpose of banking introductory signup offer).

With each card having a $500-$1000 value introductory offer, they have earned approximately $50,000-$100,000 in travel credit to make travel more affordable and enjoyable.

Anybody can repeat this strategy! You can get started with your first card today by applying through our travel rewards partner.

What could you do with $50,000 for travel?

We know this is an awful lot of money, but this strategy is not so difficult to implement. It’s about making the intentional choice.

What about your Credit Score?

Most would assume that Noah and Becky would have taken huge hits to their credit score by applying for 70+ plus credit cards….. But the opposite has actually happened.

Their credit scores continue to go up as they have more accounts, all having on-time payments. They have found their scores in the 800’s now because of it.

The Ultimate Redemption

For their honeymoon, Noah and Becky traveled to Fiji and New Zealand. Spending about a week in New Zealand and 2 weeks in Fiji, having an absolutely amazing time, but only spent about $500 total for the trip.

The actual retail value for the 3-week trip that they took, would have cost about $14,000, yet they managed to do it for only $500.

This is the power of travel rewards!

As incredible as this sounds we all can implement these strategies, simply by starting to take action today.

Fitness and FIRE

Noah and Becky are very interested in physical fitness, as money is not the most important thing on this journey, it is important to stay on top of health and fitness.

Noah has competed in the World’s Toughest Mudder, staying up for 24 hours doing these amazing tasks.

They are both very active and prioritize staying healthy even while on the road. Fitness should be a cornerstone of our FI journey.

Join the Community

Thank you so much for joining us for another episode of the FIRE Below Zero Podcast. Here are some awesome ways to say in touch, and always have these ideas and strategies at your fingertips

Join our Facebook Group

Sign up for our newsletter

Leave us a voicemail

Links from Today's Episode

Money Metagame (Noah’s Blog) | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Cody and TJ's Recommended Credit Cards

Caddie Scholarship

Reddit

Mint

Personal Capital

Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog)

Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)

How to Get a Full Ride to College

Noah and Becky worked as Caddies all throughout high school, making a good amount of money during the summer, but most importantly earned a full-ride scholarship (The Chick Evans Scholarship) to Purdue University (tuition and housing).

This set them up to graduate college without debt. Because of the intentionality of both Noah and Becky and their parents they started their career at a zero net worth vs a negative six-figure net worth like most couples today.

One too Many Promotions

After graduating and finding the concept of FIRE, Noah and Becky saved diligently, because they wanted to be responsible with their money.

Their saving and investing really found purpose when work became so stressful. Becky had risen up the rungs of the corporate ladder, and found herself feeling very stressed.

This is when FIRE became a logical alternative. Build up enough cash reserves to walk away or take a Gap year, which they are doing at this point.

The Gap Year FI

After coming up with the plan to take some time off, Noah and Becky begin to take action toward realizing that goal.

They liquidated everything in their house and began renting it. They got a storage unit to shelter some of those important keepsakes, and then they hit the road in their Mazda 3 Hatchback.

Noah and Becky are traveling the country together, with a very modest amount of items, but most importantly they are having the adventure of their lives together, seeing these amazing sites all through the country, but also stopping to spend time with friends and family along the way.

Funding the Gap Year

Noah and Becky made the plan to fund this trip without drawing down on any investments. So in the months leading up to taking their gap year, they saved cash outside of retirement accounts, specifically to fund this trip.

They racked up a ton of travel rewards, which has helped them supplement their trip. Back in Seattle Noah and Becky were spending somewhere around that $60,000/year threshold, now they are traveling the country full time, having the trip of a lifetime, and only spending $40,000/year!

75 Credit Cards to Free Travel

Noah and Becky discovered travel hacking on Reddit. They quickly implemented the strategy, churning credit cards (opening new credit cards for the sole purpose of banking introductory signup offer).

With each card having a $500-$1000 value introductory offer, they have earned approximately $50,000-$100,000 in travel credit to make travel more affordable and enjoyable.

Anybody can repeat this strategy! You can get started with your first card today by applying through our travel rewards partner.

What could you do with $50,000 for travel?

We know this is an awful lot of money, but this strategy is not so difficult to implement. It’s about making the intentional choice.

What about your Credit Score?

Most would assume that Noah and Becky would have taken huge hits to their credit score by applying for 70+ plus credit cards….. But the opposite has actually happened.

Their credit scores continue to go up as they have more accounts, all having on-time payments. They have found their scores in the 800’s now because of it.

The Ultimate Redemption

For their honeymoon, Noah and Becky traveled to Fiji and New Zealand. Spending about a week in New Zealand and 2 weeks in Fiji, having an absolutely amazing time, but only spent about $500 total for the trip.

The actual retail value for the 3-week trip that they took, would have cost about $14,000, yet they managed to do it for only $500.