Roadmap to the Future

We have been doing some soul searching trying to figure out how much money we need to save to reach financial independence. This of course depends on the level of spend we expect to have each month in the future. In this post I will outline the framework of our plan to reach FI. I don’t have an exact timeline yet as that will need to be sorted out as we transition through our plan. Continue reading “Roadmap to the Future”

Finance Wishes and RV Dreams

I spent some time reviewing our financial situation and had mixed reactions to what I found. I have been in the accounting field for almost all of my professional career which you would think lends itself to smarter money decisions. In fact, when my wife and I first got married I used to watch every penny in and out of our accounts. I would religiously track our investments every month. Continue reading “Finance Wishes and RV Dreams”

Where we stand today

As of this post we are in pretty good shape but we have a lot of work to do. Our investments are doing well and we have a decent cash stash. The problem has never been income though. We enjoy life and for us that leads to spending, a lot of spending.

We don’t carry any credit card debt as we pay in full every month, which is a good thing. However, that monthly amount is sometimes a little a lot more than it should be. We have monthly fixed expenses that add up to a sizable amount. We also have a house payment, RV payment, and two car payments that all need to go. Continue reading “Where we stand today”

The First Trip………….Part 2

The next morning, after our close call with Mr. Moose, we headed up to see the two ghost towns and spent a couple of nights just outside the park. Then the day we had waited so long for was finally here, Yellowstone!

Filled with excitement, we packed up the RV and headed to the entrance. The line was long, as expected, but the slow drive was worth it to see all of the amazing beauty the park had to offer. Once we got to our campground, we checked in and were assigned a site in one of the loops. As we pulled up to the site I noticed it was on the left side of the loop, opposite of our RV door. “Well, that kind of stinks!” Continue reading “The First Trip………….Part 2”

The First Trip……….Part 1

In the Summer of 2011, we decided it would be fun to rent an RV from the local chain store. My wife and I are kind of adventurous and decided we would only make reservations at the two places that were the most popular tourist spots, Yellowstone National Park and Mt. Rushmore. Every other place we would go to or stop at during our three week adventure would be unplanned. Just the family in a rental RV and the open road! What could go wrong? Continue reading “The First Trip……….Part 1”

The Journey Begins!

Well, here we go! Nerves? Check! Excitement? You bet! Uncertainty? Too much to put into words! But what would a life journey be without these things? Boring!

Over the years, my wife and I have always planned to do our best to retire early and enjoy life. But when you are young and dreaming, everything seems so distant and a lifetime away. Together we planned, started saving in the standard company 401k’s, and have done pretty well for ourselves. Now as our son nears graduating high school and eventually heads to college, it’s amazing how our aspirations have changed.

It all started in 2011 with a family road trip in a rental RV………………………….