Happy Holidays! CF and I are getting ready for an early turkey dinner tonight – I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday and eating lots. As 2011 winds down, it’s hard to believe we’ve been writing on and off for the better part of a year. Watch for a recap of our favorite stuff from the past year next week. There hasn’t been much of a slowdown in the blogosphere through December – here’s what I’ve been reading this week:
- Mr. Money Mustache gives us a first hand view of his early retirement lifestyle and asks “Are you Obsessed with Early Retirement?” He aptly notes that many people striving for financial independence are so obsessed with the end goal (not having to work) that they don’t stop to plan what they will do past that point. This is something I touched on a couple weeks ago when I discussed the un-retirement of an early retiree. It was really helpful to hear first hand what the day to day life of MMM looks like. Thanks for sharing!
- Have you noticed the tendancy to buy something purely for the savings? I notice that I’m much more likely to buy something that is a ‘good deal’ without really evaluating how much I need the item. Get Rich Slowly had a great article this week on this phenomenon, aptly named ‘anchoring‘. Anchoring the cost of an item against what it costs elsewhere or what it used to cost is a very effective selling technique – go read about it!
- My brother recently started working his first degree related job on a one year contract, so I’ve been thinking about the money he’ll need to save this year to prepare for the possibility of unemployment. For those who are just entering the workforce, check out Humble Savers article on five tips for saving money in your first job.
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A big thanks to Tim from Canadian Dream – we won a book about exchange traded funds through his five year blog bash contest. Thanks!
