why does it take so much?

It is an ugly paradox that only those with an overabundance of money can fully realize its limited utility in life whereas those with a limited supply never fully grasp the concept.  Thus you have the poor and disenfranchized buying more and more new things at WalMart, trying hard to keep food (of questionable definition) on the table while those with an oversupply are able to transcend its limitations and free themselves from the yoke of

Revisiting the Numbers

I revisited my numbers the other day and realized that my major investment will cover exactly my projected living costs thus attaining financial independence (in two years when the note is paid off).
This is both reassuring and cause for concern although, as I am still quite young, there will be time and opportunity for making more money. 

Obviously I can't complain that it cost $50 for two meals when I just spent next to $75 for a single meal/night out with friends and then again for sushi. This is as always, a matter of changing my internal environment (cook at home) rather than changing the external environment (price of food). 

The Principle Destroyer

It's time for a challenge.  A six-month-long challenge. 
I like to call it the principle destroyer. 
This is a time period where every bloody red cent is thrown at the principle mortgage on my rental property. 
I wax and wane with this thing.  Sometimes I can taste freedom, other times I feel as forlorn as a ship's captain with no food, little water and no land in sight.  70% of the Earth is covered in water you remember, a lot of space for fumbling in the dark.  

This challenge is the homing device, the GPS that will float my boat right blessed land. 
Presently, I commit to enact this plan for the dates listed below and track every cent that filters through my virtual hands.  At the expiration of this challenge, I will assess how it went and how best to continue. 

Here are the numbers: 

Start Date
8. August, 2014

Beginning Principle Balance ...drumroll please...
$173,390

End Date
31. January, 2014

There is never a good time and never a bad time to begin.
It is the process of putting one foot in front of the other that is important.
So, I am starting today.   

...and the three exceptions:

September:
Half Cow $700
October:
Birthday Gift $200
November:
Christmas Gifts and Food $300

When will you start your walk to freedom? 

Our Little Secret

We don't live to work or even work to live.
No.  We work to save.
We are working towards a truly better future, one of financial independence.
Let's call it our little secret.  We think.  We plan.  We have patience and impulse control.

We work and save and wait for the day when we can begin to make the best use of our talents to shape the world around us instead of fitting ourselves into a picture that never looks quite right.
That day is swiftly approaching. 
It feels fantastic, like drinking in the afternoon, finding precise words, watching the sun rise on an early morning run or staying on top of the bike while the wheels keep spinning over that three foot rock.  

This secret is a tool, a gift to ourselves, a challenge, a weapon. 

We spend very little money because we have so much more than we will ever need and we realize that a person's wants are infinite.

Instead we channel this desire into personal development, personal relationships, civic progress, real life skills and athletic achievement.
These are valuables possessed of the owner that cannot be taken away.

Valuables possessed by the owner can be lost or stolen, catch fire, break, fall out of style, become boring or obsolete. 

This is our secret and this is our plan.

To save, to think, to spend wisely.