Debunking International Living’s $2,200 / month budget…again A lot of people, like me, follow International Living. They tout the lower cost of living in beautiful locations. This year, they released their cost of living for Playa del Carmen, where I live. They…
Why I’m Embracing a New Path In May 2022, I accidentally discovered we’d hit our FIRE target. FIRE stands for Financial Independence Retire Early, and it has a massive following. I say, ‘accidentally discovered,’ because although I track our net…
Follow these 7 Financial Independence creators. Whenever I want to learn more about something, I follow those who have already achieved what I’m aiming for. In the old days, you were limited to reading a book or attending a conference.…
The $2,000 USD budget is dead. We moved to Playa del Carmen on December 5, 2022, after a stressful and expensive relocation from Dubai. Like many expats, digital nomads, and retirees who relocate to Mexico, we had the same reasons…
To get started in FI, the first step is to track your spending. My habit has generally been to track spending in 3-month increments and then look at the average over those 3 months. The reason to do this is…
When I first started following the Financial Independence movement, everything seemed to be out of reach. We had high overhead costs from maintaining our waterfront home and, as Canadians, we paid high taxes on literally everything which caused a drain…
When we moved to Abu Dhabi, UAE, in 2018, we needed to buy a car. We considered different options. We very nearly bought a Porsche. A few weeks later, we considered a Lexus. After all, the UAE is full of…
I could start by saying 2022 was a roller coaster, but frankly, last year was more akin to skydiving or bungee jumping. Both can be thrilling or terrifying depending on the person and the circumstances. In rare cases, they might…
We lived in the UAE from March 2018 – November 2022. We spent three years in Abu Dhabi before moving to Dubai where we lived for a year and a half. Each city has its benefits, but between the two,…
Every spring in my hometown of Cornwall, Ontario, there is a gardening group that offers free seeds to families who would like to grow their own food. Interested families have the opportunity to grow healthy food for free. The only…
