About Freedom 35 Blog

About Freedom 35 Blog

Welcome. This blog features news and commentary related to personal finance, investing, and economics. The site began in 2010 as a public diary to track one blogger’s journey to become financially independent when he turns 35 years old. It has since also become a social hub of like minded readers and commentators interested in personal finance. Most visitors come here for the memes, but they say for the thought provoking content.

Examples of some content on this blog

There are a lot of easy ways in life to improve one’s financial situation, but most people simply don’t know about them. One of the things this site does is reveal those secrets using statistical analysis and the writer’s own personal experiences. Below are some examples of such topics posted in the past.

• Borrowing money against a home can unlock its financial value. Liquid saved $17,250 this way. If you can use your home like an ATM for investing or emergencies then why not?
• The big 3 telecom companies Bell, Rogers, and Telus, currently own 90% of the wireless market in Canada. But there are alternative carriers in every major city across the country that offer the same service but cost 43% less for consumers. Most people can reduce their cell phone bills dramatically by simply switching providers.
• Take advantage of low interest credit card offers by transferring other debts to it. Liquid kept a $5,000 balance on his credit card for many months and only paid about $8 per month in interest. Much cheaper than if he had kept the debt under a line of credit. Credit cards can save you money if used properly.
• If you plan to have children in the future it’s important to realize that seemingly insignificant factors like name or birth month can have a huge influence on how successful their lives will turn out. If you can give your kids the best start in life and an advantage over their peers, why not?
• By shopping at smaller stores instead of the popular big name chains you can save more than 50% on your grocery bill. Most people don’t do this, but if you can buy the same goods you want and dramatically reduce your food budget simply by changing where you shop, why not?
• If you think your internet bill is too expensive, then buy up the means that produce the service. Eventually your internet bill will pay for itself.
• It’s more likely in some areas in the US than others for low income or working class households to rise to the top 20% of income earners. The likelihood of this happening in Carrington, North Dakota for example is 30%. But it drops down to only 10% in Sacramento, California, and even lower to just 4% in Atlanta, Georgia. Most working class people don’t know about this gap in upward mobility but you can dramatically improve your future prospects to earn a higher income, if relocation is a viable option for you.
• If you’re worried that inflation will make life unaffordable in the future, then buy inflation proof investments like land, commodities, or profitable businesses, and back them up with low interest debt. When inflation goes up, so will your assets, but your debt will be worth less because inflation erodes all money. When assets rise and liabilities fall you get the perfect combination to build wealth quickly. That’s exactly how Liquid made a double digit return on his farmland. If using other people’s money can leverage your inflation protected assets and you’re comfortable with the risk, then why not?
• Looking to buy furniture or kitchen appliances? Maybe find someone willing to give theirs away.  If you can get something for free and care more about functionality than brands or looks, why not?
• If you’re looking to relocate but not sure where to move to yet, consider cities with a shortage of workers with high income mobility, low unemployment rate, and high wages. Even someone who has little education and no work experience can make $32/hr working as a service clerk instead of $12/hr doing the same job, simply because of where they work.

Most of these financial ideas are about choices we all have control over. People make decisions every day. We need to ask ourselves which path will give us the best outcome, the most opportunities, and the brightest future for our finances.

A different way to earn, spend, and live

Making a conscious decision rather than leaving things to chance can mean the difference between rich and middle class. We don’t have to work harder or sacrifice fun to be wealthy, we just have to think differently. Instead of simply climbing the corporate ladder like everyone else, we could delegate some of our time and effort to create other income streams. This will create more earning potential. It’s okay to treat ourselves occasionally to luxury goods like fine foods, or shiny souvenirs. But instead of spending sprees on designer clothing or expensive gadgets, why not splurge on longer lasting assets instead like undervalued stocks.

We can still live normal lives, but we just have to change the way we look at things. Implementing one or two of these ideas won’t make us rich overnight. But life is all about making choices and every little decision counts. So over time if we take advantage and combine hundreds of these wealth building ideas together in our lives then just about anyone can become a millionaire eventually.