Top Things We Learned in 2025
Similar to what we experienced in 2024, each year is packed with moments that teach us something new and 2025 has definitely kept that streak…
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Financial Changes We’ve Observed Over The Last 20ish Years
We’re old and we’re not ashamed to admit it. Both of us began our financial journeys back in the mid-2000s and discovered Financial Independence about…
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Changes in Tactics After Accessing Our Emergency Fund
I enjoy investing as much of our money as possible into the stock market. It’s great to know that it’s working hard, typically growing at…
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My Updated Thoughts & Opinions On Professional Financial Advice
From the very start of my financial journey I’ve been a DIYer when it comes to both learning about personal finance & investing and actually…
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What We’re Thankful For in 2025
Another year, another bunch of things that we’re both so thankful for. Similar to last year, it may surprise some people that what we’re thankful…
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Why Financial Independence Is Better With Friends
I enjoy attending and even hosting personal finance/FI meetups. Whether it involves a structured format like a presentation/case study or it’s a more informal gathering…
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Our Hot Takes On Tipping
Tipping is a deeply ingrained aspect of our culture here in the United States. While seemingly a simple act of gratuity, in reality it’s a…
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Checking In With My Fitness and Setting New Goals
I’d say I’m in pretty good shape. Maybe I don’t exercise a lot on the weekends.. but on weekdays I try to go out for…
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Seize The Moment
Fall is upon us. This time of year means so many different things to so many different people. For coffee-lovers, fall is the official start…
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Appreciating My Job and Work-Life Balance
Like most everybody else with a job, I may not love every minute I’m at work. However, I like where we live and I’m happy…
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Are Mini-Retirements And Sabbaticals Part Of The New Normal?
I’m familiar with mini-retirements and sabbaticals. I’m sure that many people in the FI community are also familiar with mini-retirements and sabbaticals. What I haven’t…
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Our Takeaways From FinCon 2025
FinCon was unquestionably a memorable event that both of us were glad to have experienced. We each went into the conference with our own expectations…
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My Attempts at Motivational Methods of Money Management
During my path to Financial Independence, I’ve tried several different methods to make sure I’m staying cognizant of what I’m spending money on, and investing…
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Twinning: Another Way To Bond With My Daughter
Converse All Stars. You know them. I know them. EVERYONE knows them. These shoes have been around forever and I see people wearing them all…
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Shifting Goals For The Journey That Lies Ahead
I feel like my mindset is slowly starting to change when it comes to my financial future, and this in turn is making me rethink…
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Stepping Out Of The FI Bubble And Into The “Real World”
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” This quote from motivational speaker Jim Rohn is so true –…
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Contributing To Society in Early Retirement
When I hear people contemplate whether or not to leave the workforce early, say in their 40s or 50s, there are a few things that…
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Musings on the 2nd Year of Early Retirement
First and foremost, this post is actually right on time and closely aligns with the actual day I retired 2 years ago, unlike last year’s…
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Talking To Other People About Money & Financial Independence
Unfortunately money is just one of those taboo topics that most people don’t want to talk about. It doesn’t matter whether the discussion is amongst…
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Plans of Being Unproductive During Retirement
So I get it that we may only have one life to live. Yes, ideally we should probably strive to spend as much time as…
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Just Say NO; A Remedy For Controlling Your Time
I’m busy. VERY busy. But that makes no sense, right? For those already in retirement, don’t many of these retirees complain about being bored? For…
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Thoughts on Purpose In Life
What will my sense of purpose be when I’m retired? What will my main theme in life be? This is something that I haven’t actually…
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When Frugal Goes Too Far
My mother-in-law is like me in most ways, at least from a financial perspective. She has always been very frugal; never taking fancy trips, never…
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Summer Break Through the Lens of Financial Independence
As the school year starts to draw towards a close with only a few weeks left, I’m getting excited. My wife and kids are about…
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Recap of Camp Mustache 2025
Exhausted, Inspired, and Grateful. I literally just got back home a couple hours ago and wanted to document my three current emotions before they start…
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Expectations for Camp Mustache 2025
TLDR I think I know what to expect. On the other hand, I have no idea what to expect. Where Are You Going? For those…
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Family Series Part 6 – Travel & Other Fun Activities
While Parts 1-5 of this Family Series have focused on finances and other meaningful topics such as career paths & learning, we aren’t 100% serious…
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Family Series Part 2 – Joint or Separate Finances
Probably the number one most asked question in personal finance is whether or not to pay off a mortgage early vs. investing the money instead. …
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Family Series Part 1 – Our Partners’ Thoughts About Personal Finance & Financial Independence
Both of us are married and in each of our households we are the ones that are most interested in personal finance & Financial Independence. …
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My Current Status on 8 Habits for a Happy Retirement (found on Kiplinger)
I know I’m several years away from Financial Independence. I can calculate my investments, and will eventually get to a point where work will be…
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Recap of EconoMe 2025
Chaos. Absolute chaos. But in the best way. That’s how I would describe this past weekend at the EconoMe Conference. I guess that’s what’s to…
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Expectations for EconoMe 2025
TLDR I’m both nervous and excited. Where Are You Going? For those who are unfamiliar with the EconoMe Conference, it is a gathering of ~500…
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Celebrating One Year of Epic Financial Journey
“3… 2… 1… And we’re live!” Those words were uttered one year ago on the morning of 3/14/24 from a hotel room in Cincinnati, Ohio. …
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To Buy Or Not To Buy (A New Furnace)
An Unpleasant Surprise… My alarm clock went off and I hopped out of bed. For some reason it felt cold… VERY COLD. Yes, it was…
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Our Thoughts About 18 “Poor Hacks” (found on Yahoo)
By now all of our readers should know us well enough to recognize that we’re big on frugality. In fact, sometimes we’re even ridiculously over-the-top…
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What Draws Me To Financial Independence
The ability to support myself without relying on a paycheck has become a goal of mine for more than 5 years now… But why? Do…
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Keeping The Topic of “Work” Out of Conversations
I don’t care what your job is. I don’t care what your job title is. I really don’t care to know much about your day-to-day…
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Fighting Through Fear And Anxiety To Take Action
As you know, I’m a HUGE fan of taking action, especially in situations where there is potential for a tremendous positive impact. The Culprits Holding…
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Top Things We Learned in 2024
Each year that passes is full of numerous experiences that we can learn from and 2024 is no exception. Sometimes these lessons are obvious, but…
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Ode to My Car
As I was driving home recently I looked down at my car’s odometer and noticed a very cool milestone (perhaps some would merely call it…
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Buying Into The Gaming World
“No, we’re not going to get you video games” was a comment that my wife and I have repeated hundreds of times over the last…
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Selling Stocks is Super Scary, Seriously
Simple Path To Wealth? The high-level FIRE roadmap seems fairly straight-forward: Save & invest as much as possible until one’s portfolio grows large enough to…
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What We’re Thankful For in 2024
Both of us have many things to be thankful for this year. While this blog is focused on personal finance & Financial Independence, it may…
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Musings on the First 1.25 Years of Early Retirement (Part 2)
CONTINUATION OF MUSINGS FROM PART 1… As I mentioned in my first set of musings, there was no huge transition for me into retirement. Because…
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Musings on the First 1.25 Years of Early Retirement (Part 1)
With all the summer travel, finally starting up this website, and my current podcasting & parental commitments, I’ve been pretty busy and haven’t had a…
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Spending Series Part 4: Spending Extravagantly On Things We Love
While frugality is an enduring pillar of Financial Independence, recently there have been some changing attitudes in the community towards spending money. Frivolous or unintentional …
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Spending Series Part 3: Purposeful Spending on Non-Essential Items
With frugality so ingrained in most of us here in the FI community, it’s sometimes hard to even think about spending money, let alone actually…
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Spending Series Part 2: Ridiculously Over-the-Top Frugal Habits
While most of us in the FI community treat frugality as a badge of honor, sometimes we can take it TOO far. Of course, deciding…
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Learning To Listen to Others: The Squire’s Influence
Although this website is only a few months old, I already feel its impact and how it’s leading to positive change in my life. Case-in-point:…
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How I Spent My Summer: The Influence of “Die With Zero”
Spoiler Alert: It was spent with friends & family. Busy, Busy, Busy As a family we traveled to 10 different states, attended 9 concerts (4…
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The Downsides of Financial Independence
Nothing. Leave your answers or comments below – or email us directly at info@epicfinancialjourney.com
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Being Open To Change
I’ve found that talking with others about topics like music, food, sports, and kids, can really provide a fun opportunity to share and connect with…
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Be Yourself; It’s Highly Encouraged
You Want to be Like Who? I’ve always considered myself to be an average person. In all honesty, I would even classify myself as fairly…
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Why FI: What Financial Independence Means To Us
The term “Financial Independence” or “FI” is confounding – it’s one of those nebulous phrases that has a technical definition, yet there is additional nuance…
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The Squire’s Core Belief #3 – Let’s Help Each Other Out
I find people both interesting and exhausting to talk with. I would consider myself an introvert, and I have a hard time spending large amounts…
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Scout’s Core Belief #3 – Community
A Long, Lonely Road As most people already know (and I bet most have experienced first-hand), money is treated as a taboo topic that nobody…
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Scout’s Core Belief #2 – Flexibility
Desire for Certainty As a former engineer with an optimizer/maximizer personality, there is nothing in this world I desire more than absolute certainty. For most…
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The Squire’s Core Belief #1 – Happiness Matters
When we read the United States Declaration Of Independence in school, I found it so interesting that it mentions the right to pursue happiness. In…
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Scout’s Core Belief #1 – Take Action
How does anything get done? This may sound like a simple & obvious answer, but things get done by taking action. Will the lawn mow…
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My Origin Story & Financial Journey – Scout (Part 2)
RESUMING THE JOURNEY FROM PART 1… Fortuitous & Life-Altering Financial Moment #3 – Discovering FIRE One of the magazines I started reading long ago, Kiplinger…
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My Origin Story & Financial Journey – Scout (Part 1)
TLDR I’ve never experienced any traumatic events in my life, money or otherwise, so I have no heroic stories of courage to share (and for…
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This Is It, Don’t Get Scared Now
Hello and welcome to Epic Financial Journey; we are your friendly neighborhood personal finance blog. As you can probably see we are the new kids…
