Thank You Notes from the Heart(land)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

A year ago today, this blog did not exist.  November marks the end of my first year of blogging on this site.  It’s been a hell of a journey so far and I can’t wait to see where this whole thing goes.  So, to get into the Thanksgiving spirit, I thought it would be help to write out a list of Thank You notes for those that are responsible for the existence of this blog.

***Cracks Knuckles***

***Piano Softly Plays***

via GIPHY

For the Foundation

From the earliest moments in my memory, I remember my parents setting an example of hard work and being supportive.  My Dad working night shifts, my Mom working from home on top of watching my brother, sister and me.  I remember my Mom volunteering for nearly every school activity and my Dad helping coach all my sports teams.  Not just for me but for my brother and sister as well.  As a parent of two kiddos now, this level of commitment has become all the more impressive to me.

We had some lean times growing up due to layoffs that hit home at least twice.  I know money was very very tight.  But through it all, I don’t recall a single moment where my needs weren’t met.  I believe their example helped establish a frugality deep within me that has served to help with the pursuit of Financial Independence | Retire Early (FIRE).

Beyond the character molding, they taught me the power of the stock market by investing into mutual funds for me and my siblings.  This enabled me to get my financial snowball rolling at a very early age, and helped me overcome a Lost Decade of Money Missteps.

To my parents: Thank you for giving me a foundation for success!

For Sharing the Knowledge

Three years ago, the FIRE movement was completely unknown to me.  And I was in a place mentally where I would have dismissed the notion out of hand if I did hear about it.

My brother started getting my mental wheels turning in the right direction.  At a get together, he mentioned that I really should read Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad.  He ran through a few of the salient points and it was enough to convince me to read it.  Before the week had ended, I had plowed through the book.  My mindset has never been the same.  I spent the next year learning about passive income, real estate, and business structures.

Two years ago, my wife brought home a book: Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover.  She recommended I give it whirl.  I devoured that book like a group of drunken college kids taking down a White Castle Crave Case.  His message hit home: Debt was dragging us down.

My wife and I looked at our car and student loan payments and said. “Why can’t we just pay these suckers off?”  Twelve months ago we did just that.

In the middle of this debt assault, my brother mentioned a couple bloggers that had some interesting ideas on how to retire early: Mr. Money Mustache (MMM) and Financial Samurai.  I dove into these blogs.  Initially skeptical, I kept on reading because I was wondering “What crazy thing will they say next?”  But over time, and after several trademarked MMM Face Punches, my perspective flipped.  I looked around me and suddenly it seemed as though the daily hamster wheel I was running on was the truly crazy thing!

As if that wasn’t enough, it was around this time my brother mentioned he was thinking about a different retirement strategy.  When I asked him about it, he did me one better and dropped off a copy of J.L. Collins’ Simple Path to Wealth.  His explanations just made total sense on so many levels.  I was sold instantly.  Now that I knew the mechanics of FIRE, the final piece fell into place.  It would be FIRE or bust from here on out.

So to my brother and my wife:  Thank you for sharing this life changing knowledge with me!

For Inspiration

As we were paying off our debts and I was learning about the FIRE movement I could barely contain my excitement!  This FIRE stuff was powerful!  I thought that everyone should be doing this!  I started considering starting the blog.  Two posts, MMM’s How to Start a Blog and Financial Samurai’s similarly titled, How to Start a Blog, demonstrated clearly to me how easy it was to set up a blog.

At that point I stumbled across 1500 Days to Freedom.  I identified closely with his experiences, personality, humor and writing style.   Carl’s blog became a model for me about how I would like to tell my story.  A couple months after discovering his blog I was on a bike ride (how FIRE is that?) when the realization hit me:  “Screw it! I am I going to start my own blog!”

To Pete, Sam, and Carl:  Thank you for your inspiration!

For Sharing

The personal finance community has been a revelation.  I’ve come across so many friendly and helpful individuals.  Whether it be on Twitter (where most of my interaction takes place) or through reading their blogs, this community has continued to fuel me.

Without the support of fellow bloggers, I would be writing to a readership of a small handful of people.  The impact of others sharing my work has been profound.  This year Jake Sensiba (@JakeSensiba) was kind enough to have me on Financial Health and Wealth for a guest interview.

Camp FIRE Finance does a great job compiling FIRE articles.  I’ve been lucky enough to have three of my posts featured here: YOLO vs FIRE: Why Can’t We Do Both?, Our Money Missteps: The Lost Decade and Escape the 9-5 Faster with the Boost-Glide Path to Financial Independence

The lionshare of this site’s traffic this year has come from one source: Rockstar Finance.  If it’s a personal finance blog, chances are that you will find it in the Rockstar directory.  I’ve found the Rockstar forums to be very informative, especially for blogging insights.  This blog receives a steady flow of traffic from being a part of their feed.  But when Rockstar’s curators turn their sights towards your blog and it becomes one of their daily features, the impact is significant.

I’ve had the great honor of having one of my posts featured on Rockstar this year:  July 31st Features: How Much are We Really Paid? 10 Items You Must Consider.  Additionally, they’ve shared two of my posts as noteworthy:  YOLO vs FIRE: Why Can’t We Do Both? and Over 50% of Americans Don’t Use Their Vacation.  Don’t Be One of Them.  It’s a hell of a feeling to wake up in the morning and check your blog stats and find out that one of your posts has been named noteworthy or featured!

Thanks to you all, along with all the other bloggers who’ve shared or commented on my posts (there’s too many to name).  Your sharing and generosity are greatly appreciated!

For Support, Patience and Balance

I best not forget Mrs. Heartland on FIRE

She is the editor-in-chief of this blog.  Thanks to her, the product that hits the blog page is much better than the discombobulated babble that I hand to her the night before posting.  Her direct nature helps keep my writing much more concise than it would be otherwise.

Besides proofreading, she has been an example of selflessness by corralling the kids to give me time to write.  She helps maintain the balance in our lives that I would almost assuredly fail miserably at.  Moderation is not a strength of mine.  Left to my own devices I would push too hard and flame out.

Most importantly though, she has been supportive of this quest for FIRE.   This whole thing wouldn’t work if it was a solo effort.  She’s been a true partner all the way.  Together, we’ve accomplished a lot over the past two years including paying off our vehicles and student loans (over $56,000 in 2017 alone!), chopped down our dining out and grocery bills, and fully funded our 401k contributions moving forward.  That’s a lot be proud of, and the best is yet to come!

Thank you for all your effort, support and patience!

For Your Time

Last but not least, a big thank you to all the readers!  You have so many options to choose from, I am flattered immensely that anyone chooses to take a moment out of their day to read this blog.  I love telling stories and what good are stories without an audience?  When I publish a post, it’s like I am putting a little piece of me out there and the pressure to keep up the blogging schedule can be a slog sometimes.  But whenever I get fed up or stressed out, a reader comment seems to come through that makes everything seem worthwhile.   And I tend to learn something new with each note that gets left!

Well, I better wrap up before the tryptophan sets in.  What are you thankful for this year?  Maybe take a beat between bites of pumpkin pie and do a little reflection of your own.

Thanks for reading!