Heartland on FIRE

Blazing a Trail Towards Financial Independence

Blazing a Trail Towards Financial Independence

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Financial Independence

Our 2018 Scorecard and 2019 Personal Finance Goals

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It’s a new year and that means new resolutions, right? Last January I set some personal finance goals for our household. I wanted to take a moment and look back at the past year. Did we meet our goals for the year? Did we bomb in epic fashion? My grading system is simple PASS or FAIL. Read on for the results! [Read more…] about Our 2018 Scorecard and 2019 Personal Finance Goals

Patience is the Smoldering Heart of the FIRE

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The flames of the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) movement can spread rapidly.  Just like a campfire stacked with kindling, the flames are tall, flickering, and bright at first, but over time, these flames subside leaving the dull glow of smoldering coals.

But you don’t cook on the flickering flames.  This short blast of high heat would scorch the outside, leaving the inside raw.  You do your cooking on the coals,  sustaining just the right level of heat over a longer time.

Having an open mind, self evaluation, and taking bold action are critical to igniting the FIRE and the bright dancing flames of the initial burn.

Patience is the Smoldering Heart of the FIRE [Read more…] about Patience is the Smoldering Heart of the FIRE

Over 50% of Americans Don’t Use Their Vacation. Don’t be one of them!

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***Extremely Mickey Mouse voice*** – Hi Kids! Today’s Mousekatool is Paid Vacation

I am fresh off of our first full week vacation in 2 years.  While we’ve taken a few long weekend trips, we haven’t had a full week off during this time.  We took our daughters to Disney World (geez… could you tell?) and we all had a great time and created many memories that won’t soon be forgotten.

My wife and I have already started discussing our next vacation!  I think we can all get behind more vacation, right?

Well, the answer is apparently a big fat NO.

As I have been reflecting on the week gone by, I recalled an article I had read that stated that roughly 52% of Americans don’t use their paid vacation.

Let that sink in.

Your boss is willing to pay you money… to not show up for work.  And we say, “No Thanks” more than half the time!

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Our Money Missteps: The Lost Decade

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As a personal finance blogger, specifically an advocate of the Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) movement, you might assume that the Heartland on FIRE family has a spotless past when it comes to money decisions.  You might think we’ve rarely, if ever, paid interest on credit cards, purchased only used cars, and made flawless house purchasing decisions.  I mean, if you look at our net worth progress, we are in better shape than many (most?) families in their early- to mid thirties.

You would be sorely mistaken

In this post, I am going to air out our dirty money laundry.  To come clean, as it were.  To demonstrate how, even after stacking poor decision on top of poor decision (FOR OVER A DECADE!!) you can still find yourself on the path to FIRE.

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