Prime Time Sunday July 17, 2016

Prime Time Sunday July 17, 2016

This week I am starting what will be an ongoing series of weekly posts.  Before I get into the post let me tell you a little backstory.  I am a big football fan.  I am also a big fantasy football fan and have been playing since the game first started in the late 1980's.  Before the days of the internet and DirecTV packages you didn't have an outlet to see all of the games and best plays of the Sunday schedule.  I would watch the local games and then after they ended quickly switch to ESPN to watch a show called Prime Time.  Prime Time showed the latest highlights from the weeks games and fantastic plays and commentary.  I could quickly see what happened and who on my fantasy team scored.  It was a magical time as I watched highlight after highlight.  The show was usually hosted by Chris Berman and I can still hear him say PRIME TIME with that swami voice of his.

Well as I've gotten into the FIRE (Financially Independent Retire Early) concept I've read all of the blogs I can find on the topic.  There are some great ones out there and I read them religiously.  As there are so many it is difficult for some readers to get to all of them so I thought I would give a weekly highlight of some of the better ones in my opinion.  Keep in mind I think all of them and the blogs are general are great or I wouldn't read them.  This is just my version of the best of the week.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.  Now onto to this weeks' Prime Time:

How to build confidence in your frugality:  A great post by one of my favorite blogs Frugalwoods. This posts discusses how to handle what other people say as they find out about your frugality.  It's a great read and one that really hits home.  As you pursue FIRE you get push back and strange reactions from people you might not have thought you would.  Friends and family come to mind and we have personally seen it as you discuss financial independence and saving money.

Retirement Has Already Cost Us At Least $5 Million:  GoCurryCracker delivered a great post discussing opportunity costs and ultimately the price of time, freedom and happiness.  I hope to one day share a similar message.

We just became 100% debt free, and I should be excited:  A great post from ThinkSaveRetire.  This one really hit home as I don't always enjoy the end goals I have been chasing for so long.  Still an amazing accomplishment and one ThinkSaveRetire should be proud of.

The Retirement Lie Part 1 // Media, Social Norms and the Problem with “Average”:  This blog is from OurNextLife and this is a blog I've only recently discovered but is already one of my favorites. This blog talks about the problems we have comparing ourselves to all of the averages you see out there such as average retirement savings.  Sometimes being better than average is nowhere near good enough.

What should I do with my Raise?:  Freedom40Plan has some great advice on what to do with those annual raises.  Important to prevent lifestyle creep and pursue FIRE.

I hope you've enjoyed our inaugural Prime Time.  Check back next Sunday for more of the weeks highlights.


Photo credit:  zavulonya 123rf.com