💲 Money
High-Interest Savings Account & Brokerage
I’m a big fan of using Wealthfront for my high interest savings account and to invest extra money in my brokerage. They are very user friendly and have lower fees than the industry average. Most of all, you won’t feel confused when on their website when investing. Feel free to check out their investment account to help you reach early retirement.
Roth IRA & Brokerage Account
I have a Roth IRA with Vanguard where I invest money into a Target Date 2050 Retirement Fund. This fund is great because it has very low fees and I don’t have to choose which stocks and bonds I want to buy. It uses an algorithm to buy more stocks for growth early on, and then when you get closer to the target date for retirement it purchases more bonds to create a reliable source of income.
I also have a brokerage account with Vanguard where I buy about 90% stocks in the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) and about 10% of bonds in the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND). Once I get past a balance of $10,000 I will start purchasing the Vanguard Total Stock Market Fund (VTSAX) which has even lower fees.
Personal Capital Dashboard
One tool that I cannot live without is Personal Capital. It’s a free and easy way to get an overview of all your checking, saving, investment and credit card accounts in one place. You can setup your monthly budget, categorize your spending, and even use the free tools to plan our your retirement. There’s so much that you can do to plan for your future in one, easy to use dashboard.
📱 Cell Phone Service
I cut the cord with Sprint three years ago and I’ve never looked back! I fell in love with Mint Mobile which provides an easy to get set up a way to talk and use data with your cell phone as long as it is unlocked. There are plenty of plans to choose from based on your data needs with the ability to pay annually to save even more money!
💳 Credit Cards
Travel Credit Card
I’ve had plenty of starter credit cards before finally getting my score to be ‘Good’ enough for a travel rewards card with perks. Although it isn’t a top tier card, I’ve found the Chase Sapphire Preferred card to have a welcome offer that can’t be ignored and a great card to have in the Chase eco-system. You get 60,000 Chase Points after spending only $4,000 in the first three months. These points can be used for cash back, gift cards, or travel through the Chase system which helps you make the most of the welcome offer.
🏠 Travel Accommodation
I’ve been an avid user of Airbnb since 2017. I’ve had nothing but great experiences met wonderful hosts and enjoyed a local experience no matter where I was by using the house rental website. Whether you are on a vacation in Chiang Mai, Thailand or enjoying SXSW in Austin, TX, US you can find the right room for rent, apartment or house for you on Airbnb. I especially love using the platform for long term travel because most hosts will give you a long term stay discount.
🍽️ On the Go Meals
I recently started experimenting with using Soylent as an on the go snack to avoid buying food while I’m outside of the house. I already pack my lunch when I go to work and am lucky to have a company that provides a variety of snacks. However, I’ve found that Soylent is handy for me to get vitamins and nutrients and feel ‘full’ to avoid buying meals at restaurants on a whim. You can use the link above to get $10 off your first subscription purchase.
💻 Website Setup and Hosting
If you’d like to start a blog to share your journey towards financial independence (or whatever you LOVE to talk about) I would recommend using Blue Host. They are awesome and easy to use. They helped me setup my WordPress website which performs better in a Google search so people can find your website. If you’ve love to share your thoughts with the world, get setup with Blue Host today. 🙂