The Financial Independence Show

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin interview one of the real originators in the personal finance space, J.D. Roth from Get Rich Slowly. Join them as they dive into J.D.’s financial backstory and learn how he took his own journey to conquer finances and turned it into a successful business. He gives us full transparency and shows that it hasn’t always been easy or profitable. When J.D. first started he was publishing articles daily…as bloggers ourselves that seems outrageous. We chronicle his financial journey and what it looks like to build up a digital business, sell it, and reacquire it all over again. You won’t want to miss this one. Episode Summary Started posting on the internet in the early 90’s Began writing to document his journey in gaining a healthy relationship with money 2005 he writes an article titled “Get Rich Slowly” which really took off This article became a successful blog and he was able to quit his job Becomes devoted Dave Ramsey follower and works his way out of debt in 2007 Recommends an emergency fund in an alternative bank with no ATM card for those that struggle as he did Get Rich Slowly grows to getting 1M+ page views The stress of the site, however, becomes too much so he sells it in 2009 for a large yet undisclosed amount of money He stays on to help run the site until 2012 2015 he returns to the blogging arena with his new site “Money Boss” In 2017 he decided to reacquire Get Rich Slowly Get Rich Slowly is currently losing thousands per month but he is developing plans to make it profitable without compromising his personal ethics Key Takeaways Overnight success is an illusion. We see so many of these stories on podcasts like ours were someone makes a really nice living just by typing out some thoughts on a page. In reality, it’s not that simple and it doesn’t happen that fast. J.D. has been running a blog for 20 years and has probably spent more time working on the blog than I want to work in my entire life. Don’t get frustrated when you’re not earning profit right away, no one does. Personal happiness over profit. J.D. found himself in a dilemma that most people probably wouldn’t find sympathy but that is still a real issue a lot of us have or will face. He was making really good money but his personal life wasn’t following the same success. The pressure he put on himself to make the blog a success was too much. What is all the money worth if it takes away your happiness? As you do get off the ground and turn profitable, don’t neglect the happiness around you that is so much more valuable. Authenticity is the best attribute. Looking to grow your audience? Let them see you. The real you, not the you that is always happy and makes every correct investment choice. Let them see you at your worst and your best. Invite them into your life and they will come away with a much stronger connection and loyalty to you and your brand. Call to Action Sit down and think about what you want your life or business to look like. What are you willing and not willing to do to succeed? What do you want to be known for? What value do you want to give other? Answer these questions early and commit to them. They will be much harder to make a priority if you wait until profits start coming in and turning away from your values can quickly cause the profits to evaporate too. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] thefishow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android Links from the Episode The Article that started it all – “Get Rich Slowly” Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps Contact J.D. Roth: Get Rich Slowly Twitter Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin interview Michelle Schroeder-Gardner from Making Sense of Cents. Join them as they dive into Michelle’s financial backstory and learn how she took her issues with student loan debt and turned it into a passion that ultimately became super profitable. While Michelle did retire from her job at 24 and is now living it up sailing around the world, she is still grinding away on her blog and saving a ton of money. This really shows you that no matter how much money you have, your core values remain the same. Michelle is also trying to help other aspiring bloggers follow in her footsteps through her affiliate marketing course. We hope you enjoy some time getting a behind the scenes look at one of the biggest success stories in financial independence who remains extremely humble and true to her beliefs. Episode Summary Michelle started blogging in 2011 anonymously simply as a hobby Was living paycheck to paycheck and paying off student loans Spent 30-40 hours a week while also working 50 hours at her full-time job In 2013 she quit her job after reaching consistent earnings of $5k-10k per month On top of blogging she was also staff writing and managing accounts for other blogs A year later she quits all work but her blog and her income triples Remains very frugal to date while earning $1.5M annually from the blog Spent some time living in an RV Currently can be found traveling the world by boat Key Takeaways There’s no substitute for hard work. Michelle was working an additional full-time jobs worth of hours just on her blog. Remember that she wasn’t making anything in the early days. She talks about the first 6 months and how many people quit. Build a solid plan and stick to it. Find the hustle you love. This goes hand in hand with the first takeaway. You will burn out and fail if you aren’t truly passionate about this additional work. We can all tell when an employee hates there job through their performance. Imagine how bad your performance will be if you’re not enjoying it or being motivated by money. Less is more. When starting any new venture we try to spread ourselves so thin becoming experts in all facets. She’s living proof that removing some distractions and focusing on a specific area pays off. Her profits actually tripled! You are who you are. Yes she is living an awesome life and making a ton of money but she still chooses to save over 90% of her income. She could afford to do so much more but doesn’t. She continues to follow the principles that got her to where she is today. When you retire don’t fear that you’ll completely change and begin wasting money. It’s actually more likely that you’ll come away spending less than when you were working full time. Call to Action Analyze what you love to do or what you’d love to understand better. Make a list of the top three things. Then begin researching one you are truly passionate about. One that you would work on for free even when sleep deprived. Now take that and start working until you build something worth monetizing. You are much more likely to succeed and will have fun either way. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] thefishow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android Links from the Episode Michelle’s Affiliate Marketing Course Free Facebook Group How to Start a Blog Contact Michelle: Making Sense of Cents  Instagram (You won’t want to miss these awesome travel photos) Twitter Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin interview Chad aka Coach Carson from CoachCarson.com. Join them as they dive into Chad’s financial backstory and learn how he realized that he couldn’t become another member in the rat race and turned to real estate to create an impressive portfolio of rental homes. He now has a huge following of people looking to follow in his footsteps to financial independence through real estate. Chad is down to only devoting 1-2 hours a week to his rental portfolio and instead spends his time traveling, spending time with his wife and kids, and luckily for you, coaching members on how to own the real estate game just like him through his blend of free and premium online courses. You also won’t want to miss out on his new book Retire Early With Real Estate. Make sure to listen to the full episode for details on how to win your own free copy! Episode Summary Chad got his first experience with real estate doing the dirty work on his dad’s properties at age 11 While attending college and playing football for Clemson he looked for a way to avoid a corporate career His real estate journey starts with just $1k at age 23 Started small to protect his downside Before getting into rentals he would find flip opportunities for other investors Chad talks about leveraging the bigger pockets community to get started Connects with one of his business professors about real estate The professor is still a money lender today Rode out the downturn in 2008 markets by building cash cushion from rental incomes At one point bought up to 50 properties per year When searching for properties, look for properties that others are scared of Chad didn’t know how to do any handyman work Leveraged referrals to find quality contractors for your properties Buying properties may not be for everyone but house hacking can be Spent 17 months in Ecuador just living off of rental properties Wrote a book detailing his insights on real estate called Retire Early With Real Estate Now looking for his next opportunity to give back and make the world a better place Key Takeaways Leverage the networks available to you! Chad mentions getting his first real start with investing came from chatting with a college professor from a class he wasn’t even enrolled in. Then he mentions the great resource in Bigger Pockets. Basically, you don’t have to go into this blind or alone. Be efficient. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. When looking for quality contractors, property managers, or any other service you need, utilize referrals before simply cold calling. When you do get those contractors hired, tag along and try to learn a new skill yourself. Be set up to avoid the downturns. Chad was quickly faced with the worst real estate market turn we may ever see in our lifetime. He survived by pumping all the cash income back into his properties and not wasting it on increasing his lifestyle. Never mistake early success for being bulletproof. Find deals with room to pay for the work. The point of finding all these deals is to create a portfolio of income streams so you can stop working and find financial independence. If find deals that can only make money with you doing the work, then you are just swapping whatever job you have now for a new one. That’s not the point so make sure you earn enough to pay someone else for the labor. House hacking comes in flavors.  The biggest expense most Americans have is housing. If you can find a way to have someone else pay your mortgage, you have just made a huge step towards financial independence. This could be having roommates, neighbors in a duplex you own, or even a live-in house flip. Regardless of your situation or your zip code, don’t disregard the idea of house hacking. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] thefishow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android Links from the Episode Coach Carson’s free 7-day course Contact Chad: Coach Chad Carson | Twitter Money Life Manifesto Best Real Estate Investing Strategy House Hacking Guide Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

This is the biggest news we’ve shared with you up to date! Unfortunately, TJ had to step away from FIRE Below Zero for family reasons, but the show goes on! Cody has teamed up with Justin aka the Saving Sherpa, to present to you … The FI Show! We are so excited to move forward with this new project and we appreciate you supporting us during this transition. So, what does this mean for you listeners? What’s Different? We are going to make this transition as seamless as possible. Any links from FIRE Below Zero will be automatically redirected to The FI Show. You don’t have to worry about remembering the new URL! Our social media accounts will stay the same, but the handles will change. We appreciate all of you who are already part of our community, so we decided not to start from scratch. Our new handles on Twitter and Instagram are @thefishowguys. Our Facebook Group and Facebook Page will be renamed as The FI Show (currently still working on this). Cody and Justin have some exciting new episodes in the pipeline. We want to bring something fresh and new to the show! We will still have the normal interview-style episodes you’re used to, but we want to spice it up a bit as well! Stay tuned. This show is all about you! We are going to do our best to engage with the community as much as possible. With your help, we can make The FI Show amazing. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with questions, suggestions, and comments! Join the Community! We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Leave us a voicemail Join our Facebook Group Send us an email: contact [at] theFIShow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI Show on iTunes The FI Show on Android Again, thank you all so much for your support and we can’t wait to grow this community and show you what we have in store! See you next week.

In today’s episode, Cody and TJ interview Jillian from Montana Money Adventures. Join them as they dive into Jillian’s financial backstory and learn how she overcame substantial adversity. Now, Jillian spends her time blogging, life/money coaching, and running a Mini-Retirement Course. Episode Summary Jillian grew up in poverty From a young age, she knew that money = options… she was always looking for chores to earn an extra 25 or 50 cents. She attended a bible college after high school and managed to save $8,000 during her time there Got married at 19 and adopted her first child at 21 Bought a camper for $5,000 and lived in it for a year Moved to Germany for several years Came back to the U.S. and bought a rental property Eventually bought two more rental properties Adopted 3 more kids and had one more kiddo with her husband Reaches financial independence at age 32 Allows children to make mistakes with money while the sums are small Only allow for a finite number of “cares” each day Jillian’s 5-value system and 3-by-3 principle “Do what you love and expand your impact” Jillian talks about her life coaching, online courses, and day-to-day activities How to overcome your sticking points Find the source of your problems. Instead of swatting at the spiderwebs, try to kill the spider Key Takeaways Start your financial journey as early as possible! Money mistakes hurt a lot less when you’re young and the sums are small. Jillian allows her children to understand the power of money by making money mistakes. It’s never too early to start learning about personal finance! Conserve your “cares”. Jillian only has a finite number of “cares” each day. She saves each “care” for the things are truly important. Don’t let the minutia bog you down! Design a life that is so aligned with your passions and values that you never want to retire. After Cody asks Jillian when she plans to retire, she responds by saying that she never plans to “retire”. She is so content with her life because she has aligned her passions and values with her daily activities. If you study yourself and understand what your purpose and mission are, you can do the same! Stop swatting at spiderwebs… kill the spiders. Often times, we misdiagnose our own problems and end up fighting the wrong battles. Jillian describes these misdiagnosed problems as “spiderwebs”. Instead, we should focus on killing the spiders! Your time and energy are the most scarce and limited resources in your life. Some people think that money is our scarcest commodity. Jillian flips this ideology on its head and explains that time and energy are actually much more scarce than money. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in the FIRE Below Zero community! Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Leave us a voicemail If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! FIRE Below Zero on iTunes FIRE Below Zero on Android Links from the Episode Jillian’s Mini-Retirement Course Contact Jillian: Montana Money Adventures | Twitter Three-by-Three Principle Jillian’s Five Values Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)

The first portion of this podcast is feedback from last week’s episode: The Low-Hanging Fruits of FI. Anonymous talks about Project FI and tells us about calling to get cell phone data reports. Cody’s mom asks us to clarify how WiFi works. Luke from Forming the Life talks about the power of automation. Jeremy corrects Cody about AskTrim and mentions Truebill. Mike weighs in about Sling TV for watching football. Emily tells us about saving money on groceries with Checkout 51. Camp FI South The second portion of this episode was recorded LIVE from Camp FI South! Whitney Hansen of Money Nerds, Paul Thompson of Ready Investor One, TJ and I all asked the attendees to share their #1 takeaway from Camp FI. Enjoy! Doc G – “Knowing that you have a group of people to support you at a hard time in life, who come to the world with the same worldview is really magical” “Content creators tend to shout at the world, but there a lot of people out there who are whispering and if you listen closely you can learn a lot.” Contact him at Diversefi.com! James Lowery – “You don’t need as much… it seems like it takes a long time to see any progress, but then once you notice the progress it’s already taken off at that point” Contact him at RethinkTheRatRace.com! Ruth Bresnahan – “Personal growth is the most important thing. If you’re not experiencing personal growth, then your quality of life will go down no matter where you are in the journey” Justin Taylor – “Stop being so focused on this large nest egg number…giving me that confidence to step away and make it all work out” Contact him at Saving-Sherpa.com! Captain DIY – “Remove the idea of the nest egg number and take away the money aspect. Learn to enjoy the journey… The FI journey itself is such a growth experience” Contact him at DIY2FI.com! Doug Nordman – “I did not expect the level of interest in raising a money-smart kid… I’ve learned as a blogger that when you get the same questions over and over again you probably should write about it” Contact him at The-Military-Guide.com! Stephen Baughier – “I appreciate you guys coming this weekend, and all of the other people who are listening who have come to a Camp FI previously this year, I appreciate you for being a part of this and hopefully we’ll have a successful 2019 and make more connections.” Contact him at CampFI.org! Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in the FIRE Below Zero community! Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Leave us a voicemail Links from the Episode Camp FI ______ Project FI Unreal Mobile Ask Trim Truebill Sling TV Project FI Ready Investor One Money Nerds Forming The Life Diversefi Rethink The Rat Race Saving Sherpa Diy2fi The Military Guide Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)

In this week’s episode, Cody and TJ discuss the low-hanging fruits of FI. These are the changes you can make in your life today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, and so on that can drastically improve your financial position. Tune in and get ready to pick these low-hanging fruits! Episode Summary Housing: Makes up 33% of average American household expenditure House hacking – Purchasing a primary residence and renting out units/bedrooms in order to subsidize the cost of your housing. Downsizing / Living Below Your Means – Find the most affordable housing option in your area that suits your needs. This strategy is less extreme than house hacking, but still a powerful tactic for reducing your monthly expenses. Transportation: Makes up 17% of average American household expenditure Leasing a car is one of the worst financial choices you can possibly make. You are literally throwing money out of the window. Don’t do it! Buy a car outright. Find something that is fairly cheap and if possible, pay in cash! If you need to make monthly payments, pay it off as soon as possible. Never buy a new car. The car loses more than 20% of its value the second it leaves the lot. Find a used car that’s “like new” and save yourself from giving up your hard-earned dollars. Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses… Cody and TJ bet that you can find a decent car for $10,000 or less. Food: Makes up 13% of average American household expenditure When grocery shopping, make a list and stick to it! Cody recommends the AnyList app. However, if there is a similar on-sale item to an item on your list, go for it! Do what makes sense. You don’t need to spend hours clipping coupons to save $0.35 here and there. TJ highly recommends Aldi… he spends $50-70 per week for a family of three and claims that he “splurges”! If there isn’t a location near you, figure out which store has the best deals and shop intentionally. Limit eating out at restaurants. Once in a while is okay, but too much eating out can substantially impact your ability to save money. Services: You have a lot more power than you think when it comes to service companies. Whether it be insurance, power, or electric — these companies want your business! Shop around, pick up the phone and negotiate your rates. If you don’t want to call the companies yourself, sign up with AskTrim and they will negotiate your rates for you! They take a 33% cut from whatever they save, but this completely eliminates the efforts on your end. Discretionary Spending: Cody and TJ are a bit more lenient in this category if and only if you have a solid financial footing. If you’ve done everything else right, a Starbucks coffee won’t break the budget. However, if you are living paycheck to paycheck, these are things you need to cut out! Track which clothes you actually wear. Donate what you don’t! Cody cleared out 75% of his closet and feels great. Phone, Internet, Cable: Cut the cord on cable! You can just have WiFi and watch your favorite shows and movies online. Use an HDMI cord to hook up your computer to the internet. Don’t get suckered into the fancy bundles. C’mon… you don’t need a landline. Some cheap cell phone plans include Project FI and pre-paid plans. Stop paying for crazy, unlimited data plans and switch to something cheaper! Football Season You don’t need cable to watch the game! Every NFL game is available on Reddit.com/nflstreams. Or, check with your local channels to see if any games are available. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in the FIRE Below Zero community! Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Leave us a voicemail Links from the Episode The Company Men Movie AnyList Grocery App Aldi AskTrim Project FI Unreal Mobile Reddit NFL Streams Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)

PT Money is the founder of FinCon and a personal finance blogger at PTMoney.com. In today’s episode, I get a chance to interview him LIVE at FinCon to share his financial journey. Episode Summary Around age 24, PT realized that he was “not moving forward financially”. He describes how he “had debt” and “wasn’t saving at all”. After discovering Dave Ramsey, PT used the debt snowball approach to pay down his loans. Diving deeper into the rabbit hole, PT started reading personal finance websites and learning that he should max out his 401K, IRA, and HSA accounts. PT’s savvy investing was mainly driven by his “anti-government, anti-establishment” mindset and the notion of “reducing taxes as much as possible”. In order to further advance his financial position, PT started to automate his contributions and invest in a taxable account (after maxing out his pre-tax accounts). Around this same time, PT started his blog PT Money in order to document his financial journey. He soon discovered that this “hobby” could earn him some real money. He went from earning his mortgage payment, to 1/3 of his W2 income, to ½ of his W2 income before quitting his day job in 2010. Running PTMoney.com soon became his day job, so naturally, he needed a new side hustle! In 2011, FinCon was born! PT was not satisfied with the other personal finance conferences he attended, so he decided to start his own. He created a map outlining the location of all of his personal finance blogger friends. After careful deliberation, he decided that Chicago was the best location to host his first event. In order to make the event successful, PT diligently studied other conferences and leaned on his network for their expertise. He says “I tend to lean on people I trust”. The first FinCon had nearly 250 attendees (compared to the 30 expected from PT). At this LIVE FinCon 2018 interview, there were OVER 2,000 people at the event! Key Takeaways Just get started! – PT says that he had no idea what he was doing when he first launched his blog in 2007. He just “leaned into the passion and put down the distractions”. Fortunately, he quickly realized that this hobby of his could bring in some real money. His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is “don’t feel like you need to jump into it… don’t be afraid to do it on the side”. It took PT three years after starting his blog to quit his day job, you don’t have to take a crazy entrepreneurial leap if you don’t want to.   Leverage Your Network – Having a strong network is so powerful for an entrepreneur. PT leaned on the expertise of his friends and colleagues to make FinCon successful. His first three employees were all friends from college! He warns “don’t feel like whatever you’ve created needs to be solely under your control or in your name.” Open-source entrepreneurship allows you to play to your strengths and to let others complement your weaknesses. Don’t be afraid to leverage your network! Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in the FIRE Below Zero community! Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Leave us a voicemail Links from the Episode PT Money | Twitter FinCon 2019 Dave Ramsey Consumerism Commentary Bargaineering.com Automatic Contributions WordCamps Blog World Expo Affiliate Summits Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog)

In today’s episode, we get a chance to talk to Lily from The Frugal Gene about her accelerated path to financial independence. By choosing to avoid lifestyle inflation, Lily and her husband are able to save 90% of their income. The crazy part is that she thinks this is “normal”! Tune in to hear her incredible story about intentionality, happiness, and frugality. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in the FIRE Below Zero community! Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Leave us a voicemail Key Takeaways You can never be too careful – Lily highlights the insane returns that investors have enjoyed during this bull market. She advises that you should build some kind of side income streams, or wait until the next recession hits before you pull the trigger on early retirement. Even though Lily and her husband are at FI by most standards, she suspects that they will continue to work for 10+ years in order to build a colossal safety net. Live the life you want to live TODAY – You don’t need permission to pursue your dream lifestyle. Create a plan and take action! You don’t have to take the “normal” route and suffer for countless years at a job you don’t enjoy. If you don’t like something… don’t do it! The benefits of a high-cost-of-living area – If you are intentional with your money and with your savings, you can thrive in a HCOL area. Here are some of the benefits that Lily explains: Ability to charge higher rent, tons of free activities, access to public transportation, and more! Links from the Episode The Frugal Gene (Lily’s Blog) | Twitter Airbnb Mr. Money Mustache Financial Samurai Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)

How to Get a Full Ride to College Noah and Becky worked as Caddies all throughout high school, making a good amount of money during the summer, but most importantly earned a full-ride scholarship (The Chick Evans Scholarship) to Purdue University (tuition and housing). This set them up to graduate college without debt. Because of the intentionality of both Noah and Becky and their parents they started their career at a zero net worth vs a negative six-figure net worth like most couples today. One too Many Promotions After graduating and finding the concept of FIRE, Noah and Becky saved diligently, because they wanted to be responsible with their money. Their saving and investing really found purpose when work became so stressful. Becky had risen up the rungs of the corporate ladder, and found herself feeling very stressed. This is when FIRE became a logical alternative. Build up enough cash reserves to walk away or take a Gap year, which they are doing at this point. The Gap Year FI After coming up with the plan to take some time off, Noah and Becky begin to take action toward realizing that goal. They liquidated everything in their house and began renting it. They got a storage unit to shelter some of those important keepsakes, and then they hit the road in their Mazda 3 Hatchback. Noah and Becky are traveling the country together, with a very modest amount of items, but most importantly they are having the adventure of their lives together, seeing these amazing sites all through the country, but also stopping to spend time with friends and family along the way. Funding the Gap Year Noah and Becky made the plan to fund this trip without drawing down on any investments. So in the months leading up to taking their gap year, they saved cash outside of retirement accounts, specifically to fund this trip. They racked up a ton of travel rewards, which has helped them supplement their trip. Back in Seattle Noah and Becky were spending somewhere around that $60,000/year threshold, now they are traveling the country full time, having the trip of a lifetime, and only spending $40,000/year! 75 Credit Cards to Free Travel Noah and Becky discovered travel hacking on Reddit. They quickly implemented the strategy, churning credit cards (opening new credit cards for the sole purpose of banking introductory signup offer). With each card having a $500-$1000 value introductory offer, they have earned approximately $50,000-$100,000 in travel credit to make travel more affordable and enjoyable. Anybody can repeat this strategy! You can get started with your first card today by applying through our travel rewards partner. What could you do with $50,000 for travel? We know this is an awful lot of money, but this strategy is not so difficult to implement. It’s about making the intentional choice. What about your Credit Score? Most would assume that Noah and Becky would have taken huge hits to their credit score by applying for 70+ plus credit cards….. But the opposite has actually happened. Their credit scores continue to go up as they have more accounts, all having on-time payments. They have found their scores in the 800’s now because of it. The Ultimate Redemption For their honeymoon, Noah and Becky traveled to Fiji and New Zealand. Spending about a week in New Zealand and 2 weeks in Fiji, having an absolutely amazing time, but only spent about $500 total for the trip. The actual retail value for the 3-week trip that they took, would have cost about $14,000, yet they managed to do it for only $500. This is the power of travel rewards! As incredible as this sounds we all can implement these strategies, simply by starting to take action today. Fitness and FIRE Noah and Becky are very interested in physical fitness, as money is not the most important thing on this journey, it is important to stay on top of health and fitness. Noah has competed in the World’s Toughest Mudder, staying up for 24 hours doing these amazing tasks. They are both very active and prioritize staying healthy even while on the road. Fitness should be a cornerstone of our FI journey. Join the Community Thank you so much for joining us for another episode of the FIRE Below Zero Podcast. Here are some awesome ways to say in touch, and always have these ideas and strategies at your fingertips Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Leave us a voicemail Links from Today’s Episode Money Metagame (Noah’s Blog) | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook Cody and TJ’s Recommended Credit Cards Caddie Scholarship Reddit Mint Personal Capital Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)