EconoMe 2024 Lifehack Wall

During the recent EconoMe 2024 conference, attendees were encouraged to write "LifeHacks" onto post-it notes and stick them to the wall. At the end of the conference, I volunteered to clean up the wall and transcribe the accumulated suggestions for future reference and broader exposure. Some minor spelling and punctuation changes were made and emojis have replaced any line art made, but I've tried to maintain the basic gist of all suggestions. Importantly, this list is community sourced and does not necessarily represent endorsement by EconoME, ChooseFI or the list compiler. Some notes were phrased in the form of direction ("do this") and others in form of explaining what they themselves have done ("did this"). My own comments on some of the hacks are interspersed in italics and right-aligned.

Since ChooseFI is an affiliate partner with various credit card partners, we are bound by requirements to not use particular sensitive phrases. I have replaced a commonly used term often used by those within the community with the term "Travel rewards". The meaning is the same, but I did want to acknowledge the slight change in terminology I had to apply to host this list on the site.

Travel rewards with credit cards and points. It’s not as difficult as you might think. ~Adi

Live close to work or work close to home (less/no commute).

Your story CREATES your reality. Choose a new story and create a new reality.

Greet every obstacle as a challenge!! 🙂

Make sleep a top priority!

Going to University internationally—especially if you have access to another citizenship.

Read “Quit Like a Millionaire”.

Become a nurse!
Always in demand
Flex hours - up/down to suit your life
$$ as travel nurse

Don’t buy the biggest house you can the lender tells you that you can afford.

Leverage corporate travel for:
Hotel points
Making local connections
Travel rewards

Download the app “Libby” for free books you can checkout from the library.

The app Hoopla is also a good option for this.

Start a business and have your business pay for as much your life as possible! 🙂

Read “How Not to Die” by Michael Greger.

Wake up before everyone else.

Use a high-yield savings account for your cash.

Financial wealth is meaningless without mental & physical health. Make them a priority.

Take care of your mental health!

Have a company pay for your living expenses! This could look like:
Company cell phone plan
Food bills
Housing cost (trusted house sitters)

Free food at meetups

Deducting my entire rent and living expenses

Host a local ChooseFI event!

Get LASIK

My LASIK surgery was some of the best money I ever spent.

Start a business to solve a problem people have (or you solved for yourself)

Make FI Friends on Facebook at FI Friends Connect

Life is all about balance. Don’t forget today when saving for tomorrow!!

You don’t need a draw down strategy if you create enough streams of passive income. - Merced 🙂

Take care of your teeth and periodontal health no matter what! Root yourself in prevention and aim for stability. Dentistry is not expensive, neglect is!!!

♥️ Your FIgienist

Automate your saving & investing

Live in a way that makes you happy. Don’t keep up with the cultural status quo.

Your identity after retirement has its ups and downs. Give yourself grace.

Sell the big house!

Discount grocery stores in Florida.

Why just Florida? ALDI ftw everywhere if you ask me. 😊

Library has books, electronics, and tools!

A second note was attached alongside to this one:

And board games!

ALDI 💗

Cold plunges. Hikinh

It was unclear if this was a persons name or perhaps they meant to write “Hiking”.

Enrolled agents (EA) are often cheaper & just as experienced @taxes as CPAs.

Hire a CFP & EA earlier. Gives you confidence to deduct (especially for side hustles and business)

House hack a new home every year until it doesn’t make sense. 🏠

Meditate

Download Kanopy from your local library card for FREE movies!

Never take a loan on a depreciating asset (like a car).

Buy a used car! - Owner of a ‘98 Honda Civic that bought for $750 in 2015 and STILL driving!

Mint Mobile for cellphone service

Figure out when you’re young that you want to be healthy when you’re old.

Move to a small town, buy a cheap house, and save the difference.

Section 121 (2 out of 5 rule)
$250,000 exclusion of capital gains tax on primary residence sale.
($250,000 per person on title)

Read “Your Money or Your Life” - wonderful 🙂

Grocery Shopping!
Produce Section!
Cook.
Whole Food Plant Based meals 🙂

STOP WORRYING!!!

YNAB! (You Need a Budget app)
I can’t live w/out it. 🙂

A second note was attached alongside this one

YNAB is everything!

Geo-arbitrage to Central or South America.

Scarcity thinking will hold you back no matter your portfolio.
Work on shifting [sic: shifting mindset?] as a gift to yourself.

Listen to: “Catching up to FI”

Paprika 3 app
(shopping list & recipe notebook)

Don’t ignore health!
Lift! Cardio! Move!
Live a long life you’ve invested in designing.

Don’t wait for retirement to do things… DO IT NOW!

You can retire earlier than you think you can.

Tax loss harvesting at your investment accounts!

High deductible health plan ▶️ Health Savings Account ▶️ Tax savings & investible use for retirement

Be grateful more

Savings buckets (Ally Bank) & tracking my net worth

FI is better with FRIENDS
Find and/or build your community 💗

1) Live below your means, and
2) Build and maintain emergency fund > everything else!

COAST FIRE & Part-time work you enjoy

Express gratitude daily

Buy gift cards in bulk for extra savings @ retail stores on sale 🙂

Spending money on your health and fitness is a part of your savings rate.

Receipt Scanning apps
Ex:
Frisbee
Fetch
Receipt Hog

Attached to that note was this followup note:

Coin out

Named beneficiaries on accounts SUPERCEDES your will.
Make sure all account beneficiaries are accurate!

Make full use of work benefits.
Lifestyle accounts
Free food
HSA
Discounts - insurance, stores, tickets

Read & understand your 401k’s SPD (summary plan description).
It’s the instruction manual for your 401k.

Travel rewards

Attached to that was:

10xTravel.com

And attached to that was:

TravelFreely.com + CardPointers!