End of Year Wins 2019
Episode 160
Episode Guide
Episode Timestamps
ChooseFI Podcast Episode Show Notes
Episode Title: Celebrating Community Wins: 2019 in Review
Hosts: Jonathan Mendonsa, Brad Barrett
Episode Summary: This episode highlights the financial successes of the ChooseFI community over the past year, showcasing inspiring stories of personal transformations, increased savings rates, successful debt payoffs, and reaching financial independence milestones. The hosts emphasize the power of community and actionable financial strategies.
Key Topics Discussed
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Community Wins Introduction
Overview of the episode's purpose to celebrate listener achievements in financial independence. -
Listener Win Highlights:
- Oren: Maxed out retirement accounts and starting to earn travel rewards.
- Lon: Increased savings rate and launched side gigs for additional income.
- Victoria: Recognizing the value of the community and resources.
- Timothy: Significant real estate investments leading to a net worth increase.
- Becky: Achieving a 73% savings rate as a single mom despite financial challenges.
- Femi: Closing on their first rental property and starting a blog.
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Actionable Takeaways:
- Utilize travel rewards for vacations.
- Engage in community support for financial growth.
- Automate savings and investments to increase financial health.
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Financial Strategies Shared:
- Implementing effective debt repayment plans.
- Enhancing savings rates through budgeting and expense tracking.
- Using travel rewards for cost-effective travel experiences.
Key Quotes
- Oren: "This game is just getting started. Welcome to the board game."
- Becky: "Since finding the concept of financial independence, I've been able to save/invest 73% of my annual income."
- Timothy: "Our net worth skyrocketed from $400k to over $500k in just a year!"
- Femi: "We are enjoying the journey because we have a blueprint."
FAQs
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How can I increase my savings rate?
Track expenses, cut unnecessary costs, automate savings. Many listeners report increasing their savings rates significantly through these strategies. -
What are travel rewards?
Points or miles earned through spending on travel-related expenses that can be redeemed for discounts or free travel. -
What steps can I take to pay off debt?
Create a repayment plan focusing on high-interest debts, and consider consolidation options. Personal success stories demonstrate effective debt strategies.
Action Items
- Share your financial wins with the ChooseFI community.
- Explore travel rewards opportunities and consider credit card options tailored for maximized travel benefits.
Related Resources
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ChooseFI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence
ChooseFI Book -
Playing With Fire Documentary
Playing With Fire
Discussion Questions
- How has the ChooseFI community impacted your financial journey?
- What are the biggest financial changes you've made this past year?
Podcast Description:
Join Brad Barrett and Jonathan Mendonsa as they explore the inspiring financial victories within the ChooseFI community. Discover actionable strategies for financial independence and hear incredible stories that illustrate the transformative power of financial education and support.
Listen to the full episode:
Episodes are available on all major podcast platforms.
Celebrating Financial Independence: Community Wins and Strategies
The journey to financial independence (FI) is often fueled by collective support, knowledge, and actionable strategies. It’s a path that requires learning, commitment, and an understanding of personal finance. Here’s how you can navigate your financial journey using the insights drawn from the inspiring stories shared by members of the ChooseFI community.
The Power of Community
Finding a supportive community is critical when pursuing financial independence. Engaging with like-minded individuals provides motivation and accountability. Many listeners reported that their interactions with the ChooseFI community sparked meaningful discussions about saving and retirement with family members, significantly enhancing their financial literacy.
Action Step: Seek out communities, either online or in-person, that align with your financial goals. Join forums, attend local meetups, or engage with social media groups dedicated to financial independence.
Increase Your Savings Rate
A critical step towards financial independence is improving your savings rate. Many community members successfully raised their savings rates dramatically. For instance, one listener managed to save/invest 73% of their income, significantly impacting their family’s financial outlook.
Tips to Increase Savings Rate:
- Track Expenses: Gain awareness of where your money goes and identify areas to cut back.
- Set Up Automatic Savings: Automate transfers to savings or investment accounts to simplify the savings process.
- Prioritize Needs Over Wants: Analyze your spending to distinguish between essential and discretionary expenses.
Quote to Remember: “Achieving a 73% savings rate changed my family's future!”
Utilizing Travel Rewards
Travel rewards can be an excellent avenue to save money on vacations and experiences. Many listeners shared their successful strategies for using travel rewards points to book flights and accommodations, effectively making their travel more cost-effective.
Understanding Travel Rewards:
- What Are Travel Rewards?: Points or miles accumulated through credit card spending that can be redeemed for free or discounted travel.
- Strategy: Sign up for travel rewards credit cards with lucrative bonuses, always paying off the balance to avoid interest.
Action Step: Consider exploring travel rewards programs, and utilize them to reduce your travel costs while enabling memorable experiences for you and your family.
Successful Debt Payoff
Debt repayment is a significant step towards achieving financial independence. Members of the ChooseFI community shared their success stories about paying off substantial amounts of debt, further motivating others to tackle their financial burdens.
Effective Debt Repayment Strategies:
- Create a Plan: Establish a clear, structured repayment schedule.
- Focus on High-Interest Debt First: Prioritize debts with the highest interest rates to save on overall payments.
- Consider Consolidation: Explore consolidation options to reduce interest rates and simplify payments.
Quote to Inspire: “Debt-free journey: Over $115,000 in loans paid off in under three years!”
Real Estate and Investment
Investing in real estate is a powerful strategy that many listeners used to build wealth. Reports show individuals purchasing multiple rental properties, which helped them generate income and expand their investment portfolios significantly.
Tips for Real Estate Investing:
- Educate Yourself: Read books and listen to podcasts that provide insights into real estate strategies.
- Start Small: Consider beginning with a duplex or triplex to familiarize yourself with property management while generating passive income.
- Leverage Community Resources: Join local real estate investment groups for mentorship and guidance.
Quote to Reflect On: “Our net worth skyrocketed from $400k to over $500k in just a year!”
Embracing Financial Literacy
Financial literacy is at the core of achieving independence. Engaging with resources such as podcasts, books, and workshops provides the knowledge base necessary to make informed financial decisions.
Building Financial Literacy:
- Listen to Educational Content: Engage with financial podcasts like ChooseFI to gain insights from expert discussions.
- Read Foundational Literature: Books like "The Simple Path to Wealth" by JL Collins offer valuable perspectives on investing and wealth-building.
- Track Your Progress: Use financial tracking tools to monitor savings, expenses, and investments.
Resources to Explore:
Your Action Plan to Financial Independence
As you contemplate your journey to financial independence, consider these actionable steps:
- Join a Community: Engage with others on a similar path.
- Automate Savings: Make saving a seamless part of your budget.
- Learn about Travel Rewards: Use them to your advantage for cost-effective traveling.
- Create a Debt Repayment Strategy: Take active steps to manage and eliminate debt.
- Invest in Yourself: Prioritize education in personal finance to enhance your decision-making skills.
Conclusion
The pursuit of financial independence is a rewarding journey filled with learning, growth, and community support. The stories shared by the ChooseFI community serve as a testament to the attainability of financial goals through education, commitment, and actionable strategies. Start today and create your roadmap to financial independence, leveraging the power of community, knowledge, and dedication to build a brighter financial future.
As we ring in the new year, it is time to celebrate our community's wins. This episode is dedicated entirely to the wins that have happened throughout the community this year. The goal is to congratulate everyone on a fantastic year and inspire the community to continue to achieve amazing things next year.
[elementor-template id="143609"]Wins From The Community
Let's take a closer look at these amazing wins from 2019. If you want to be featured next year, then drop us a line with your wins from 2020!
Oron
After finding ChooseFI in June, he went to see Playing with Fire about a month later. He is maxing out his 401(k) for the first time ever, and is planning on earning the Southwest Companion Pass for 2020!
Related: Why You Definitely Want The Southwest Companion Pass
Lan
Although he had always been a saver, he always thought that he couldn't retire until 59 and a half. Now that he has found this community, he has increased his savings rate from 25% to 75%. He started house hacking, has picked up a side hustle, eats leftovers for dinner, trades his skills for free food, and hauls fallen wood away from people's yards for a fee to heat his own home!
Way to go Lan!
Victoria
Victoria found ChooseFI this year, which is a win itself. She is looking forward to taking more action next year.
Timothy
Timothy is working on his second year of living the FI lifestyle. This year, he has purchased two duplexes, a triplex, and a quadplex. He plans to house hack the triplex in St. Pete while continuing to max out his 401k.
Amazing progress towards FI!
Becky
Becky found ChooseFI this year as a single mom living below the poverty line. She took action on what works for her family and has been able to invest 73% of her income.
Very inspiring!
Femi
Femi purchased a rental property and started a blog this year.
We are enjoying the journey because we have a blueprint.
We are so happy that our Blueprint is helping people move their lives in a positive direction.
Check out the Blueprint To Financial Independence here.
Valerie
At the beginning of this year, Valerie's savings rate was under 15%. Plus, she had a car loan with no emergency fund. Throughout the year, she has taken steps to completely transform her financial life. Now she has a 40% savings rate, a clear plan for retirement, an emergency fund, and has started classes for a new side hustle.
Way to go Valerie!
Justin
Although Justin was saving for traditional retirement before finding ChooseFI this year, he is now saving close to 50% of his income. Plus, he closed on his first rental.
Randy
After finding the FI community in September, Randy maxed out his 401(k) for the year. Congrats on the dedication to saving!
John
John cashed out some equity in his home to invest in VTSAX. Plus, his wife found a job with a 55% increase in pay!
Nicole
Nicole paid off three credit cards in 2019 and plans to pay off one more soon. She also paid off a payment plan on her dog and three medical bills. Congrats to Nicole for eliminating her debt on her journey to FI!
Related: You're Debt Free; Now What?
Andy
After making some major financial moves such as paying off student loans, a Tesla, and switching phone plans, he is transitioning to be a stay at home dad. A big lifestyle change made possible through intentional spending.
Related: How To Lower Your Cell Phone Bill
Kristy
Kristy helped three of her children make it through school without any debt. And she moved to Europe with two teenagers! It sounds like a busy year.
Christine
Got a great deal on healthcare by maxing out her HSA which brought her income down enough to qualify for a subsidy.
Bill
After discovering ChooseFI this year, Bill made the switch to Vanguard, watched Playing with Fire, got two new certifications, started a blog, started training others in his profession. He also left a toxic job to improve his life.
Related: How To Move Your Money From A Financial Advisor To Vanguard
Lizzy
As the owner of her own marketing firm, she started to take more control of her bottom line. Since FI is within reach, she is focused on increasing her income. In this year alone, she increased her income by $54,000. Way to go Lizzy!
Kevin
Kevin took advantage of tax-loss harvesting this year to simplify his investment portfolio.
Kat
Kat made some major changes to her life including reducing her investing expenses, started a 529, starting travel rewards, shopping at ALDI, and moving the emergency fund to a high yield savings account. She also started budgeting with YNAB and is on track to max out her pre-tax accounts. However, the biggest win was getting her husband to buy into the concept of FI!
If you want to move your emergency fund to a high yield savings account, check out CIT Bank: Here's our full review.
E Dub
E Dub successfully paid off his credit cards and car loan in 2019. They plan to tackle their student loans in 2020.
Related: Snowball Vs Debt Avalanche--Does It Really Matter?
Dawn
Not only did Dawn double her salary, but she also paid off her mortgage and maxed out her 401k.
Steven
Steven doubled his salary with careful skill stacking, he made his dream job a reality.
Kristy
After finding FI in 2018, Kristy started saving like crazy. In June, she felt confident enough to quit her job. Enjoy the transition!
Azar
Azar admits to a mild obsession with travel rewards, but it has paid off. They will be able to take their family on a trip to Italy this summer with points. What an exciting win!
If you want to get involved with travel rewards, you can take the free ChooseFI travel course here.
Jody
Jody had a whirlwind year of becoming debt-free, meeting her husband, and quitting her job. Sounds like a success to us!
Matt
Matt took the free ChooseFI travel course this year. With that knowledge, he signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and was able to build up enough points for a four-night stay in Italy.
Eric
One year ago, Eric's family was behind on their bills and no emergency fund. With the help of side hustle, they've been able to get their financial lives back on track. With a large emergency fund, maxed out their retirement accounts, increased credit score, and 70% savings rate, their life has changed for the better.
Related: Why A Side Hustle Is FI's Secret Weapon
Joann
Although Joann had been living the FI lifestyle for years, she found the community this year. Even so, her biggest takeaway was the concept of adding an "F U fund" to their profit and loss statement. Joann's goal for next year is to pay off their mortgage early and increase their savings in order to potentially step away from her job.
Julie
After finding the FIRE community this year, Julie is only 25 months from FIRE. Although she already had been practicing many of the habits, she is happy to find a community of like-minded people.
Katia
Katia is on track to pay off $25,000 in debt while cash flowing and using travel rewards to fund a trip to Japan and Mexico with the help of travel rewards. In fact, she has been able to save around $10,000 in travel in the last year. She also moved her investments to low-cost index funds.
In order to track her progress, she is taking advantage of Personal Capital. It can be a great tool to track your journey to FI. Check out our full review of Personal Capital here.
Corey
Corey paid off their Honda Civic in just 11 months. Plus, they earned the Southwest Companion Pass, fully funded his Roth IRA, and started a blog.
Deborah
Deborah found ChooseFI through Her Money podcast. With this new information, she started her emergency fund, has helped out her family financially, has created a plan to get out of debt in five years. In this past year, she has been able to go to a mechanic without worrying about how to cover the expense.
Therese
Terese was able to pay off $40,000 in college debt as well as $9,000 in credit card debt. Additionally, she has saved $80,000 for retirement and savings in the past three years while still enjoying her life.
By focusing on experiences instead of things we’ve really started saving up for the business we one day want to have.
Miriam
Miriam took the knowledge from our many college hacking episodes to open a 529 for her kids. Plus, she applied for the FASFA. With a big trip to round out the year, Miriam enjoyed the amazing progress.
Emily
After finding ChooseFI this year, Emily changed all of their investments to low fee mutual funds. Not only that, but she also used travel rewards to save thousands on an annual trip. Congrats Emily!
Rachael
Rachael had a busy year after finding ChooseFI. She refinanced her mortgage so she could eliminate the PMI, refinanced her student loans, read A Simple Path to Wealth, moved to Vanguard, cut cable, started teaching yoga as a side hustle, opened three travel rewards, and started tracking her expenses.
Linda
Linda was thrilled to find the FI community this year. After that, she enrolled in a CFP program and has started helping her kids learn about FI and graduate debt-free.
Courtney
Courtney had a successful year. She set up a Vanguard account, paid $40,000 towards her mortgage, increased her business income, cash flowed her first Airbnb, optimized her health insurance, and made great use of travel rewards. She is also considering going to part-time at her job since her side hustle is doing so well.
Jackie
This year, she hit $100,000 in net worth, paid off her car loan, and increased her 401(k) contributions. Great job, Jackie!
Steven
Steven took advantage of solar panel installation to reduce his energy consumption. The solar panels should pay for themselves within two years. He also reduced his investing fees and refinanced his mortgage.
Related: Are Solar Panels Worth The Investment
Rebecca
Rebecca got her hubby on board for their FI journey. They decided they didn't need a larger house and sold a bunch of unused items in their home--send that found money to her investments. They also started maxing out their HSA and 401(k)s . They started budgeting and tracking their spending to find even more money.
She also used Policygenius to get a great rate on life insurance and is in the process of looking at her car insurance and other bills.
Now that they know what their FI number is, they are pursuing it with at least one actionable tip from every episode.
Related: Get The Best Price On Life Insurance With Policygenius
Melanie
Madeline's husband started driving for Uber on his commute. Now he earns $50 per day on his commute. Very creative!
Emily
Hacked her breakfast by batching and freezing breakfast burritos! Yum!
Anna
Anna was able to max out her 401k and watch it grow to over $102,000 in three years.
Dawn
As a single mom, Dawn has been able to increase her retirement contributions and plans to be able to max out her 401(k), HSA, and Roth in three years. Along the way, she downsized her house, moved her investments to Vanguard, started using travel rewards, and has started the track to FI.
Trish
Trish has paid off $115,000 in debt over the past two years! She is expecting to pay off the last of her debts, including her mortgage in 2020. Go Trish! We know you will do it.
Jessica
Jessica found a creative way to save money on her food costs. She won free Arby's for the year and gets a free Chik-fil-A sandwich every Monday by using their app, but waits til Thursday to redeem it because then she can stack this coupon and also score a free side.
Barbara
Used travel rewards to book three trips this year!
Giovana
Giovanna paid off $7,000 in credit card debt. Way to go!
Topaz
Topaz was able to earn an extra $5,000 in side hustles this year.
Jenna
Jenna took many steps to improve her finances this year. She paid off the vehicles, cut out PMI by refinancing, cut cable, cooks more at home, started a few side hustles, and increased her Airbnb revenue. She also cut her investment fees by switching advisors.
Steven
Steven took advantage of many methods to trim his budget. He cut cable, switched to Total Wireless, opened an HSA, did a mega backdoor Roth, earned the Southwest Companion Pass, paid off his car, purchased life insurance, drafted his will, opened a high yield savings account, sold many things, and maxed out his 401k. But best of all, he and his wife are on the same page financially.
Related: Republic Wireless Vs Other Cheap Cell Phone Plans
Allison
Allison paid off two rental properties and has officially reached a fatFIRE net worth. Also joined the ChooseFI book club.
Patrick
Patrick accepted an ex-pat position which allowed him to trim his budget dramatically.
Hillary
Hillary tackled a quarter of her six-figure student loan debt.
Ella
Ella paid off $148,000 in student loans this year.
Ed and Steven
Ed and Steven from our ChooseFI team got the FI 101 course up and running. They are looking forward to spreading the message of FI in the New Year.
Tommy
Tommy optimized his retirement accounts and is hoping to spread second generation FI.
Angie
Paid off $17,000 in student loans in just a few months.
John
Paid off his car last month!
Glenn
Glenn has taken the call to action seriously. He has increased his contributions to Vanguard and is now living on 25% of his earnings. He has continued to prove that he is able to live on less and gaining a better understanding of what it takes to cover his expenses.
Caroline
Opened Roth IRA's for her and husband and started contributing to her 401(k). She also paid off her mortgage, started cooking more at home and meal prepping, started using travel rewards, canceled their gym membership, optimized their insurance options, started working from home one day a week.
She also cut her clothing budget by doing sip and swaps with her friends. She finally put her yoga certification to good use and started teaching yoga which is brought in about $600 over the past few months. Overall, she tripled her savings rate and is now saving 48% of her income.
Heidi
Heidi created a plan to bring more joy and connection into her family's life. She also earned the Southwest Companion Pass, started on her husband's side hustle, maxed out a 403(b) and a 457, moved her investments to Vanguard. They started some DIY projects around the house, started an around the world dinner party with friends.
Jonathan
Jonathan is loving being able to work from home. He gets to spend time with his kids and also record live in-studio with Brad.
MK
MK is now the showrunner for the ChooseFI podcast and is having a blast. MK and her husband also moved close to her husband's work so he has a very short commute which reduces stress and allows for more time at home.
Brad
Brad's big win is the launch of the ChooseFI Foundation.
Thank You!
Congrats to everyone that made their lives better this year. It is so inspiring to see everyone take this information and design lives that they love. We look forward to continuing on this journey with you in the New Year!
And speaking of 2020: Take a look at Jillian's new podcast Everyday Courage.
Take Action With FI 101
If you want to make your own wins next year, then check out our FI 101 course. It is a digital academy with a sequential course on learning financial literacy. It is a great place to start your own FI journey.
After learning more, make sure to take action to improve your own life for the better.
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