Unboxing Unboxing

Unboxing Unboxing

I've been rediscovering YouTube recently. What I mean by that is that I've moved beyond the usual movie trailers, educational video lectures and various clips of late night TV shows and news. I'm now often on the hunt for vlog-type "how to" videos.

This hunt for helpful information, of which there is plenty, has lead to the discovery of the next generation of what are called "unboxing" videos. I hadn't seen these in a number of years and now realize how much they've changed.

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Enough Already: The Cost of Not Having Enough...of What Money Can't Buy

Enough Already: The Cost of Not Having Enough...of What Money Can't Buy

I recently read another book by John C. Bogle titled “Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life”. The title intrigued me and I figured I was likely to like it, as I’d enjoyed reading a previous work from this author: “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing”.

And I was right. It is a great book and one that I recommend.

Interestingly enough, the part of the book that struck me the most is conveniently located on the very first page...

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The "Plane" Truth - Assumptions Keep Us Shackled to Our Beliefs (and vice versa)

The "Plane" Truth - Assumptions Keep Us Shackled to Our Beliefs (and vice versa)

I had an interesting experience on the last leg of our trip home from Costa Rica. On the flight from Toronto to Winnipeg I was sitting next to a woman in her fifties from Winnipeg who worked for a large raw materials organization in the city. She’d been in TO for training on a new ERP system her company was migrating to, having kept their system for over twenty years. 

She talked the talk and looked the look of someone who worked in corporate Canada.

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Book Review: "The Wealthy Barber"

Book Review: "The Wealthy Barber"

What's my rating for "The Wealthy Barber"?

I gave the book a 4 out of 5 Rockstar rating.

In this work of fiction, author David Chilton chose a small town barber shop as the setting for his characters’ much needed discussions about money.

Roy, the shop’s owner, has become known around town as the man to talk to when it comes to personal finance and that’s where David, the story’s protagonist, goes to get his hair cut and his financial mind sharpened every month, along with his sister Cathy and his best friend Tom.

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Book Review: "Your Money or Your Life"

Book Review: "Your Money or Your Life"

Want to know what Free to Pursue thinks about Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez's book "Your Money or Your Life"?

I gave the book a 5 out of 5 Rockstar rating.

Vicki and Joe invite us to rethink how we invest our time and our money in this powerful and transformative book. 

Here's a quick overview of what the authors walk us through that enables us to reframe how we think about time and money:

  1. Where We've Been: Gaining an understanding of how much money we've spent in our lifetimes and evaluating our return thus far in the form of life satisfaction.
  2. Where We Are: Evaluating the magnitude and quality of our current spending to determine whether we’re maximizing how we use our life energy (0ur most precious resource).
  3. Where We're Going: Measuring our self-sufficiency by tracking our progress toward financial independence and beyond.

If you want to stop having to work for “The Man” sooner than later, YMOYL is a must read. It’s a powerful book and should be part of every person’s lifetime curriculum.

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Book Review: "I Will Teach You to Be Rich" by Ramit Sethi

Book Review: "I Will Teach You to Be Rich" by Ramit Sethi

Want to know what Free to Pursue thinks about Ramit Sethi's book "I Will Teach You to Be Rich"?

I gave the book a 4 out of 5 Rockstar rating.

Here’s the information and advice that makes this book unique. It:

  1. Helps us navigate service providers… and negotiate with them.
  2. Offers a primer on investing by debunking the myth of financial service expertise.
  3. Compares the benefit of paying down debt to investment returns in a systematic way.

One word of caution, his writing style is an acquired taste. It can be a turn off for readers looking for solid advice and who prefer to avoid sources that include some off-colour humour.

To know more about the book, read my full review here.

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Book Review: "Dear Debt" by Melanie Lockert

Book Review: "Dear Debt" by Melanie Lockert

Want to know what Free to Pursue thinks about Melanie Lockert's book "Dear Debt"?

I gave the book a 4 out of 5 Rockstar rating.

The book’s format is straightforward, yet it includes some gems, some unique features you won’t necessarily find in other debt reduction books:

  1. A focus on the individual
  2. The hidden power of side hustles
  3. How reducing debt affects your outlook

Read my full review here.

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How Many Cars Will I Own?

How Many Cars Will I Own?

There are very different ways of interpreting that question. 

I was rereading the book Your Money Or Your Life recently, and two of its passages brought me back to my mid-twenties:

"Other people’s expectations don’t make you buy stuff. TV does not make you buy stuff. Your thoughts make you buy stuff. Watch those suckers. They’re dangerous to your pocketbook—and to a lot more." - p. 194.

and

"'Quality of life' often goes down as “'standard of living' goes up. There is a peak to the Fulfillment Curve—spending more after you’ve reached the peak will bring less fulfillment." - p. 300.

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