As I add more content (and my brain is overflowing with it – although my wife would say I’m overflowing with something else) – I’ll be adding more and more links here.
These are all links to goods or services that I actually use, and which help move me towards early retirement. Some of these links are affiliate links, which means I get a little kickback (at no cost to you) if you choose to buy/subscribe/etc. It’s a nice way to say “thank you” if you’ve found my content helpful.
Keeping track of stuff
I’m notorious for writing to-do lists everywhere. Which means that every month I have to figure out where I put them all, stack ’em up, check off what I did, feel bad about the stuff that’s been sitting on that old list for months, and then stat over. I’m tired of it, which is why I was thrilled to find Google Keep. Make lists to your heart’s content. Give ’em labels so you can easily sort them. They sync to all your devices. And it’s free. Hell, you can even share your to-do lists with your friends and loved ones (this is great when you want to shoot your loved one the shopping list. No more cell phone photos of shopping lists). Your virtual honey-do-list.
Cell Phone Service
Republic Wireless, of course. Who in the early retirement game doesn’t use them? For $15 per month for unlimited talk and text, plus $5 per GB of 4G data, it’s a pretty good deal. I use this for my business phone.
Investing
I have found Vanguard to be an amazing company. With some of the lowest fees in the business, and great mutual funds to boot, if you had to choose just one company, and you don’t mind investing with one company (and a kick-ass one, to boot), then this is it.
You might also find that you want more flexibility of being able to buy more than just mutual funds. With TD Ameritrade, you get a large list of no-load, no fee mutual funds (I’ll talk about these with a critical eye in a later post), as well as 100+ ETFs that are no fee, no load as well. Many of the same mutual funds at vanguard are available as an ETF, and with slightly lower fees, as well. Again, more about this in a later post.
Web Hosting
Bluehost made setting up my blog a snap. They are currently running a $3.95/month (for the first year) special, which also includes a free domain name. If you’re looking to start your own blog, your own business, or just want a place to put up pictures of your cats, you’ll find the experience to be smooth.
Online Shopping
Who doesn’t shop online for everything these days? It’s just too convenient. What’s a mall? Save your gas and time and let UPS deliver your goods to you.
Well, if you’re not getting some cash back for your purchases, then you’re doing it wrong. Check out ebates and start getting cash back on your purchases. For instance, you can get up to 7% back amazon.com purchases. Kinda hard to beat.