frugal

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And this is on a personal finance blog, why?? It so happens, that’s how I keep busy during my early retirement. You could say it’s a symptom of Personal Finance. Symptoms which exhibit itself entirely different for each accomplished PFr. Some travel, some deal with chemical toilets, from under their tiny houses (they never seem to mention that touting, tiny houses) and some build 3D Printers. There’s no real lesson in here on how to retire early but I do keep getting amazed about how I could save more money. The savings mentioned below go beyond building 3D printers but […]

Just finished my latest 3D printer build

 in 3D Printing / frugal / Saving by
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It has been some weeks now that we cut the cable. Our heads haven’t exploded yet, which is a good thing (I did not rule that out from happening). As a matter of fact we’ve hardly noticed. No, we no longer get The walking dead but we’ll survive (as I’m sure will they). We no longer get the Daily Show nor the Larry Wilmore show which, given that this is election season, is probably a good thing. As entertaining as these shows are, they’re also somewhat depressing. Here is what we do still get, and how we get it after we cut the […]

We Finally Cut the Cord (continued)

 in Budgeting / entertainment / frugal / Saving by
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Just read an article by my friend James over at RetirementSavvy  on the fairness of taxes. I think I lean the same way. This year I paid zero in US taxes and feel a little guilty about that (I’ll write about this one later) but for some reason my old homestead, The Netherlands, took some of my hard earned money, 19 years after I left it. Talk about taxation without representation. This year my Dutch passport expired. No big deal, I’ll hop over to the consulate in Chicago (one town over) and get it like I did 5 years ago. I […]

Taxation without representation and hotel points

 in Budgeting / family / frugal / Saving by
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Back when I was making a handsome six figures, if I wanted a 3D printer I would have gone out and bought one. If I wanted to build one (just for the fun of it) I would have gone out and bought a Laser cutter to cut the parts. Those days are over and that’s okay, now I have the Makerspace. Ever since I retired, I no longer have the discretionary income to buy whatever my heart desires. So instead of buying a 3D printer I’m building one. Total estimated cost for this 3D printer: $230. The designer on instructibles.com tells us […]

Makerspace | Conceive, Create, Collaborate and Save!

 in frugal / Geek / Saving by
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We’re all aware that what we buy is made in China. We know buying Chinese is cheap but did you know it’s even cheaper buying directly from them? I recently re-discovered the geek in me and started working with my first Arduino. I’ve since built a Tornado maker and a super combination/coordination lock (all for the kids). The next project I’m working on is building my own 3D printer. I found the plans on instructables.com from some 14 year old kid that made one for less than $200. How is that even possible? Less than $200 (not to mention the 14 year […]

We know buying Chinese is cheap but..

 in frugal / Geek / Saving by