Shameless Self Promotion

This week’s post isn’t so much about retirement as it is about me.  Or rather my new book, Las Vegas – Cheap and Easy.  I’ve been working on this for over a year on and off and it’s nice to finally have it out the door.  It’s an ebook.  I’ve made a decision that ebooks are the way to go.  Real books are a dying breed.

I hope I’ve managed to put together a helpful book that will bring a lot of value to people.  My premise was that normal travel guides were kind of useless for Las Vegas.  They just go out of date so quickly.  I worked in Vegas for years and saw just how fast things changed.

Not just tearing down and building new casinos, but inside the casinos too.  One day there’s a restaurant and seemingly the next, it’s a poker room.  If you bought a typical travel guide just a year ago, it’s out of date.  Now you need to buy another?  Screw that.

I’ve tried to explain how to use the resources on the internet to not only get the best Las Vegas deals, but to figure out where to eat and what to see and do.  It’s full of advice, recommendations and tips & tricks.  All stuff I learned traveling there for work for almost 15 years.  Hopefully people will find it helpful.

Anyway, you can find Las Vegas – Cheap and Easy on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and soon on iBooks, Sony and Diesel.  If you’re headed to Vegas, check it out.  Can’t go wrong for $6.99.  You can get months of my hard work for the cost of a value meal.  Now that’s frugal!

Slow and Easy Retirement

Face Rock in Bandon Oregon

I’ve read a couple of things over the last few weeks about retirement being a disappointment.  I guess I can see that.  You were a big shot at your job and now you just aren’t making a difference anymore.  Stuff like that.  I think another reason is that they just got off the roller coaster and have a little adrenaline deficiency.

I know what I was working, Fridays were awesome!  End of the week and two whole days to myself.  But by Sunday morning, I was already dreading work and Mondays were horrible.  The emotional roller coaster.  Holidays brought more euphoria, followed by even greater dread.  Vacations were the same way.

Highs and lows constantly.  Great excitement one day, depression the next.  I worked a four 10-hour day schedule for a while and I noticed that the peaks and valleys flattened a little.  Mondays weren’t so bad with only four days of work ahead of me.  Weekends were still exciting, but without the pressure.  I had three days off to enjoy myself.

Imagine No Possessions

That’s a John Lennon lyric from his famous song, Imagine.  I hate that song.  I know I’m kind of out of the mainstream on that.  Lot’s of people seem to love the song and sentiment.  Some of it’s OK.  I like peace.  But all the Marxist claptrap about no money and no possessions, well, if you can’t say something nice…

So, why am I trashing a song by a dead Beatle?  Well I saw this article about a woman in Germany who gave up money back in the 90′s.  Hasn’t spent a cent since.  She barters and trades and sleeps on people’s couches.  She likes it, apparently.  Why not?  She’s living off the generosity of others.

Taking Stock

I'm going to Disneyland! Yes, yes, that's California Adventure, but you get the idea!

Welcome back and Happy New Year!  This is up today, New Year’s, because I will be in Disneyland the first week of the year.  After I get back I will be posting weekly, most weeks anyway.  Maybe more often now and then.

This post is about taking stock.  It’s something we should all do once in a while.  You might call it something different and it may take different forms, but essentially its just an assessment of your life.  Where you’re going, where you’ve been and what you’ve come to enjoy and what you no longer do.  Think of it as a kind of spring cleaning.

Merry Christmas

As the title says, Merry Christmas and I’ll throw in Happy New Year too.  I apologize for neglecting my blog.  I’ve been busy with other stuff, but after the new year I plan to get back into a habit of weekly posts.  I’m going to set aside a day, maybe Thursday, to post.

I’ve been concentrating on writing and I’ve purposely let it take over my life for the past few weeks.  In January I’m going to let it take it’s proper place again in my life.  Honestly, it was like work for a couple of weeks.  Ick!  Anyway, taking it easy next week, then off to Disneyland with the kids for a week.  I’ll be back online the week of the 8th.  Until then!

Less is More

I found this little video over at earlyretirement.org.  A little extreme when it comes to downsizing, but that’s not the point.  It shows what you can do if you want, but the same ideas can help you downsize no matter your goals.  Then again, maybe it’s not extreme.  I plan on moving from my 2400 square foot home with the three car garage into an RV in 5 years or so.

This one was suggested as a follow up to the video above.  It’s about slowing down and how beneficial that can be.  From work to eating to sex and even slowing down our kids lives.  Good stuff!

Enjoy It While You Got It

There are so many things to enjoy in this life. Seems a shame not to take the time.

I retired almost a year and a half ago.  I was cruising right along until about this time last year.  My father-in-law took ill and died last spring.  That put a hitch in my retirement journey.  It’s only been in the last couple of months that I feel like I’m back on track.  I’m really enjoying my retirement again, following my passions and I’m generally happy.

I don’t say this to brag, but to make the point that life is full of bumps in the road.  There are so many bad things that happen.  From major events, like loved one’s dying or finding out you need major surgery, to minor mishaps, like a washing machine flooding your house or your truck needed a thousand dollars worth of ball joints.  All of those have happened to me in the last five years, but the way.  Stuff like that can make you wonder if someone isn’t out to get you.

But between those bad times are the good times.  When you feel great and things are going well, too many of us take those times for granted, me included. 

Staying Busy

This is the manuscript that's been responsible for keeping me busy of late.

I’m really neglecting this blog lately.  Just been really busy.  High school football, junior high basketball, a golf trip, Mexico last month.  Besides all that I’ve been writing a lot, just not post for my blogs.  I’m making edits on my first book and I’ve been working another project too.  A couple of weeks ago, I spent like 20 hours over the course of two days writing.  My shoulders were sore from hunching over the keyboard.

Now, I’m sure a lot of my working friends that read this are thinking, “Life must be rough,” or something like that.  Some of my retired followers are wondering why I’m not relaxing more.  Honestly, I am enjoying the heck out of writing.  It’s something I wanted to do when I retired, but it took over a year to really feel like a writer.

Living in the Country

The view from our front porch. It will be hard to give that up one day.

Ten years ago we moved our family out to the country.  We used to live in Carson City, Nevada, not exactly a sprawling metropolis, but we wanted to get out of our cramped subdivision and live a simpler life.  We bought five acres in Smith Valley, Nevada a few years earlier and we finally were ready to build out dream home.  I designed the house, I was an engineer after all, and it had everything we thought wanted.

Now, a decade later my wife and I can’t wait to move away.  Don’t get me wrong, we love the area and our house, but living way out in the sticks has its disadvantages.  So why am I airing our dirty laundry on a retirement blog?  Because, it seems a lot of people dream of leaving the big city for a small town or some acreage out in the country.  If that’s your thing, good for you, but the grass isn’t always greener.

LBYM: Stealth Frugality

I'm liking this new habit of finding pretty girls to illustrate my posts. I kind of feel like Bob Barker.

I am by no means extremely frugal.  I’m anything but, in fact.  I like spending money.  Doesn’t mean I don’t watch my spending, try to spend my money on stuff that has value to me and always look for the best deal.  Just means that frugality doesn’t come naturally to me.  I gotta work at it.

On the other hand, in some ways I am very frugal.  Some are conscious decisions, other just habits I’ve developed.  In any case, these ideas can save you a lot of money without really sacrificing much at all.  In fact, a lot of these things are free.  Not almost free, not next to free.  Free!  I call it stealth frugality.