Three Years Out: Are We on Track for FI?

Earlier this month, I turned thirty eight. We skipped all the birthday stuff this year, no cake or parties or singing, opting instead to have a quiet day with just the family, as Mrs. Done by Forty mercilessly beat me at Kingdom Builder and Viticulture.

Birthdays be damned: her victory would not be denied. I love this woman.

"But wait," some of you might be asking. "If you turned 38, aren't you just two years away from 40? What's up with that title?"

What's up is that I'm worried that I won't be financially independent by the start of my fortieth year, so I'm cheating and giving myself until the last day I'm still forty.

That's cool, right? 

Food Deserts, Restrictive Covenants, & Market Failures

My least favorite refrain from judgy frugality bloggers is telling people to stop eating fast food & junk food, and to just cook all their meals at home.

Which is weird, right? What could possibly be wrong with that advice? Thousands saved every year, and healthier living, too. And all this abundance for only $11.

But the high horse advice reeks of a privilege that most of us are totally blind to: the fact that most of us have a dozen grocery stores we can easily drive to, in the car we just happen to own.

Or, heck, maybe we can bike there, since we apparently have all this free time and, you know, it's important to keep it tight.

But not having a car is a thing. Cities without great public transportation are a thing. And for thirty nine million Americans, food deserts are a thing.

Let's tackle the last one a bit today.