Our Continued Adventures with Medical Tourism in Mexico

Why oh why would we head to Mexico in the middle of a pandemic?  Dental work, of course! How Mexico fits into our budget and medical plan This year, we made our third annual trip to Mexico for dental cleanings, x-rays, and exams.  In Mexico, we pay about 25% of what we’d pay in the …

Living Tiny: Need to stay on top of it!

Oh no!  How did this happen?  Somehow, we accumulated a whole bunch of “stuff” and we're bursting at the seams.  Three years ago, we went through multiple rounds of downsizing from nearly 6,000 square feet to around 700 square feet.  We did so well with weeding out all of the stuff we didn’t need.  How …

8 adjustments we’re making on a Coronavirus budget

A few weeks ago we went to Costco to buy paper towels since we were down to our last roll.  They were completely sold out!  We didn’t realize Coronavirus hysteria had already taken hold here in Mesa, Arizona.  Well…fast forward 2+ weeks and we’re making all kinds of adjustments to our budget and lifestyle and …

Our first year on an early retiree budget

We did pretty darn good living on a budget Assuming our budgeting positions! I had never really been on a budget before we started thinking about retiring early.  On the other hand, Carter was a budgeting guru.  He actually liked tracking expenses, balancing the books, and looking at trends.  Thank goodness!  We’ve also realized we’re …

Park Model Living: What It’s Really Like

Our Park Model Community Have you ever driven by one of those communities with a million little trailers…and wondered who the heck lives there? Well, WE do! We live there! We were always curious, but never really thought about living in a park model until we made a reservation for an RV campground 4 years …

6 Ways We Save Without Feeling Pinched

Holly has always been a saver and Carter has really never cared about keeping up with the Jones’.  Thank goodness! When we decided to retire early, we knew we needed to follow the ugly B-word (budget).  What’s been amazing is that we’ve stayed on budget.  Below are a few ways we’ve saved each month.  Some …

Our Food Pantry Challenge

We’ve all gotten to the point where our freezer and pantry are overflowing and yet we can’t find anything to eat.  Well, we got like that a couple weeks ago, so we started our first ever “pantry challenge”.  We also need to pare down our food supplies as we get ready to transition into our …

Bringing Sexy Back

Who would have guessed that one of the challenges of early retirement would be sex appeal?!?!  Well, when we wear t-shirts, gym shorts, and tennis shoes 95% of the time, we’re not all that S-E-X-Y.  Thank goodness we both like the casual look. 😊 Carter's closet...full of t-shirts Our closets and drawers are full of …

How do we get along when we’re together ALL THE TIME?

We get asked a lot of questions about how we live in such tight quarters and still manage to actually like each other.  Especially, when you consider our personalities.... Carter is one of the most easy-going people on this planet.  Holly is mega Type-A. Carter is a starter.  Holly is a finisher.Carter is never in …

Finally getting rid of everything we THOUGHT we needed to keep

We didn’t need to be mathletes to realize 5,000+ square feet of “stuff” wouldn’t squeeze into a 700 square foot park model!  Park Model We Live in During the WinterColorado Home We SoldTravel Trailer We Live in During the Summer We didn’t realize it at the time we were packing up our stuff, but we …