Category: Saving

Financial Independence, Learning New Things, Life and Money, Life in Japan, Personal Development, Personal finance in Japan, Productivity, Saving, The Psychology of Money, Uncategorized, Work-Life Balance

39

This number seems so ominous. So close to forty, but not. Actually, that’s how old I am right now. Wait a minute–that does look really bad, now that I am staring that number in bold black print. Maybe I should just forget about this post… But I need to reel myself in and focus on the point: It’s been a month since my birthday and … Continue reading 39

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Financial Independence, Learning New Things, Life and Money, Life in Japan, Money, Personal Finance, Personal finance in Japan, Retirement, Saving, Spending Money, The Psychology of Money

Our Numbers

I’ve debated many times whether I really want to be completely open about our finances and reveal everything. I am all for accountability, but I also don’t want to divulge too much of our financial situation. But at this point, it feels like I need to be held accountable for my dreams. I’ve been doing really good in accomplishing a lot of the things that … Continue reading Our Numbers

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Currency Exchange, Investing, Investing in Japan, Life in Japan, money mistakes, Personal Finance, Retirement, Saving

Exchange Rates

I try not to obsess about it, but I just can’t help it. It doesn’t help that I get a daily email from Transferwise telling me how much the dollar costs in yen. Part of the problem about me being an American living here in Japan is that my earned income is in yen but my retirement savings accounts are in the US. I guess … Continue reading Exchange Rates

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Financial Independence, Investing, Life and Money, Retirement, Saving, The Psychology of Money

Retirement Number

For Americans, the ideal retirement number being touted is $1 million. This is based on the 4% withdrawal rate. So if you make it $40,000 a year, you need about one million dollars to retire. This idea of having to save $1 million in the bank for retirement scares me a lot. My husband and I don’t make a lot of money and just thinking … Continue reading Retirement Number

Rochelle5 Comments
Life and Money, money mistakes, Products, Saving, The Psychology of Money, Uncategorized

KonMari-ing My Life

This weekend, I cleaned out my closet and took the unnecessary clothes and things I had to the “recycle” shop. These are the second-hand shops that are surprisingly quite popular among Japanese people. Between my husband and I, we had bags and bags of clothing to get rid of. We took them to shop hoping to sell as much as we could. Usually, after we … Continue reading KonMari-ing My Life

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Life and Money, Life in Japan, Life in the US, Saving, Spending Money

US vs. Japan Life

In June, I went on vacation and went back to the US for a visit. I had the opportunity to go back home for ten days. My nephew was graduating high school and it was one of those milestones that the whole family celebrated. I wanted to witness him finishing high school surrounded by family and friends. Though it was a short visit, I couldn’t … Continue reading US vs. Japan Life

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Debt, Featured, Financial Independence, Learning New Things, Life and Money, Money, Personal Development, Personal Finance, Saving, Spending Money

The Pleasure of Saving

If I could go back and talk to my younger self, I would tell myself to start saving some of the money I was making from work. I’ve mentioned before that I was a hard worker when I was younger, but I was never diligent when it came to saving. I just never learned the lesson. Looking back, I think my father might have influenced … Continue reading The Pleasure of Saving

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Cash Payments, Learning New Things, Life and Money, Life in Japan, Money, Saving, Women and Money

Savings Experiment

One of the things I tried when I wanted to just start saving was socking away actual bills and coins. Round 1 The first step I tried was to save every ¥1000 bill I had in my wallet at the end of the week. Basically, if I had any bills that were ¥1000, I would put it in a canister that I had bought from … Continue reading Savings Experiment

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