In the world of Save. Spend. Splurge.

ONE.

Wow. Technology in medicine is frickin’ amazing.

Speaking of miracles, watching this video of a baby born at 26 weeks has made me very grateful that Baby Bun was born full-term.

In the same vein, technology such as work shift optimizing software can also really screw up a life. This is a heartbreaking read of what a single mother has to go through to try and get educated, take care of her son and work erratic shifts at Starbucks.

TWO.

Food is more important than we think. This is why we’re being very careful with Baby Bun’s eating habits and our own, to be good role models.

THREE.

What we gave up for a home is an excellent post. It is making me reflect on what I am thinking about giving up to own a home.

Of course, what I am “giving up” is also that I want to pay for my half in cash, and what I’d be giving up is liquidity. I wouldn’t give up travel, because I don’t have to..

Flexibility is also not an issue any longer.

We don’t need to travel any more because we’re just going to stop taking projects that aren’t in the city.

We’ll make less money for sure, but we don’t need to work 24/7 to pay for our lifestyles and save for retirement, so it all works out.

FOUR.

I love love LOVE wardrobe inventory posts. For my jewellery, I’d love to have this in my room one day, boards tacked together and nails holding the jewellery, from Sidewalk Ready.

FIVE.

Top 10 best selling products in the world.

Lay’s Potato Chips, Coca-Cola and iPads make the list… are you surprised? I’m not.

What I am pleased about is to see Harry Potter on that list. BEST. BOOK. SERIES. EVER.

SIX.

A cautionary video. NEVER. EVER LEAVE A CHILD UNATTENDED.

SEVEN.

I am not sure I will be taking the same tack with Baby Bun but I applaud and appreciate this Swedish father teaching his boys about the realities of war.

EIGHT.

Best travel packing post.. EVER. I love that Adina used clothes from her closet and created the looks.

I would have packed less but right now I am too lazy to tell you / show you what I would pack.. Maybe in a later post.

Speaking of packing, you might also want to check out this post on what to pack for footwear.

NINE.

This is truly incredible..

TEN.

The power / magic of makeup, although in almost all of the shots, I found the women to be just as pretty before as they were after. In some cases, I thought they were wearing a little TOO much makeup (false eyelashes are a bit much for going out grocery shopping)..

I am not a fan of wearing TOO much makeup, but I do like a little because I have dark undereye circles and my eyes look tired without a little eyeliner and mascara.

Along the same vein, this Instagram account of men transforming themselves is hilarious!!!

ELEVEN.

An excellent and comprehensive post from Liquid Independence on Net Worth. How do you stack up?

TWELVE.

David Attenborough narrating the life of fangirls. It is everything I could have imagined and more.

THIRTEEN.

What a wonderful, heartwarming story.

FOURTEEN.

Stella and Dot has been making waves lately and is it wrong to be sucked into wanting these items?

I like this necklace:

This one:

And this one:

No.. Must stay strong. STAY STRONG. Think of the condo. THINK OF THE CONDO!

*starts chanting*

FIFTEEN.

What kind of antiquated, Middle Ages bulls#*%&(#% is this!?!?!?!?

Would being a virgin make a difference in how I do my job? NO.

I don’t need to be a bloody nun to be a hard worker. How come men don’t have to go through the same crap at their jobs to prove they’re virgins?

SIXTEEN.

This is the calculation you need to figure out how much you should save for retirement:

• Multiply your current income by .8
• Deduct $27,400 from that number, then
• Multiply the remainder by 27.

My average income has been $82,635 since I started freelancing.

$82,635 x 0.80 (for 80%)

– $27,400 (to account for CPP and OAS)

x 27 (years of retirement?)

= $1,045,129.11

Hey!! I was quite on the money with this one……. if I were an employee and have been paying into CPP / OAS this whole time.

I was already planning on saving $1 million by the time I retire (whenever that is), and BF would save the other million, above and beyond owning our own place outright.

I’m at $230,000 right now at the age of 30.

I think I’m on track. Got 35 years to go to retire at 65 with a net average savings rate of about $33,000 a year.

Soo.. $33,000 x 35 years = $1,150,000 net (not including compounding interest, inflation, etc).

Could even retire earlier if I wanted… or not.

SEVENTEEN.

Grizzy bear cub. OMG CUTENESS.