Christmas Thoughts, 2018 Reflection, 2019 Goals

We have an extra special gift for you today that requires no wrapping paper. This Holiday special Justin and Cody go at it alone with no guest to discuss their perspectives on materialistic Christmas, a brief recap of 2018 and their goals for 2019.

We think you'll really enjoy getting to hear a little more from your hosts this week and see a little more behind the curtain on their personal lives. At the end of the episode, we asked that you start writing out your goals and sharing them with us so we can keep you accountable. You can drop those goals in a voicemail at TheFIshow.com/voicemail or look out for a thread on the facebook page at TheFIshow.com/community.
Episode Summary

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Materialistic Christmas Discussion

* Justin and Cody discuss how their families viewed Christmas and gift giving growing up
* They also discuss how the Financial Independence community has changed their own views on it
* Justin makes a case for a materialistic Christmas being a positive thing in households where some family members never buy themselves anything that's not absolutely necessary and thus giving them the one chance per year to have something simply for enjoyment.
* They both discuss their most memorable Christmas gift which actually both turned out to be the thin playstation 2.
* It's also very clear though that they both value experiences over these items today
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Review of 2018

* 2018 was a packed year for both of the guys
* Cody started the year off with 5 months in Australia...wow this whole FI lifestyle sure is restrictive
* Justin kicked the year off with a trip to Iceland and kept the traveling going with 2 trips to Mexico with some scuba diving, three trips to Denver, the Grand Canyon, countless concerts, trip to the Hamptons, Vermont ski trips, and attended a UFC title fight
* This year is also the year Cody got deep into the FI movement and began Flytofi.com and this podcast
* Justin spent 5 months in a hotel due to a house fire but came out of it with 2.4 million Hilton points as a concession
* Cody got a chance to practice his speaking chops down at CampFI south
* Speaking of CampFI south, that's where Justin and Cody actually first met back in September.
* Justin then joined Cody as the new co-host of this podcast when T.J. had to step away.
* So far they've seen 20k downloads but feel like they're just now gaining traction and getting their systems set up to be more efficient with their time
* Just has also continued his work on his own blog Saving-Sherpa.com where he gives extreme transparency into his expenses and investing
* The hopes behind this are to try and show people you can still live a really exciting and rewarding life while on this journey
* He is also proud to still maintain his $60/month grocery bill for the 4th straight year
* Justin's savings rate is over 75% while paying rent and living in Boston which works out to be about $24k in annual expenses
* His net worth grew $68k this year even with the rough markets
* Cody is able to save 85% of his income while living at home. This gap between his income and expenses gives him amazing flexibility!

 

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Goals for 2019

* Cody is starting the year off with a bang by stepping away from...