Hello dear readers and followers of the Total Balance household! While we all try to practice safe “Social distancing” these days (to break the chain of infection from the dreaded Corona virus dubbed Covid-19), there are ways to remain social, without being close to one another! Thanks to the great invention of The Internet (and…
5 (free) ways to keep in touch during a lockdown
The Christmas paradox
When I was a kid, I used to love Christmas (which kid doesn’t?!). My parents divorced when I was very little, so I’ve always had two Christmas eves! One with my dad and his family, and one with my mom and her family. Some times I would get presents for 3 days straight (23-24-25), because…
A lazy mans guide to budgeting
I know. It was bound to happen eventually, right? – “How to do x-y-z” is the most boring blog posts of them all. I do believe we even refer to them as “filler posts”. Something we use to fill the void between the good stuff, right? – But not this guy! I’m here to tell…
Why to use multiple banks and payment services
According to a study, recently conducted by the independent danish bank advisor mybanker.dk, only 48% of the danish population is a customer in more than one bank. Historically, the danish bank customers are very loyal too. 60% of them have been a customer in their current bank, for more than 10 years. It probably comes as…
To Stooze or not to Stooze
I know what you’re thinking; WTF is a Stooze!? I’d never heard the term before either, until I started researching a nifty little trick (that I’ve been using for a while), in order to deploy “free leverage” that I used to purchase Property #1. It turned out that the little trick had a name: Stoozing….
Why I rarely get on a scale
We’ve had a lot of “money talk” lately. I feel it’s time to dig into a little “personal wealth” as well, if you catch my drift!? Part of the journey to FIRE is also a spiritual journey, in where you (most of us) try to find your inner balance along the way. What makes you…
New Pension provider!
Hello, new pension provider! After waiting for about 3 months, my pension funds have now been moved to a new provider (chosen by the company that I work for). I have been anxiously awaiting this move, as the new provider allow me to create my own custom investment strategy, in that they have a number…
Confessions of a Shopaholic
“Hi, I’m Nick and I’m a shopaholic”. OK that might be a little overly dramatic. I was never really a shopaholic. But like most of our society, I had bought into the fact that buying stuff = good! When you click that BUY-NOW button on Ebay, it instantly release a shot of dopamine in your…
Show me your budget (and I’ll tell you who you are)
Much like your clothes, your friends, your pet(s) and your means of transportation says something about who you are, so does your budget… When I talk to people about my FIRE project (it happens a lot, according to my wife), they often react as though I’ve just told them that they can’t have coffee again….
“Budget” traveling
I’m stretching the word “Budget” here, as our typical vacations aren’t really what most people would consider cheap. However, given our new found love for the FIRE, we’ve been trying to scale down on the “luxury traveling”, and now spend an awful lot of time, trying to find the best “value for money” vacation spots….