Watching the news has been very saddening and depressing to say the least. The racism and extremism in this world is absolutely insane considering it’s 2020. This systemic problem needs to be resolved ASAP as this division and hatred is just so so so wrong. As a lesbian, I can relate to being a part of a minority group and feeling “different”. You’re always on guard a bit in public as you don’t know who you’re crossing paths with.
Things have been evolving over the years but I think it’s VERY evident that we have a long way to come until we can use the word “equal” to describe the world we live in. It’s heartbreaking to see the footage of what happened to George Floyd and these protests are way more than warranted. So this is my note to pause and reflect and say to all people of color reading this that I’m thinking of you.
For all my American readers out there, remember what is going on right now when it comes time to vote later this year. Please use this same amount of energy that’s currently taking place at the polls and let your votes speak for themselves. I try not to bring politics up on the blog but I could not start today’s post off without acknowledging what is going on in the States. Before shifting into the meat of this post, I’ll end with one of my favorite quotes:
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.” – Jimmy Hendrix
We haven’t done a good job letting our readers know what we’ve been up to outside of the blog this year so here’s our 2020 update so far. We also find it a bit awkward writing a post (including this one) where all we are doing is telling you where we’ve been. It seems a bit promo-ish to us but how else would you know what we’ve been up to outside the blog unless we actually told you about it.
So here we go.
Podcasts Interviews
We’ve been featured on the following podcasts episodes:
- The FI Show – Ep. 65 “Retiring Early In Canada | Court from Modern Fimily” Cody and Justin have such great energy and I’m so excited to watch their journeys to financial independence. They both remind me of my younger self but even more motivated and driven! They’ve asked me some questions I’ve never been asked before so I appreciated their fresh outlook.
- House Hacking Success: Ep. 29 “How To Get a One Million Net Worth and Reach Financial Independence by Being Mindful of Your Money and House Hacking with Courtney of Modern Fimily Brad and Drew are another hustling podcasting duo focusing on the real estate and house hacking side of the business. We go into detail about how we house hacked and how it has shaped and impacted our financial independence journey.
- Choose FI: Ep. 166 | “Modern FImily With Court”You likely have heard of Choose FI if you’re in the FI space so it was an honor to record with Brad and Jonathan (I swear Brad is my soul brother). They were really interested in my career in shift work and how I have been able to create the balance along the way and focusing on happiness rather than the grind to get where we are today.
- Queer Money – Ep. 200 “7 Steps To Achieve A FIRE Lifestyle”John & David are doing wonders for the LGBTQ+ community when it comes to finances. I am so proud to see what they are doing for the community and I loved how we did a deep dive into how being a part of the LGBTQ+ community has shaped us on our financial independence journey.
- Prosperity Gap: Ep 29 “Gamifying Life and Saving Money With Children”Dave Hall is on a mission to inspire, educate, and move others into taking action with their finances. We had a fun conversation with Dave discussing some of the life hacks we incorporate into our every day lives.
- The Maple Money Show: “Living Comfortably on $25,000 a Year, With Court from Modern FImily”I first met Tom at the Playing With FIRE Documentary showing in Calgary where we were panelists together after the show. Tom is super involved in the personal finance space in Canada and he happens to live in the town just next to mine! He was curious how we were able to spend $25,000/year as a family of 3 so we tackle that question (among others) on his show.
- Earn & Invest (formerly What’s Up Next podcast): Ep 99 “Coming Out of the Financial Closet”I just love how Doc G sets up his podcasts with round table discussions and his questions/topics are so well crafted and thought out. It’s very evident he spends a lot of time behind the scenes prepping for his interviews. Similar to our Queer Money podcast, this interview was focused on the LGBTQ+ side of the equation and we were joined by Travis Shakespeare, director of the Playing With FIRE documentary, who is part of the LGBTQ+ community as well.
- The Mentor Project: Ep 18. “Court: The Privilege To Thrive & Retire Early in Canada (vs The USA)” Fahad is another fellow Canadian (based in Toronto) and focuses on self improvement and financial literacy. He had a great episode with Kristy and Bryce from Millennial Revolution. We spent a nice chunk of time focusing on the privilege side of things which I’m really glad we got to speak about in detail.
Sorry to throw all these on you at once, that was a busy start to the year!
Can you tell I really enjoy recording podcasts?! I think the reason is because I can spit out SO much more content on a 1 hour interview (even though I can never seem to keep my thoughts composed/on track) compared to what I can type up in 1 hour for the blog (aka 2 paragraphs).
As of now, we have no other podcast interviews lined up as we head into the summer – Nic is happy for that!
Podcast Guest Host
Most recently, I played “guest host” on one of my favorite podcasts. This episode will likely come out in July. Any guesses which podcast I’m referring to? And what the topic may be about? Hint, I’ve been on their podcast twice in the past.
Sadly, I did a second guest podcast back in April but the host has since decided to back down from his role as podcast host so we are working with him to try and get the very long recording edited and published here so it can at least go to good use. Regardless, we’re working on a few blog posts to recap what we discussed on this recording (a very thorough analysis of our annual expenses).
Forbes, Say What?!
We also were featured on Forbes:
Excuse me, what?! Little ole us?! Forbes?! I still can’t believe it. Over 22,000 people read about our story through this one article. I honestly was a bit hesitant to be interviewed on such a mainstream platform as many writers tend to misconstrue your words but I had read most of the author’s previous posts geared towards financial independence and was impressed he wasn’t backhandedly throwing jabs within his articles.
What Else Is New in the Press?
We’ve been approached by the Senior Video Producer from Market Watch to be filmed to be a part of their FIRE Starters YouTube Series (we’d be in great company with rich®ULAR, Jillian Johnsrud, and Grant Sabatier among others). With the world where it’s at these days, the video crew has no plans to fly up any time soon. We shall see if/when this pans out (fingers crossed!) – we’re excited about the opportunity whenever it (hopefully) happens!
We also kind of feel awkward filming about our FIRE life and plans to retire early while so many people are struggling at this time. But as discussed before, if anything, this is the exact opposite of the end of the FIRE movement. In fact, I’d argue the recent push within the FIRE community was started from the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis (ourselves included) so hopefully these troubling times will ignite more people to join the FIRE…see what I did there with that play on words… ignite…fire…. yeaaa sign me up for a book deal I’m a natural, TOTALLY kidding!
We’ve also been named to FeedSpot’s Top 50 Canadian Personal Finance Blogs and Websites for 2020, and we’re sitting at number 36 among our fellow Canadians in the money space – such an honor!
Lastly, we’ve also been named to FeedSpot’s Top 20 Early Retirement Blogs, Websites, and Influencers of 2020, and we’re sitting number 18 for early retirement blogs on their list. Wow, and thank you!
There you have it – 2020 has been busy so far and likely to calm down for a bit. Oh cabin, we’re coming for you…actually this is being auto published while we’re at the cabin soaking in the trees!
If you’re interested in having us as a guest on your platform, please send an email to ModernFImily@gmail.com and we’ll see if we’re a good fit! (And yes, if you’re reading this Bob, I haven’t forgotten, I will get you that guest post at some point in 2020!)
It’s still hard to believe other people are actually interested in hearing about our story. I’ve always been hesitant to start this blog thinking “what else could we possibly add that can’t be found on the internet already?” but I’m learning that some people relate better to a certain style of writing or a certain personality type that they can relate to. So if there are 3 of you that faithfully read this blog and benefit from it, that’s a win for us.
As always, whenever we are featured on another platform, we update our Guest Appearances page on our blog. You can check that page for guest blogs posts and podcasts we were on prior to 2020 as well which are not included in this update post.
As mentioned above, we feel weird writing an entire blog post highlighting each guest appearance so we’re hoping these random updates will suffice for our faithful blog readers (thank you!) as we realize not many people are thinking “Hmm I wonder what those gals over at Modern FImily have been up to…. let me go jump over to their Guest Appearances page and find out”. For those who follow us on Instagram, we try to publish IG posts whenever these events take place but for those who are not Instagram fans (good for you!) – here’s your massive update.
Was this information overload? Would you prefer for us to send out singular posts whenever we are featured outside of our blog?
If you’ve tuned in to any of these podcast episodes, we’d love to hear your feedback. Are there any readers out there who found us through one of these 2020 outlets? Thank you again for all the support we’ve received thus far, it’s greatly appreciated!
Support This Blog
If you liked this article and want more content like this, please support this blog by sharing it. Not only does it help spread the FIRE, but it lets me know what content you find beneficial. Writing is NOT my strong suit and it honestly takes me hours to write each post so the more encouragement the better! Engaging in the comments below keeps me motivated. You can also support this blog by subscribing to receive emails anytime a new post is published. Thank you FImily!
We believe in stacking up life hacks to keep your enjoyment levels to the max without depleting your bank account. Here are some ways to further educate yourself and save thousands of dollars over your lifetime by making some simple adjustments:
- Investing Newbies: Check out our free Investing 101 Series.
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- How much are you paying for internet? Canadians, learn more about the various Independent Service Providers out there to see who services your area so you can lower your monthly bills.
- How much are you paying for home insurance? We were able to reduce our rates by 25% by switching over to Square One Insurance. If you live in BC, AB, SK, MB, and ON, check out Square One for your home insurance, landlord insurance, and/or tenant insurance. Use this link to receive an extra $15 off your quote. (Note that you must use this link to start the process to get the $15 off even if you prefer to pay over the phone.)
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Hello, “guest host”! Your episodes will be the next ones up after this week’s! Can’t wait to release them. 🤩
And I too, hope that you can release that previously-recorded, very long discussion with someone that we both know. Sounds like it was a good one!
I don’t know how you manage to appear in so many places, while maintaining a regular presence on your blog and IG… while also taking your frequent social media breaks!
Congrats on all your media appearances. I’ve listened to most of them, but some are new to me… I’ve got some listening to do!
Woohoo! Even earlier than expected, I should have figured nothing but the best from the EFIC crew 🙂
I really do love podcasts so I don’t see it as a major deterrent to the blog. It’s the opposite really, I get all amped up the day of recording – even though I’m terrible at it!
I’m listening to your latest podcast episode on EFIC now so I guess we’re swapping listening material 🙂
You’ve been busy!
Personally, I think it would have been better to split the announcements of your podcast appearances over several blog posts. There’s so many here, that I ‘might’ find my mind wondering after listening to three or four of them in a row, but split over several weeks, they would be more of a refresher/reminder.
Still, keep it going.
Hey Bob thanks for the feedback! And looking back, I agree. I think it makes more sense to post on here each time there’s an update from our end so it’s not a crazy bombardment of information overload fo our readers!
Congrats on the huge success in such a short time of existence on the big and scary Internet where a lot of personal blogs get started and quickly fade away.
I personally like how you summarized your yearly activities and appearances in one post instead of spreading them out over several posts, as now I only have to go to one place for all the links.
Keep up the good work !
B.
PS. How are the MLS searcher going? ; )
Thank you friend 🙂 the internet really is scary haha.
We do house all of our external appearances (guest blog posts, podcast interviews, anything in the press) on our “Guest Appearances” page found at the top of the main page (a bit more hidden in mobile view). While we update the content there, we haven’t really notified anyone that the links are there, which we’re realizing is a big oops from our part! Live and learn haha and now at least you know you can go there vs trying to find this post.
MLS searches have been on pause as Nic has been on the hunt for a few weeks to find a used bike trailer but we just picked one up tonight so the shift back to MLS searches is on 🙂
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