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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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:<\/p>\n

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.” – Jimmy Hendrix<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

So here we go.<\/p>\n

Podcasts Interviews<\/h2>\n

We’ve been featured on the following podcasts episodes:<\/p>\n

\n
• The FI Show – Ep. 65 “Retiring Early In Canada | Court from Modern Fimily” <\/a>Cody and Justin have such great energy and I’m so excited to watch their journeys to financial independence.\u00a0 They both remind me of my younger self but even more motivated and driven!\u00a0 They’ve asked me some questions I’ve never been asked before so I appreciated their fresh outlook.<\/li>\n
• 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 <\/a>Brad and Drew are another hustling podcasting duo focusing on the real estate and house hacking side of the business.\u00a0 We go into detail about how we house hacked<\/a> and how it has shaped and impacted our financial independence journey.<\/li>\n
• Choose FI: Ep. 166 | “Modern FImily With Court”<\/a>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).\u00a0 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.<\/li>\n
• Queer Money – Ep. 200 “7 Steps To Achieve A FIRE Lifestyle”<\/a>John & David are doing wonders for the LGBTQ+ community when it comes to finances.\u00a0 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.<\/li>\n
• Prosperity Gap: Ep 29 “Gamifying Life and Saving Money With Children”<\/a>Dave Hall is on a mission to inspire, educate, and move others into taking action with their finances.\u00a0 We had a fun conversation with Dave discussing some of the life hacks we incorporate into our every day lives.<\/li>\n
• The Maple Money Show: “Living Comfortably on $25,000 a Year, With Court from Modern FImily”<\/a>I first met Tom at the Playing With FIRE Documentary showing in Calgary where we were panelists together after the show.\u00a0 Tom is super involved in the personal finance space in Canada and he happens to live in the town just next to mine!\u00a0 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.<\/li>\n
• Earn & Invest (formerly What’s Up Next podcast): Ep 99 “Coming Out of the Financial Closet”<\/a>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.\u00a0 It’s very evident he spends a lot of time behind the scenes prepping for his interviews.\u00a0 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.<\/li>\n
• The Mentor Project: Ep 18. “Court: The Privilege To Thrive & Retire Early in Canada (vs The USA)” <\/a>Fahad is another fellow Canadian (based in Toronto) and focuses on self improvement and financial literacy.\u00a0 He had a great episode with Kristy and Bryce from Millennial Revolution<\/a>.\u00a0 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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  Sorry to throw all these on you at once, that was a busy start to the year!<\/p>\n

  Can you tell I really enjoy recording podcasts?!\u00a0 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).<\/p>\n

  As of now, we have no other podcast interviews lined up as we head into the summer – Nic is happy for that!<\/p>\n

  Podcast Guest Host<\/h2>\n

  Most recently, I played “guest host” on one of my favorite podcasts.\u00a0 This episode will likely come out in July.\u00a0 Any guesses which podcast I’m referring to? And what the topic may be about?\u00a0 Hint, I’ve been on their podcast twice in the past.<\/p>\n

  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.\u00a0 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).<\/p>\n

  Forbes, Say What?!<\/h2>\n

  We also were featured on Forbes:<\/p>\n

  \n
  • Forbes \u2013 This 33-Year Old Could Retire Tomorrow With No Debt \u2013 Here\u2019s How She Managed It<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Excuse me, what?!\u00a0 Little ole us?!\u00a0 Forbes?!\u00a0 I still can’t believe it.\u00a0 Over 22,000 people read about our story through this one article.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

    What Else Is New in the Press?<\/h2>\n

    We’ve been approached by the Senior Video Producer from Market Watch<\/a> to be filmed to be a part of their FIRE Starters YouTube Series<\/a> (we’d be in great company with rich&REGULAR, Jillian Johnsrud, and Grant Sabatier among others).\u00a0 With the world where it’s at these days, the video crew has no plans to fly up any time soon.\u00a0 We shall see if\/when this pans out (fingers crossed!) – we’re excited about the opportunity whenever it (hopefully) happens!<\/p>\n

    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.\u00a0 But as discussed before, if anything, this is the exact opposite of the end of the FIRE movement<\/a>.\u00a0 In fact, I’d argue the recent push within the FIRE community was started from the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis (ourselves included) so hopefully<\/em> 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!<\/p>\n

    We’ve also been named to FeedSpot’s Top 50 Canadian Personal Finance Blogs and Websites for 2020<\/a>, and we’re sitting at number 36 among our fellow Canadians in the money space – such an honor!<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Lastly, we’ve also been named to FeedSpot’s Top 20 Early Retirement Blogs, Websites, and Influencers of 2020<\/a>, and we’re sitting number 18 for early retirement blogs on their list.\u00a0 Wow, and thank you!<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    There you have it – 2020 has been busy so far and likely to calm down for a bit.\u00a0 Oh cabin, we’re coming for you…actually this is being auto published while we’re at the cabin soaking in the trees!<\/p>\n

    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<\/strong> point in 2020!)<\/p>\n

    It’s still hard to believe other people are actually interested in hearing about our story.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 So if there are 3 of you that faithfully read this blog and benefit from it, that’s a win for us.<\/p>\n

    As always, whenever we are featured on another platform, we update our Guest Appearances page<\/a> on our blog.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

    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,<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

    Was this information overload?\u00a0 Would you prefer for us to send out singular posts whenever we are featured outside of our blog?<\/p>\n

    If you’ve tuned in to any of these podcast episodes, we’d love to hear your feedback.\u00a0 Are there any readers out there who found us through one of these 2020 outlets?\u00a0 Thank you again for all the support we’ve received thus far, it’s greatly appreciated!<\/p>\n

    Support This Blog<\/h2>\n

    If you liked this article and want more content like this, please support this blog by sharing it.\u00a0 Not only does it help spread the FIRE, but it lets me know what content you find beneficial.\u00a0 Writing is NOT my strong suit and it honestly takes me hours to write each post so the more encouragement the better!\u00a0 Engaging in the comments below keeps me motivated.\u00a0 You can also support this blog by subscribing to receive emails anytime a new post is published.\u00a0 Thank you FImily!<\/p>\n

    We believe in stacking up life hacks to keep your enjoyment levels to the max without depleting your bank account.\u00a0 Here are some ways to further educate yourself and save thousands of dollars over your lifetime by making some simple adjustments:<\/p>\n

    \n
    • Investing Newbies: Check out our\u00a0free Investing 101 Series.<\/a><\/li>\n
    • How much are you paying for your phone plan?\u00a0 Canadians,\u00a0learn more about Public Mobile, and see how we are paying $3\/mo for our cell phone plan<\/a>.<\/li>\n
    • How much are you paying for internet?\u00a0 Canadians,\u00a0learn more about the various Independent Service Providers out there to see who services your area so you can lower your monthly bills<\/a>.<\/li>\n
    • How much are you paying for home insurance?\u00a0 We were able to reduce our rates by 25% by switching over to Square One Insurance.\u00a0 If you live in BC, AB, SK, MB, and ON, check out Square One for your home insurance, landlord insurance, and\/or tenant insurance<\/a>.\u00a0 Use this link to receive an extra $15 off your quote.\u00a0 (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.)<\/li>\n
    • How much are you paying for your monthly utility bills?\u00a0 See how you can likely save on this monthly expense<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      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 …<\/p>\n

      Modern FImily In The News<\/span> Read More \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n