PF Blog Round Up: Back to School Edition

Summer is finished. We had a great one. The last few weeks I am a tired though- I do need that ‘camp’ time where the kids are in school or learning something or keeping busy to recharge and work on things I want to work on. Going for 30 minute runs at 10:30 pm is not very fun. i would rather do it during the day.

The last few weeks the kids were at a swim camp (camp meaning it’s less than 2 hours per day) and a skating camp (again less than 2-3 hours per day and I have to be there).

I’ll have to plan next year’s summer a bit better so that our vacation doesn’t overlap with a week of summer school.

We did our back to school shopping and it was free. I used a $25 gift card I got for Superstore for it. I bought my kids a new snack box and a stainless steel lunch box. My son’s backpack has a hole in the pocket where he puts his water bottle but otherwise it’s fine.

PF BLog Round Up

Bob from Tawcan shares his 19 day Japan trip– I had always thought Disney Sea would be a no brainer to visit if you go to Tokyo, but after reading the crazy lines without being able to ‘fast pass’ it- it seems quite unpleasant. I could not do a 3 hour line up. My husband can barely do a 1 hour line up.

Great write up from Millennial Revolution about third spaces and why renting and apartment gave them something that money can’t buy, and that’s community. Relationships are important. The other day my husband and I tried to get up on our laneway roof to clean the skylight, however, the ladder we had was far too short. Our neighbour kindly lent us his tall ladder so we could climb up on the roof. Meanwhile, our other neighbour was smoking a cigarette in the alley and chuckled at the site of me trying to get back on the ladder, terrified. It was quite a funny site indeed.

Joe from Retire By 40 is confessing that the FIRE is gone. I also feel the same way, it’s a bit more difficult to write when you’re not writing as often, or not reading other FIRE blogs as often. AI has really changed the way people consume their content, though like Joe says, it doesn’t replace first hand experience. Lots of people chimed in to tell Joe that they like reading his writing (as do I) and will continue to read.

Mr. CBB from Canadian Budget Binder is still energetically producing blogs, such as the latest one- back to school on a budget. As a child, I got a new pair of shoes and a new backpack each year, from what I recall. However, I’m not doing the same with my children. They use the same backpack as last year as long as it’s not torn apart. And they get hand-me-down shoes from their cousins.

According to this Money.com article, 53% of millennials consider themselves financially dependent on their parents. Wow, what? That’s a high percentage. The average age when adults become financially independent from their parents is… 37. I do know a number of people who have parents footing the private school bill ($35,000 to $40,000 per child) for their kids. I guess that’s financial dependence. I also know some families who go on quite lavish vacations with grandparents paying for the entire vacation. I think when I have grandchildren, I would probably pay for a big family vacation.

What do you consider financial dependence on your parents?

genymoney

GYM is a 40 something millennial writing about personal finance since 2009 and interested in achieving financial freedom through disciplined saving, dividend and ETF investing, and living a minimalist lifestyle. Before you go, check out my recommendations page of financial tools I use to save and invest money. Don’t forget to subscribe for a free dividend yield spreadsheet and the free Young Money Bootcamp PDF.