New Blog

If you still want to follow me I have started a website called 'richfulthinker'. Hope to see you ther...

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Favorite Financial Podcasts right now

So, I have been on a journey to Financial Independence (FI) for 2 years but I have not made much progress, some people in the community may say that I am not trying hard enough. Which is fair , even though the topic of finance is a personal subject and I am making it somewhat public, which means I have to accept that every once in a while someone may not like what I have to say. My journey is different because I am an expat. I have a U.S. student loan and am using my Swedish income to pay it. So, I have to juggle two currencies instead of a main job and side hustles. I do not have any side hustles here in Sweden. Main reason...

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Julmarknad - Old Town Swedish Christmas Market

Gamla Stan literally translated to Old Town. Which is an area in Stockholm and is one of the oldest and best preserved medieval city centers. Founded around the 1250's, it feels like a step back in time when walking down the cobble streets. Anyway, this draws a lot of tourists and it is usually packed as it is picturesque and 'Instagrammable', but you have to get here early if you want to be away from the crowds. There are interesting restaurants in this area that are Viking themed, there is even one that serves a moose burger. Several...

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Allhelgonadagen - All Holy Day

As most of the world has a tradition for remembering and celebrating the lives of the dead, it is not surprising to find a day here in Sweden. Which was celebrated on November 3rd this year. I am still getting a grasp on the holidays here, as this day is not quite the same as All Saints Day but it is a separate day that is celebrated the Saturday after October 31st. While November 1st is always All Saints Day. This day is All Holy Day. On this day people go to the cemeteries to light candles on their loved ones graves or light a candle...

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Jena, Germany

So, in mid-Sept I went to Jena, Germany. What a gorgeous little town. It is a couple hours south of Berlin. We traveled by train to there and it was not too bad, on the way back we took a bus. This was cheaper and direct, and travel time was similar so I would probably take the bus again if I were headed to this town again. This town does have a university and it has the feel of a university town. I did receive a semi-culture shock as I am not used to carrying cash or at least not much. Many places in this part of Germany did not accept...

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Financial Update Post

So, I have not made as much progress on my student loan repayment as I would have liked. I had to use my emergency fund (EF) to pay for some stuff back home and I have been rebuilding it back up. My EF in the U.S is only $1000.00, but I am trying to build an EF here in Sweden of about 25,000 SEK or about 2500 USD. This would be used for moving expenses and first months rent and deposit when I move out of my current apartment. I also might have made a mistake when it comes to my U.S. taxes. I recently found out that because I have been putting money into my IRA I might not be eligible for the foreign income exclusion on my...

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Graduation from Oxford University

I finished my degree in 2015 but I attended my graduation in March 2016. This is a late update but I had been on a several year hiatus. Now, graduation is a little different than in the U.S. It is a bit more ceremonial and retains many of its original proceedings, particularly that is all in Latin. Now I don't know about you but I don't know much Latin and I imagine it was the same for most of the audience. Now, for those with graduate degrees we marched with our college but the Masters and Doctorate students were presented separately. The...

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