David Bartels

Intro  I'm resurrecting this blog to talk about my latest hobby. About a month ago I became aware of a platform called Sorare. I was immediately intrigued as it combined a long-enjoyed hobby of mine (fantasy sports) with a very recent one (cryptocurrency & blockchain technology). Think of the baseball cards you collected as a kid. If you grew up in the 90's like me then maybe your collection is sitting in the basement like this: While my trip down the cryptocurrency rabbit hole earlier this year made me a believer that crypto in some form is inevitably here to stay, I was slightly more mystified by the attraction of  NFTs (non-fungible tokens)  But as I learned about Sorare, my view shifted from one of "that's not for me" to "I need to try this out". Especially when compared to those sports cards I mentioned earlier, the cards on Sorare have some significant advantages: Easily sellable/transferrable (digital marketplace) Easily verifiable No worry of...

In my last post , I gave some introductory thoughts on the concept of financial independence. I touched on what I would consider to be traditional thinking about when someone should retire. To close out the post, I asked why more people aren't retiring early. I claimed the short answer is that it's not easy. Other short answers that come to mind are that we can't afford it or that it's not the way we do things- we should remain a "productive member of society". Before I go any further, I want to give credit to the places that have been helpful as I've been learning about personal finance & financial independence. They've been instrumental & inspirational as I've developed some new ways of looking at the world: The Root of Good blog. I'm not sure how I stumbled upon this one but his post $150,000 Income, $150 Income Tax  was especially eye-opening to me. His monthly financial updates have also given insight into how a family with ki...

The idea of financial independence is something I've been thinking about a lot lately. I recall coming across the term several years ago, before I paid too much attention to personal finance. I figured it sounded nice but was something reserved for the very wealthy. Either you inherited a lot of money or easily made six figures. A person in that situation, I thought, would then be able to save so much money in a short period of time that they would not longer need a job, therefore becoming financially independent. Since I had not inherited a large sum of money and didn't see myself making over 100k anytime soon, I wrote it off as unattainable for someone like me. Now, while an inheritance & large salary can certainly help in the path to financial independence, what I have come to learn is that they are not requirements, In fact, I don't even think either of those would be considered the number one contributor to achieving such a goal. At the end of the day I think it...

I've been thinking a bit lately about what direction to head with this blog. As I mentioned in my first post, I'm committing one of the bigger blogging "no-nos" here by not having a focused topic. But I'm still okay with that for now. For the most part this is mainly a place for me to experiment with writing and maintaining a blog. Other than a few Gmail contacts who get this emailed to them and a few twitter followers, the audience here is really just me. By the way, I'm finding out that html, while not necessarily difficult, can be very time consuming. The layout here is pretty bare bones but a few things I've experimented with have been a pain. I can't imagine the time that goes into some of the better looking blogs out there and can see why it's so worth it to hire design people. So, what keeps me coming back? I think part of me just wants to prove to myself that I can keep a blog going beyond 5-10 posts, that this won't end up just...

In my last post at the beginning of April, I mentioned a few of the ways I’ve been making extra cash online. Since then, I’ve had more time to research, explore, and test out different options. I also understand that different people are looking for different things, so what I find to be the most beneficial may not apply to you. It really does seem that the options are limitless, and in this post I hope to provide a more varied and comprehensive list. Because these types of things are frequently changing and new opportunities popping up, I plan to use this post as sort of a “home base” for everything I’m utilizing.  I will also try and categorize the methods as best I can. Leave a comment below, fill out the contact form in the upper right, or drop me a line on twitter if you have questions, comments, or would like an invite to one of the apps/programs that require a unique code. This list was list updated on June 25, 2016. Like Venmo, But Better Circle App – S...

One of the great things about the internet is it's provided a multitude of new opportunities for making money. If you're like me then you've come across plenty of blogs and articles describing "side hustles" or  ways to earn "side income". Unfortunately, I imagine many people have a glamorized view of how lucrative these ventures can be. Usually, I've also found that many of these sources have contributed to this glamorization- they simply want to drive traffic to their website, and if they make it sound easy and/or lucrative then people are much more likely to look into it. I'm hoping to take a slightly different approach. While I'd be lying if I said I'm not at least partially motivated by getting a few referrals from this post, I hope I can also present a more realistic view of what to expect. I also hope to help inform you about what might work best in your situation by talking about the good & the bad from my personal experienc...

It may seem a little early to be reflecting on my 30 day challenge when I'm only 1/10th of the way through it. Could I really have learned anything after such a short time? Sure I could have! I want to keep my writing momentum going and while I'm sure I'll have different takeaways when the month is over, I also think it'll be interesting to look back at how I felt when I was just getting started. For those who missed last post, the challenge is simple: take at least 1 picture every day for 30 days. Observation 1: Winter is probably not the ideal time for this challenge. I'm realizing that I prefer to take pictures outdoors, as I think most people do. Many of us find beauty in a body of water, cityscape, sunset, or wildlife, and therefore we are more inclined to try and capture those things. The problem with winter here in Minnesota is twofold: it's really cold, and it gets dark earlier. So I am less likely to be outside over lunch and when I do leave work it...