Will You Have to Work Forever or Will You Live Differently?

Who would have known it. There are people out there who think like me. I love it!

Here's how I (and anyone else who thinks like me) think(s):

• A dollar saved is far more than a dollar earned

• I don't mind living in a modest home (in my case a one-bedroom apartment)

• I'm saving over half my income and that's not even close to enough. How can I cut further?

• Debt? Nope. Never again.

• Index Funds is where I'm investing my money right now.

• Reading books and blogs about money, business, being productive and getting and staying healthy are a joy

• I want to reach financial independence as soon as humanly possible (for a variety of reasons)

Not normal, huh? That's exactly why I'm so excited about all the new blogs I've been reading. Here are some of my favorites:

Mr. Money Mustache - I met MMM in Denver a couple months ago and have since became a follower of his blog and a member of the Mustachian community, well, in spirit. Just like when I followed Dave Ramsey, MMM has a following that talks to each other and helps one another. It's a fun blog and a fun community, if you're into this whole consume less, retire early thing. Anyway, Mr. Money Mustache is in his 30's and is "retired". His story, the way he got there and how he lives today, is an inspiration. Here are my favorite articles at MMM:

• The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement -  Here are the chart's you'll need when putting together a retirement plan. Are you going to be like many people our age and never be able to retire? Or are you going to live your adult life on purpose and retire early?

• News Flash: Your Debt is an Emergency - As MMM puts it (and I'll let him say it), Your Debt is not something you “work on”. It is a HUGE, FLAMING EMERGENCY!!! I agree. Get the flip rid of it people if you don't want to be broke your whole life.

• The Cost of Living is Too High These Days, Waaah, Waaah! - There is way too much complaining about how we just can't make it in this economy, as you're driving gas guzzlers, and using iPads and iPhones. Hmm... maybe we're all just throwing all the money we have away and that's the real problem..... Hmm.... Could it be?

Brave New Life - I actually finally sat down and went through this site just this morning. It's a great place for reading up on more of this same thinking and living. The author, who goes by BNL, is planning to "retire" next year at age 35. He's done it through living modestly, working hard, saving hard and investing smart. There is some great stuff here. Some favorite posts of mine here are:

• 10 Reasons Not To Retire Early? Uh-Oh! - BNL puts to shame arguments from another personal finance article on why you shouldn't retire early. I think these arguments were made so that all the normal people would feel better about their crappy situations, knowing that they may never be able to retire.

• The Core Principles of a Brave New Life - Take a look to see what they are all about.

• The Non-Retirement Generation - Yes, most of us may never be able to retire. How sad... :(

Lacking Ambition - Here's a 28 year old who's striving like mad to retire before he turns 30. This is a very unique and interesting site with tons of good content. Here are some of my favorites:

• I Wouldn't Know What To Do With All That Time - The author discusses all the great things he will do with his time once he's retired.

• Top 16 Reasons Why I'm Retiring Early - Good stuff.

And Some Others

Here are some other good blogs to check out:

• On investing - jlcollinsnh.wordpress.com

• On building a passive dividend paying portfolio - Dividend Mantra

• On mustachianism (the lifestyle of Mr. Money Mustache?) - Toward Mustachianism

• On paying off a ton of student loan debt insanely quickly - No More Harvard Debt

• On early retirement - Early Retirement Extreme

Now, once you've read some of this stuff, you'll understand what's going through my mind. It makes a ton of sense to me. How about you?