Monthly Archives: June 2026

Zero-Based Thinking, Revisited

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A while back I wrote about the idea of zero-based thinking, a concept I first heard from Brad and Katie Donegan. The basic question is simple:

Knowing what you know today, would you make the same decision again?

At the time, I used examples like trading in a car or deciding whether our house still fit our lifestyle. After another year of slow travel and a lot of reflection, I think I’ve come to appreciate the idea even more. One of the biggest mistakes we make is assuming that because something was the right decision five, ten, or twenty years ago, it must still be the right decision today. It doesn’t.  In fact, I would argue that it usually isn’t… 

There Isn’t One Right Answer

I think one reason people struggle with big decisions is the fear of making the wrong one. We spend months or years trying to optimize every variable because we imagine there is a single perfect choice hidden somewhere. I don;t think that’s true.  Life is not a multiple choice test and most of the time there are multiple correct answers 🙂 

You could live in Texas or Nebraska and be equally happy. You could retire at fifty-two or sixty-two and still have a wonderful life. You could buy the house or rent the apartment and make either one work. Realizing that has helped us avoid analysis paralysis. Instead of obsessing over “What if we choose wrong?” we try to ask, “Is this a reasonable choice based on what we know today?”

Then, once we’ve answered yes, we move forward.  After all…

Decisions Don’t Have to Be Forever

The other part of zero-based thinking is remembering that very few decisions are irreversible.  Commit to making the best choice you can with the information available at the time, but don’t be afraid to revisit that decision when circumstances change.

In fact, I think periodically questioning your assumptions is healthy.

Take my university job, for example. I absolutely loved teaching there. The students were fantastic, the work was meaningful, and I could easily have imagined staying for many more years.

Then COVID happened. After the pandemic, the university made the decision to shift to 100 percent online instruction. I’m perfectly capable of teaching online, but I don’t enjoy it nearly as much as being face to face with students, and I don’t think it creates the same impact.

So I re-evaluated. The job hadn’t become bad. It had simply become a poorer fit for the person I had become and the life I wanted to live. Moving on wasn’t admitting I had made a mistake. It was recognizing that circumstances had changed.

The Same Principle Applies Everywhere

I’ve seen the same pattern play out over and over again.

Our house was exactly what we needed when we had young kids and jobs in the local schools. Four bedrooms, a converted playroom, proximity to the elementary school and junior high, and a neighborhood pool across the street all made perfect sense.

Today? Katie and I don’t need most of those things anymore.

The minivan we bought to haul kids and road trip around the country was a great vehicle for that season of life. I mean, it had DVD screens that flipped down from the ceiling!  Now, though, we would rarely use the second row seating, much less the third.  And the DVD player?  Sigh… 

Even our current experiment with slow travel reflects this mindset. If we eventually discover that one location fits us perfectly, we can stay. If we decide after a few years of slomaidc travel that we miss having a permanent home base, we can buy another house.

Nothing says today’s decision has to lock us in forever.

The Financial Lesson

I think this idea has huge implications for financial independence. Too often we cling to investments, careers, houses, or possessions because of sheer inertia or because we’ve already invested so much time or money into them. Economists call this the sunk cost fallacy.

Zero-based thinking asks different questions.

  • If I didn’t already own this house, would I buy it today?
  • If I weren’t already working this job, would I accept it today?
  • If I didn’t already have this investment, would I purchase it today?
  • Even bigger… If I could live anywhere in the world, would I still choose to live in this community, state, country, etc.

Sometimes the answer is yes, but sometimes it isn’t. Neither answer is wrong.

The Takeaway

For me, zero-based thinking has become less about making perfect decisions and more about giving myself permission to evolve. Life changes. We change. The information available to us changes.

There is no prize for stubbornly sticking with yesterday’s best decision after it has stopped serving today’s goals. Make the best choice you can with the information you have. Then, every once in a while, have the courage to ask the question again.

You might discover that the right answer has changed.  And that’s more than okay.  That is growth…

Is the Chase Sapphire Reserve Worth It?

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One of the more interesting rabbit holes in the financial independence world is travel rewards. Some people treat points and miles like a hobby. Others treat them like a second job. I probably fall somewhere in the middle. I enjoy optimizing travel spending, but I also don’t want my entire life revolving around spreadsheets and airline transfer charts and have backed off to probably 3-4 cards a year.

Over the years, I’ve experimented with a variety of travel cards and point systems, but I keep coming back to Chase Ultimate Rewards as my favorite transferable currency.  Recently, I decided to get the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR), and while it is definitely not a card for everyone, I can already see why so many travel people swear by it.

The Big Catch: The Annual Fee

Let’s address the obvious issue first. The Chase Sapphire Reserve now carries a massive $795 annual fee.

That alone scares off a lot of people, and it probably should. Premium travel cards only make sense if you actually travel enough to use the benefits. Otherwise, you’re just paying a bank a lot of money to carry a shiny piece of metal around 🙂

There is also a pretty significant spending requirement attached to the signup bonus. When I got it earlier this year it was $15,000 in three months, but right now, Chase is offering 150,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $6,000 in the first three months. That sounds amazing, and it is, but it can also be dangerous if someone starts spending money they otherwise wouldn’t spend just to chase points. That is NEVER worth it.

Still, if your normal spending patterns already line up with the requirements, the numbers become pretty interesting. Depending on how you redeem them, those 150,000 points can easily be worth $2,000–$4,000+ in travel and there are some other factors that make the annual fee not quite as scary as it seems at first.

The Immediate Travel Credit

The easiest part of the calculation for me was the annual travel credit.  The CSR automatically reimburses $300 per year in travel purchases. Flights, hotels, parking, tolls, ride shares, trains, etc. Chase defines “travel” broadly enough that most people will naturally use it.  Since we are currently living a slomadic lifestyle, travel spending is happening anyway so that immediately reduces the “real” annual fee from $795 to about $495.

The Earnings Multiplier

Another feature that really appeals to me is the earning structure.

The Sapphire Reserve earns:
• 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly
• 2x points on dining
• 1x on most other purchases

That adds up quickly when travel is already a large part of your normal spending. For example, on our recent five-night Marriott road trip, I earned roughly 2,700 Chase points just from paying for the relatively cheap hotels. That’s on top of the Marriott points themselves.

This is where transferable points become really powerful. You are essentially double dipping:
• Hotel loyalty points from Marriott
• Transferable Chase points from the credit card

And unlike brand specific hotel points, Ultimate Rewards can later be transferred wherever they create the most value.

The Coupon Book Problem

This is where premium cards start to get complicated and where I start to get annoyed.  Modern premium credit cards have increasingly turned into what many people call “coupon books.” Instead of straightforward rewards, they offer a giant collection of statement credits and perks that only matter if you actually use them.

The CSR is definitely moving in this direction.

Some of the newer benefits include:
• Up to $300 annually for Sapphire dining experiences
• Up to $300 annually for StubHub and viagogo purchases
• Up to $250 annually for Apple Music and Apple TV+
• Up to $120 annually for Peloton memberships
• DoorDash and Lyft benefits
• Various hotel credits and travel offers

Now, in theory, you can easily offset the annual fee if you use these benefits naturally.

But that’s the key word: naturally.

I don’t want to fundamentally change my behavior just to justify a credit card fee and most of these don’t really interest me.  If I’m buying things I wouldn’t otherwise buy just because “the card gives me a credit,” then I’m not really saving money.

That said, some of these perks align pretty well with our current lifestyle and have some real value:
• We already travel a lot
• We already use streaming services
• We use Lyft occasionally so getting a $10 credit each month is nice.

The Ancillary Benefits

Where the CSR sells itself as genuinely premium is in the actual travel experience. Airport lounge access is probably the biggest example. Between Priority Pass lounges and Sapphire Lounges, the card can dramatically improve long travel days.

Now, to be fair, airport lounge quality varies wildly.

Some are amazing and some are mediocre.

Some are calm and quiet and some are overcrowded and noisier than the actual concourse.

Some provide hot food and some provide free pretzels and tiny cans of Diet Coke and call it luxury 🙂

Still, even mediocre lounges can be valuable during delays or long layovers. A quieter space, cleaner bathrooms, Wi-Fi, and free snacks can make travel significantly less stressful.

The travel protections are another underrated feature:
• Primary rental car coverage
• Trip delay reimbursement
• Lost luggage protection
• Trip cancellation insurance
• TSA PreCheck / Global Entry credit every four years

You hope you never need them, but when something goes wrong, those benefits can save a lot of money and frustration.

Why Chase Ultimate Rewards?

What really keeps me in the Chase ecosystem, though, is flexibility. Ultimate Rewards points transfer to a variety of airline and hotel partners, which gives you options instead of locking you into a single brand.

That matters because travel pricing changes constantly.

In the past I have gotten amazing value through Hyatt redemptions.  Sometimes airline transfers are better, especially for international travel. Sometimes if there is limited award availability or populkar routes it can even make more sense to simply redeem through the Chase portal.

Having choices makes the points more valuable. And unlike some reward systems, Chase points are relatively easy to understand and use. That may sound minor, but simplicity matters. A rewards system only has value if you are actually willing to use it.

The Bottom Line

At least for this year, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is absolutely worth it for us.

Between:
• A 150,000-point signup bonus
• The $300 annual travel credit
• 4x travel earnings
• Lounge access
• $120 in potential Lyft credits
• Transfer flexibility
• And the various ancillary perks

…we should come out far ahead of the annual fee.

The bigger question is whether it will still make sense long term. That will depend on:
• Lounge crowding and availability
• Whether we naturally use the coupon-style credits
• Future annual fee increases
• And how much we continue traveling over the next few years

That’s one thing the FI mindset has really taught me:

No financial product deserves permanent loyalty. The best option today may not be the best option tomorrow and we should constantly be evaluating the “rules of the game.” 

For now, though, the CSR fits our current lifestyle pretty well. And if it helps fund a few more adventures along the way, even better 🙂

When Is a Membership Worth It?

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Zoos. Museums. Botanical gardens. State parks. Theme parks. Memberships are everywhere. And on the surface, they can seem like an easy win. Visit two or three times and you’ve “paid for it,” right?  At least, that’s how it worked for us when we lived in one place.

When Memberships Are a No-Brainer

When we were living in one place, memberships were easier decisions.

We knew we were going to be there all year. That meant we could stop by the zoo for an hour or two in the morning before it was too hot, go to the museum to see just one exhibit, or just do part of the place and then leave before it got crowded.  We weren’t trying to maximize a whole day. We were just… using the place.  For a while, we even had a Six Flags membership primarily so we could park there for free instead of paying for parking at the baseball stadium next door 🙂

That’s when memberships can really shine.  Not when you’re going out of your way to squeeze value out of them, but when they become part of your routine.

The Simple Math

Let’s break it down with a real example. Say a zoo charges:
• $25 for a one-day ticket
• $120 for an annual membership

The breakeven point is simple:

$120 ÷ $39 ($25+ $14 parking) = 3.08 visits

So after 3 visits, the membership “pays for itself.” That’s the standard pitch.  But here’s the catch: That math only works if you actually go three times.

The Slomad Problem

On the road, the calculus changes a bit.  If we’re only staying somewhere for 2–3 months, the odds of visiting the same zoo or museum three times drop significantly. Instead of asking, “Is this a good deal?” the better question becomes: “Will we realistically use this enough?”

And sometimes the answer is… maybe not.

Ways to Hedge Your Bet

That said, there are a few strategies that make memberships less risky:

1. The “Upgrade Later” Option

Many places allow you to apply the cost of a one-day ticket toward a membership. That’s huge. It means you can visit once, see if you actually like the place and upgrade later if it makes sense.  Low risk. High flexibility.  We did this at Brookgreen Garden here in South Carolina and ended up getting the membership on the way out and returning by ourselves, and with guests (included in the membership cost).

2. Reciprocity Benefits

This is a place where things potentially get interesting. Some memberships include reciprocal access to other institutions around the country.For example, our Dallas Zoo membership gave us half-price admission to the Omaha Zoo. That one visit alone almost justified the original membership cost. If you travel, this can completely change the math. Using geo-arbitrage a membership in one cheaper city might pay off in another, more expensive area.

3. The “We’d Donate Anyway” Factor

Sometimes it’s not just about getting your money back.  In Omaha, we bought memberships to places like Fontenelle Forest and Lauritzen Gardens.  Did we strictly “need” to? Probably not. But we enjoyed those spaces, appreciated what they provided to the community, and likely would have donated anyway.  In that case, the membership wasn’t just a transaction. It was support.

When Memberships Don’t Make Sense

It’s easy to focus on the upside, but there are real downsides too.

1. The Pressure to Use It

Personally, once I’ve paid for a membership, I feel a subtle pressure to “get my money’s worth.” That can turn something fun into something we feel obligated to do.

2. Opportunity Cost

A $70-$100 membership might not seem like much, but stack a few of them together and it adds up quickly.  That’s money that could go toward trying new places, unique experiences, or just staying flexible

3. Reduced Exploration

If you’ve already “invested” in one place, you may be less likely to explore alternatives.   So having a membership can unintentionally narrow your choices.

4. Time Constraints

Even if the math works, your schedule might not. Between work, travel, and life logistics, you may not have the time (or energy) to go to a place multiple times.

So… When Is It Worth It?

For us, it usually comes down to a few questions:

• Will we realistically visit at least 2–3 times?
• Does it offer reciprocity in other places we plan to go?
• Is this somewhere we’d enjoy visiting casually—not just once?
• Would we support this place anyway, even without a membership?

If the answer to most of those is yes, we go for it. If not, we stick with single-day tickets and keep our options open.

The Bigger Idea

Like most things in financial independence, this isn’t really about squeezing every dollar. It’s about optimization and alignment. At home, memberships sometimes made perfect sense.  On the road, they require more thought.

Same concept. Different context. And that’s been one of the biggest lessons of this slomadic life: What’s “worth it” isn’t fixed. It changes based on how (and where) you’re living.  Sometimes the best investment isn’t buying access. It’s keeping your flexibility.

Your Turn:
What memberships have you found to be worth it? And which ones didn’t live up to the hype?