It's absolutely hilarious how hostile some of you are toward this article. Taking time to figure out what you want out of life and developing a plan to get it is a much better strategy than wasting what little time you've got.

Then don't do it. It's not for everyone. Most people will never be able to do something like I am planning on doing. That's fine for them.

@Storm, C'mon.... To-may-to, To-mah-to!!!

The point I am trying to make is that anyone with a decent job and decent spending habits, can take a break — be it to go learn spanish in a foreign country as one of the other readers shared, or to try a career change. The simple message is "it is possible, here is one way to…

@Storm, Ha! True. Depends on priorities though. At this time in my life, maybe a "better" career doing the same thing for many more years is not nearly as interesting as taking a break to try something very different...

Hi all, I wanted to comment because everyone is hating on the author for posting this. I am an accountant and recently took a 9 week sabbatical to travel to south america and learn spanish. I subletted my apartment and practically had no expenses. The only thing i had to pay for was to live and study spanish in costa…

I think one of the good things about Amazon Prime is that you can share it. So my wife and my parents have their own Amazon accounts that tie to my prime account and they get free shipping as well. So it's not just my purchases, it's all of our purchases that save.

There's zero context in your comment, man. I can't tell if you're serious, and if you are, who exactly you're recommending that to.

No arguments there....

Love the articles Tessa! Keep up the great work!!

I remember I gave up eating bacon for a month, but it was ok because I replaced it with sausage.

I was hoping this article would address the question that popped into my mind when I read the headline, which is; why did you give up coffee in the first place?

I wish this had been the actual article. Way more helpful, and way more inspiring.

I appreciate the concept of this article. But it irks me a bit. Let me explain..

good point about the money being illiquid. However, once you've built up equity you can borrow against it to buy another house. Now you've got an investment in the traditional sense.

I Disagree a home is not an investment its a utility that you use now if you own rental property that's an investment your own home isn't and if you think it is it is probably one of the worst investments you have made

You're both wrong. A house is an asset, but not an investment. It's an asset that has high carrying costs (property taxes, interest on the mortgage, maintenance, etc.)

Personally, I generally go with the idea that the first home is consumption and the subsequent homes are investments.

In the context of finance, by definition, all investments are assets, but not all assets are investments. In general, cash is an asset but not an investment. Generally, assets help me produce income, while an an investment (hopefully) produces income by itself. Think about a car. Not many people buy cars as…

Your logic is flawed. An asset is not an investment. But you're missing the point of this article. For years we've been told to buy a house because it will increase in value. As we have seen from the recent recession, that is not always true. Also a house cost money. 1) The bank owns it for the 1st 30 years. 2)…

The details of the article specify that, even though it is something you own that holds value, the returns you get from it are certainly not going to be like other investments in terms of making money. It could, but it probably won't, because it basically keeps pace with inflation and doesn't gain value as much as…