Ralph Carraway

A little more about me… “Ralph” hails from Staten Island, NY. And New Jersey. And North Carolina. And Massachusetts. And Indiana. And Texas. And Virginia. Don’t mistake me for a rich man. The richest man in my house shows up whenever we play "Fiddler on the Roof" via Netflix or Prime Video. My actual true alter-ego maintains an entirely separate journal over at Blogger that was founded in 2006 and has more than 4,500 posts on the Internet machine. There are many guest authors to that site and I hope others join me here. "My Journey to Self-ReFiance" reflects only that -- my journey and those of any the other human contributors or guest bloggers. My spouse, offspring, siblings, cousins, and cellmates come along at their anonymous peril. I hope that these comments invite and inspire your journey to a solid, self-reliant financial future. Not reliant upon an employer if you choose. Not reliant on a mortgage or credit card company if you choose. Not reliant upon any person, place or thing that you do not need an umbilical cord tying you down. I am NOT a financial expert. Nothing on this site will advise you where to invest or recommend any investment. In fact, I am about as far from a financial planner for anyone other than myself as you can get. Perhaps my mistakes will help you to avoid making the same errors. If not, then Benjamin Disraeli was right. “What we learn from history is that we do not learn from history.” As an English major at a liberal arts school in the South, I have absolutely no coursework in finance or accounting. That class in Middle English Literature helped me to memorize the first 25 lines of "The Canterbury Tales." They are no help as a collateral asset to get a mortgage. My graduate studies took place at a large-ish public research university in Middletown USA. Two industrialists acquired a foreclosed "Institute" for less than the price of a modern Ford Mustang and gave the school and surrounding land to the state. The General Assembly accepted the donation right before the Treaty of Versailles was not signed and there has been nothing normal about that site ever since. While attending said Institute, Mrs. Carrawy and I were able to partake of such things as the Indiana Covered Bridge Festival and Italian American Days at Terre Haute. These easy essays are offered free with no affiliate links. Like I said, free so to speak.