A useless but fun perspective on money.

That was the subject line of a note I just got in response to yesterday’s net worth post, and the contents did not disappoint ;)

Here’s what my new favorite person shared:

J,

Sometimes I do this to get a new, fun perspective on money:

a.) Convert the length of your dollars (6”) to feet, $791,150 = 395,575 ft.
b.) Convert 395,575 feet to miles = 75 miles
c.) Google map a radius of 75 miles from your home and pick a location
d.) Imagine laying all those dollars end to end to that location and walking the path

Just a fun way to visualize you still have lots of cash even after the latest downturns.

Me? From my home in Littleton, Colorado I can make it all the way to Laramie, Wyoming. (137 miles).

Completely useless information but sometimes makes me feel better dreaming of a thin green line down the middle of the highway.

Haha… How fun is this??? How far would you be able to go?? Should it be added to our spreadsheet tracking for even more motivation?? ;)

I just spent 30 seconds mapping the distance from my home (thx for saving me the calculating, man!) and looks like I can make it all the way to York, Pennsylvania from DC:

net worth distance

Pretty neat! Home of the peppermint patties – woop woop.

And if I wanted to make it all the way out to L.A., it looks like I’d need an additional $23,453,150 ;) Which will never happen as I’m stopping closer to the New York City area when I hit my early retirement number, haha… ($1,700,000)

His follow up note put it in perspective even more:

I used to do this as a kid, when the path only stretched across my room and into the hall.

So looks like he basically went from around $70 net worth to $1,446,720 over the years – not too shabby! I bet from simply doing this calculation day in and day out… ;)

Here’s what you’ll need to know if you wanna play along:

  • Number of dollars in a foot: 2
  • Number of feet in a mile: 5,280
  • Number of your net worth (You better know this!!)
  • Directions on how to find the mileage between areas on Google Maps: 1) right-click on your starting point. 2) Choose “Measure distance.” 3) Click anywhere on the map to create a path to measure.  (I couldn’t figure out how to do the *radius* per se, but by moving the dot thingie around I was able to find all the fun places I could build my Money Trail to ;))

Try it out and let us know how far it takes you! But make sure you’re okay with everyone knowing how much you have as we’re all nerds here and can easily reverse the calculations ;)

******
For more random, yet strongly alluring calculations, see:

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38 Comments

  1. Kate January 8, 2019 at 5:27 AM

    London to Versailles via Paris with a few dollars left to tour the palace. Very cool!

    1. J. Money January 8, 2019 at 2:28 PM

      Fancy!

  2. A. Money January 8, 2019 at 7:23 AM

    I can get to Waterbury, VT from Boston, MA and still have enough to enjoy a craft beer or two. And December’s losses were almost 10 miles.

    1. J. Money January 8, 2019 at 2:31 PM

      Big baller!

  3. Suz January 8, 2019 at 7:54 AM

    Looks like I can make it from my home in Maryland to Cape Cod. I’ll wait till it gets warmer though! ;)

    1. J. Money January 8, 2019 at 2:36 PM

      Holy $hit that’s far!! Good for you!

  4. MillionairesBy2030 January 8, 2019 at 8:27 AM

    It looks like I would just be able to meet you in York, PA with my net worth from Harrisburg, PA!

    Jeff Bezos’ money would be able to wrap around the Earth 545 times! I would appreciate it if he passed me just 1 loop… he probably wouldn’t miss it.

    1. J. Money January 8, 2019 at 2:37 PM

      Haha… You should ask him ;)

    1. J. Money January 8, 2019 at 2:40 PM

      Good finds!!

      That’s a lot of people to come snatching up all those dollars when you try it out one day ;)

  5. S L January 8, 2019 at 9:26 AM

    Living in Texas this is a little depressing — I will never leave my state! *ROFL*
    Of course, if I were living in Genoa, Italy I could cross a couple of countries, so it is all relative, yes?

    1. J. Money January 8, 2019 at 2:41 PM

      Yeah – def. more fun for our foreign friends :)

      Like Kate up above!

  6. Laurie@ThreeYear January 8, 2019 at 11:14 AM

    This is fun! I had no idea you had an early retirement #, J. Are you planning on retiring when you reach it?

    1. J. Money January 8, 2019 at 2:42 PM

      Nah, not really.

      More like a “financial freedom” number where I can work on passion projects 100% and not think about money ever ever again :)

  7. JVG January 8, 2019 at 12:07 PM

    26 miles. I can’t even get out of my city limits from my home. Womp womp… Keep hustlin’!

    1. J. Money January 8, 2019 at 2:44 PM

      Can you make it to Walmart at least? :)

  8. Tawcan January 8, 2019 at 12:47 PM

    Wow this is pretty neat. I wonder if I’ll be able to make it to Portland from Vancouver with my “retirement” net worth target. :)

    1. J. Money January 8, 2019 at 2:45 PM

      Tell me when you’re ready and I’ll start laying the dollars for you :)

  9. Dillon January 8, 2019 at 12:50 PM

    Welcome to my childhood hometown of York!
    Good mix of city, suburbia, and corn fields nearby. haha
    Let me know if your money needs a guide while there!

    1. J. Money January 8, 2019 at 2:46 PM

      Haha nice!!! It sure will – straight to the local pub, please!

  10. Eric January 8, 2019 at 2:31 PM

    York, PA huh? Welcome to my hometown! I live in Richmond now, but I still make it home once in a while. Cheers.

    1. J. Money January 8, 2019 at 2:55 PM

      I think you, me, and Dillon all need to meet up one day there :)

  11. GenX FIRE January 8, 2019 at 4:35 PM

    What a fun idea! I could make it from Yankee Stadium to Cooperstown, NY to see all those Yankee Hall of Fame players. It’s been a while since I have been there, and I think a pilgrimage back there is in the cards for the next year.

    1. J. Money January 9, 2019 at 6:46 AM

      I think that’s a most wonderful idea :)

  12. Kris January 8, 2019 at 5:23 PM

    Ha, after reading this I did the calculations and figured that my money can take me from SF to Watsonville, where their economy centers predominantly around the farming industry including strawberries, apples, lettuce and a host of other vegetables. And with that in mind, it is home of the strawberry festival. Whoohooo!! I may go down there for that now. Thanks for this fun exercise!!

    1. J. Money January 9, 2019 at 6:47 AM

      It’s fun to read about so many new areas and their claims to fames! Thanks for playing along!

  13. Army @ ClimberMonkeysAbroad January 8, 2019 at 6:45 PM

    Hah! Thanks for the fun exercise. I think this is the first time I actually did something other than sighing deeply looking at my new (low) net worth. LOL

    1. J. Money January 9, 2019 at 6:47 AM

      Haha… it gets better over time, don’t worry ;)

  14. Your Money Blueprint January 8, 2019 at 11:33 PM

    A bit of a disadvantage here in New Zealand. Our dollars are coins :(

    1. J. Money January 9, 2019 at 6:48 AM

      HAH! Maybe you can see how *high* you can go instead by stacking them :)

      1. Your Money Blueprint January 10, 2019 at 2:52 AM

        Ooh I like that idea. A coin tower. I better make sure I have a BALANCED portfolio. Couldn’t help myself sorry. Dad jokes

        1. J. Money January 10, 2019 at 7:03 AM

          luckily I’m a dad too so I 100% approve!

  15. Myfinancekits January 9, 2019 at 4:24 AM

    I think this will be a funny way of planning for retirement. How long can your dollar take you?

    1. J. Money January 9, 2019 at 6:49 AM

      Make sure to bog about it so we can get this thing viral :)

  16. Barbara May 9, 2019 at 8:16 AM

    Hey! Just saw this and want into that future York, PA meet up! That’s my town, and I don’t know any FIRE folks here. :(

    1. J. Money May 9, 2019 at 10:56 AM

      Haha…

      Maybe we can convince Vanguard to host one for us? Aren’t they headquartered somewhere around there too?

  17. Sean May 10, 2019 at 9:12 AM

    I love this exercise. I like to think how tall our money would be if stacked on top of each other. We’re about at a 16 story building! This website does an awesome job helping you visualize money. They have a “carpet” for surface areas as well as end to end and stacked. 1 trillion dollars will get you to the sun! https://www.ehd.org/science_technology_largenumbers.php

    1. J. Money May 10, 2019 at 10:00 AM

      Haha…. my type of site right there, love it..