Hello. We’re the Ton Family!
Hi! We’re Steven and Lili and we are excited to welcome you to our website! We’re working professionals that recently discovered the FIRE movement (Financial Independence Retire Early). Since August 2018, we’ve focused on making, saving, and investing money. And while we enjoy seeing our investments grow, we also enjoy life each and everyday with our two beautiful children. We don’t believe in the life deferment plan. Absolutely not! Life is too short. Instead, we’ve adopted a strategy to save over 70% of our income while still living life just as we please. We eat, travel, play and spend wisely!
We created this site to share stories about things that matter to us. I’ll write about my many interests ranging from computers to personal finance. Lili will share stories about being a mom, traveling and cooking. Together, share we’ll share many stories that we feel would benefit others who are like us, who are on their own journeys. So, if you like eating and cooking different foods, traveling and exploring various corners of the world, interested in computers, gadgets and tech, want to maximize your free time and enjoyment with your family… or perhaps your interested in make more money and keeping more of it, make that money work harder for you, pay less taxes, pay off your mortgage and live completely debt free, gain financial independence and perhaps retire early… if you are interested in any of these things, then this site is for you!
Topics of Interest
Personal Finance
“Money isn’t happiness.” It’s a tool like everything else man-made. Everyone needs to know how to use this tool.
Personal finance is a rather broad topic that could take years to master. We don’t have time for for that. My focus is pragmatic. We need to learn about money in a way that helps us make more of it. We need to learn about laws and strategies that maximizes investment growth while minimizing tax liabilities. We need to learn about how to treat money based upon how much of it we have. I’ve spent countless hours researching and applying my learning to make and save money. As a teacher by trade, I want to share this knowledge with you too.
Life & Family
Lili and I have been together for since 1999 and have been blessed with two amazing children. Life is such an incredible adventure and blessing!
Our son Simon is a high functioning, autistic and brilliant little boy. He has absolute pitch and memorized all the chords on the piano by age 3 and can identify them by ear. He’s a top student in his neurotypical class. But, it wasn’t always rainbows and sunshine. We’ve had our challenges and know how important it is to receive and give support to families impacted by ASD. On our site, we hope to share our stories of success, lessons learned, failures and reflections to help others finding their way in loving and living with someone with ASD.
Food & Travel
Lili loves to cook and I often eat like there is no tomorrow. Its a match made in heaven. Honestly, I could eat Chinese food every day of the week. That’s also true about seafood, burgers, steaks, BBQ… and I can’t pass up a good buffet. Yeah, we love food.
If one can enjoy one’s food, then happiness is just a meal away!
We also love traveling and will decorate this site with stories and photos from our many adventures. We’ll talke about how to save money while having a great time traveling with young children. We recently traveled to Vancouver BC and Victoria and also just came back from Hawaii for Lili’s sister’s wedding!
Hobbies & Projects
I love building things. I’m a geek, and most of my life I’ve been things virtually in the form of software. More recently I’ve started to explore electronics and solar technologies. I’ve completed my own DIY solar project and I’ve built a powered 4-person quadricycle and some other e-bikes, learned a lot of battery technology and constantly looking for the next cool project. Right now, I’m building a RC controlled lawn mower.
I’ve learned so much from others on YouTube! Its often taken countless videos and websites + research to fill in the gaps in knowledge to be able to complete a project. For my projects here, I aim to provide clear step-by-step instructions and explanations to help maximize the satisfaction while minimizing frustrations!
Precious Memories
These are among our favorite moments together. A long time ago, Lili said to me, “Smile, because photos are for memories.” Yes, she’s right as always. We don’t notice the time passing when we are too busy. But if we slow down just enough to be present and enjoy the moment, you can actually witness your young children grow and change from day to day. Its amazing!
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Remote Controlled Lawn Mower
A RC bot with attached Greenworks 80V lawn mower, FPV camera for remote monitoring, remote engine start / stop, safety kill switches, ignition, brush cutter attachment, and garden wagon mode. Built using welded steel chassis, sabertooth 2×32 motor controller, FLYSKY controller and receiver, and 250 watt motors powering 13″ pneumatic wheels.
Ego Power+ 21″ SELECT CUT™ Mower with Touch Drive Self-Propelled Technology
EGO 56V lawn products are a favorite pick for yard and gardening ENTHUSIASTS.
I’m not a gardener. Nor do I really enjoy yard work. I think thats why I refer to it as yard “work” and not a hobby. This is precisely why the EGO 56V self-propelled lawn mower is my CURRENT best favorite mower. Why?
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