Dec 24, 2019 – Work, Life, Money Update

Originally published/last updated on myearlyretirementjourney.com on Dec 24, 2019. 

Merry Christmas!

I actually logged on about 2 hours ago, just happy. I love Christmas! Someone was born just to die for me!

Isn’t that the secular dream? To have a person that would do anything for you, to make sure you were cared for, loved, taken care of, enjoyed.

We know my foray into friendships has left a lot to be desired. I heard on one of my TV shows that you may not get the love you want, or it may not look the way you want, but love is love.

I want to believe it, but I don’t. I get we have to accept people’s limitations, but most of my disappointment with life is that I thought it would be so much better. I feel like I was promised that or sold that idea. I want to blame Disney, but I think it started with church.

Anyway, I keep getting sidetracked. I ended up stumbling on a post I started early December but didn’t publish…probably because I was working on it during a lunch break and got side-tracked. (I just published it.) It was so busy at work, and considering in January people are going to be making resolutions to break free from addiction, I don’t imagine that letting up. More grumbles to come.

Again, distracted.

LIFE

I came on here because I woke up happy and I wanted to share that because I’ve been a grumpy goose for awhile now. I made some muffins this morning. They smell so sweet and fragrant.  I couldn’t come up with what I wanted to eat for Christmas so I decided to go to the Chinese Buffet tomorrow. They’re open! I drove by last night just to check!

The call center has been mildly manageable lately, so that’s been a bit of a reprieve.

In January, I’m hoping to buy a 12-class pack for a fitness studio nearby. Work pays half so that brings the cost down from $20+/class to about $7 after the 12-pack discount and reimbursement from work. Winning!

I signed up to volunteer at some STEM events between Jan and March of 2020. I’m excited. I think I finally feel as though I’m rested enough on the weekends that I’m willing to offer my time to the community.

Feeling more and more inclined to move out of my apartment in the spring when my lease is up. Really wanting to leave the state, but with a sunny December day like today, hard to decide where to go next.

No regrets on not following up with the homeownership idea right now.

MONEY

I gave a $1,000 to a family member. A thousand dollars. Let’s just take a moment. A family member asked for a thousand dollars, and I just gave it to them. They live in an underdeveloped country, so I didn’t hesitate too long.  There are some other things going on, but I think it’s some cause for celebration. I’ve been tallying up my end of year finances and now I’m 1k less on a goal, but I did it anyway.

In other news, after an early Dec 2019 financial progress update, I was able to max out my Roth IRA for this year.

As long as I get paid in full on Dec 31, I’m on track to max out my 401k this year (+/- a few dollars). And that’s with 2 months of unemployment!

I opened my first HSA. I didn’t know you had to have 1k in it to invest or I would’ve gone that route. Lesson learned. Then a medical bill from 2018 found its way back to me. So yay, for HSA! I know they say to invest it and pay cash, but I haven’t quite gotten on board with that yet.

My 2019 post-tax savings goal was $26k,  I’m still under $20k. Considering the two months of unemployment plus some aforementioned family needs, I’m not sure what I want to do there.

WORK

My mind is just a buzz of activity. For some reason, I’m strangely hopeful for the next round of interviews. I think as I add new targets I want to hit, I get more excited. I had stopped updating my interview questions when I realized I wasn’t really learning from them.  But the other day, I polished them up and they’re ready. I’m planning to get a new hairstyle for the next season. I’m putting up some rules regarding my response time and my follow-up strategy. I have some updated examples for behavioral-based questions.  I think as much as it felt like I was doing last year, it obviously wasn’t enough. My go-to is always to add more structure.

I also felt like each interview before the current one was a fluke, and this one was sure to be the one. They would get me! Nope.  However, with enough data points, I can figure out anything! That’s what I’ve always believed.

One of the things that came up a few times near the end was writing experience and professional networks.  So I made big plans to submit a manuscript based on some independent research, but my response rate is so low I got really discouraged. Still in 2020, I plan to finish the data collection and write it anyway. Maybe I can present a poster.  Maybe I can list it on my resume as original research (pending publication). I don’t know.

I think, too, it’s nice just to have an end date to to my application cycle. As you may know,  I’m not a fan of the “you never know” or “don’t give up.” My life is not an after school special. I don’t have enough resilience for that.  So to have a plan and a finite time to get it done brings me comfort. I have a pivot point. If after my concentrated efforts, nothing changes, then I know I have to move on from that idea.

Anyway, I hadn’t posted in a month because I couldn’t formulate a good structured post, so to prevent more endless rambling I’ll stop here for now.  Talk soon!