Jan 4, 2024

 Like all bloggers before me, I've fallen off the bandwagon. I think the trajectory is something like this - period of angst and goal setting; reach or near goal; those feelings disappear; there's nothing left to say. 

As of today's market, I'm approximately 36 months away from my next FI number of a million dollars. It feels weird to say that.

I've actually said it out loud to 2 whole people. 

Things have progressed with my neighbor on the physical level. We did the thing. Honestly, I wasn't ready. I would have avoided it for as long as possible, but here we are. 

I'm not sure how that will end, but I'm trying to enjoy the ride.

When I was in Panama, I was wishing I was on Zoloft again. I just think my life is really good right now, and I wish I was doing a better job of enjoying it. 

Oh well. Spending time with neighbor is definitely awesome, but I realize without him, my social life is pretty bleak. Better than when I lived in Oldtown, but not nearly as full as with him. 

Oh well, again. I am trying to focus on now and enjoying it. When it changes, I will have to adapt, as humans do.

I see why people get hooked on relationships. It's definitely something to do!

That's really all I have to say.

Money is good.

Life is good.

It's the new year. Same goals as last year really - just focusing on staying employed and keeping up my savings. 

Trying to maintain my mental health.

Going to work on physical health this year. Mostly fixing my shoulder, nothing too fancy. 

The pull to stay in bed and watch movies is strongggggggggg!

Still happy and other life updates

 Hi, friends!

Remember me? I never thought it would happen but I am starting to fall off the blogosphere. Because I'm medicated and living life. My feelings just don't bubble up as much and need an outlet. 

So ...

Work - I'm done for the year. Not only does it feel good to be done with a calendar year, but it also means I get 2 free paychecks with a low-risk of getting fired! Yay. I have to say, there is always a looming thought that I'll do something to make me lose my job. Even with my hefty FIRE safety net. 

Life - I am loving life in Newtown. Yesterday there was a bit of racial ickiness that reminded me of Oldtown, but I am working past it. I do wish I could say or do more in the moment. Other than that, I have lunch to go to later and tomorrow is a Christmas party. I have a kid I tutor this afternoon which is nice. And then I'll make some returns to OldNavy. I bought a puffy coat and scarf and a fleece. I didn't hem and haw and just bought them during the last cold snap. It was about $75 worth of stuff. I don't know how much walking around I'm going to be doing during cold weather, so we'll see how much use I get out of it. I do need a better hat for my noggin though. 

I spend a lot of time with my neighbor. He ended up staying the night every night for the last 2 weeks or so. Whoops. Things got a bit handsy and clothes came off. He says he isn't a good partner, and is not looking for a relationship. We haven't had 6 but have done most other things. I had a few counseling sessions about it, and I tried to set up the metric of love. But I think in the end, I decided I'm not ready for 6. And that's okay!

I will say ...without him, my year here would not have been as awesome. He is nice to me and spends a lot of time with me. And gives me a lot of attention. 

It's a bit hurtful that he doesn't see a relationship with me, but in truth, I don't think he's marrying potential. He's certainly not someone I would pick for a husband. Luckily, I've chosen solo living and I find a lot of power in that. 

I still think about Dan when we're together. 

So the great thing I need to remember that things are going to challenge my trajectory and nothing has to be permanent. I'm loving my identity as solo-living. And so a neighbor wants to bump uglies. I'm not sure where that fits in but I'm trying to go with the flow. Lots of caution ahead signs. 

I know this time of year has me craving attention and affection. So, tick, tick! As for living in the now, that makes it easy.

I decided to get the max on FSA next year. I would like to continue counseling for another year. Given that I've moved, am still learning what solo living looks like, and I'm on these meds, I need a professional to help me. 

And I also plan to complete 6 weeks of physical therapy. And continue getting my meds online - it's just convenient and feels more private. 

So that brings me up to about $3k in healthcare costs. I love that I can afford that. Yay for taking care of myself.

My expenses this year will be at an all time high. But now that I know what my projections look like, I'm learning to be okay with it.

Life is a lot easier when you're happy. I can never stop being grateful for automating my finances during the dark period. Because now, I don't have to do much heavy lifting.

I'm certainly not saving as much as I was during the dark period, but I know I can still hit my numbers with a modest savings goal. Yay!

So for numbers, I'll probably be below $60k this year but above $50k. I am so close to 700k that I want to delay paying off some expenses until 2024, but I think I might as well just do it and suck it up. 

But yea, that's pretty much it.

Work is fine. I think I have 2 years left there before I get re-orged out. I hope I reach 1 mill by then. I'm not sure what my backup plan is in terms of work. A lot of the major chain pharmacies are sending out emails looking for people, so I hope that's still a thing. 

Personal life is fine now that I've found a friend. I'm curious what life looks like when this year is over and we move away from each other. But enlightened me isn't all that concerned. After 40 years, I've gotten used to the lack of permanence in relationships. Now that it's no longer the goal, it makes these relationships easier. 

I thought 30 brought me a lot of history to make informed decisions. 40 is even better.

Financially, as long as I stay employed, I will be able to hit my savings goals. 

That's all for now. I'm heading to Panama at the end of the year, and paid off my Dubai trip for March. Then I want to renew my passport with my new name and move on with my life! 

Life is still good

 it's the friday after thanksgiving. i didn't open my mouth to speak since wednesday.

even though i'm stuck sick in bed, i feel good.

i spent time with my spreadsheets

came up with some numbers...it seems like FIRE is just around the corner.

i've been stuck with 2 years as my next inflection point...

so i'm wanting to move (apartments, not cities) so i have 2 cool years in a cool apartment...

but not wanting to do the labor.

in one minute, i'm all gung ho to move and have even picked out some dates and steeling myself to haggle with my landlord

in another, i just want to stay and live my comfy life.. but my lungs say otherwise

all in all.. no big changes for 2024... i'm still staying the course pretty much as before except i have less overall turmoil for where i want to live and social life...

that part is easy for now...

i'm staying put as my default position until i reach millionnair status.

i'm going to enjoy the heck out of the next 2 years...for now, that looks like... more trips, business class ( i tried and loved it), trying new things, maybe a road trip or two...

just anything that's fun and makes me happy...

i think working on mental health this year was a success...

next year for physical health, i'm going to complete my 6 week of physical therapy, and probably try pilates... ballet isn't giving me the stretching i need.

meh, blogging isn't as therapeutic as it once was because my thoughts aren't threatening to spill over.

thanks, meds!

In need of a brain dump...

 Work has been all over the place! But luckily, I was able to parse it out. Timelines and to-do lists help manage the workload for sure.

Mild stress but I channeled all the work to Monday and Tuesday!

Fortunately, I was motivated enough to do 80-90% of packing for my trip this weekend. Including laundry. It made it all manageable.

I love when my body and brain agree!

So I'm packed except for a few electronics. 

I leave for Egypt on Wednesday!

I just bought my last tour; downloaded What's App; got my passport and visa and all my docs printed.

Phew just double checked my credit card is not locked! 

Decided not to take the big one.

Because yes... even more proof that these credit card sign up bonuses make me spend more!!

So my debit card allowance is still the better choice for me. It's so easy to get spendy with a high credit limit!

I just don't think twice. I have an almost $2k balance on my credit card that I said I was waiting for the statement to close so I could get extra interest on my savings, but it's not worth it!

Phew. Once this is over... I'm freezing that card!

And waiting for my next trip. 

Speaking of trips. I'm getting tired of negotiating 2 names so I'm thinking of rolling the dice and changing my name before my March trip. It's a very small chance I'll be travelling overseas between Jan and March. So I might renew my passport and pay for the expedited and hope to get it for March. 

Because I think after March, the wait times go way up!

So yes, I still have a bit of a spending problem with credit cards. It just feels free. It's so funny, how I'm usually so careful or at least mindful, but once that big limit card gets in my hand, it's a swiping. So yes, I need the physical barrier!

I feel like I've been so busy, socially and mentally, I haven't had much time to reflect on finances. Thank goodness for automation and all the years before. If not for that, I would have made no time to do any manual transactions.

I don't even really feel like it. I've been slacking on making sure my budget app categories are right. I just have other things I'd rather be doing with my time.

Which is a good thing.

This year was focused on mental health. I give my self a big fat A+. I stuck with therapy and started meds and upgraded my life all for the sake of mental health.

Next year it's supposed to be physical health. Not sure what that looks like, but I think I decided to go with the 6 weeks of PT as prescribed by the doctor. Seems like a good starting place. And a good overall initiation. 

I think I also decided to continue counseling for at least my first year in Newtown. I'm thinking about going down to every other week, but we shall see. 

That's pretty much all the goals I can think of.

My finances are pretty much the same in terms of savings... default - max out 401k. And stretch for $36k.  I'll probably have to do a reset of goals after a while in Newtown. But at least with some basic goals I won't have to beat myself up too much.

Again, this is all made possible from the last few years of aggressive saving and reaching my leanFI goal. I'm better with short term goals. And without a deep FI community, the purse strings are definitely looser than they have been! 

Onwards!

Outdoor Adventures and Reflections on the Move so far

 Well it's been about 2 months since moving to new town. And I just got back from my second camping/cabin trip.

I didn't make any friends or really have any substantial converations. But I loved being out in the woods and doing random outdoor things.

Eventhough these are not really my people, I am solo living. So it matters less. I enjoyed being in the outdoors. And the BBQ was good.

I liked the downtown and being nature.

So I'm adding it to my list of things I want to do next year.

I still remember some blogger who eschewed the pursuit of constant new things. She said they just continue to visit places they enjoy. I think that's the balance I'm coming up against. The call of doing new things isn't as strong. I like finding some things I enjoy and returning to do them.

It's November and I haven't made my plans for next year, yet. Imagine!

I already kind of had to update my budget because of the new car payment, so there's no shock there. I'm still hoping to be 65% of the way to my next financial goal by the end of this year. And glad I didn't get too ambitious when the stock market started rising not too long ago.

Because I have a much more active social calendar, some of my aggressive savings goals have fallen to the back burner.

This isn't to say I'm not saving. It's just not the dictator of my life anymore. I am way too busy with social events and exploring my new town. Plus, everything that needs to be done is automated.

So the day to day frugality is what's already baked in. Now new or significant big wins anymore. Or if they're happening, maybe they're not as celebrated. My priority is just elsewhere.

I barely have a desire to blog anymore. I sort out my feelings elsewhere it seems, what little bubble to the surface. Yay, medication!

So my budget for next year is pretty basic:

And as for life plans:

First, I'm so glad I decided to focus on mental health this year. That worked swimmingly. I think I'll still keep up with therapy just for my first year in Newtown.

I thought I'd do physical therapy in 2024, but I'd rather do Pilates.

But the doc did recommend just the 6 weeks. So maybe I can squeeze 6 straight weeks in, and continue with Pilates. I already know, I won't keep up with the exercises on my own. 

Sounds like plan, I just made.

Before I look into next year... let's look at what I wanted to do for 2023...

Well..

Jan - Mar 2023: 

Planned: Focus on work; max out 401k;  divide up bonus money 3 ways. 

Actual: I did focus on work. I was quite busy and was sick for almost 2 months. I liked the idea of dividing up my bonus for the  $6k for Overseas Family. The other 1/3 went to savings and 1/3 for upgraded lifestyle. That seemed fine. I'd like to do that this year. And max out my 401k. So we'll see what unplanned life events happen this Winter. 

Apr - May 2023:

Planned: I believe I was going to play softball again and get out of the house, maybe try Pilates

Actual: I cried a lot on my birthday; went to Philly and Nashville; sold my house and began prepping to move to Newtown. Big twist! 

For the second half of the year (Jun to Dec 2023):

Planned: Spend like 3 months in Seattle + 1 month in Miami in the December; consider dating and making new friends

Actual: Decided solo living is the path I choose; slowly moved halfway across the country, which was kind of fun. Did not make it to Seattle or Miami. Went to Cabo, and did a lot of fun stuff right here in Newtown. Currently, planning to go to North Africa for a week. And Panama at the end of December. Not quite the 1 warm month, but I think it'll do. There are fun things I want to do here! 

As for next year, I'm still thinking about what I want to do. A lot of the things I have been doing so far. Go out, get out of the house, have low social expectations. 

I definitely want to switch apartments because my nose is running and I already started coughing!