Doing hard things, part 1: nothing horrible has happened (yet)

Listen, y’all, I’m going to tell you a secret: I have never once in my life asked for or negotiated a raise.

For my first big girl job, I was coming off of two months of unemployment and would’ve (and did) accepted the first thing offered to me with zero questions asked. For my current job, it was such a step up in terms of salary and job description that I didn’t feel it was my place to fight for more, other than the obligatory asking if that was the highest they could go. Plus they told me that they were paying me a bit extra because raises were coming out in a few months, which I’d miss out on, so I’d have to wait until the next year for a raise.

So, okay.  I got a 3% raise last year as a cost of living increase. I didn’t ask for more then, especially because my job was…let’s just say up in the air as a result of the reorganization happening in my department. Not in the sense that I’d be let go eventually, but in that no one knew (or still knows) what my job will ultimately look like.

But a switch flipped for me last week. Continue reading “Doing hard things, part 1: nothing horrible has happened (yet)”

The unconventional (but critical) part of my FI pursuit

I’ve got a trick up my sleeve (literally, actually, but we’ll get into that later) that I’m using to help me on my path to financial independence. It’s unusual in that it’s not a savings app and it’s not a mindset that helps me spend less money. But it’s not a secret: everyone’s heard of it, and a vast majority of women have used it in some form or another for a variety of reasons.[*]

I am, of course, talking about birth control.

While I’m on the yelling about women/political post train, what’s another this week, huh? Buckle up, kids! Or rather, don’t. Because kids—or more specifically a lack of them—is what I want to talk about. Continue reading “The unconventional (but critical) part of my FI pursuit”

On female voices and representation in the financial independence community

Late last Wednesday, Angela from Tread Lightly, Retire Early published a post that was a list of female bloggers in the FI world. I was honored to be on the original list of approximately 30 women, and I also could think of a few off the top of my head that didn’t make the list. And then I thought of a few more.

Before I knew what was happening, Angela and I were frantically messaging back and forth about the list. She said she was sorry she hadn’t asked me to take a look at the list before she published it (not that she had any way of knowing I’d be so helpful about adding in people she missed!); and we decided we’d work together to get everyone we could think of on the list, including the women who commented and asked to be added.

Looking at the list does not tell you what went on behind the scenes or our experience of expanding it. Here’s some of what went into that undertaking. Continue reading “On female voices and representation in the financial independence community”

The day I broke my frugal month challenge

Today. That would be today, y’all. Well, yesterday by the time you read this, but the fact remains that we’re only halfway through January and I just absolutely annihilated all of the savings from the spending I previously hadn’t been doing this month.

I have to laugh at both myself and the universe here. Wasn’t I just saying that because of my uber frugal month challenge and my double side hustle income that January’s spending report might possibly rival December’s success? Or that the frugal month challenge was going strong? That was literally two days ago. Clearly the universe heard that and decided to throw me for a loop.

I’ve had an expensive day. The numbers aren’t finalized, but I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $700 today. Considering that was the sum total of my expenses last month excluding rent, I have well and truly broken the uber frugal month challenge. Continue reading “The day I broke my frugal month challenge”

Mid-month update: January 2018

We’re halfway through the first month of the year, and I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling so refreshed and ready for the rest of 2018!

Just kidding. I’m exhausted.

As I jokingly said yesterday, I’ve got two jobs and a blog, so if you ask what’s new with me, the answer these days is pretty much going to be “not much.” Despite the exhaustion from two jobs, I can throw all the internal tantrums I want about wanting to go to sleep early instead of writing, but here I am with a tab open to WordPress because having a blog is a thing, too.

What I can do instead is cop out on a fully-formed blog post. I’ve got nothing, y’all. So here’s a mid-month update instead! Continue reading “Mid-month update: January 2018”

How the library is helping me reach financial independence (guest post on Millennial Money Man)

Surprise, everyone! It’s Wednesday, not Thursday, so why are you hearing from me today instead of tomorrow?

It’s because I’ve got exciting news: I’ve got a guest post over on Millennial Money Man today!

Just in case the title didn’t give the topic away, here’s how the post starts: “I’m a huge nerd and a voracious reader. I always have been, always will be.” Surprise again, I wrote a post about libraries! Continue reading “How the library is helping me reach financial independence (guest post on Millennial Money Man)”

December 2017: I kicked ass

Previously September was my most impressive spending report, at least savings-wise. (I’ve had some other pretty impressive months, but those were impressive if you used the “holy shit, that was a ton of spending” definition of “impressive.”)

Well, turns out December just blew that out of the water!

Overall it was a pretty quiet month; and that combined with the fact that I worked four of five weekends at my second job helped contribute to just how much money I had left over.

In other news, I’ve officially been tracking my net worth and spending for a year, and what a difference that year has made! Continue reading “December 2017: I kicked ass”

How I’m starting off the year

Hello, and Happy New Year, friends! (Are you tired of hearing that yet?)

I thought about jumping into 2018 with my December spending report, but instead I’m going super-topical and talking about resolutions. Or, more specifically, a lack of them.

I’m doing something new and not setting resolutions this year. Sure, I’m setting money goals, and like I said in that post, I have personal goals I’d like to work on this year. But typically every year I’ve set resolutions, so this is a weird departure from the norm for me. Continue reading “How I’m starting off the year”