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19 for 2019

Happy New Year and welcome to…oh shit, we’re 1/6 of the way into 2019.

So that ship has sailed! Which is fine, because I hate New Year’s resolutions anyway. Last year I tried something new and did a series of monthly experiments instead of year-long resolutions. While that was fine, it was also hard to build any momentum. I don’t like the focus on “new year, new me!” that tends to come with resolutions in January, but there is value in tracking goals for a longer term/over the course of the year, rather than moving on after a month.

So this year I’m trying another new thing and doing a kind of bucket list for the year (credit to Sarah at Smile and Conquer for the idea). And 19 for 2019 sounds catchy, so 19 bucket list items/goals for the year it is!

First up, money things because I am a personal finance blogger. Continue reading “19 for 2019”

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Twelve months of experiments: it’s the end of the year already?!

I’ve taken a few months off of explicitly doing a monthly experiment. September/October were unofficially me decluttering my life and slowing down (ahem, a work in progress. I don’t have some big announcement to make concerning that) and I’ve been doing a no-spend month for November (tune in next week for the spending report to see how that went!). But for this last month of the year (!!?) I’m back to doing a monthly experiment in the vein of my previous ones. In December I’m doing a 30 day yoga challenge.

Yes, you read that right. And trust me, I’m as shocked as you are that I’m saying this. Continue reading “Twelve months of experiments: it’s the end of the year already?!”

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What’s Up Next? Podcast appearance

Since I’ve completely neglected to post all week, why not a random Friday afternoon post??

There’s a new podcast in town called What’s Up Next? that aims to take the FI conversation to new places. I was lucky enough to be asked by the hosts—DocG and Paul Thompson—to be one of the guests on an episode answering the question “do you have to have a high income to reach financial independence?” Continue reading “What’s Up Next? Podcast appearance”

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Decluttering more than things

Hey, y’all. Long time, no post. I spent much of the last few weeks in an exhausted stupor post-Glacier and then post-CampFI Midwest (Military Dollar, I blame you for part of that since you were in town and making me be sociable right before the exhaustion of CampFI!).

And last week while I was recovering from CampFI, my personal life kinda…threw up on me. That has zero relevance to this blog (because good lord am I trying to keep my blog persona and my offline life from completely melding), other than that on a day I ostensibly should’ve been writing, I was dealing with some things instead.

I think it’s a sign of maturity that instead of trying to push out posts like I probably would’ve done in the past, lately I’ve recognized that some nights I just need to get the hell in bed more or less on time instead of forcing myself to unproductively stare at my cursor blinking at me while I struggle to write (and likely stay up too late without even being able to finish a post).

Or maybe it’s laziness. ?‍♀️

Either way, I haven’t written very much in this last month, and, as it turns out, that’s exactly what I’m talking about today. Continue reading “Decluttering more than things”

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An experiment in being on vacation

If you’ve spent any time with me, you know I walk quickly—I’m a woman on a mission with places to be! When I travel somewhere, the same is true. Before I go on a trip I research places I want to go and things I want to do and figure out how I can fit in the maximum possible number of things on said trip. Any of my travel posts demonstrate this very clearly, especially my trip to the Azores last year, where I was in charge of planning what we’d do.

In my current stage of life, I travel a lot, which ostensibly means I’m on vacation. But it’s hardly ever a relaxing vacation: these days if I’m traveling, I’m going somewhere new (in which case I have a list of places to visit) or I’m visiting friends (in which case I want to do things with them in their town). Sometimes both of those things overlap (see also Portland and LA and New Orleans), so bring on the packed itinerary!

The one exception to that trend is the beach, where my mom’s family has been going every summer for 30-something years and where I’ve now spent 27 weeks of my life, one for every summer I’ve been alive omg I’m so old. Continue reading “An experiment in being on vacation”

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Tiny houses and letting dreams evolve

Last weekend I went with Military Dollar to the VA/DC Tiny House Festival, despite being someone who does not want to live in a tiny house. Conceptually they’re super interesting! But they’re not for me. Mainly when I think about tiny houses I start feeling claustrophobic and restless, and I’m not signing myself up for that! Why am I so anti-tiny house? Continue reading “Tiny houses and letting dreams evolve”