FinCon18 (and, coincidentally, my last post) was almost three weeks ago at this point, so it seems a bit ridiculous to go into a long, detailed recap of what I spent and what I did each day. So I’m not going to (although it’ll be long anyway because that’s how I operate #verboseforlife). You can thank the fact that I’m STILL, an entire week later from when I realized I did not escape unscathed, recovering from some sort of crud I picked up at either FinCon or Disney, which meant I spent most of last week in bed (dear lord, can I just be better already??), for the extreme tardiness of this post ?♀️ Continue reading “A first-timer at FinCon18”
I went to money nerd camp, summer/Midwest edition
Surprise, it’s Friday! What gives with the ridiculous lack of posting lately, especially considering I’ve been in town and have had time to write? Well, I walked into the Apple store with a malfunctioning computer on Monday[*] and walked out without one. That is, I walked out without a computer, functioning or malfunctioning. Not sure how long it’ll be before I get my computer back with hopefully some new parts that means it works like it should, and in the meantime I’m learning just how many things I prefer to do on my laptop than on my phone. Continue reading “I went to money nerd camp, summer/Midwest edition”
The elephant (snake?) in the room: fear, guilt, and excitement
In case you haven’t been able to tell from my social media or recent posts, I’ve been doing a lot of hiking lately.
There were the 16 miles I hiked solo two weekends ago. Last weekend I went with other people on Saturday, but alone again on Sunday. And let’s just say between trail conditions (SO MUCH MUD) and my brain, Sunday wasn’t exactly the must fun I’ve ever had out on the trail. Continue reading “The elephant (snake?) in the room: fear, guilt, and excitement”
I went to money nerd camp (aka CampFI Mid-Atlantic)
It’s likely if you’re in the DC area and reading this (or you happen to live right near where I grew up ?), you’ve probably met me (so people can attest to the fact that even though I’m anonymous I am a real person!). Because I love meetups. I love the large group meetups, I love smaller meetups, I love one-on-one meetups. The community really makes this ridiculous blogging hobby I have worth it.
And I just made my debut appearance at a large group event: I spent last weekend at CampFI Mid-Atlantic with about 70 other money nerds. Continue reading “I went to money nerd camp (aka CampFI Mid-Atlantic)”
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 secret life of a FIRE blogger
Lucky for me, there’s a pretty convenient bus route that runs near my apartment and takes me quite a few places in this city. It’s a good way to get to multiple big nightlife areas, places I’ve been to countless times over the years. That means I’ve taken that bus quite a few times, including a lot of nights where I was drunk and headed home way too late (after having forgotten yet again that nothing good happens after 2 am so just go home earlier!). I vividly remember hopping on that bus a few years ago around 3 am in costume, on my way home from a friend’s Halloween party. Continue reading “The secret life of a FIRE blogger”
The intersection of money and mental health
While this is ostensibly a personal finance/financial independence blog, I don’t want it to be strictly about money. I tell a lot of stories about my life to illustrate points, that yes, are related to personal finance, but I want to continue talking about travel, food, privilege, mindsets, habits, and my ridiculous collection of brightly-colored flats. This blog is about my journey, which involves way more than the cold, hard numbers of grocery price comparisons.
Here’s a big thing I haven’t talked about yet: I deal with depression and anxiety. Continue reading “The intersection of money and mental health”
I got a part-time job. Yay! Yay?
Yep, I just picked up a part-time job. An official one that for now looks like it’ll be happening fairly regularly.
I’ve got mixed feelings about it, so let’s just jump right in, shall we? Continue reading “I got a part-time job. Yay! Yay?”
A contemplation of the preciousness of time
I’m writing this on one of those days where people doing small, stupid things at work inordinately pissed me off, so please allow me to indulge in a bit of a cathartic rant. Continue reading “A contemplation of the preciousness of time”
How the hell do I get started?
As much as I talk a big talk about money and pretend I’ve got it all figured out (and if I could just get a damn 50% raise already I’d be good to go!), that’s not actually the case. Some days I’m internally screaming because while I’ve maybe started figuring out my shit, I feel like I’m sitting at the bottom of Mount Everest and financial independence is aaaallllllllll the way at the top. Y’all, I haven’t even done the math on how long it’s actually going to take to reach FI/climb the damn mountain because I’m afraid to. Continue reading “How the hell do I get started?”