The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Share Your Badassity => Topic started by: Monocle Money Mouth on May 11, 2024, 08:20:32 AM
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I got laid off from my old job at the end of last year. I've been investing $1,000 per week since the beginning of the year and did a Roth contribution. I just got my last severance check this week. I looked at my total net pay for the year and every penny that hit my checking account from my old company has gone to index funds.
I got a new job after about 5 weeks. I took a little risk by investing so aggressively with my severance while I didn't have a job lined up, but it all worked out. I had enough money in savings to cover all my bills. It felt good taking that money for doing nothing and putting it into something productive.
I'm hoping if I ever get laid off again, I can just use that as my cue to exit the software mines and retire.
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Congratulations!
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Thanks! The stuff I learned here helped me get my spending and ideas about money under control. If nothing else, I learned how to manage a windfall. If this had happened 10 years ago, I would have probably bought more consumer junk with my extra money.
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You've really done well. Thanks for sharing.
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I'm impressed that you resisted the temptation to use *any* of it for a splurge!
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4 years ago. I was hired to be the #2 person in a 50 employee family run business awhile the owner was out with covid for about a year. When we came back, the place had done well while he was gone, but our management styles were very different, and we butt heads. After another 6 months of trying, he let me go. This after I moved my family 3,000 miles to take the job. He offered me 3 months salary as severance. Which was bout equivalent to the moving expenses, in case i wanted to move back, I guess. The next Monday I put the word out that I was looking for a job, as well as freelance work. An old coworker hit me up and had me do some freelance work for the next 2 months that brought in 22k. Meanwhile, A month later I was offered a good job (even though it was 15% cut from what I was making before) it was market rate, in a low stress, position. I was able to invest the whole 3 months severance and not miss a beat. In the end, it worked out well for me.
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"Fortune favors the prepared mind" - Louis Pasteur (slightly modified over the years) "Fortune favors the frugal" - me, but apparently IKEA is saying in now since 2001.
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I'm impressed that you resisted the temptation to use *any* of it for a splurge!
I just noticed all the responses to this post.
Thanks! Resisting the urge to buy stuff has gotten much easier recently. I’ve been disappointed by most of the things i have purchased over the last few years. The build quality on almost everything seems to have declined. I’d rather not trade my time for junk that is poorly made and is going to piss me off 😄
Building my savings also feels more urgent now as I get older. There are few things beyond food, clothes, shelter, and transportation I even want to buy. I wish I had found MMM a few years sooner than I did. I could have easily been retired by now.