Author Topic: Celebrations Thread  (Read 1648174 times)

SwordGuy

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1850 on: December 24, 2018, 08:19:15 PM »
A fun Christmas with my family is always worth celebrating!

On a financial note, we're down about $125,000 in portfolio worth since the end of last year.  I'm celebrating that I know enough and have enough that I don't really need to care about it. 

BeardedMustache

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1851 on: December 28, 2018, 12:59:07 PM »
Posting this from work because I am giving my notice when I come back from the holiday!

I stuck around the last two very difficult years primarily due to the 6-year vesting schedule on the 401k plan. I'm actually going to take a small step down in pay, but the toxic environment is just not worth it.

Fully vested on Jan 1, last day will be Jan 11!



Trifle

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1852 on: December 28, 2018, 02:36:40 PM »
Posting this from work because I am giving my notice when I come back from the holiday!

I stuck around the last two very difficult years primarily due to the 6-year vesting schedule on the 401k plan. I'm actually going to take a small step down in pay, but the toxic environment is just not worth it.

Fully vested on Jan 1, last day will be Jan 11!

Congrats @BeardedMustache!  Are you going to another job?  May it be a better place for you.

BeardedMustache

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1853 on: December 28, 2018, 07:03:08 PM »
Yup, to a a new job with flexible hours, good insurance and best of all no owner’s kids. 

Btw, take a job at a family company with caution.

Dogastrophe

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1854 on: January 09, 2019, 06:58:04 AM »
Just before Christmas, my wife and I broke up with our adviser and moved the bulk of our RRSPs into self directed accounts (I still have two lock in accounts that I'm in process of moving).  MERs went from avg of around 2.3% to 0.08%!


dreadmoose

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1855 on: January 09, 2019, 11:15:37 AM »
Just before Christmas, my wife and I broke up with our adviser and moved the bulk of our RRSPs into self directed accounts (I still have two lock in accounts that I'm in process of moving).  MERs went from avg of around 2.3% to 0.08%!

Congratulations! That seems to be one of the hardest steps to take (depending on how close the adviser is, and god forbid if it's family).

dougules

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1856 on: January 09, 2019, 11:54:04 AM »
Just before Christmas, my wife and I broke up with our adviser and moved the bulk of our RRSPs into self directed accounts (I still have two lock in accounts that I'm in process of moving).  MERs went from avg of around 2.3% to 0.08%!

Congratulations! That seems to be one of the hardest steps to take (depending on how close the adviser is, and god forbid if it's family).

Yeah, but they were eating about HALF of your lunch.   

Dogastrophe

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1857 on: January 09, 2019, 12:26:56 PM »
Just before Christmas, my wife and I broke up with our adviser and moved the bulk of our RRSPs into self directed accounts (I still have two lock in accounts that I'm in process of moving).  MERs went from avg of around 2.3% to 0.08%!

Congratulations! That seems to be one of the hardest steps to take (depending on how close the adviser is, and god forbid if it's family).

Yeah, but they were eating about HALF of your lunch.

I've been with this particular adviser for ~12 years (he used to look after the group rrsp plan for a past employer).  Nice guy who didn't really do anything except offer a place for me to funnel my weekly contributions.  Well that and make some decent money from us for doing very little work.  When I told him we were going to move our $$ and why, he said he understood, thanked me for past business, and offered to assist if I ran into issues with the paperwork so it was a decent breakup.

thisisjeopardy

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1858 on: January 12, 2019, 02:03:40 AM »
Amazon spending for 2018 was only $3,000 and most all of it was either baby essentials or food (bulk beans, brown rice, etc).  Still trying to divest and shop locally but we're so busy.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk


haflander

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1859 on: January 15, 2019, 01:27:13 PM »
Paid off my stupid car loan and then immediately updated my signature below and posted here :) Absolutely zero debt...not yet settled enough for a mortgage at this point. Paid off student loans in Feb 2018. Next up: finish funding a very healthy and conservative EF/FU fund by March due to no $ going to debt. THEN I can finally start the journey of opening a Vanguard account and investing.

pab88

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1860 on: January 17, 2019, 06:26:33 PM »
I just finished checking my progress over 2018, my first year in my own home/apartment.

Last year was a little spendy (at least for me, new bike purchase and a bunch of bike parts), but I was able to put 80% of my 2018 after-tax salary towards paying off my mortgage.

Renting out a spare room, which took care of the bills and offset grocery purchases, helped. No car or PT commuting also helped keep expenses down.

Only downside is property market is crashing so my net equity is roughly the same as it was 12 months ago.

Gotta say it was the best year of my life so far, I wish I had moved out a few years sooner. The moustachian/stoic lifestyle is very satisfying, and I really feel grateful now for the simple things, like reading a good book, going for an early morning ride or paddle, learning about new things or spending time with my parents/family. Moving out really helps clarify who you are, and how you like to live.

Budgie

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1861 on: January 17, 2019, 07:58:21 PM »
I just finished checking my progress over 2018, my first year in my own home/apartment....

Gotta say it was the best year of my life so far, I wish I had moved out a few years sooner. The moustachian/stoic lifestyle is very satisfying, and I really feel grateful now for the simple things, like reading a good book, going for an early morning ride or paddle, learning about new things or spending time with my parents/family. Moving out really helps clarify who you are, and how you like to live.

That's a great savings rate and you should be proud! Your post made me remember my first few years living on my own during and after college--sweet times, and yes, a lot of learning in them about how I liked to live, ways and habits that are still true thirty years later.

Izybat

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1862 on: January 21, 2019, 08:04:23 PM »
I'm celebrating a small win.

Last year we moved long distance (for a job and family stuff), but we went from a moderate cost of living area to a HIGH cost of living area. We were able to buy a new house in our new area, but we still haven't managed to sell the old one. I kept sticking my head in the sand about our finances and coasting along, saying "I'll deal with it when we sell the old house."

At the end of December I finally dug out of the pit that our budget had become and crunched the new numbers (much higher salary, however, much higher housing costs, etc). Now, finally, after taking about 8 months off, I'm back on the forums and recommitting to doing this right. The old house will sell whenever it sells (anyone want to buy a house in upstate NY in the middle of winter?), but there is no reason I should be waiting on that.

Trifle

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1863 on: January 22, 2019, 03:31:47 AM »
I'm celebrating a small win.

Last year we moved long distance (for a job and family stuff), but we went from a moderate cost of living area to a HIGH cost of living area. We were able to buy a new house in our new area, but we still haven't managed to sell the old one. I kept sticking my head in the sand about our finances and coasting along, saying "I'll deal with it when we sell the old house."

At the end of December I finally dug out of the pit that our budget had become and crunched the new numbers (much higher salary, however, much higher housing costs, etc). Now, finally, after taking about 8 months off, I'm back on the forums and recommitting to doing this right. The old house will sell whenever it sells (anyone want to buy a house in upstate NY in the middle of winter?), but there is no reason I should be waiting on that.

This is a BIG win, not a small one @Izybat -- well done.  Sometimes our self-constructed mental obstacles are the most difficult things of all to overcome.

Raeon

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1864 on: January 22, 2019, 06:13:05 PM »
I decided to take a setback financially to increase my quality of life.  I was working 90 hours/week owning 2 businesses trying to get to FIRE. 

I crunched the numbers and found that the difference to my nest egg in 10 years between selling 1 of the businesses and immediately investing the proceeds vs keeping the business and investing smaller amounts monthly was only going to be 100k after 10 years.  (And that's assuming I had the self control to ALWAYS chip all of the extra profits monthly into the bucket, which isn't realistic).  I realized this meant I was putting in an extra 45 hours of work a week for only 10k/year.  Also, I'm fairly certain I would lose half of it to divorce within another year anyway had I continued.  It was just time.

I'm feeling stupid that I didn't sell sooner.  I have to say, the stress lifted from my shoulders this week is a feeling like nothing I've ever experienced.  I feel like I've woken up from a bad dream.  I only worked 6 hours today.  It feels like I've had the whole day off... tomorrow is an actual day off.  My heart wants to break in joy!  It's funny how much perspective changes things.  I'm absolutely thrilled to *only* work 40 hours this week.  Meanwhile the larger community is desperately trying to escape even that!  I'm sure in time I will adjust and want to work even less, but for now... life is f***** beautiful!

onlykelsey

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1865 on: January 23, 2019, 06:31:56 AM »
I decided to take a setback financially to increase my quality of life.  I was working 90 hours/week owning 2 businesses trying to get to FIRE. 

I crunched the numbers and found that the difference to my nest egg in 10 years between selling 1 of the businesses and immediately investing the proceeds vs keeping the business and investing smaller amounts monthly was only going to be 100k after 10 years.  (And that's assuming I had the self control to ALWAYS chip all of the extra profits monthly into the bucket, which isn't realistic).  I realized this meant I was putting in an extra 45 hours of work a week for only 10k/year.  Also, I'm fairly certain I would lose half of it to divorce within another year anyway had I continued.  It was just time.

I'm feeling stupid that I didn't sell sooner.  I have to say, the stress lifted from my shoulders this week is a feeling like nothing I've ever experienced.  I feel like I've woken up from a bad dream.  I only worked 6 hours today.  It feels like I've had the whole day off... tomorrow is an actual day off.  My heart wants to break in joy!  It's funny how much perspective changes things.  I'm absolutely thrilled to *only* work 40 hours this week.  Meanwhile the larger community is desperately trying to escape even that!  I'm sure in time I will adjust and want to work even less, but for now... life is f***** beautiful!
Congrats!  That's a great realization to come to.

SwordGuy

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1866 on: January 23, 2019, 07:43:37 AM »

I have to say, the stress lifted from my shoulders this week is a feeling like nothing I've ever experienced.  I feel like I've woken up from a bad dream.


@Raeon , I know that feeling well.   I bought into a business as a junior partner for $55,000 and 4 years later sold back my share for $1.   It was awesome.    I was light as a feather.  You made a good decision and that was your body telling you.

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1867 on: January 31, 2019, 12:45:22 PM »
Ever since I began graphing trailing 12 months expenses vs. 4% WR, today is the first time they intersected, so theoretically I'm FI if you subscribe to that theory (4% rule)!

Now I work a bit longer to help my significant other get there quicker.

JZinCO

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1868 on: January 31, 2019, 01:00:59 PM »
@2Birds1Stone , so you could say you've got 1Birds1Stone so far?

jengod

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Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1869 on: January 31, 2019, 01:20:57 PM »
This is sort of a weird celebration, but we’re getting new LED lights installed throughout the house right now!

We had to have the electrician come by to replace a water-damaged exterior outlet, replace a bunch of busted dimmers and bring our outlets up to code, and while he’s here we’re switching out up to 32 incandescent and fluorescent bulbs for LEDs!

I bought four of the LED ceiling lights on sale at the OSH hardware during their going-out-of-business sale and picked up the rest at an electrical supply shop for contractors.

This is a somewhat heavy outlay of money now but over time it should drastically reduce our home energy use and thus power bill. I took a Permaculture Design Certificate course this summer and during the optional “solar power” module there was a lot of talk about how the first step for home energy projects is cutting electric use generally through a variety of methods.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2019, 01:22:46 PM by jengod »

LWYRUP

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1870 on: February 01, 2019, 06:07:58 AM »

$300 decrease in eating out and alcohol budget between December and January.  Grocery spending actually declined (may have to do with timing of Costco trips, but I did specifically try to go "pantry shopping" at various points).

Posted with gratitude to all the meal planners sharing their wisdom here and elsewhere on the internet.  We are super busy during the week with little kids so we need to be organized on the weekends in order to get the system down for the week.

JZinCO

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1871 on: February 01, 2019, 04:08:39 PM »
From 2/1/2015 through 2/1/2019 my net worth has increased by ~$147 per day or $1028 per week or $4469 per month or $53625 per year.
My time weighted income has been $50500 (or 56455 if you count side work and employer retirement contributions) annually.
Holy shit.
edit: I mean, half of those months I had >75% savings rate but I'm still questioning the numbers and finding no errors. All assets and liabilities accounted for correctly.
« Last Edit: February 01, 2019, 04:18:46 PM by JZinCO »

nurseart

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1872 on: February 06, 2019, 06:40:30 AM »
Crossed the 400k mark :-D :-D

dougules

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1873 on: February 06, 2019, 11:54:31 AM »
Crossed the 400k mark :-D :-D

Congrats.  It seems like we were there just yesterday, and now we're pushing $1.3M.  It goes quick once you get rolling. 

onlykelsey

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1874 on: February 06, 2019, 03:27:02 PM »
I'm back to my all-time net worth high (from August of 2018).  Hopefully I don't go negative again for a while.

Gone_Hiking

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1875 on: February 09, 2019, 11:01:15 AM »

$300 decrease in eating out and alcohol budget between December and January.  Grocery spending actually declined (may have to do with timing of Costco trips, but I did specifically try to go "pantry shopping" at various points).

Posted with gratitude to all the meal planners sharing their wisdom here and elsewhere on the internet.  We are super busy during the week with little kids so we need to be organized on the weekends in order to get the system down for the week.
Well done!

SwordGuy

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1876 on: February 10, 2019, 06:49:28 AM »
I decided that I would host "Make Some Art Weekend Parties" at our home now that we've FIRED.   I'm planning to do at least 4 a year, maybe more.   

I'm in the middle of the 2nd one this weekend.   So much fun!!!

oxide23

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1877 on: February 13, 2019, 02:42:39 PM »
I just wanted to celebrate that I am 100% debt free, own my home, have 9 months emergency fund and am in the 92% for networth including home. I did this on a lower salary working for non profits. I'm 50, and it took a lot of hard work, discipline, and avoiding all the pitfalls we all face. I got good advice from folks who told me to max out my retirement savings. (one income)

I installed my own solar systems (pv and old school thermal hotwater - no debt), took away storm felled trees from my neighbours yards after storms to heat my house for free with the woodstove I installed, had my house insulated and sealed, did all the electrical, tiling, plumbing and carpentry work, converted all lights to LED, scrounged furniture, building supplies and bicycle parts from the dump, replaced grass with veggie garden, and I made sure that I wouldn't need a car. I do have a 1989 Saab 900 which I fix myself whenever possible; I ride my bike to work (all winter, New England). We have one child, and that's all we're going to have, so we've been working on the 529. I'm grateful I bought the smallest house I could find. 1963, 910 sf cape facing south! I want to thank the community here for all the inspiration to stay on track. I now completely control what I do and when I do it, who I work for, and what I will do. Stay focused and strong, and don't let anyone convince you that you need a bigger, better, fancier anything. DYI everything you can. Ride your bike, it's a beautiful way to save $$ and stay fit (waist 32, HR 56). I never imagined living a green, modest lifestyle would bring so much wealth. We even get to give money to our parents to help them out. What a great feeling to be able to give back to our parents! I'm now considering a career change. Why not!?

oxide23

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1878 on: February 13, 2019, 02:45:07 PM »
I just wanted to celebrate that I am 100% debt free, own my home, have 9 months emergency fund and am in the 92% for networth including home. I did this on a lower salary working for non profits. I'm 50, and it took a lot of hard work, discipline, and avoiding all the pitfalls we all face. I got good advice from folks who told me to max out my retirement savings. (one income)

I installed my own solar systems (pv and old school thermal hotwater - no debt), took away storm felled trees from my neighbours yards after storms to heat my house for free with the woodstove I installed, had my house insulated and sealed, did all the electrical, tiling, plumbing and carpentry work, converted all lights to LED, scrounged furniture, building supplies and bicycle parts from the dump, replaced grass with veggie garden, and I made sure that I wouldn't need a car. I do have a 1989 Saab 900 which I fix myself whenever possible; I ride my bike to work (all winter, New England). We have one child, and that's all we're going to have, so we've been working on the 529. I'm grateful I bought the smallest house I could find. 1963, 910 sf cape facing south! I want to thank the community here for all the inspiration to stay on track. I now completely control what I do and when I do it, who I work for, and what I will do. Stay focused and strong, and don't let anyone convince you that you need a bigger, better, fancier anything. DYI everything you can. Ride your bike, it's a beautiful way to save $$ and stay fit (waist 32, HR 56). I never imagined living a green, modest lifestyle would bring so much wealth. We even get to give money to our parents to help them out. What a great feeling to be able to give back to our parents! I'm now considering a career change. Why not!?

grantmeaname

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1879 on: February 13, 2019, 03:35:06 PM »
WOW! Every word of that is seriously badass. Congrats :)

Trifle

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1880 on: February 14, 2019, 04:07:19 AM »
^+1.  Hope you will post more in the future @oxide23 !

okonumiyaki

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1881 on: February 17, 2019, 02:51:32 AM »
My wife is cancer free, and I just handed in my notice!

Trifle

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1882 on: February 17, 2019, 04:05:30 AM »
Huge congratulations @okonomiyaki !!!  Good luck to you both!

Freckles

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1883 on: February 17, 2019, 09:25:40 AM »
My wife is cancer free, and I just handed in my notice!

Wow, that is something to celebrate! Congratulations to you both.

JanetJackson

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1884 on: February 19, 2019, 11:58:44 AM »
Somehow I never noticed this thread before. 
Since digging my heels in harder on frugality, career, business, and finance the last 2-ish years:

>My student loans are almost gone.
>I got my savings rate to a consistent 40-50%.
>I got a 7% raise at my Day Job in year one, then got a promotion this year.
>I grew my side business and doubled my gross income from this side hustle business.
>I'm closing on a house next Thursday (750sq ft, good options to house-hack).
>Although she's had a few stumbling blocks, my amazing resilient rescue dog remains cancer-free after 2017 treatment.


Thanks for reading. <3
It's been a hard few years, so I needed to celebrate. 
Gotta admit, I don't know if there's enough focus on how hard it is to live a forward-focused FI/RE (I'm neither, just a frugal person hoping to have a funded lifestyle change in a few years) life.  Accomplishments are worth celebrating because they're hard.

diapasoun

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1885 on: February 19, 2019, 01:24:22 PM »
Hell yes, JanetJackson. <3

Chrissy

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1886 on: February 19, 2019, 02:08:52 PM »
Wow, that's amazing, JanetJackson!  Way to go.

haflander

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1887 on: February 19, 2019, 03:26:23 PM »
Paid off my stupid car loan and then immediately updated my signature below and posted here :) Absolutely zero debt...not yet settled enough for a mortgage at this point. Paid off student loans in Feb 2018. Next up: finish funding a very healthy and conservative EF/FU fund by March due to no $ going to debt. THEN I can finally start the journey of opening a Vanguard account and investing.

Finished funding my EF/FU fund to 17500. I preferred a very big number for several different personal reasons. If only used for expenses in case of unemployment, I'd imagine I could live off this alone for 6 months or more. I'll keep this in the same online "high yield" savings account for now, currently at 2.25%. I'd also use this for any normal emergencies such as car repair, injury, vet costs. Another reason I wanted a high # is that I will consider dipping into it for bigger purchases. Paying for a used car in cash (not planned, but in case of accident), or a down payment for a house. Maybe even wedding expenses or a honeymoon, although I don't want to count chickens before they hatch (not engaged). I'd use the EF/FU fund for any of the above instead of a CC, and then pay myself back up to 17.5 instead of paying interest on a CC or other loan.

I don't ascribe to DR's snowball method, but the past year has felt very similar in terms of financial success hastening the next goal, having an exponential effect. I started this EF/FU fund with only 5k in April 2018, so sent 12k to savings alone in 10 months. Paying off the SL and car loan just left more $ available to save.

Next, I want to cash flow some important things that were previously delayed before then starting the investing journey. Car maintenance (tires, brakes, alignment) and vacations (TBD, maybe 1 domestic and 1 international).

CoffeeAndDonuts

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1888 on: February 19, 2019, 07:48:43 PM »
Awesomely good stuff @JanetJackson, @oxide23, @okonumiyaki!

Especially the Saab stuff. I've owned 5.

Drawn here myself after meeting this morning with the major shareholder of the company that we combined with. We had a couple things to chat about that could only be fairly understood if I put it all out there - namely that they needed someone in my position but that I wasn't the right person and that despite my attempts to signal as such, it may have been missed. Further, that the conditions that I'd find enjoyable long term make make me unemployable not just there but everywhere.

It was a really hard series of things to say and admit about my own interests and limitations after two decades building and selling a business. The simple grace shown by the major shareholder in calmly listening was amazing and relieving.

I feel so much weight lifted by merely having cleared the air. We've got some work figuring out how the next year goes but we're doing so in good faith.

There's no discrete change today but it's a big and necessary step nonetheless.

Thanks for listening... We're not sharing the changes in my role for another 2-4 months and the future beyond that is murkier yet but closer than ever to a change that's been a long time coming.

CoffeeAndDonuts

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1889 on: February 19, 2019, 07:51:27 PM »
Internet timeout...duplicate post. So sorry!
« Last Edit: February 19, 2019, 07:55:26 PM by CoffeeAndDonuts »

CoffeeAndDonuts

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1890 on: February 19, 2019, 07:46:35 PM »
Internet timeout...duplicate post. So sorry!
« Last Edit: February 19, 2019, 08:00:45 PM by CoffeeAndDonuts »

Glenstache

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1891 on: February 22, 2019, 05:52:40 PM »
Rolled over the odometer on the combined retirement accounts today. I only made it $56 past that row of zeroes, so I expect that market fluctuations will take it back down (and up) again by my next contribution but it still feels like a good waypost on the way!

dougules

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1892 on: February 25, 2019, 11:40:56 AM »
Rolled over the odometer on the combined retirement accounts today. I only made it $56 past that row of zeroes, so I expect that market fluctuations will take it back down (and up) again by my next contribution but it still feels like a good waypost on the way!

Congrats!

If it does go back down, all the better because your next purchase will be cheaper. 

CindyBS

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1893 on: March 04, 2019, 05:08:38 PM »
I started a new job last week after being out of work for 2.5 years!! 

I had to quit my job to care for my teenage son when he got cancer in 2016.  He is doing much better and has been well enough for me to return to work. 

It is nice to get out of the house and not be a full time caregiver anymore.  The money won't hurt either. :-)   We still managed to save 1/3 of our income when he was sick, and we project FIRE will only be delayed by 2 years because of this. 

zeli2033

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1894 on: March 04, 2019, 05:45:33 PM »
I started a new job last week after being out of work for 2.5 years!! 

I had to quit my job to care for my teenage son when he got cancer in 2016.  He is doing much better and has been well enough for me to return to work. 

It is nice to get out of the house and not be a full time caregiver anymore.  The money won't hurt either. :-)   We still managed to save 1/3 of our income when he was sick, and we project FIRE will only be delayed by 2 years because of this.

Congratulations!!!! That's fantastic news after taking time away to care for your family. And how awesome to have been able to save and still be on the path to FIRE!

SwordGuy

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1895 on: March 04, 2019, 08:57:53 PM »
We're finishing up the work we need to do on Rental #4 tomorrow.  We'll have a carpet cleaning company come in and then rent it out.  (Or, worse case, put it up for rent and contract for some new carpet before it gets occupied.)

Yeah!

dougules

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1896 on: March 05, 2019, 09:05:58 AM »
I started a new job last week after being out of work for 2.5 years!! 

I had to quit my job to care for my teenage son when he got cancer in 2016.  He is doing much better and has been well enough for me to return to work. 

It is nice to get out of the house and not be a full time caregiver anymore.  The money won't hurt either. :-)   We still managed to save 1/3 of our income when he was sick, and we project FIRE will only be delayed by 2 years because of this.

Good news on three fronts!  I can't imagine what a relief that is. 

We're finishing up the work we need to do on Rental #4 tomorrow.  We'll have a carpet cleaning company come in and then rent it out.  (Or, worse case, put it up for rent and contract for some new carpet before it gets occupied.)

Yeah!

Congrats.

onlykelsey

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Separation Agreement
« Reply #1897 on: March 13, 2019, 11:24:20 AM »
Sort of a bittersweet thing, but I got my separation agreement signed this week and will officially be a divorced single mom in a couple weeks!  My ex is not an evil man, but I am very glad we are (about to be) not married anymore.  Onward and upward!

diapasoun

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Re: Separation Agreement
« Reply #1898 on: March 13, 2019, 12:03:29 PM »
Sort of a bittersweet thing, but I got my separation agreement signed this week and will officially be a divorced single mom in a couple weeks!  My ex is not an evil man, but I am very glad we are (about to be) not married anymore.  Onward and upward!

Bittersweet indeed, but I hope that you're feeling a lot lighter and more excited about the future!

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Coming here to be happy about a few things at work that will be raising my profile at the company and will hopefully lead to a promo this summer when review season comes around.

rebel_quietude

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #1899 on: March 18, 2019, 04:11:38 PM »
First - @CindyBS . You are a total badass. Wow, I am in awe.
Looking forward to seeing you and your family to pwn it like the superheroes you are.

onlykelsey - good luck starting a new, footloose and joyful chapter!

Also- after ten years of saving to my IRA and taxable brokerage, I'm finally Voyager Select client at Vanguard. It's the little victories!


 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!