Financially, no surprises. I feel like we spent a lot of money but we feel normal, neither deprived nor excessive.
Family: My parent got ill and died. FIRE allowed me to spend precious months helping out. Obviously I could write an essay about this. Suffice it to say that the headspace to not think about a report due or a stupid meeting or my asinine ex-boss expressing sympathy during this time was PRICELESS.
Car: Stolen catalytic converter was $1000 to replace.
Travel: 1 international family trip (short), a few local summer trips, AMAZING trip to Moab UT (24 hours via Amtrak) to meet up with MMMers.
Health: Fine. I sleep fantastically well. The only time I didn’t sleep well was when my old job came a’ calling and I mentally explored the idea of making 75% more than I had before to do something I’m very good at but don’t want to do anymore (or at least for a few years).
Fitness: Started lifting at the beginning of the year and I have stuck with it! I used to lift a lot, then got lazy and only did endurance sports. I discovered over the last five years that I can train for a marathon and gain a significant amount of weight at the same time. Hoping body recomposition will turn this trend around. I find to my surprise that while at the gym I seem to get into a flow and literally not think about anything. My gym days always include not only lifting but yoga or another class, a jog and other sports practice and take 1-3 hours.
At the beginning of the year I started biking long distances and did my first 70-mile ride. The feeling of knowing I have nowhere to be on a Tuesday and heading off to bike for 6 hours is amazing. I also do some other really fun balance sports and am getting better at them, slowly but surely. I try to do each of my sports a few days a week. I am not feeling the need to really track any of them, however.
Side hustle: Am still allergic to working for other people. I made a bit of money doing stuff I was asked to do, and had fun. However, next year I do want to step things up and be proactive, not reactive. I want to put systems in place to make my productivity automatic/easy/fun/unavoidable.
Toys: Speaking of side hustle, I did buy myself a bunch of tech toys for it. These are mostly on 0% payment plans and will be paid off soon, meaning my monthly expenses will go down. Hopefully I have scratched this itch enough and it’s not something I’m going to go deeper into. Although all my life I deny myself tools for my passion project while doing/considering stuff that is far more expensive, like international travel or remodeling kitchens or buying vehicles.
Financial support: Hubby gave me a couple thou, son gave me maybe a quarter of what hubby gave. Important lesson: with transfers within same bank, I need to write the memo of who/what it is for. The bank just shows “transfer” — not even which account it came from.
Money psychology: In general my family is all on the same page about frugality, saving, necessary vs ridiculous purchases. We like tech toys and outdoor toys but don’t go nuts.
Husband is a tough nut, though. He is still working and pays for food (ridiculous amounts) and a couple other things, and as I said above, gave me some monthly support when I asked for it. My $36k annual budget includes mortgage, utilities, pets, kids, insurance, etc. He went into some sort of scarcity mindset when I quit my job (though he encouraged me) and is spending all his paycheck with nothing major to show for it (I think it’s mainly restaurants during/after work), and racking up debt to refinance credit cards. I am hoping some gentle competition (he always had the higher credit rating, now mine is higher though his is still excellent) can help. Maybe need to re-read the “how to convert your spouse” thread for some ideas. I hesitate to post that bit since I know there will be the inevitable doom and gloom from some forumites (Ok, he’s having an affair — with restaurants).
To be fair, he is frugal, and we agree on the car/bike thing (mostly bike, ancient car). I think he got used to the last 5 years of my very large paycheck meaning he didn’t have to contribute much (though he did use that time to save a bit in his 401k). He also doesn’t make a lot of money and he is also paying for the gym for both of us, which raised prices after the pandemic and is now ridiculously expensive (but worth it). He is in the best shape of his life and I’m getting there too so that’s something.
That reminds me, he also pays for my son’s different gym, and for three cell phones (him + 2 kids), and supports his extended family. In general I don’t think he’s too far off his normal spending, he just seems slightly panicked at me not working and seems to overspend on little things to make himself feel better and it all adds up.
Projects: Put in a drip watering system. Remodeled my kitchen using only elbow grease and paint, spent almost nothing. Started putting lights and plugs on wi-if timers. Did a tune-up on the car, now it runs like a dream. Planted the neighbor’s yard. Spent a HUGE amount of time gardening. Did these things all by myself.
Education: For a few years, I have been studying online for something I won’t share here. Not thinking about my job has opened up brain space to understand some concepts that eluded me for years!
Kids: I am just so happy and proud about my kids. They are continuing to grow and evolve and it’s a delight to spend time with them. We spend a ton of time with each other! But they also have great friends and my young adult son is alternating living here and with friends (informal situation so far). Having a late teen and a young adult, I can see the end of the tunnel in terms of financial support, especially since my older son has been self-supporting for a few years now. Each of them has learned a lot from my FIRE experience and I hope it will serve them their whole lives long.
