No major life-altering events to report, and that makes me pretty happy.
All in all, I have just been pretty happy. A lot of realizations have come out of the last two years between a major career shift and an unexpected marital separation. I don’t recommend the latter if you can avoid it, but I am happy to report things have been going great since I moved back home after 13 months. We are still in biweekly counseling, which has been one of the best purchases we’ve ever made. We have grown a lot as a couple, and even though it took some time to reestablish trust (not in the sense of infidelity–that was not the issue– but just trust in knowing the other is fully committed too), our bond feels stronger now than it did before.
As far as work goes, it’s work. I have no desire to climb any ladders or chase any salaries. I do my job, I wrap up at 5:00, and I go live my life. It doesn’t follow me into my evenings and weekends, and I’m so grateful for that. In my free time, I’m continuing with my yoga practice, I go on walks, we take weekend trips, I read, I take care of my home and garden, and I just enjoy the little things. I feel like a different person.
As far as salary goes, I abandoned about $30k of my former yearly salary when I left my crazy job. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Has it slowed our FIRE progress? Sure has.
I am still 100% committed to ensuring we save and invest every year. As far as an aggressive FIRE strategy, I have backed off. It was fine in 2020 and 2021 when the world was sort of shut down and there was not much to do. But I do think it was a small contributor to a feeling of unfulfillment in our lives. Every extra cent went into this abstract account of microscopic portions of company ownership, and our actual day-to-day felt pretty restricted.
This year, we’re maxing out 401(k)s to the matches, maxing out Roth IRA contributions, and are close to maxing out the HSA contribution. Beyond that, we have about $50k in cash savings that we like to keep around that level, but with the rest, we are enjoying life.
Part of re-bonding after our separation was making a commitment to experiencing more of life together. It’s not extravagant– we stayed at a shady Days Inn last weekend. We brought road snacks instead of eating out at every opportunity. A friend gave us a lift a few times so we didn’t have to get an Uber. We had absolutely no alcohol– not on purpose, we just didn’t. It saved us money, and we still had an amazing time.
That’s something I’d like to continue. Do I still have hopes of making it to Scotland in the next year? Of course. Am I still interested in getting a small camper for more outdoor weekend getaways? You bet. But it’s not an urgent or impulsive buy. My husband has sent me dozens of camper listings on FB Marketplace, and we have yet to even go look at any because they don’t meet our requirements.
So that’s where things are now. It’s good to be here. I plan to do a midyear update on financials in the coming month.
Take care.
-K