Welcome, welcome to The Purple Show! Before I forget, this is a reminder that next Tuesday I’m answering your questions to celebrate my first month of retirement! So let me know if you have any specific questions you want me to answer in the comments below. Now, here’s what I’ve been up to this week:
What Did I Do This Week?
The bonus fight continues! In case you haven’t heard, I’ve been fighting with my former company about a part of my salary and bonus I’m owed for the months of July through September. They did not deposit this money into my account and said that since I was not an employee when they met about the bonus payouts, I wouldn’t receive it…because that makes total sense 🙂 . Luckily after fighting with them on this point, I finally received some good news:
🚨RED ALERT🚨: I'm getting (some amount) of this money. I followed up and just heard this: "Thank you for following up. Apologies for not looping back on Friday. I just need to clarify one point with [HR & Boss] before I give you the amount. Do you want me to send a check?"🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 pic.twitter.com/uz4kXVcdZ0
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) October 28, 2020
Now they just need to give me my money! It’s going to hit my account on Thursday so that’s something to look forward to. I’ll keep y’all posted on the amount and its relation to the slashed bonuses my ex-colleagues received. Never a dull moment with this company – even after you quit 😉 .
I updated this site to the latest version of PHP…and by that I mean that I almost accidentally blew up this site 🙂 . I got a notification from my website host a month ago that I needed to update this thing or my site would brick when they made some change in a few weeks. So, of course, I ignored it because the technical side of blogging is by far my least favorite part and if you ignore a problem, it just goes away….right 🙂 ? Sadly, that’s not the case.
So anyway, I bit the bullet – did some googling on how to update PHP, and then covered my eyes with one hand while pressing the “update” button with the other…and shockingly nothing exploded! Next up, I need to move my full site to https – apparently it’s only half there…or something? I think I need to change the actual WordPress address, but I am once again scared this will ruin my site, so I’ll most likely wait several more months before I try that since I just did something amazing and heroic with PHP 😉 .
The speeding ticket saga is finally over! If you’re new here: I got a speeding ticket going through an intentionally tricky speed trap in a tiny South Carolina town on my way to Hilton Head Island the other week, and they were making it impossible to pay it (which I assume is another trap…).
After checking the website every day for 2 weeks, I was still not able to locate my ticket so my Mom encouraged me to call the help number listed on the website. It turns out that the number was a text service and it said to just call the judge’s office. Huh?! You want me to talk to a judge directly about my speeding ticket? Sounds like another trap…
After a few days my Mom once again encouraged me to just go through the process they set out (come hell or high water) and so I did. I called the judge’s office and they directed me to what they claimed was another government number, which I looked up and it was a law office…weird. I let it ring and when they picked up it was the city clerk’s office – phew!
But then of course, they were busy and said they’d call me back. After they called back later that day, they told me that despite my ticket saying I could pay on the municipality’s website, my speeding ticket is actually from the town so I have to call another number *sigh*.
At the same time, I Googled that number as well and it was with the town (good) and said that they do not accept online payments for speeding tickets (then why does my ticket say they do?!) and that there was an additional fee for paying over the phone…(fucking great 🙂 ). This new number of course did not pick up and I had to leave a message.
To top off this comedy of errors, the actual speeding ticket’s court date was written so poorly that my Mom and I could not for the life of us figure out if it was the 11th, 12th or 18th of November. So who even knows when I am supposed to be in court if I wanted to contest this! Another fun hurdle to climb.
So finally after another day of waiting, this last number shockingly did call me back. They said there was a $3.75 fee for paying the speeding ticket…..I assume instead of sending a check by snail mail…during an election…so my check might not make it by my court date? Whatever – I paid it over the phone and can finally say that this saga is over! What a wild ride.
Luckily the rest of the things I did this week were much happier and less frustrating, such as:
- I continued honing my quarantine skill of cutting my partner’s hair
- I further expanded the uses of my beloved Moto G Stylus by now editing my Instagram Net Worth Updates on my phone! I used to edit them on a computer, then email them to myself, download them onto my phone and then upload to Instagram – no longer! I also arranged a grocery and wine pickup all from my phone, which I didn’t even know I was capable of. With a phone in my hand I’m now unstoppable! I’m so proud 🙂
- I had my first distanced GA hangout with friend (The Legendary Seonwoo!) and video chatted with other friends including the pond hoppers All Options Considered
- I booked a sleeper train ticket from CT to GA and I’m super excited about it! My other option was getting a one-way rental car and driving down without stopping, which I don’t honestly think I could do alone. Also my partner and my Mom didn’t feel comfortable with me sleeping in the car by myself or getting an Airbnb in the middle of nowhere, so I get to have a train adventure instead! Something fun happened when I tried to book the ticket too. The date I previously checked had DOUBLED in price so I just…picked a different, later date that had a relatively normal price despite the departure day being a few days before Thanksgiving because I literally have nothing else to do 🙂 . This retirement thing is already saving me money in unexpected ways!
I just booked an @Amtrak Sleeper Car to take me from the Northeast to the South later this year🚂. Surprisingly it was cheaper and seemed safer than me attempting to drive 15 hours without stopping. All kinds of weird adventures are happening in the Age of 'Rona🚆.
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) October 27, 2020
- I road tripped from GA to CT in one day – read this thread to see how that went:
About to drive from GA to CT without stopping🚘. Road tripping in The Age Of 'Rona – Let's gooooooo🙌🏾! pic.twitter.com/kV6VxZFd8L
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) October 30, 2020
Other than that, this week involved a lot of resting and recharging as I prepared for the road trip mentioned above. I am now in CT for the next three weeks to help my cousin move here and to assist my Mom with taking care of my cousin’s baby. It’s going to be a wild few weeks with way less introvert time than I’m used to, so I knew I should charge my batteries when I could to retain my pleasant persona (this is a joke – I’m the grumpiest person you know 🙂 ).
Physical
Sleep
I think I’m going to name each month of my retirement and October was definitely The Month Of Naps. I continued to enjoy the option of grabbing a few Zzzs when I was sleepy instead of forcing myself to be alert with caffeine or sleepy with melatonin as my work scheduled dictated.
This week was an interesting one for my sleep patterns. Hurricane Zeta tore through the south and even though Georgia barely has a coastline we did feel the lingering effects. There were flood warnings most of the week and some wild wind whipping through our neighborhood as well.
In fact, the wind was so wild that one night I awakened to a loud “BANG!” and (illogically) thought that a large buck had rammed into the side of our tiny house (don’t ask where my half asleep brain gets these ideas…). Luckily it was not a murderous deer, but the wind was blowing so hard that it knocked a car top carrier onto the wall by our bed. All was well, but my heart was racing so much that it was difficult to get a fitful rest after that.
Hilariously I did have a passing thought of “Blerg – I have too much to do tomorrow to take a nap!” Which I then examined, rightly realized was ridiculous and put away the thought. I had a lot to do, but it was all things I had put on my calendar and was excited about – specifically 3 social engagements (one in person) before heading out on my 15 hour road trip at 4:45am the next morning. Woe is me – just kidding 😉 . I was sleepy, but I managed all of the above and still had a blast while also learning that I need to schedule less than 3 social engagements in a day so there’s always time for a nap if needed 🙂 .
Anyway, after we arrived in CT, I slept 6 hours straight, which is really good for a new place! I usually have a hard time sleeping the first night in a new location. But then I woke up at 5am, watched the sunrise and started writing on my phone after I couldn’t fall back asleep for a bit and realized: I haven’t awakened in the middle of the night and been unable to go back to sleep since my last week of work!! My sleep is improving even if I’m not instantly the well rested goddess I (stupidly) assumed I would be a month into retirement 🙂 . But seriously, why did I think that would be instant after almost a decade of sleep deprivation?! I’m silly sometimes.
Food
I made a mistake this week: I weighed myself. I haven’t stepped on a scale since we moved out of our Seattle apartment in July and moments before I stepped on the scale I was thinking “I look good. I look healthy.” Then after stepping on the scale those numbers glared back at me and suddenly that same body I was happy with was less acceptable.
Maybe it’s because I know at my next doctor’s visit they’ll now say I’m overweight. Or maybe it’s the garbage that’s been ingrained in me that being thin should be something you strive for (regardless of how you get there). I haven’t pinpointed what kind of nonsense it was, but the juxtaposition of my changing thoughts about my identical reflection in that moment were very interesting.
As a result of this stupid number staring me in the face, I started thinking more about the food I’ve been eating lately. My commune family eats basically vegetarian – which is to say way more carbs than I’m used to as a keto focused eater. It’s literally the opposite of keto, which is awesome when I go with a vegetarian friend to a restaurant and we split a burger (I get the patty, she gets the bun and fries and we split the veggies), but in normal life, we’re basically incompatible.
My body does not handle carbs or sugar well. It gloms onto me and doesn’t let go and that’s led me to this number on the scale. I don’t want to be beholden to it and I don’t want it to have the power to change how I see my own body in a matter of seconds, but I am and it does – so I need to figure that out.
Interestingly, now that I’m in CT, my diet will be almost completely different. My cousin is gluten intolerant and my Mom usually eats keto so it’s going to be a 180 change from what I was doing. In our GA commune, I didn’t want to be an imposition by creating separate meals and I also just wanted to experience the (delicious) commune dinners together so I need to figure out in the next few weeks what re-entering the commune will look like food-wise. I think I’ll continue enjoying the shared meals and their delicious flavors 🙂 . Scale be damned.
Fitness
Since I was slugging the first half of the week to recharge my batteries for the journey ahead, I was quite stationary, but after driving to CT we had an 8 hour day of basically nonstop unpacking and organizing my cousin’s new digs before her and her baby arrived the next day.
Despite trying to lift with my legs and do my best deadlift stance, my back hurt by the end of the day, which I believe means my abs were not engaged and I’m sad to say: weak. I need to step it up. Luckily, picking up my adorable bowling ball of a second cousin over the next few weeks should help with that 🙂 . Stay tuned to hear about The Adventures Of A Purple Babysitter – it’s almost guaranteed to be fraught with mishaps 😉 .
Mental
Learning
Now, let’s get back to my favorite segment: Fun Facts Nobody Asked For! Here’s what I learned and explored this week:
- I identified a Tennessee Warbler by sound after hearing a new bird call outside of our house that I wasn’t familiar with. I stood out there and investigated for several minutes and after I walked away satisfied with my discovery I reveled in how awesome it was that I didn’t have anywhere to be to distract me from this curious investigation 🙂 . I’m super excited to now be in CT and be in a new region with new birds! I assume birding is like Pokémon and I’ve gotta learn (instead of catch) them all!
- I got into Ant Identification! I noticed while sitting on our porch that the ants I saw in the yard looked different than ones I’ve seen before. It turns out that they are Acrobat Ants and the usual ants I see are Cornfield Ants.
- This week was wild for Stargazing. It was cloudy for most of it, but the moon was out in force, just in time for Nasa to tell us that they found motherfucking water on the motherfucking moon! Other than that, I was able to do some stargazing in the latter part of the week. I continued to see Mars, Jupiter and Saturn after sunset and I saw Venus in the early morning several times on my way to and in CT. I also got a sweet view of Neptune next to the almost full moon leading up to Halloween. And finally, I got to experience a Halloween Blue Harvest Moon! It turns out that a Blue Moon is a full moon that happens twice in one month and this phenomenon only occurs on Halloween “once in a blue moon 😉 ” or 3-4 times a CENTURY!
- I saw a black and red caterpillar and identified it as a Pyrrharctia Moth. So fuzzy!…Does this mean I’m into insect identification now??
- I learned that Birdcast.info exists. It has real-time bird migration tools and updates. I’m following them on Twitter now – does this mean I’m a part of Bird Twitter? I’m really expanding the types of Twitter I’m apart of!
- I learned that female urinals exist and used one…(don’t ask)
- As a bisexual black woman with purple hair and facial piercings who has moved back to the “clutch my pearls” south, I’ve been getting into new types of music that reflect my environment for the first time in a long while. My latest favorite is “This Land” by the modern electric blues musician turned funk, rock and hip-hop badass Gary Clark Jr. My favorite line from that song is unsurprisingly: “Fuck you – I’m America’s son and this is where I come from.” I’m gonna blast that while driving by the many houses down here that have signs that make it clear I am not welcome ‘round these parts 🙂 .
Creativity
Creativity is still firing on all cylinders. I’m constantly taking notes of things I want to research (“How do birds communicate to fly in those intricate patterns together?” “Who invented heated car seats??” They’re a revelation 🙂 ) Words are still flowing out of me like never before (which you might have noticed based on the novel length of these weekly posts…oops 😉 ).
I haven’t felt this light and free in my creativity since I went to Montessori School and was similarly not bogged down by other people’s expectations or deadlines. I thought I would want to lay under a rock for at least a few months to completely recharge before I would give a shit about what kind of ant is walking by me on the sidewalk, but shockingly that hasn’t been the case. I am ready and eager to engage with the world in ways I was too tired to do when I was working.
Money
Money continues to be an non-issue and at this point I’m starting to wonder what’s wrong with me…If I look back through the years, my reigns on my finances have loosened once I realized that a few hundred here and there wouldn’t make a huge difference since my main expenses of rent and transportation were on lock, but my thoughts on money continue to be in the weird neighborhood of “Who Cares?” and I really don’t get it…
I thought this was a reaction to my fall plans being way cheaper than expected, (rural GA instead of The Great Barrier Reef in Australia) but it has blown that theory out of the water by persisting in the face of any amount of money – the $300 for a dentist visit I didn’t need, the $500 I spent on a train trip, the $4,000 I might not receive from my company (I’ll believe it when it’s in my bank account). And throughout it all, I…literally don’t give a shit. I don’t know if I need a giant expense to smack me in the face or if even that would do it, but….I really don’t care. My feelings on my money have evolved a lot since I began this journey to financial independence and I’m curious if this is the final stage: being free from money concerns.
Emotional
Nomadic Freedom
This journey from GA to CT made me realize something: I see objects for their utility instead of as possessions and it is so, so freeing. I grab a backpack and rent a car to go to the beach whenever I want to feel the waves on my toes (e.g. Hilton Head). Then I return the car for the rental car company to clean, maintain and pay to park.
Weeks later, I rent another car for a road trip and then grab a train sleeper car for the return trip because I can (and it seemed like the safer and cheaper option). I didn’t think I had a lot of ‘stuff’ in our one bedroom Seattle apartment, but without it, there is so much less to think about and I’m loving it! It also makes packing way simpler:
Packing for a 3 week trip is surprisingly easy when I've already gotten rid of 90% of my stuff. Just take a 1/3 of the remainder, drop it in a bag and I'm good to go🤣! Me: pic.twitter.com/SmQVQQt78r
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) October 28, 2020
The Sunday Blues
I keep forgetting it’s Sunday, which does align with my general new lack of awareness of the date and time, but I cannot EVER remember not knowing it’s Sunday. When I was working, I could confuse what day of the week it was – as in it felt like a Thursday, but was a Tuesday for example. But I never realized how much Sunday was a day clouded with the incoming apprehension of a new work week.
For a while when I first got my final job I didn’t have high level Sunday Blues, but apparently it was still there because Sundays feel COMPLETELY different. Sundays are now just another day with no weird dark cloud looming. There’s no pressure to “get all my fun in” or distract myself from the incoming work week. It’s just another day.
Mental Health
I’ve mentioned before that my depression usually gets worse when the sun is hiding behind clouds and when big changes are happening in my life. Earlier this month, I was surprised to report that I was fine despite the many changes happening around me (getting rid of all my stuff, living in Airbnbs, moving across the country, quitting my job forever etc). And I’m happy to say that my hormone imbalance still hasn’t flared up like it usually does without the sun or with these many changes.
It’s been a cloudy (and at times rainy) week and I was fine with it. I followed the rhythm of nature like I wanted to in pre-retirement, and moved inside to happily read books with a blanket when it was raining instead of sipping seltzer in the sun when the sol was shining. We even leaned into the weather with some yummy squash soup and grilled cheese that will be making its way onto my Instagram shortly.
Stress
Arriving in CT after being on the west coast almost exclusively for 5 years was a trip. Seeing my old stomping ground of NYC in the distance was like seeing a friend and nemesis all at once – a frenemy 😉 ?
Our Airbnb in CT looked out at office buildings and I stood there looking at them that first night and thinking about all the people that work there and commute in every day from far and wide and the cars, gas and tolls involved. The view from those office buildings looks like many views I’ve had from offices throughout my career – when I was looking out and thinking of the life I could be living instead of sitting in that cubicle…
And now I’m outside looking in and I must admit it’s amazing. There are so many times during this journey to financial independence that felt kind of hopeless because our dumb human brains seem to always assume that what is happening with us now will always happen and that’s almost never the case. Things change and they will get better – I wish I had been able to internalize that when I was still working instead of letting thoughts of my job constantly dominate my mind.
Conclusion
Overall, this week my heart feels very full. I’m so happy I got to hug my Mom a month after moving to GA (we were being super cautious – don’t worry about it 🙂 ). I’m loving my commune family and excited to go back, but I’m also feeling so fortunate to be able to take the time to help my cousin and see her for longer than I have cumulatively in my adult life. It’s wonderful the avenues that early retirement has allowed me and the ways it’s allowed me to help others so far and I’m only just getting started!
If you’re interested in the other weekly retirement updates I’ve written, they’re all here:
Weekly
- Early Retirement Week 1: The Freak Out
- Early Retirement Week 2: The Vacation
- Early Retirement Week 3: The Whiplash
- Early Retirement Week 4: The Heartbeat
- Early Retirement Week 5: The Election
- Early Retirement Week 6: The Trophy
- Early Retirement Week 7: The Train
- Early Retirement Week 8: The Challenge
- Early Retirement Week 9: The Question
- Early Retirement Week 10: The Game
- Early Retirement Week 11: The Recharge
- Early Retirement Week 12: The Holiday
How was your week?
Oh man, Gary Clark Jr. is amazing! Definitely on my list of favorite guitarists. He reminds me a bit of one of my all time favorite guitarists, Jimi Hendrix. Both have that guitar tone and style that makes you sit up and go “holy shit!” (Side note, but one of my favorite scenes from the Monterey Pop Festival documentary is audience members, including Mama Cass, just staring with their mouths open at Jimi when he played.)
Also, it’s amazing how bad most online systems still are after all this time. I found out the same in my deep dive into mortgage refinancing, which I linked my name to – it’s seriously a hot mess. It’s 2020 people!
That’s awesome!! And yeah I’m loving his stuff. Maybe I’ll throwback to some Jimi as well… I haven’t watched that documentary, but will add it to my list!
And yes it’s really surprising. Cars are basically AIs and I can’t even get the right person on the phone for a problem without immense effort siiiiigh 🙂 . Priorities people!
I have always wanted do an overnight train ride in a sleeper car… I’ve ridden in trains for short-distance commutes, but never long-distance. Please share your overnight train ride experience – I’m excited to hear about it!
That’s awesome! I’ve actually done a 24 hour sleeper car rid from Seattle to SF before with a friend, but this will be my first time solo and only my second time ever. I’ll definitely share! I promised to live tweet the experience on the 22nd and write a whole post about sleeper trains during COVID as a follow up!
I assume GA clouds are different than Seattle clouds. Maybe you won’t need as much help this winter. Although, the PNW has been really nice this year. We haven’t had many rain/cloudly days yet.
You’re staying quite busy. That’s great. Enjoy!
Haha yeah they’re quite different. I’ll hold out hope that it won’t be that bad, but right now CT is reminding me why I left the northeast 🙂 . So happy to hear the PNW has been nice in my absence 😉 I hope the streak continues! And no don’t encourage the busyness – I’m trying to cut it out!!
Ooh, your train trip sounds super exciting. Sleeper trains for the win!
Also just generally yay at how happy you are and how well everything is going – sleep, stress, and speeding ticket success!
Thank you 🙂 ! It’s going surprisingly well!
I love you don’t feel the need to care about money right now. I hope that your attitude towards money right now is the result of this retirement. Though a totally unfamiliar concept in MY life, it sounds like a very nice and “light” way to approach to money.
Though it’d be very satisfying to hear when that deposit hits your accounts, on principle 🙂
Female urinals?? That is definitely new to me.
I’m still trying to figure out how to get my dang mortgage account set up online after refinancing. Why is this so difficult??
Yeah it’s really weird and I think it must be retirement because I’ve really never felt this way before. I’ve basically done a 180 🙂 though I am excited for that deposit to update my spreadsheets for the final time!
And yeah on female urinals – apparently there are other similar, but less bulky contraptions as well that I will be looking into for…reasons 😉 .
And ugh that’s frustrating! I hope you can get that done soon and their process improves. I have no idea why it’s so hard 🙁 .
I’m a random 51 year old white woman in Tacoma that early retired at 45, so on the surface we only have FIRE in common, but I see so much in your life that I totally relate to. So I’ll give you random advice you can feel free to ignore: I’ve also been an awful sleeper my whole life, and I struggle maintaining my weight (stress eater). When I retired and got a handle on my sleep problem, the weight problem improved too. I will add that it helps me to monitor my weight and make adjustments if it starts to creep up, because I find it WAY harder to lose weight once it settles in!
Congratulations on 6 years of retirement! And Tacoma is near my old stomping ground of Seattle so that’s not the only thing we have in common 🙂 . That’s really interesting about sleep and weight – I’ll look out to see if there’s a correlation for me as well. I’m excited 🙂 .
Hi There,
Website is my field of profession, so I might be able to say something here for you.
Your SSL certificate says you’re still good until Jan 16 2021 before it expires, which means I can see you’re already on full https. I don’t see how you’re half https. Cost wise, if you want to change the certificate for your https to be more secured, you would need to buy a more expensive type of SSL certificate, why don’t you wait until Jan 2021 to be cost effective to do this. You should always renew on the otherhand by Jan 16 2021 your SSL certificate to keep your site secure(full https). This is good policy for google SEO.
There are different levels of SSL certificate, the higher of security the more expensive you have to buy the certificate, but I don’t see any reasons to do this for your website. A secure https such as your site can stay on the basic SSL certificate you’re using currently right now. If you had data(personal data) on your site you’re processing that needs to have more safeguards to protect the data, then I suggest you upgrade and spend more money on your SSL certificate… but if all you’re processing are blog posts…. I don’t see why you need to upgrade your SSL certificate, just stick with the basic SSL certificate that you’re already using.
I’ll take a guess and say I think you’re hosting your website on Media Temple. That email sounds familar to a couple of emails I received myself. On Media Temple you can buy the SSL certificate with the hosting company itself. I suggest you do this instead of buying from other companies, simply for one reason, Media Temple SSL certificates are good and its easy to install the SSL certificate with just a one button click to install it after you buy it. Remember it takes 24 hours to wait for the SSL to take effect after installing.
Hi! Thank you so much for all that information – it sounds like I should be good for now then!
Hey I just found your blog when googling “100 day sober challenge” (which I’m planning to do… right after this fucking election is over!) – binge read a bunch this afternoon and I relate SO much (except that I have kids – but I totally understand the kid free thing – probably sort of like how I look at dog owners and think they are nuts). I have been interested in minimalism and FI for about 10 years, I’ve been reading MMM since he started and am a total numbers geek. My major was industrial engineering and I’ve always believed in the “optimizing one’s life” philosophy.
Anyway my question for your next post – what was your career, your career path, and what advice would you give other young people starting out re: choosing work?
Have you started the challenge? Let me know how it’s going! And haha on the parents vs dog owners – that’s a funny comparison. Your question sadly didn’t make it into the post, but here’s my answer: I worked in marketing my whole career. I started in ad agencies and then went into the more general marketing field. My advice would be to balance what you think will make work tolerable with what can make money down the line. At least for me, all job are just that – jobs, not callings and I want to get paid appropriately for that.
I chose marketing because it looked less stuffy than the corporate jobs my Mom had and allowed things like jeans in the workplace and couches 😉 while allowing me flex my creativity a little and also pays well as you move up. In comparison, a few of my friends straight up followed their dream industries that pay no money only to discover they are still stressed and not loving it, but on top of that they’re stressed about money as well. If that sounds like something that might happen to others I would suggest making money a factor in choosing work.
I love hearing about the nature exploration! Tennessee warbler and ant ID is new to me but woollybear caterpillars are the best. Birds – whether you catch them all or just learn the ones near where you are really well – they are delightful.
Completely delightful 🙂 . So glad you’re enjoying it! I’ll keep it up.
Thank you for sharing your journey with us. As a 50 year old African American woman, your success has been so inspiring, and I’m very proud of you “Purple”.
Regarding your invitation to ask questions that you’ll be answering next Tuesday, I’m very interested in learning specifics of how you’re accessing your early retirement dollars. Your drawdown strategy? How many buckets do you utilize now that your money is no longer being reinvested? Any specifics you’re willing to share would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you again,
Mrs. Jones
Thank you!! That’s so wonderful to hear 🙂 . Thank you for your question – I answered it in the post today. As for the buckets I currently have: Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, Taxable and Cash. That’s it 🙂 .
Sounds absolutely lovely! I’m loving how in sync you’re able to be with nature now and how observing it appears to be energizing you in so many different ways.
BTW we have a Pyrrharctia Moth caterpillar hibernating in a little caterpillar container in our shed! We always find a bunch here before the first frost so the kids wanted to take care of one… I’m really excited to see if it survives the winter and builds its cocoon next Spring.
Just call me Te Fiti 😉 and yeah I’m loving it so much! It’s like living in a different world than I used to strangely. And aww that’s so cute and amazing! I hope they cocoon – that would be so cool to see!
Question for your Q&A tomorrow.
First off, I’ve been following your blog since January of this year and it has, like many other ppl, inspired me. So thank you. 🙂
I’m currently 25 and have started my fire journey about a year ago, roughly the same time as when you started! So finding your blog was a godsend because I see you as my future me! :).
My question for you: So I’m currently in tech and am making great money, but the work is grueling. How did you cope/manage times of doubt during the working years? Y’know, those days when you just want be done with work right there and then :D. I find myself overworked a lot and thinking about the future far too much. I wanted to hear your perspective on how you dealt with these times and now looking back, what you would have changed.
Thanks again and wishing you all the best!
Yay! Thank you for telling me that 🙂 . Your question didn’t make it into the post unfortunately (I write in advance so I don’t stress myself out and have time to edit), but I’m happy to answer here! If it’s impatience you’re dealing with I’ve talked a bit about things that helped me keep it at bay in the posts below. However, if the work is just plain grueling I would change jobs or careers honestly.
The main reason I kept job hopping was to find jobs I enjoyed more (or hated less lol) and when I found the best one (my last job) I stayed for 4 years even though I knew my salary trajectory would basically stop because it was tolerable. I know that’s really tough to do though. I’m curious to hear what you decide!
https://apurplelife.com/2020/05/19/stages-of-impatience-on-the-path-to-financial-independence/
https://apurplelife.com/2019/07/09/14-months-to-retirement-battling-the-impatience-beast/
https://apurplelife.com/2018/12/11/beating-impatience-in-the-final-stretch-to-retirement/
Great to hear that your creativity hasn’t been impacted. I’ve always wondered how interests get impacted after retirement. When the majority of our major responsibilities are behind us.
Yeah I’m happy to report it’s better than ever 🙂 .