Reality is setting in y’all. I feel similar to how I did right before we moved across the country without a house, job or knowing basically anyone on this side of the country. I had made the decision and I knew it was the right one, but it was still terrifying. I was leaving the best job I’d ever had behind, along with the best apartment I’d ever had and all the friends I’d made in my adult life. I was petrified. Continue reading “6 Months To Retirement: This Is Starting To Feel Real”
I recently received a reader email asking about how I blog anonymously. I sent her a (probably) way too long response and realized these tips might be able to help others as well, so here we are. Here’s what she said: Continue reading “How To Blog Anonymously”
My partner and I recently celebrated 11 years of being together. Last week also included the suspicious holiday of Valentine’s Day (I’m suspicious of holidays that corporations use as a means to promote spending money and buying crap, but I digress). Because of these two events, this seemed like a good time to reflect on how my partner and I are able to celebrate our love without throwing our wallets out the window. Continue reading “How To Celebrate Love Without Breaking The Bank”
This is a continuation of my monthly series that records what’s happening in my final stretch to early retirement. If you’re interested in previous posts, they’re here.
Somehow another month has passed. Being in the actual calendar year I plan to retire has made time seem to go a lot faster than I anticipated. Even when there were 12 months left I must admit it still felt like a slog, but now that I’m deep into planning my next life, booking travel for retirement and trying to figure out how to get rid of basically everything I own: time is flying because there’s so much to do! Continue reading “7 Months To Retirement: There’s So Much To Do!”
It’s happened y’all! I’ve worked long enough to earn 40 social security credits and have now been inducted into the club of Americans who will receive some of the money the government has been taking from my paycheck my whole career. WOOHOO! Continue reading “I Qualify For Social Security! (But I’m Not Depending On It)”
About a year ago, a potential new hire reached out to me. I’m a black woman, the only African American at our company at the time, and the new hire is also a black woman who wanted to know how my experience has been at this (very white) company in this (very white) marketing industry. She asked about specific things like diversity, inclusion and microaggressions.
Continue reading “Microaggressions And Giving Up On My Favorite Company”
Five years ago, I was sharing a studio apartment with my partner. It had 200 usable square feet (the rest was a hallway) and faced an office building and the parking lot of a dive bar that is known for having a swing over the bar top (classy place 😉 ). Continue reading “Lessons Learned After Half A Decade On The FIRE Journey”
This is a continuation of my monthly series that records what’s happening in my final stretch to early retirement. If you’re interested in previous posts, they’re here.
There are 8 months and change until I quit my job forever. That amount of time at once feels short and long. On the short side, I remember vividly what I was doing 8 months ago – work and non-work activities. Though if I try to think back more than 1.5-2 years, I only remember the non-work activities, which gives me reassurance that I’ll realize none of these nonsense job dumpster fires will ‘matter’ in retirement – or ever did really matter. Continue reading “8 Months To Retirement: Shifting My Mindset To “This Is The Last Time””