I Don’t Regret Spending $7,000 On A Plane Ticket

by A Purple Life, posted in Musings, Spending, Travel

Now hold on! Hear me out. My Mom came to Seattle for my birthday and we started talking about money – as usual 🙂 . My favorite. My partner commented that while his values and spending have never really changed – mine have. And he cited as as example me spending $7,000 for a $21,000 roundtrip First Class ticket on the luxury airline Emirates to the Maldives while in my second year in NYC. While we were talking I realized something shocking: I don’t regret buying that plane ticket. Despite it being 35% of my current budget I don’t regret what I did. Let’s go back in time and investigate why. Continue reading “I Don’t Regret Spending $7,000 On A Plane Ticket” →

Am I A Minimalist?

by A Purple Life, posted in Musings, Spending

I had lunch with a colleague recently. We don’t know each other well and during our conversation she just casually said “well you’re a minimalist so..” and I’m like “I am?!?!” This came up while we were talking about my latest trip where I worked from my parent’s house on the east coast. I had left straight from the work summer party and someone had asked where my luggage was. I pointed to my regular backpack and explained that I can just borrow my Mom’s clothing because we’re the same size. This colleague considered me a minimalist because I didn’t have a lot of luggage. I explained that I just don’t like to carry a lot of things. I’m not a minimalist, I’m lazy. Continue reading “Am I A Minimalist?” →

Disappointment Over Free Money (AKA Dumb Feelings)

by A Purple Life, posted in Finance, Jobs

The human brain is insane. I’m talking specifically about mine. We come to expect what’s happening now to happen forever. This is part of the irrational exuberance that creates bubbles and crashes in the stock market. It’s our nature and it’s hard to reign in. I caught my brain in the same trap recently. We recently received our Q3 bonuses. As I’ve mentioned before part of my compensation is a guaranteed target bonus that everyone receives unless they’re on a performance improvement plan. The rest of the bonus is discretionary and based on performance. I call this the “stretch bonus.” Continue reading “Disappointment Over Free Money (AKA Dumb Feelings)” →

We’re Upper Middle Class?

by A Purple Life, posted in Finance, Jobs, Musings

Guess we need to start hanging out in a place like this – because stereotypes.

My partner brought up American classes the other day and discovered something shocking: within these weird and seemingly arbitrary classifications a household income over $200,000 OR a net worth of over $200,000 is the baseline for Upper Middle Class.

…We’re Upper Middle Class?!?! Even without my partner I’m Upper Middle Class?! That’s just baffling to me. Yes I know the bias that everyone thinks they’re Middle Class whether they make $5 million or $50,000 based on a recent NY Times article, but I still didn’t consider this. I think of Upper Middle Class people as Manhattanites that own a condo and have a club membership: not mega-spenders like the stereotypes of Upper Class, but definitely very different from what I consider my simple life. Continue reading “We’re Upper Middle Class?” →

$200,000 Net Worth = 2017 Goal Complete!

by A Purple Life, posted in Net Worth Update

I feel like I say this every time, but time is flying and money is piling up. I know this gravy train will temporarily come to an end with the next recession, but for now I am LOVING it! Seeing my money compound so fast is still crazy to me. It’s been 8 months since I hit $150,000 while in Thailand on my 10,000 day of life and here we are with 33% more. Just stupid. This has been caused by the high stock market as well as my salary being higher than I anticipated because of bonuses and investing more as a result. My goal for the end of 2017 was to have a net worth of $200,000 and we’re already there with 3 months to spare. I thought this was going to happen on my birthday in 2 days when I receive my paycheck, but instead the market has been on a rampage and I’ve reached my year end goal with 3 paychecks and approximately $22,000 left to invest this year. Just madness. We’ll see how I feel if stocks crash before the end of the year :), but for now I’m floating on a cloud. It’s time to set a new goal.

9 Months Without Sickness

by A Purple Life, posted in Keto, Musings

As long as I can remember I’ve gotten sick fairly regularly. Nothing serious, just a cold and the sniffles every 3-6 months. Usually I got sick around exam time in school – maybe because of the additional stress. I’d be the one sniffling in a quiet room and bothering everyone else. Sorry y’all! As a child I had strep throat every few years as well. I think I had it like 4 times which apparently can become deadly with that frequency. Luckily I’m still alive! Continue reading “9 Months Without Sickness” →

A Boss Who Listens

by A Purple Life, posted in Jobs, Musings

When I took my current job I knew what I was getting into. I was told that my client was “difficult,” but that didn’t concern me. That was the descriptor that has been given to literally every client and company I have worked with except the last one (though now that someone else is working with him they are calling him “difficult,” which is inexplicable to me). Continue reading “A Boss Who Listens” →