Author: Mrs. DINK on a Bus

Financially Buffer Your Way To A Stress-Free Life

Ok, ok. Maybe not a completely stress-free life. But definitely a life with less stress. We could all use less stress in our lives, couldn’t we? I know I sure could!

By now I think it might be clear how much I enjoyed reading the book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown. I’ve written several posts on different themes from the book (I’ll link them at the end of this post), and today I’m coming at you with the last theme I want to relate to money: buffers.

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We Are Not Our Worst (Financial) Mistakes

I’ve been seeing a lot of posts on Instagram lately with personal finance content creators listing their top money mistakes. They range from the more simple, like buying an expensive piece of clothing they never wore or not investing sooner, to more substantial like buying individual stocks they wish they hadn’t, panic selling their shares, or taking on a loan to start a business or side hustle that didn’t work out. All these different posts/examples/graphics have got me thinking about the words we choose to use in these situations, particularly the words mistake and regret. How we use them, what they mean to us, and how they serve us in the world.

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Are We Too Scared For Slow FI?

I think it’s gotten pretty clear that I love to talk about slow FI (financial independence) on the blog. Slow FI resonates with me more than any other aspect of FI I’ve seen. Coined by The Fioneers, slow FI is a mindset related to taking a slower path to FI, using the financial freedom we gain along the way to FI to live our best lives now. But for many of us, how we may want to live our best lives now feels strange. It’s likely different than what “everyone else is doing”. It goes against the grain. It’s vulnerable. So, the question I’m going to be mulling over today on the blog is, are we too scared for a slow FI lifestyle?

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Takeaways From My One-Year Blogiversary!

I can’t believe it, but it’s officially been one year since I published my first post on this blog. Where has the time gone? It feels equally fast and like I’ve been doing this forever.

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Be The Editor Of Your Own Life

This past summer, I read and very much enjoyed the book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown. From this book, I learned a fun fact about the Oscars. I learned that since 1981, every film that has won Best Picture (which many argue is the most coveted award of the whole show) has also been nominated for Best Film Editing. The 2 awards are strongly correlated. In short, you could say a good movie is well edited.

The same can be said for life. Imagine if your life was your version of a Best Picture. To live your best life, it is also important to be really good at editing that life.

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My Why For Slow FI: Health, Connection, and Contribution

As another month comes along and the days and weeks keep rolling by, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my “why” for my financial independence journey. After setting my goals for the year, but now considering a work change and feeling unsure about how to handle the golden handcuffs, I’ve found the thing that helps the most is to remember my why. For a long time, my why has been hard to articulate. It’s been more of just a feeling, a knowing beneath the surface. But I think I’m finally ready to put it into words.

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My Vacation Recovery

Hey there, friends! As I posted last week on my Instagram page, I didn’t release a blog post last Friday because I was on vacation. I didn’t want the hassle and stress of trying to release a blog post on vacation. So I didn’t! It was freeing.

What I did do was decide to take a recovery day on the tail end of my vacation. I had great intentions to write a complete blog post on that day, to be able to release it today as usual. However, the universe had other plans in mind. So today, I bring you instead a short blog post with some pictures from our vacation and some musings on my first experience with a “vacation recovery day.” Because that’s all I’ve got in me this week. And I’m letting that be ok. I hope you enjoy!

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What Did You Love To Do As A Kid?

Whenever I’m in a situation where I’m explaining to someone that I plan to (sooner rather than later) downshift when it comes to work, they are immediately baffled. Almost every time, without fail, I get some version of the same question: “but what would you do with yourself if you weren’t working?!”

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Letting Go Of Perfection

Can you believe it’s already February?! Where did January even go? I hope everyone’s February is off to a good start!

Since the start of the New Year, I’ve been writing a lot on the blog about my goal process and how I reflect on goals from the previous year before I set new ones. Because of this, I’ve found myself reflecting on my journey with perfection: how it has affected me, how it’s changed, and how it’s made me who I am.

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Why I Said Goodbye To Facebook…And Why I Returned

Since I didn’t release a blog post as usual last Friday, I’m coming to you mid-week with a bonus post!

As I wrote in my last post, I am prioritizing friends and family this year. My mom fractured her tibia (the larger of the two bones in the leg) right before the holidays. Since she lives alone, my brother and I have been taking turns staying with her and helping take care of her while she recovers. One of the benefits of my remote job is that I can work from anywhere! So, I spent last week in my childhood home helping my mom, and it brought me so much joy. This is what financial freedom is all about for me.

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