Finding joy on the journey to financial independence
Not once. Not twice. But three times. And maybe (quite possibly) one last time, when I finally hit financial independence, but only time can decide that fate…
It’s been 10 years since I left academia and ended up taking my first massive pay cut. So I figured, what better way to celebrate this 10-year anniversary than with a trip down pay-cut memory lane?
Continue reading “Taking A Pay Cut Was The Best Thing I Ever Did”Or should I say, for the financial independence retire early (FIRE) knowledge I have gained and the lifestyle I have adopted, since I’m not officially financially independent yet.
Continue reading “I’ve Never Been More Grateful For Financial Independence”It’s really here!
Continue reading “The Next Downshift Is Here”Well, folks. The world is wild right now. Maybe because of this, maybe not, I’ve missed some blog milestones. The 3-year anniversary of DINKS on a Bus has come and gone. My 1-year anniversary of hitting Flamingo FI (half my FI number) has come and gone. I had high hopes to write posts to commemorate these occurrences and more, so today, I’m coming at you with a GIANT update post. An update of all the things: from how I’ve made shifts in saving my money, to switching to (yes, another) new job, to buying a new (to me) car. Read on for all the details!
Continue reading “All The Updates! 1 Year Of Flamingo FI and What’s New At Work”Today, I’m going to tell you about my favorite purchase of 2024. But to do that, I have to tell a little story. Most of my posts have stories weaved into them, because I love using storytelling in my writing. Today is really no different, but this post is perhaps even more story forward than usual. If that sounds ok to you, I hope you’ll read on.
Continue reading “The Best Money I Spent In 2024”As some of you know, I was a speaker at the 2024 Slow FI Retreat, hosted by the Fioneers in early October. I had such an amazing time, for so many reasons. For starters, it was my first in-person FI event, something I had looked forward to for a long time. Meeting other like-minded folks with similar values when it comes to money is completely underrated. Even though I knew it would be wonderful, the impact of this still exceeded my expectations.
But what I want to talk about today is a topic that came up a lot at the Slow FI retreat: purpose. I finally got to meet Jordan Grumet (Doc G) at this retreat. Jordan is someone I have been following for quite some time now and whose ideas and beliefs around the topic of purpose have really resonated with me throughout my financial independence journey. He has a new book out on the topic as well, and I can’t wait to read it. Today on the blog, I’ll tell you more about some of Jordan’s thoughts around purpose, as well as share some of my own. I hope you’ll read on!
Continue reading “Finding Purpose on the Journey to Financial Independence”Alright, friends. It’s big announcement time! Long-time readers may know that, since starting this blog, my big financial goal has been to eventually go down to part-time work. Well, it’s finally official. It’s finally time for me to rock the boat of the traditional 40-hour, 9-5 work week. I’m now officially on an 80% work schedule at my job, with Fridays off!
Read on to hear all about how I made the decision, the process of making it happen at work, and what I’m thinking about the decision now.
Continue reading “It’s Time To Rock The Boat”Hello, friends! Last week marked my 37th birthday. For the last several years now, since 2017 in fact, my birthday tradition has been to go camping. And camping is what I did again this year, but with a twist that I’m excited to share with my financially attuned readership! I hope you enjoy this short tale that feels like a huge step for me on my personal finance journey.
Continue reading “Finally Spending On Me For My Birthday”I can’t believe it, but it’s happened! My biggest financial independence (FI) goal since starting this blog, Flamingo FI (in other words, half of the traditional FI number, or one-half of 25x yearly expenses), has been achieved! Read on to hear more about what this means to me and what I’m planning to do now that I’ve unlocked this milestone.
Continue reading “I’ve Reached Flamingo FI! Now What?”As the end of another year draws near, I find myself doing what I always do around this time: reflecting. Reflecting on all that I’ve learned this year. Reflecting on the goals I’ve achieved, the places I’ve fallen short, all the activities I did or didn’t do.
In this spirit of reflection, I’ve been thinking about how grateful I am for where I find myself right now, happily living a slow FI lifestyle, and all the financial decisions I’ve made that have led me to this very place. So today, I’m here to share some of those decisions I’m most proud of and hopefully inspire you to reflect on some of the best financial decisions you’ve made on your path.
Continue reading “The Best (Financial) Decisions I’ve Ever Made”
