This calendar event popped up for me recently: “Yo, still on track, my love?” This was my gentle reminder to go pet my financial avatar, update my charts and hopefully mutter reassuringly to myself. Here’s where I stood at the end of April 2016. The red line represents my expenses each month. I derive the green line from… Read More »
A list I’ve been cultivating recently is my list of reasons why I think empathy is a good thing. I know; you wouldn’t think I’d need a list for this, but it’s one of my personal duh realizations I have to keep relearning. I’m the center of my own universe and the protagonist in my story. The space… Read More »
I wrote down another of my mother’s recipes for Operation: Try to enjoy cooking, eh? Today’s dish stars the tasty cauliflower. As much as I like this vegetable, I can’t get excited about it because I don’t spell it right. I know that’s petty. The taste is pretty good though and I think that’s what most normal people care about when… Read More »
I used to have an OKCupid profile a few years ago before I realized that Internet dating sucks the life out of my soul. Alas, I’m reading a bit about finding a partner in crime, a mate, a dude who will tell me, “hey, we’re sitting at the wrong gate; if we don’t move 20 feet… Read More »
This revelation may surprise you. Based on my emails and comments, I get the impression that you all think of me as a cheery, breezy, funny, high-spirited, thrifty, gal who you are secretly (and not so secretly) falling in love with and, while I’m loathe to dispel that myth, I have to dispel that myth. A… Read More »
Oh, hey, I was on TV! http://wgntv.com/2016/07/19/retire-in-your-30s-a-former-chicago-based-lawyer-did-just-that-and-says-you-can-too/ I can’t bear to watch this, but I did throw my hands up in the air after I crossed the item off my bucket list. By my estimation, I’m at about minute 13 of my 15 minutes of fame. Wheeee! Life is so awesome, no? The best part… Read More »
I don’t know if I’ve told you this already, but I kind of like to travel. In fact, travel is the budget hole where the vast majority of my expenses wanders into. I think. I don’t actually track my spending, so I don’t know for sure. I don’t have a really great system on finding deals,… Read More »
Some intrepid reporters interviewed me last week and, in turn, my babbling appeared in different locations around the internet. As a result, my stats are booming. The Twitter thing keeps chirping at me. I fear that my email inbox is now insurmountable with too many messages I would like to reply to, but only 24 precious… Read More »
I love the house where I grew up and where my parents still hang out, but there’s one area that I’ve long-despised. My parent’s basement: the birthplace of generations of spiders and my hatred of junk. Dad thinks every piece of paper deserves consideration. Mom used to work in retail and couldn’t resist a deal. My… Read More »
I have a long list of things I love about retirement (of course) and consistently near the top lies “the ability to stay up as late as I want whenever I want.” If I find a book that’s engrossing, I can finish it – no delayed gratification like those annoying cliffhangers on television. So, when JL Collins sent… Read More »