Finance

It’s getting real in Oklahoma City. What a month. I’m emotionally and spiritually depleted – and my finances took their expected dip.

Along with furnishing a down payment for a house, the markets also reacted because of Omicron fears. Moving and setup costs were more than anticipated.

But I’m here in Oklahoma City. I’ve been coughing and sickly since I moved in – and two days after I closed, my dad died.

So I drove all way the to Mississippi to get my stuff and go to his house, which went terribly. His wife was awful to me. I missed a lot of work and the following week was Thanksgiving.

Now there’s talk about a new Covid variant and I am still shell shocked. My nervous system is shot and I haven’t even begun to process everything that’s happened.

This month, I should find out who my new mortgage holder is (my lender is going to sell the mortgage) and be able to add my house and mortgage account to my net worth calculations.

I almost didn’t post this month. My finances are in flux and things haven’t settled yet from the move. But in the spirit of honestly documenting this journey, I’m here, raw as I am, dips and all.

I will say – the house is so, so sweet. Such a good energy. Once I catch my breath, I can’t wait to get it decorated and furnished and work in the yard.

But for now, I’m being extra extra gentle with myself. Losing a parent you weren’t really close with has so many complicated emotions.

December 2021 Freedom update

Read More

Hi again from Upstate New York! I’ll be here a couple more weeks, then drive to Vermont and Delaware – then home to Memphis. From there, I’ll regroup and maybe do one more big loop around the Southwest this winter.

And then?

Well, you know I don’t plan that far out – but I’ve been looking at houses in Memphis and will hopefully snag one soon.

This Freedom update finds me with my highest-ever net worth, up over $13,000 since last month, and nearly halfway to my $500,000 goal.

When I leave here, it will have been two months in Upstate New York. By staying at a friend’s house, I’ve been able to save all my extra cash, complete my savings goal, and put the excess into my taxable brokerage account. My only expenses have been groceries and eating out, with the occasional splurge.

Professionally, it’s been great too. I started writing for NextAdvisor on Time.com and have built up a cadre of articles on Business Insider. I’ve also been killing it at my regular 9 to 5, and posted on social media every day in August 2021 as part of my trashy mystery witch school (which I’ve been doing for one year now).

You can follow me on Instagram for thoughts about divine masculinity, sexual awakening, daddy issues, travel and travel memories, investing, and random slice-of-life stuff. 🍉

Now for the money! 🤑

September 2021 Freedom update

Read More

This August 2021 Freedom update finds your protagonist in beautiful Oak Hill, NY – upstate in the Catskill Mountains. It’s certainly welcome after July 2021, which was a doozy of a month. I went from West Virginia to Pittsburgh to Philadelphia to upstate New York.

Not gonna lie, in Philly I started to get travel fatigue. I found the city overwhelming. Plus, it was really hot while I was there. Here are reviews of recent stays at the Kimpton Palomar and Hyatt Bellevue in Philadelphia. And here’s my West Virginia trip report.

But now I’m staying at a friend’s house for a month or so, which will help me save cash. In fact, I’ll meet my $30,000 savings goal this month, then switch to investing all my extra income (and soooo excited about that).

After all the short stays last month, I’m firmly a believer in staying put for at least three weeks. After a month, I start to feel froggy, but two weeks is too short, so I think that’s the sweet spot for me.

OK I have a lot of ideas to share so let’s hop to it.

August 2021 Freedom update

Read More

Hi from wild and wonderful West Virginia! I’m stationed right outside New River Gorge National Park – our newest one. The Mountain State surely lives up to its name. I’ll spend the weekend hiking in the park and exploring the little towns up and down the 53-mile stretch of river the park occupies.

After this, it’s Pittsburgh for a week, Philadelphia for a week, and finishing the month in upstate New York in the Catskill Mountains.

In the background, I’ve stuck to my investment strategy and have been stashing away everything I can to build up savings. I’ve almost reached my savings goal and will shift into throwing every spare cent into my taxable brokerage account – something I’ve been looking forward to for a while.

Before that happens, I have a couple of expensive hotel stays to pay for. Asheville and Fayetteville (where I am now) were expensive tbh. That’s part of the danger with choosing the place instead of chasing the cheap deals, but I wanted to see them both.

After upstate New York, I’ll be more open to following cheap prices. And I’ll be able to complete my savings goal in the next month and switch to investing mode.

Despite everything, I’m still up almost $8,000 this month over last – and at 42% of my $500,000 goal. Let’s get into it.

July 2021 Freedom update

Read More

Howdy from Knoxville! I’ve been in Tennessee for a couple of months, but later this week I’m heading to Asheville, North Carolina – and very much looking forward to it!

Tennessee’s been great. I reconnected with hiking and made an effort to get moving and active again. Now I’m unstoppable, especially after climbing mountains in the Smokies this weekend.

On the money front, things held steady. I’m up ~$4,000 despite wild market gyrations. I was able to throw $1,000 into savings and pay off every cent I put on my credit cards. And I didn’t hold back this month with the eating (and drinking) out .

I had a friend in town and woof, Nashville is an expensive city. I’m caught somewhere between living in the now and saving for the future… but let’s say “the now” took over a little more this month.

Oh and I’m newly a Hyatt Globalist member! All it took was a 29-night stay, but it worked out almost exactly as planned. Actually, I came out ahead of my calculations by a bit.

It feels so good to be transient (and I don’t use italics a lot).

June 2021 Freedom update

Read More

Y’all – I am so close to $200,000 that all I need is one good day in the market and I’m there. I’m officially at $198,676, which is 39.7% of my $500,000 goal. So close to 40% that I’m gonna go ahead and call it.

Hi from Nashville! I’m at a Hyatt Place about 25 minutes northeast of downtown. I’ve been here for nearly two weeks, and it’s been great so far! I’m eagerly awaiting my Hyatt Globalist status to kick in and in the meantime, I’ve been living and working.

There’s free breakfast with coffee and snacks to last most of the morning, and a fitness room where I can work out in the evenings. The local places have great lunch deals and happy hours, and I’ve been able to see a couple of things in Nashville and walk some quiet nature trails with my dog.

I’m beginning to find my rhythm with this digital nomad stuff, though sometimes it’s weird to realize I don’t have a permanent address any more. But like, good weird. I also have to always be planning ahead, which energizes and simultaneously stresses me. But like, a good stressor. Can you tell this is new for me?

May 2021 Freedom update

Read More

Hi from Memphis! The last month has been an absolute whirlwind. I intended to do an update in late March, as usual, but then decided it would be better to do these updates near the beginning of the month instead.

The start of this month was Easter – and I was in Oklahoma meeting my bio-son for the first time, which was incredible. When I got back, I was exhausted – still am. But wanted to get this posted.

Also at the end of March, I rented a truck and put all my stuff in storage. I’m now living on the road for an indefinite amount of time. I’ll be in Memphis for a few more weeks. Then Nashville for a month, Knoxville for two weeks, and Asheville, NC, for two weeks. And northeast for the summer.

And I dare say I’m saving more money than before? I’m getting close to a $200,000 net worth.

Living debt-free on the road: so far, so good.

April 2021 Freedom update

Read More

Well, this month just about broke me. There was a historic, once-in-a-generation cold snap in Texas accompanied by power outages and wind chills of -15 or more. I found myself without heat, power, water, and internet for the better part of a week.

And there was nowhere to go because the roads were a slick, icy mess. Fort Worth had a 133-car pileup. I considered going to a hotel, but didn’t want to risk it. For the power I had, I paid $9/kWh and over $700 in electricity for February alone. My lease expired and I’m now paying a $400 per month upcharge.

Things are better now, but overall February was a cold, miserable month where I did work by candlelight and got price gouged out the eyeballs.

But, the positives: I had never ran out of food, work was amazingly sympathetic, and my net worth rose nearly $10,000 despite everything. I now have all the creature comforts again, but it’s too little, too late. Next month, I have some personal news to share but the gist of it is: I’m finally leaving Dallas!

More on that soon!

February 2021 Freedom update

Read More

Since last month, I went from 33% of the way toward my $500,000 net worth goal to 35% of the way there. Once I reach $200,000, I’ll be 40% of the way. I find that breaking it up into little steps is a lot more manageable than thinking about the entire goal all at once.

This month finds me sitting at ~$173K, so I’m focused on ways to reach that next milestone. The stock market has been kind, and I’m back to rebuilding my savings after paying off all my credit cards and car note last month. All told, I’m up ~$8,000 this month. And in a few days, I should be getting the first deposit into my new 401k from the job I started a few weeks ago.

Now that I have no liabilities and only assets to think about, my finances have gotten a bit… routine? So of course I have to rock the boat.

I’m seriously thinking of moving some assets to Bank of America – enough to qualify for the Platinum Honors tier in the Preferred Rewards program – and opening a couple of new cards and a checking account with them. But the thought of switching from Fidelity to Bank of America and from earning points to cashback is giving me heartburn.

Thus are the thoughts that find me on this cool, rainy evening in north Texas.

January 2021 Freedom update

Read More

Happy Holidays! 🎄 I feel a little bad for saying this but… 2020 was actually a really good year for me. No, I didn’t travel nearly as much as I wanted and being at home all year with an occasional trip to the grocery store wasn’t what I had in mind. But I did a lot of good, important work. Most of it inward.

I know this year has been hard for so many people, and I almost don’t want to celebrate my wins publicly. But that’s what these posts are about, and I’ve always posted when things have been down. So with that…

I’m hoping 2021 will be the year I thought 2020 would be: lots of travel, live music, and exploration. During the last year of reflection, I’ve been wanting to leave Dallas, reconfigure my future, and take control of my finances.

And I’ve been doing well on that last part! I have so much to tell you. So much has happened right at the end of the year.

December 2020 Freedom update

Read More