So much has been going on, I don’t even know where to start. My spouse was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease just before his 40th birthday. The implications of his disease means that he will likely have mobility issues down the road, and now our financial independence has taken on a completely new dimension, as … Continue reading Curves in the Road
There is an interesting discussion on one of the online personal finance groups that I am on about Gen Xers and how we are, as someone said, the “sandwich” generation: stuck between two much larger pieces of bread. The term GenX was popularized by a Canadian writer and artist Douglas Coupland. His book (and his … Continue reading Financial independence is not about the money
Each month or quarter, I am inundated by offers for services by my bank, other competing banks, insurance companies, etc.. When our house insurance came up for renewal this month, the insurance company wanted more than 100 pounds more than they did the year before. I found a much more competitive introductory offer by our … Continue reading Saving £100 on home insurance but saying no to 0%-balance transfers. Why is it different?
I was recently speaking with a friend of mine who has a child with serious mental health needs. We were talking about the list of people that you have in your team that help you. By team, I don’t mean your spouse (though maybe he/she/they are very helpful), but I was actually thinking of the … Continue reading Yourname .Inc
There has been a lot of talk lately on some of the groups and blogs about “F-You” money. I must admit that I haven’t really thought a lot about “F-You” money before because I generally really like my career. My job is (was) a pleasure. However, there have been a number of things at work … Continue reading A golden (financial) ratio or dog-paddle everything at once?
Are you being paid less than your male colleagues? I am. Does this matter for your financial well being? Absolutely. Last week something happened to me that is both amazing given our current financially tight situation and the home buying process but also annoying. In the place that I used to work, it turns out … Continue reading Wage Gap Crap
In the last two months, three things happened: I finally got the elusive permanent academic contract We saw a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom cottage house in a quaint country village that we both love and want to buy and can afford We spent a couple of days in London, ate delicious Japanese food, and decided … Continue reading My big (40th) bday present to myself — Me
Hello from Canada! We are in the middle of a fam-cation. One of the things about living far away from our parents is that most of our vacations turn into visiting the fam-cations. Sitting in my parents’ basement allowed me to spend some time doing something that I have been meaning to do: put together … Continue reading Budget Tracking with my Bullet Journal
I just spent the last two weeks in what was a relatively intensive work period. I learned a number of things about myself during this period. First, I learned that I am often much harder on myself about things than other people are (although I also learned that you can’t please everyone and sometimes I … Continue reading Financial Independence with an Open Heart?
We found our (my?) dreamhouse this weekend. We went to go look at it, decided we could both live in it, figured that it was a good investment, crunched the numbers, and then had to let it go. It would be doable but just too tight. I looked online today and saw it was sold. … Continue reading The (un)successful house bid
