Long time no see (or write? 🤪)! The first quarter of 2024 has been eventful to say the least, but I really can’t complain too much. I’ve had an amazing start to 2024. To wrap up the first quarter of 2024, I will do a mini recap that will be a bit different than my usual budget/debt review format. Travel To start with, I went on a Northern Lights chasing trip to Alaska which unfortunately ended in a failure. We…
For the first time in 5 years, I missed reviewing and posting my monthly budget and spending. 😥 However, in the spirit of being kinder to myself, I’ll give myself some grace. I was gone for almost 2 weeks on my international trip and I was quite busy the weeks before finishing up preparations for the trip. The whole truth though is that I was getting burned out. I even debated whether I should continue this blog. But I’m back,…
As I was getting ready to write my June post, I was stumped to realized that there wasn’t anything truly memorable about June. As I started doing last month, I’ve been tidying up the house a bit with more home decorations. I’ve also picked up some homebody activities like Paint by Numbers which is perfect for a non-artistic person like me. One highlight this month was I went on my first business trip to visit the main office. Flight and…
I’m riding on quite a high this month. My manager was finally able to secure the raise I had been asking for! And I’m not kidding when I say I’ve been asking for it. I point blank asked for a raise over a couple of 1:1s with her because I honestly made a mistake when switching over to her team by not bringing it up. In hindsight, I realized that’s when I would’ve had the most negotiating power. Anyways, at…
Goodbye 2022, hello 2023! This post will be a short one as I plan to do an in-depth 2022 Year In Review. December was fairly low-key. I didn’t have any big family gatherings this year so it was a pretty relaxing month. I was biting my nails to see how the market would end this year and if I would hit any net worth goals. I’ll keep the suspense going until my next post! December Budget Fixed Spending I went…
I couldn’t wait to post my updates for this month! August was the best month I’ve had in a while. It honestly seems like things are finally coming back to normal, whatever this new normal is. Things have started to settle down with work so the stress level has definitely gone down. Things have also settled down in terms of home furnishing and home improvement spending so this month’s budget is starting to reflect my usual spending. Even getting COVID…
I’ve gone absolutely crazy with work this month. 2022 welcomed me with a very rare opportunity to work overtime in January with overtime pay. As a salaried employee, overtime pay is very rare. So I took this opportunity and ran with it. With no limit to the amount of overtime I was allowed to do, I worked 70+ hours per week for the entire month of January. I’ve only taken two days off this entire month! The things I do…
This month has been a huge money drain. I’ve been killing myself trying to play catch up with my 401k and Roth IRA contribution. As I’m doing so, regrets crept in. Why didn’t I start contributing earlier in the year? Oh, that’s right. Because I was too busy keeping my money trapped inside a savings account waiting to buy a house. In the midst of going crazy trying to contribute thousands per month into my retirement so I can be…
I can’t believe we’re already halfway through 2021! Unlike last month when I thought May flew by like a blur, June felt long. I felt like I did a lot this month which surprised me that with the exception of some miscellaneous spending, I’ve pretty much stayed on budget for most of my regular expenses. That breakdown along with a disappointing net worth update will be coming up later in the post. Home Update Last month, I broke the news…
Say what? I’m becoming a Day Trader and quitting my job? No, not so fast now. I guess you can say the title is a bit misleading. No, I’m not quitting my day job and throwing all my savings into Gamestop, YOLO! But I am very interested in day trading or rather swing trading. I guess you can call this my commitment post where I will attempt to keep myself accountable by putting my goal out into the world as…