Live. Love. Laugh.

According to Psychology Today, people who have a fun-starved life have worse health outcomes than people who take time to enjoy their life. And frankly, I don’t want to be old and pruny and withered and not have had any fun along the way.  But it’s taken a priority shift for me. When I first started blogging, eons ago, I was uber frugal. At one point, our house was 90 degrees because I wouldn’t…

I’m several months into my Year of Fun experiment, and I have to say, I’m enjoying myself. I’m riding horses again. I’m learning to sew. I’m planning parties. I’m traveling more. I’m giving myself an enjoyable time – despite the post-COVID hellscape we currently live in. And it’s nothing like I’d expected it to be.  My original goal with this experiment was to try one fun thing a month and see…

I hate cooking. I hate that you have to do it every day, several times a day. But what I’ve learned about myself is that cooking is easier if you meal prep. Cooking once and eating all week is amazing. So amazing that last night, I found myself dancing while spreading rub on my pork chops.  What changed?  I started looking for ways to have fun. This journey has already reshaped the way I think…

One of the books I’ve read in preparation for my Year of Fun is Codependent No More. Written by Melody Beattlie, part memoir, part research, the book goes over major strategies to help eliminate codependent behaviors from your daily life and embrace a life of recovery. Written originally to help partners of alcoholics and drug addicts, it’s been helpful for me despite not being the target…

I’m a little apprehensive about starting this experiment. My Year of Fun. It’s going to be fun, I’ve decided that. I mean, it’s an experiment of fun, after all. But my anxiety is telling me that I won’t stick with it, or I’ll get bored. A year is an exceptionally long time to stick to something. And my year is looking exceptionally busy.  I have grad school coming up in June. I’m saving, rather…

I started Year of Fun project out kind of as an impromptu experiment. Can I add more fun in my life by just being intentional about it?  I used to be a work-hard, play-hard kind of person, but that version of myself has slipped kind of to the back burner. I burned out. On work. On play. I slipped into a mediocre version of myself, the kind of self that needs rejuvenation.  If you missed my last…

My 12 Fun Themes  I’ve decided to tackle my Year of Fun (how creative of a name) by thematically trying out different types of fun. I want to focus in on different types of fun because it helps me limit what I’m going to be doing for a given month. I have serious decision fatigue, so a plethora of options isn’t going to be the best option for me.  I haven’t quite decided which month will house…

My brother is a collector of coins. Since we were young, we’ve gone into pawn shops, antique stores, and coin shops, on a quest to find the next piece to add to his collection. It’s great fun, especially because he gets excited about each new purchase. He spends copious amounts of time pouring over his collections, catalogs, and deciding what coin he wants next. This hobby, curated from when he…

y'all the last three months have been weird af

When I was laid off last year, it left me with a gaping hole in my self-worth. If I could get laid off from a dream job, what hope was there for me, really?  Unfortunately, as an adult you can’t wallow in self-pity – you have to pay your bills. So I fell back on the one job I’ve always enjoyed. Horseback riding.  How is that a job? Yes, you can turn that into a job. Not a job that pays good…

whoops, I'm writing again

I started this blog five (FIVE?!) years ago when my former husband and I were broke, in debt, and trying to figure out how to make ends meet.  Now I’m less broke, still in debt, and trying to figure out what to do with my life. But I have a great personal finance community to fall back on, even if I’m not actively in the space. I’m also very gay, so the lack of a husband thing is also kind of a…

Why You Need Diverse and Inclusive Content in Today’s Economy

As a brand, you need to be producing diverse and inclusive content. And no, I don’t mean just slapping on a picture of a queer couple on a hero image and calling it good. I mean representing and writing to people of different backgrounds.  It’s important. It’s so important that the first time I saw a car commercial about two gay women I cried. Big, sloppy tears. I had never seen something that…

I worked out my 2022 goals. They're not much, but they're mine.

2021 was a reset year for me. I spent the year learning to live with bipolar and rebalancing my life. It’s been a huge adjustment, and I lost a lot of forward progress. I made financial choices without truly being in my right mind (being manic is a bit like you’re on drugs) and set myself up for financial failure.  Right now, I’m treading water without a flotation device, and that’s hard.  I…

The Next Six Years

I’ve always been known for having a 100 year plan. When I was a kid, I’d dream out the rest of my life in great detail. Now that I’m staunchly in my mid twenties, I don’t look so far in the future. Life is a lot messier than my eight year old self gave it credit for.  But I can plan for some things. Right now, my financial life is a bit of a mess. But it’s not going to be that way forever. Over…

A Year in Review: How 2021 Treated Me | Let's talk about mental health and money, and how expensive healthcare is in America.

If you’re wondering what the end of a manic episode looks like. It’s $10,000 in credit card debt and a crushing amount of financial stress. It’s also $5,000 in medical bills that you owe for the privilege of being diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. And exactly no coping skills for where to go from there. Did I mention money stress? Earlier this year, I had a manic episode which put me into the…

It's My Birthday, I'll Update My Net Worth If I Want To | I got divorced over a year ago, and I'm finally sitting down and tracking my money. Here's we landed a year later.

Hello long-time readers, I’m sure you’re wondering how my finances are doing since I haven’t posted a net worth in… well, it’s been a while. I’m currently working with a financial advisor to put together a long-term plan that helps me get out of debt and save for retirement. It’s never a bad thing to check in with a financial professional if you’re feeling shaky about where you’re headed. As…

Are you worried about your student loan payments? Me too! Here are the tools I'm using to make sure I'm prepared for October, when we need to start paying them back.

One of the only (okay, the only) benefits of the pandemic for me has been the student loan payment deferment. This benefit comes with a price tag of almost 500k lives at the time of writing (and by the time this is all said and done, I imagine it will exceed 1 million lives). Our government shouldn’t have needed a pandemic to issue aid to those struggling with crushing student loan burdens. But…

In 2021, I’m Reclaiming a Remarkable Life

While I’m not making huge New Year’s resolutions after the aftermath of 2020, I do have one. To figure out what content I want to put out into the world, and it hasn’t been easy. Most times when I sit down to write, I just blink a million times before giving up and working out, but that’s not helpful to anyone.  And it also allows me to give into the giant imposter syndrome I’ve been feeling for…