How I’m Dealing With Inflation
I spent $520 today at the grocery store. $520 for a week’s worth of groceries for a family of four! Isn’t that an absurd amount for any family to spend on groceries? Granted, I live in one of the most expensive states and metro regions of the country. My average weekly grocery expense normally hoovers…
On The Subject of Possessions
My kitchen has just a single lone window above the sink. Not that it’s a dark kitchen, no, the layout is open, one side opens to an adjacent living room, the sliding glass back doors, and a breakfast nook lined with windows. So my kitchen gets plenty of natural light. But that kitchen window above…
Coasting Into Summer
Finally, a post. This might be my longest stretch without posting since the inception of this blog. No, no, no, I haven’t forgotten about Happily Disengaged. Quite the opposite really. I think about my lack of writing here often. Each time I think about how I should be writing here, but then cast the thought…
The Future Is Already Here…
There’s something dystopian about waking up on a Saturday morning and then finding out your own country has bombed Venezuela and kidnapped their president. Sounds like a dream. A bad dream. When this happened to me, I laid in back in bed and closed my eyes. My thoughts swirling and swirling, trying to absorb that…
Words From An Optimist In November
When I first started saving money and investing in my mid 20’s, I was fueled by some mistaken notion that I would get rich fast from the endeavor. I would buy low and sell high. How the stock market worked? I had no clue. Index funds? Tax efficiency? Diversification? Those words didn’t exist to me.…
Fall 2025 Update
Fall is my favorite season for a myriad of reasons, but mostly because fall signifies change. A change from heat. A change in the color of the trees and east bay hills from dry golden yellow to a luscious rolling green. A change in age; my birthday is in September. My oldest daughter’s birthday is…
I Am Financially Independent
Dear readers, I have hit my FI number. Last Sunday, August 24th, to be exact, I reviewed my expenses and updated my forecasted retirement expenses on my spreadsheets. Early weekend mornings are best for this. The house is quiet. My family is upstairs fast asleep. In the summer, early light spills in through the windows…
Praise, Punishment, Repeat
I get into work around 5:30am each morning. My walk into the office from the parking garage is an easy five minute stroll across two city blocks. It’s down a steep hill, meaning I get a pretty awesome view of the San Francisco Bay and the city itself from this walk. At that time in…
A Mid 2025 Summer Night’s Dream
2025 was always going to be a special year for me, solely because it was my milestone marker on this path towards financial independence. This is the year I was supposed to retire.
My Budget For A Trip to Japan
I have a problem. It’s the worst sort of problem because it’s not a real problem. I imagine most day dreamers and travelers and story lovers have the same sorts of problems that I encounter from time to time. My mind can wander around the edges of my reality. I can get lost in my…