February 2021 Household Finances: “Unplanned Events Continue”

February 2021 Household Finances: “Unplanned Events Continue”

Comments 8 comments

February. The ancient Romans called it Februarius and it marked the start of spring for their empire two thousand years ago. Back then of course, Februarius didn’t occur at the same position of the earth’s axis as it does now. The ancient Romans used Februarius as the time to plan for the upcoming good weather and prepare the fields. And so we followed suit in the Happily Disengaged household even though it’s not quite spring. The warm weather allowed us…

Read More Read More

Is There a Wrong Way To Invest In The Market?

Is There a Wrong Way To Invest In The Market?

Comments 19 comments

Recently I’ve started purchasing individual stocks again after taking a few years off. And in addition to that, I’ve started to invest in small cap index fund shares. Now that I’m buying individual stocks again, I’ve been asking myself why I stopped picking stocks in the first place. A few questions bubble up to the top of my mind as I ask myself this. Is there a wrong way to invest money? Well, that’s a loaded question. This is like…

Read More Read More

Daydreamer

Daydreamer

Comments 8 comments

I’ve found myself in a new role at work this year. I translate blueprints into construction schedules. A lot of staring into computer monitors. Actually, I’m only staring into computer monitors. Blueprints these days aren’t what you might envision. They aren’t the lovely, unwieldy paper drawings that I can make notes on, or color in, or casually flip like a good book. Just like our currency, blueprints have gone the digital route. The first few days of this new gig…

Read More Read More

The Create to Consume Ratio

The Create to Consume Ratio

Comments 12 comments

My kids have this bad habit of complaining about being bored or calling something they don’t like boring. My girls probably overuse the word a bit, but it emphasizes their dislike for idle time. They are so used to having things at their fingertips, that any wait time instantly becomes intolerable dead time to them. They don’t know what it’s like to have to wait for their favorite song to come on the radio, or movie to play, or tv…

Read More Read More

January Finances 2021: “Personal Finance Apprentice”

January Finances 2021: “Personal Finance Apprentice”

Comments 19 comments

In January we didn’t have a mortgage to worry about and we took a spur of the moment trip to the Sierra Nevada for a weekend getaway for the MLK holiday weekend. While I usually dislike spur of the moment money spending, this trip to the snow was exactly what we needed as a family; just a few days out of our house in new surroundings doing absolutely nothing. Somehow we managed to stay in the black this month despite…

Read More Read More

Is There Really Such A Thing As Bad Luck?

Is There Really Such A Thing As Bad Luck?

Comments 17 comments

The other day I was going over my expenses and admiring my low transportation costs. How have I have gotten so lucky that my transportation costs are only 8% of my household monthly expense? That’s pretty good considering how much it costs to commute out here in the Bay Area. Tracing back my path to this point, I realized that it’s sheer luck that my transportation expenses are so low. Okay, maybe not 100% luck, but it definitely feels like…

Read More Read More

December Finances 2020: “Tires, Gifts, and Budget Busting”

December Finances 2020: “Tires, Gifts, and Budget Busting”

Comments 12 comments

December finances…we ended up spending more than we have in quite a while last month. It’s always annoying to see our expenses fly through the roof after doing well for a period, but this is life, I tell myself. I’d like to think our budget-busting was for good reason. Our home refinance went through and relinquished the January mortgage payment, and they ended up loaning too much to pay off the old escrow account. So a check for $2,000 was…

Read More Read More

Cash and Pleasant Beams of Sunshine

Cash and Pleasant Beams of Sunshine

Comments 15 comments

My money consists mostly of tiny black illuminated numbers on a computer screen and a plastic card I wave around in exchange for goods. Sometimes I’ll get a letter in the mail and my money numbers will be printed on an official piece of paper, but these balance numbers will be old and inaccurate. It’s far better to use a computer or phone to interact with my money. It’s phantom money after all. It shoots around the world at the…

Read More Read More

Thank You, 2020. Now Kick Rocks!

Thank You, 2020. Now Kick Rocks!

Comments 14 comments

It’s been a long time since I can remember a year where I’ve experienced so much while doing so little. I always thought an abundance of choices in life was what gave us the most room to grow and define ourselves. Yet, this year, this 2020, it’s the lack of everything that has defined me. The lack of travel, the lack of drinking, the lack of visiting friends, the lack of work. The lack of choice has irrevocably altered my…

Read More Read More

The Art of Hitting the Snooze Button

The Art of Hitting the Snooze Button

Comments 15 comments

I wake up twice every morning. The first time I wake up is at 4 am. This is the time I like to wake up. My alarm is set to this time. If I can will myself out of bed at 4 am, I’ll have time to meditate and sit at my kitchen table to slowly drink my morning coffee, maybe even get in some reading or writing before heading out. The second time I wake up is at 4:30…

Read More Read More