My Open Wallet

Reading the retirement issue of the New York Times Magazine this weekend reminded me that I still have things to say on these topics, despite the lack of posting! The "FIRE" acronym has been arou...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2024/05/the-fire-is-still-burning.html

When I was working on reporting my net worth to you the other day, I was surprised to see that it was about $3.3 million! I immediately knew I shouldn't get too excited, though. It wasn't the fir...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2023/03/duplicated-securities-in-quicken.html

In a previous post, I gave a run-down on all my 2022 expenses, in the form of a total for Sweetie and me. It's a more accurate way to do it, otherwise it might look like my food budget was shocki...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2023/03/2022-income-and-year-end-net-worth.html

The commenters have been clamoring! I know I've been delinquent, I keep meaning to post here more often and for some reason always put it off. But yes, I'm still alive and still earning and spend...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2023/03/2022-expenses.html

What a year... as I write this, I'm on the mend from my own mild case of COVID, having been finally been hit by Omicron despite being vaccinated and boosted. (I got it from extended indoor, unmas...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2022/01/2021-year-end-update.html

 I was going through a notebook that I've been keeping for the past couple of years that has a page in it where I jotted notes about things to write blog posts about. Obviously there is a lot I ...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2021/01/things-i-thought-id-write-about.html

 I have been so checked out on blogging and hadn't even seen the comments on my last post until just now. It is good to hear updates from longtime readers-- some sad news, unfortunately, but als...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2020/12/another-2020-update.html

It has been another good long time since I’ve posted… and what a strange time it’s been! I feel like the world has totally changed. COVID-19, baby! First of all, I am very lucky to be able...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2020/09/2020-update.html

Clothing is one of the areas where my spending has really decreased since I stopped working. I used to work in an environment that was relatively casual by corporate standards, but I still had to...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2020/01/spending-money-on-clothes.html

It's been almost a year... yikes. Where to begin? I actually don't have any major news. I'm still kind of adjusting to my "new" life. That has involved some higher than usual expenses as we dec...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2020/01/still-alive-still-spending-still-saving.html

I was recently in the city to have lunch with some friends, and I think it may have been the first time I ever went to a credit-card-only restaurant. There was some confusion as we tried to figur...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2019/02/cash-is-stranger-to-me.html

That seems to be about the frequency I'm posting with lately! I really appreciate the comments from longtime readers and am glad to know you are still checking in! And it is good to hear from you...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2019/02/my-quarterly-blog-update-whats-up-with.html

I should be proud of my financial situation, right? I've worked hard, saved and invested, and reaped the benefits. But one thing I left out of my post the other day about some of my friends who r...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2018/11/embarrassment.html

Back in my Palm Pilot days, I was such a junkie for the newest and latest device, it became a pretty significant part of my spending, even if I did lessen the blow by selling unwanted devices on ...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2018/11/tech-check.html

I continue to enjoy my leisure as a "retiree." I'm healthy, I feel relaxed, I go to the gym a lot, I read a lot of books. I continue to feel incredibly lucky, especially when I hear about other p...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2018/11/life-goes-on.html

So here’s an interesting development: I just found out I qualify for Medicaid, at least for the moment. Now before you jump all over me saying I’m a greedy conniving cheat who shouldn’t b...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2018/07/a-millionaire-can-get-medicaid.html

A commenter on the previous post asked if I'd share the calculations that made me feel confident about retiring early. I'll give you a simplified version! There are a few different ways that pe...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2018/03/my-early-retirement-calculations.html

I'm not just talking about the stock market these last few days-- I'm talking about the last few months of my life. You would think I'd have spent more time blogging lately, given that I quit my...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2018/02/a-whirlwind-of-volatility.html

Consider this a sequel to my last post, in which a woman's family money seemed to be funding some luxuries for an otherwise frugal couple. This time, the story is about a childhood friend of mi...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2017/11/another-down-to-earth-heiress.html

It's been a while since I wrote about other people's money! I've been jotting down some notes over the last year or more about various situations I've encountered with friends or family whose fin...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2017/11/enough-about-me.html

 I’ve got a few weeks of retirement/vacation/unemployment under my belt now… and I’m still not sure what to call it! But I have already made a few discoveries about myself. Firstly, that I...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2017/10/new-life-so-far.html

In my last few posts, I was working my way towards a big life change... and now I've taken the next big step. I quit my job! It was both a big step and strangely anti-climactic, since I hadn't be...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2017/09/its-done.html

Another important point brought up by a commenter on a recent post— how am I going to get health insurance if I leave my job? The short answer is that I’m going to pay through the nose for it...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2017/06/health-insurance.html

Several commenters have asked if I could move out of NYC and work remotely at my current job. I have definitely thought about this option. Unfortunately, in my current position, it would be a non...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2017/06/remote-work.html

This is always the key question in thinking about retirement. How do I want to live, where do I want to live, what will I be doing, and what's it all going to cost? I'm still grinding away at my...

http://www.myopenwallet.net/2017/05/how-do-i-want-to-live.html