I had someone ask: what do you do with your time? when I mentioned that I wasn't working. That took some maneuvering to get out of. But this is a question people ask and there are people who post asking what people do with their time when they FIRE ( F inancial I ndependence and R etire E arly) at a young age. I used to wonder what the old people retiring would do with that time and thought they would get bored. Here is one suggesting for those who are wondering what to do when you Retire Early: Volunteer .  A friend texted a picture of us from an event we volunteered at. Her timing was perfect because I was feeling around the moment that I'm not "serving" enough and was feeling a "certain way" about it. She shared the flyer for an event that needed volunteers to distribute food. I've been wanting to volunteer for again for some time now but I don't feel like volunteering in a clinical capacity. My volunteer activities in the last decade or so have...

Yay! This is so exciting. One of the ways I spend my time is reading. Although I haven't done much of it this year and think I did more of it when I worked. Then again, I've had other things to this year so there's that. But a benefit of Retiring Early or getting FIRE'd is having some time for reading and I enjoy  both physical books and Kindle books.  I use the Amazon kindle app on my phone to read a lot and this morning, I saw the notification saying: You can now buy Kindle books from the android app. Find your next read. I checked it out and behold, you can. This feature had been disabled from some time. I wasn't aware of fit initially because I downloaded an old version of Kindle on my phone since I preferred that and didn't update. So even now, I can use that old phone to buy directly. However, I cannot use the app on my new phone which I've had for sometime.  I first found out a few years ago when I recommended a Kindle book to a co-worker who informed...

 This came up just moments ago as I read a message from someone who said work has been really busy today. No, they are not in the nursing field. But it brought back memories - Wednesdays were our busiest days. And I realized I do not miss it  - not the people, not the place and not the patients. I miss none of it.  Honestly, it's been more than 7 months and it doesn't seem like a long time but it's all a blur. It's almost like a part of me wanted to forget and has worked on doing so. I also have to remark that I went from 0 to Burnt out quickly. I realized I could leave and be okay back in September or so. And I was dragging my feet and kinda didn't want to leave. What was I thinking?!  But between realizing I could FIRE and about 2 months later, I was burnt out. I'll discuss when I knew  it was time to leave another time because that is a story by itself. I talked to my manager at the start of February and I'm not sure why I decided to hang around for the s...

  Yesterday, I discussed what to do at open enrollment in terms of your health plan. But your health plan isn't the only  thing available to change during open enrollment: your FSA election needs to be made. Even if you are not making any changes to your health plan, you still need to log in and elect how much you want deducted for your Flexible Spending Account or FSA. If you elected $600 last year and don't log in this year because you are not making any changes to your health plan, you will have $0 in your FSA account next year. This money doesn't just appear in your account; you have to make the election yearly. This is a good thing because you can adjust it as needed. For example, if you are going to have a baby and anticipate paying more for doctors visits, you can increase your election.  If you are anticipating having a major surgery or procedure done, you can elect accordingly. For example, if you want to get LASIK, you can make the full election accordingly. If...

Check your benefits - even if you don't anticipate making any changes.  This is something employees are used to getting emails about: open enrollment season. What do you do during open enrollment? You have a few choices during open enrollment season and a good part of it depends on your needs in regard to changes you have had. In some cases, you many not need to do anything if you wish to keep the same plans and benefits you had in the previous year. Still, I suggest that you log in and just take a look so that you are aware. Because while you many not need to change the plan you had, the plan may have changed and I think it's good to be aware of the upcoming changes. For example, the PPO plan last year may have been charging $55.01 last year. Next year, the same plan will be charging $57.97. That's almost a $3 change. It may not be significant butt it's good to know that your deductions will increase.  Sometimes, the only thing that changes in a healthcare plan isn...

 It depends...on how desperate you are (a bit of joke here😜). Seriously, It depends on your goals and needs. And in some cases, whether you're up for what they indicate in terms of the potential perils of the unit or hospital you may be working in.  I don't think they are bad. However, in some, if not most cases, they indicate a situation where the hospital or unit cannot keep staff.  And most of these units are not easy to work on. The patient acuity is high, it may have a toxic culture or  it's a toxic environment.  Think of a  mercenary going to fight a war. He knows he could be injured or die. But considering he's being paid a huge sum of money that will set his family up, he takes the risk. I suggest you think of a sign-on bonus in those terms. There is no free lunch. What will you be really  sacrificing in exchange for that money. And I'm not talking about the time spent working there. They make it seem like you are trading your time but is that...

 not having to wake up to an alarm clock.  Although it's got it's downsides. For example, a friend's text woke me up this morning. Although I would've preferred to be up earlier than I did. I was up late. As for the text, it came after 10 a.m. I have my Do Not Disturb set to automatically come on at 10  p.m and go off at 9 a.m. It used to be 9:30 but I changed it recently. And my current phone is so good about it that I don't get any kind of notification. The downside to that is that if anyone calls me before the time, it doesn't ring. It's been helpful in terms of those who've tried calling me at 7 a.m. That early? Why?  I had been wanting to wake up early and had gotten better at getting up at 7:30. A couple weeks ago, I got up late during the week and I was back to doing good this week except for today. Another downside is that I'm trying to exercise and eat breakfast early and so I didn't exercise today since I was up later than usual. I'...

Yes. Nurses can attain Financial independence and Retire Early or FIRE. Nursing is a good way to reach FIRE and you don't have to do travel nursing to do that. You can do it working a regular staff job and practicing what I call Financial Prudence. This involves investing. And there are various ways to do that. All investments require risk. And no matter how risk tolerant or risk averse you are, you can work your way toward Financial Independence and Retire Early as a nurse. You FIRE yourself.  So if you ever wonder: Can a nurse reach FIRE? Can a nurse attain Financial Independence and Retire early? Again: Yes. Nurses and other "non-tech" professions can also reach their FIRE goal. You don't have to be a tech worker to gain financial independence and retire early. I'm writing this because I've seen posts on Reddit where people want to know if people working "regular jobs" can reach FIRE. Because a lot of times, you have people with high-paying tech j...

 It's been a little over 7 months since I FIRE'd. (Financial Independence / Retire Early) It's been interesting. First of all, I wasn't expecting to do it at this age but I'm so grateful to God for helping me. It had come to mind to blog but I stayed away from the idea for a few reasons. It's come to mind again recently and I'm interested in it now. I think it would be nice to share my life since reaching FIRE. I've some unexpected things happen but God has been faithful.  What this blog is not: I'm not here to sell courses or some service. I have no interest in getting a hold of your money or your account. Personal finance is "personal" after all. This isn't a blog about someone trying to reach fire and helping others along. I have already reached  FIRE. As in I handed my employer a letter saying that I've decided to FIRE. I'll have to find the letter and post it here one of these days.  I'm hoping that as I share my journe...