January 2020 Progress Update
BY Ms. Vine
Monday February 17, 2020 0 Comments Blog, Progress Update, Uncategorized
What is with these winter months lagging? We had a full and busy month, but it still feels like the month dragged by. The good news is that we feel a bit more settled and like we are finding a routine. That does make for somewhat boring monthly updates. Half of my immediate family celebrates... Read More
Delta vs. Spirit: Airline experience comparison
BY Ms. Vine
Monday February 10, 2020 One Comment Blog, Travel, Uncategorized
As discussed previously, we booked a hacker fare to Florida. This meant that we booked one way flights on two different carriers. On our return flight, we also booked separate itineraries due to gift card redemption. All of the details on our airfare pricing are included in this post. Today, we’re going to talk about... Read More
Should we upgrade our timeshare?
BY Ms. Vine
Monday February 3, 2020 0 Comments Blog, Personal Finance, Travel, Uncategorized
Recently, Mr. Vine sat down and plotted out each of our “big” vacations from now until our expected Financial Independence Day. By “big” we mean trips of seven days or so that will require using vacation time from work. Part of the purpose behind this exercise was to decide how we wanted to use the... Read More
Holiday Airfare to Florida for $125!
BY Ms. Vine
Monday January 27, 2020 One Comment Blog, Travel, Uncategorized
We scored an amazingly low price on our flights to Florida over the Christmas holiday. We used a couple of hacks and some flexibility to do it, but ultimately we paid just $112.59 each for roundtrip travel from the midwest to Florida during what is the most expensive travel period. For reference at the time... Read More
Halfway to Financial Independence
BY Ms. Vine
Monday January 20, 2020 One Comment Blog, Lifestyle, Personal Finance, Uncategorized
During 2019, we crossed the halfway to financial independence milestone. On one hand, this feels like a huge deal. On the other, it feels like financial independence is just as far away as it ever was. It also feels strange because for most of our financial journey, we did not have a finish line in... Read More
December 2019 Progress Update
BY Ms. Vine
Monday January 13, 2020 0 Comments Blog, Progress Update
December was a strange month. I typically write these monthly updates in pieces. Once a week or so, I’ll edit the draft with an update on what we did over the past week. Some months, we have so much going on that I choose what to include. December felt slower, but it wasn’t. It helped... Read More
Planning for a South Florida Holiday
BY Ms. Vine
Monday January 6, 2020 0 Comments Blog, Travel, Uncategorized
Our South Florida vacation was about a year in the making. We prefer to use our timeshare when we travel over Christmas. Even though points are at a premium during this week, there is no cash outlay. We do pay our annual maintenance fees, which equate to a similar cost with a one week stay... Read More
Year in Review: 2019
BY Ms. Vine
Monday December 30, 2019 One Comment Blog, Lifestyle, Personal Finance, Progress Update, Uncategorized
We had a pretty great year in 2019 in many respects. The market gave us some nice boosts and we were able to maintain a higher savings rate. We achieved this primarily through decreased spending. We paid off our last car loan! It’s nice to know that’s something we’ll never need to have again. During... Read More
20 Goals for the 2020s
BY Ms. Vine
Monday December 16, 2019 0 Comments Blog, Lifestyle, Personal Finance, Travel, Uncategorized
I’ve never made “decade goals” before. But now that the 2010s are coming to an end, I realized how much we accomplished over the last 10 years. I thought it might be fun and useful to set some intentions for the decade to come. So by the time it’s the end of 2029, we hope... Read More