Happy (almost) Year of the Dragon, everyone! Oops forgot to hit publish before I went on vacation. It’s been an awesome start to 2024 so here’s to more happy days 🙂
Spendings Report: $3,458
This month my sister visited me for two and a half weeks during the festive period for Chinese New Year and I showed her around. I also made a lot of CNY donations and gift purchases which blew up whatever semblance of a budget I usually have. All of it money well spent.
We went to Harbin to see the ice sculptures, did tacky and less tacky tourist things in Beijing, then flew to Xiamen and Zhangzhou to visit both sides of the family there.
Another big spending category is on home decor. I decided to commit to staying in my current apartment for the next couple of years so I’m making some interior upgrades. Selling off larger pieces of furniture I rarely use, and investing in decorative pieces.
Net Worth Update: pleasant surprise!
I’m so freaking close to hitting a milestone I set for myself 5 years ago. It’s going to be 6 months delayed but if we round to the nearest integer age then I would still have met it as a 30 years old :)))
I’m about a third of the way to my retirement goal, so instead of retiring at 36 as 25-year-old me planned, it might be closer to my mid-40s. This change reminds of all the posts on the financial independent subreddit from people who chose to enjoy the ride to retirement a bit more and retire later rather than retire as quickly as possible but cut out more luxuries. Currently, I do feel that I have a great balance in terms of having a job I love, having time for other things in my life, and still saving a lot for my goal of retiring early.