personal finance
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Fear of Pulling the Plunge
Dear Conscience, I am dealing with the unpleasant topic of sorting my finances these days. Only now that I’m faced with the topic directly do I realize the level of my discomfort. I made some progress in terms of taking stock of my savings, and making a plan of moving them out of just sitting Continue reading
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Time + Money
Dear Conscience, Yesterday was a good day. Not perfect, but decent. I dipped my toe into my second big theme after Time, and that’s Finances. Even though it wasn’t a graceful planned dip, but more of a panicky rush to cool off a burn. I think my 2 days of anxiety pushed me into needing Continue reading
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Personal Finance Baby Step: Earn Interest
Dear Conscience, I continued this morning to take some steps around my finances, after taking stock of my checking accounts yesterday. Unfortunately I live in a tricky jurisdiction (a small country with limited options in terms of financial and banking products), so I spent more time than necessary to find out an option to move Continue reading
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Finances
Dear Conscience, Tuesday is here, and so is the theme of Finances. What’s up? This is probably the most anxiety-inducing topic in recent years. And not because I’m broke (I don’t feel broke in day to day life), but rather because I’m not on a sustainable path towards retirement. I’m turning 40 next year, and Continue reading
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The Lottery Indicator
Dear Conscience, Getting in control over my finances is a huge task. I do need to start small, otherwise it would seem so insurmountable that I would not even start. As noted, my main focus now is to get a steady stream of income by putting in at least 6 billable hours every workday. While Continue reading
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Quickie
Dear Conscience, today is going to be short, because I got to get to work. My goal is to bill 6 hours a day. Yesterday, I had 2. I need to work up to 6. And it has to start now. Sincerely, B. Continue reading
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Don’t Jump Ahead
Dear Conscience, I have to stop my mind from jumping ahead. Nothing will ever get done if I don’t focus on what’s in front of me. Yes, some planning and vision is needed. But this takes too much of my mindspace, fantasizing about something that’s months or years away (and maybe even not in the Continue reading
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It’s Frustrating to Persevere
Last week, I was questioning whether “perseverance” was the right term to use for what I intended to be my Friday theme. Today I learned that it’s exactly right. I want to be sorting out my future financial sustainability, and I’ve been postponing that for way too long. This morning, I wanted to open a Continue reading
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Friday: Perseverance
Not sure if I picked the right word for my Friday concept. But basically, I need some focused time to do some future-proofing. This means several things: remain flexible and adaptable as things change, keeping up with technology, staying employable, mitigating disaster scenarios, and most acutely, set up my financial future for old age. I’ve Continue reading
About Me
I got my first nickname when I was 4 years old. It was “bakitza”, which means ‘an old lady’. I’ve always been an old lady on the inside. And as I progress towards being an old lady on the outside too, I want to take control of this journey. To reach the full fledged bakitza level with a peace of mind I always associated with that life stage. I thought it would come on it’s own with age. But now I realize that I have to take control over the mess that my life currently is in order to be a thoroughly satisfied bakitza one day.
Becoming Bakitza 