I can’t quite believe it, but last week I published my 100th blog post.
I never published my 6-month anniversary post, so today I wanted to review all those 100 posts. Hold on to your hat!
I felt a little self-conscious and anxious with my very first post, Physician in Numbers.
I then segued into some lessons from internship and residency regarding investing in a Roth IRA and buying a house.
I wrote about investments as a way to get from one place to another, comparing cash to walking and stocks to driving, in the different speeds of money.
In the fall, I wrote about choosing health insurance coverage, and compared an FSA with an HSA. I wrote later about life insurance, in how much life insurance do you need?
Around the new year, I wrote about 2 different experiences in car buying: when you have money, it’s usually easier than when you are first starting out.
There was the obligatory New Year’s post, but I tried to focus on what I achieved, rather than how far I still have to go. I was away from home January 1, so wrote a bit later about the financial rituals I do every New Year (a quick hint: calculate a net worth, review spending, write down financial goals for the next year).
Paying yourself first is, for me, a key component of making sure I spend less than I earn. I wrote about it in hiding money from myself. In order to increase the gap between earnings and savings, I needed to earn more. I find it very helpful to know how you get paid. This involves getting credit for the work that you do. It’s also important to get your FULL Salary.
Saving extra money is what helped me retire my mortgage early. I wrote about the inspiration I got from my friends, and then, as the payoff date came nearer and nearer, about indecision regarding timing, and then decisions about what to do once it was gone. Clearly one post wasn’t enough, because I wrote about it again, reviewing my options of how to spend that raise.
Speaking of inspiration, my Dad taught me plenty about money: saving for retirement, thinking about retirement, living life in general. I know I would not be here today–either blogging, or just with my interest in personal finance–without him. I have already written several posts about or inspired by him:
- He retired a little early, and I wrote about one doctor’s retirement, and the follow up, one doctor’s retirement, 20 years later.
- While my Dad was very good about saving for retirement, he also believes in living a little. We have a visible lesson that has been sitting in the living room for the last 50 years: the YOLO chair.
- My Dad was pretty sick this spring–he seems to be doing better–and I listed 5 money lessons from dad, while I was waiting for him to improve.
I also get inspiration from other bloggers. I spend a goodly amount of time each day reading posts by much more popular and influential writers, who have prompted me to write my own posts, and sometimes to put together a round-up post.
- I wrote the two-fer, in response to The Happy Philosopher’s post on stacking functions.
- 5 inspiring blog posts lists 5 posts that prompted me to actually do something.
- My Monday melange focused on student loans, and their management.
I starting thinking about what I want, in terms of life after retirement, in some posts about Future Me. I cut back soon after to 90% (or 0.9 FTE), and periodically update how that is going (not so well the first week, better after one month, it gets better as time goes on, though not always. Sometimes 90% time is more than enough.). I also made lists–I’m an internist, after all; we all make to-do lists, and I have a few, with updates in February and June.
I’m pretty sure I plan to travel more, and I wrote a long post about a trip to Greece and the travel hacking tips I used to make it more affordable. A few months later, I went to the ACP meeting in Philadelphia, and wrote two posts about it: ACP in numbers (the financial aspect), and ACP 2019 (the educational aspect). My spouse dipped his toes into the credit rewards ocean; it wasn’t as easy I we thought it would be. I wrote about it and the house of (credit) cards.
I am not really interested in becoming a minimalist, I don’t think, but I have to admit, I don’t feel great living with a lot of clutter. With the New Year, we had the Marie Kondo series on Netflix (which I haven’t yet seen), and lots of articles on why clutter is bad for you, especially women. I wrote a bit on my struggle with clearing out “stuff,” and re-started a project to clear one bookshelf’s worth of books. I had a number of updates:
I waxed a little philosophical, writing about not being a pig. I suspect the porcine rights group will be up in arms over my stereotyping in this post. I did this again around Thanksgiving, asking when are you rich? A trip to visit family around the holidays prompted some thoughts on the hedonic treadmill, and managing other peoples’ expectations (or your perception of their expectations). A forum post inspired staying the course, as it is certainly a long slog for many people between discovering financial independence and achieving it. I did a little more thinking about what keeps you going? Sometimes my to-do list is too long, and I have to struggle with The Anahafta.
I thought about money and feminism, and lessons encompassed in The Italian Job, that deeply thoughtful and intellectual movie (insert irony here). I had thought to comment more on movies, but that was the first, and so far last, post in this vein. I did, however, comment on a podcast and compile a short list of female voices in the physician personal finance space.
This is the year I turn 50, which means a lot of things to a physician who blogs about money. I talk about a few of them here. Overall, I do feel some of the push-pull of having competing goals (save more money! do more things! work less!). This caused a little angst in the drab period before spring has sprung. I discussed some frugality fails. This spring I realized that I could have it all (financially), just not all at the same time. I had to tell myself the same thing in when it rains, it pours.
I started thinking about transitions: between training and attendinghood, and then between med school and training. I put my finances from my first year as an attending under a microscope for several posts in the Retrospective Budgeting series, examining the 50/20/30 rule (it might really be the 50/30/20 rule, but I think the savings part should come before the splurging part), the Live on Half Challenge, living like a resident, and the 10% Rule. This inspired a post for Match Day, on budgeting for intern year. As July 1 approaches, I wrote about 5 financial tips for intern year.
Sometimes life gets in the way. I had a few “cheater” posts, first for New Years 2019, and then a few when I got super busy with travel, work and my Dad’s illness. A Wednesday Wool-Gathering post was a little more wordy, and a little less of a place-holder.
Then, of course, there are my Fitness Logs (posted on Fridays). Instead of linking to each and every one of them, here is their home page. I can’t say that I conquered my challenge every week, but over the past 8 to 9 months, I frequently exercised at least 150 minutes a week. I tried adding a strength building challenge in February, which has been less successful. I will take comfort in the adage, shoot for the moon; if you miss, you can land among the stars.
Looking back, I am sure that many of these posts could have been polished more, or benefited by learning more about Word Press. Starting out, I’m not sure I would have believed I would make it to 100 posts, so I’m excited to look back over my growing list of posts. I’m hoping to keep the trend going for another 100 posts!
If there are any non-related readers out there, please drop me a note. You could be my first commenter!