My plan was to visit a particular city, see their downtown area and have a meal. I thought it was an 1.5hrs away but it was a bit farther and I took the longer route so it turned out to be 2 hours. The issue is that I didn't leave home early. I left closer to 1 and the restaurant I was going to was going to be closed when I got there but would reopen at 4 🙄 With that discovery, I decided to detour to another town and see what it's like there. When I got there, I saw they had Long John Silvers. I haven't seen those around here and it had been a while since I ate at one. I decided to order an old favorite. Big Mistake! I feel like they took all the salt in Utah and dumped it into the batter. The hush puppies were good, the Coleslaw was good and the fries were good. The shrimp and fish were hot but it was so salty. I tasted the corn and trashed it with the rest of the fish. For me to throw food away, it means it was bad. All I really wanted was the shrimp which I ate.  The la...

 I got a text inviting from another nurse I used to work with inviting me to a business launch on Zoom. To show support, I planned on attending. Considering the tagline mentioned health, I thought the person was starting a healthcare business. However, something this morning had me wonder if it was something else. And so I looked at the flyer again and the people on there, besides the nurse, had MBA and other titles. I don't want to disclose too much. I still planned to show up. Although I was busy watching Sumo and too excited after. I got a text  later with the link and I joined. My camera on my is off anyway. The nurse was talking about her background. The little bit I heard was about how they weren't of means when she was younger. I then had someone introduce the "Guest Speaker". That's when I muted the sound and did some reading on my Kindle app. Therefore I didn't hear the sales pitch. But I saw it was a sales pitch from a mile away. Sometime this mornin...

 I was at a wedding reception last December, so less than a month ago, when someone asked me where I worked. Usually, I get asked what I do for a living. It's easy to say "I have a degree in Nursing". But this woman asked where I worked. I simply said I don't work. She didn't believe me. She asked if I was being truthful.  Considering I don't know her very well and primarily know her from the church, I don't know why she would think that I'm lying. But I quickly turned things around to ask her where she worked. And was asking more questions when the couple came in and so I stopped.  The question about what to say when people ask what you do for a living is something I've seen asked on the FIRE subreddits. So here  is my take on it.  First of all, I try not to talk about work. I think some people ask this question just to make conversation and in some cases, it's easy to say "I have a degree in Nursing". That tends to move the conversa...

 The simple answer? Use it if you have things you need to get. There are lots of things you can use your FSA account for.  I'm leaving my job, what should I do with my FSA money? I've seen variants of this question sometimes but I don't think the people I see ask are nurses. I think a lot of times, one is so focused on moving onto the next job and not thinking about retirement accounts, insurance or FSA. And that's because most people are leaving one job for another. I think I tend to see most people worry about retirement accounts when they leave their employer. But if you have an FSA, it would be good to think about the funds in there also. Ideally, best time time to retire is January😉 Your Flexible Spending Account (FSA) contains money you have elected for the year to use. The money is sorta "preloaded" at the beginning of the year. Your employer deducts it from your paycheck during the year. If you do not use the money during the year, it's sorta gone...

 A few days ago, I decided to take advantage of a Cyber Monday deal and buy a digital product on Amazon. Initially, I converted some points into my gift card balance so I could use it for the purchase. But when it came time to buy, I decided to use my points. It was a small purchase and for no apparent reason, I decided to leave the gift card balance for another time. I barely shop on Amazon lately. And I've been a customer for over 20 years. I canceled Prime long before the Pandemic. For reference, I used to buy things on there almost daily. And back in 2005, I ordered petty household stuff from there. How could a college student afford that? Gift cards and Amazon was very cheap back then. I had also moved to a state that didn't have an Amazon presence so they were not charging taxes back then? Remember those times when Amazon had a bit of an edge from Brick and Mortar stores😁? Although prior to that, I lived in a state with an Amazon presence and they charged taxes. But I mo...

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...

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...