Money for the Rest of Us

For the past 2 years my partner and I have been especially frugal, saving a good chunk of money in cash each month in order to save enough money for the trip we are currently on. Yes, living in Central and South America is cheaper than living in the States- but in the States we both had steady streams of income.

Now that we’ve saved the money for our trip (plus a little extra for when we return to the U.S.) and we’re with out jobs I’ve been finding it especially difficult to part with our money. Part of me would like to spend less so that we can have more cash when we’re back for a house down payment.

Have you ever saved a lot of cash for something? How did it feel when you parted with it? Was it worth it?

I’ll be honest, I’m bringing back Money for the Rest of Us for mainly selfish reasons. But I’m also bringing it back because I know how much we gain from reading eachothers experiences. While I’ve been in hibernation I’ve still kept up with my pf blogs. Not necessarily becuase any one of them provides the advice that I need to know, but it’s because I gain a lot by reading about others.

Here are some of the reasons I bringing back this site:
1. Keep Track of My Goals: Writing my goals on this site keeps my accountable.
2. Help Me (re)Discover My Passions: Lately I’ve been feeling a bit lost and unsure about what I want to spend my time doing. I’m hoping that more frequent writing will help me rediscover my interests and passions.
3. Share My Tips with Others: I love giving advice. It’s actually one of my absolute favorite things to do. And, this blog provides me a forum for sharing my advice.
4. Make a little side income: When the blog was stagnant I earned a small income of about $1-2/day. Even if I’m only bringing in $5 a day every little bit counts.

For the past year or so I’ve been planning on quitting my job and traveling for a number of months. In the beginning of September I gave my four weeks notice and my last day was at the end of September.

It’s been a whirlwind of a month, but we have finally moved from Washington DC. We will be spending 4 months traveling the globe.

Despite the fact that we have a good amount of cash saved up to be able to travel and then to live on for several months when we return, with the market swings as of late I’ve been feeling pretty apprehensive about not having a steady paycheck.

I’m worried that when we return to the states it will take far longer than I planned to find a job.

But I know that for now I’ll be happier traveling than I would working and things will work themselves out.

Nonetheless, it’s still scary to be voluntarily quitting my job in a bear market.

It’s been a year and a half since I’ve consistently blogged. I had too many things going on in my life, but now I’m ready to bring back Money for the Rest of Us. Since I currently don’t have a job and I’m still searching for my passion I’m hoping this site will help me work out what I’m really interested in. My goal is to start back slowly. Since I’m traveling this will likely be 2 posts per week. I know the site doesn’t look at it’s best right now, but I’m going to focus on my writing for the time being. Depending on how things go I will begin to do some housecleaning.

It’s strange to bring a blog back from hibernation. I have no idea how many readers I still have out there. But I hope you’ll still continue to follow my journey.

I’ve continued to follow many financial blogs and I know how much the blogosphere has changed. So hopefully all the newer blogs will welcome me with open arms!