I missed to post my reflections for the last couple of months, yet I think these updates are the most informative ones… I will try to not skip months in the future.
May was very intense month, packing in it a lot of different activities. Let’s start with the beginning of the month…
In late April/early May my youngest kid caught COVID at school. So the first week of May was spent quarantining at home. Everyone was staying in their rooms, masks were worn in the common areas, food was eaten separately as well. The great thing was that we were all fully vaccinated and boosted (except for the youngest, for whom the booster was not available yet), and nobody else caught the virus. And the kid was also having mild symptoms, some headache and fever one day, but he did feel some weakness for a couple of weeks after being sick.
But, he got well, just in time to celebrate in-law’s 50th wedding anniversary! That was a blast! We rented a large house on the Oregon coast, my husband’s brother flew in with his wife and kid, and we had the full family gathering together to celebrate the awesome milestone in the lives of our parents-in-law.
What can say – there was a lot of food, beautiful decorations, many heartfelt congratulations, great wishes, dancing, walking along the coast – in short, time spent well together!
It would have been awesome trip, if DH didn’t manage to destroy the garage door of the rental on the way out. It was an honest mistake, he thought he was driving forward but instead went backward, and BAM! – the door is smashed. We immediately notified the property owner, and spend a few weeks back and forth on the solution. Ultimately, we paid a solid sum for the door replacement, but it’s better than to spoil our rating on Airbnb and have long term issues with the future rentals. We consider it our expensive lesson in being extra careful in the unknown surroundings.
Coming back to the good things, along the way, I managed to impress my niece to the point that she didn’t want to leave when the time came. We agreed that the next summer she is spending with us, at least a few weeks rather than a few short days. It’s yet another plan for when I retire early 🙂
The end of May was epic for me as well. On the Memorial day weekend I went to a camping music festival with my friend. I love going to the festivals like that, so that was nothing new, just the enjoyment for me. BUT this time among the invitees (guests who perform during the event) was a woman who stole my heart with her vocal talents. She gave us a master class in singing during this event, and I was hooked! I signed up for her group vocal classes and also started taking individual sessions. This is the first time I am actually learning how to sing, and I am ecstatic, I love it so much! In combination with the choir, I am definitely well into my new hobby – music! I don’t have much time for it these days but can see spending more time and studying more seriously once I pull the plug.
Credit card hacking:
I would also like to provide an update on our Credit card hacking progress, as this is my relatively new hobby, which provides both financial benefits and entertainment for me.
In March I opened two new cards:
– Chase Business Ink Cash (no annual fee, 75K Ultimate Rewards points after spending $7.5K in three months) for me, and
– Capital Venture X ($395 annual fee, but 100K Capital One points after spending $10K in six months – just before they changed the welcome bonus and spend requirement, $100 in Airbnb credits, $300 in travel credits when booked through CO travel portal, and $100 reimbursement for Global Entry application) for DH.
I completed the spend requirement on Chase Business Ink Cash at the end of May, which opened the room in our spending for a new Chase Ink card, which I successfully applied for in June. The great thing about business cards is that most of them don’t show on your personal credit report and, therefore, don’t impact your 5/24 position relative to applying for Chase cards. As long as your current count of credit cards opened in the last 24 months (as shown on your credit report) is under 5, you can apply for most business cards and work towards their welcome bonuses!
Conclusion:
In short, May was a month of awesome celebrations and wonderful additions to my list of hobbies. I feel like I am getting my dance card filled out when it comes to the life in early retirement, which alleviates some of my fears of whether or not I will be bored without a full time job.
What about you? Do you have projects/hobbies that you are passionate about?