The Best Financial Flex & The Essence of FI

I asked for a review and asked for a big raise (40%) I knew I would get nowhere near that, but I did get 10% which is pretty good.

I also signed up with a few consulting companies that pay for subject matter experts to speak with private capital investors about the industry I’m in and software we use. I set my hourly rate to $300 and had 3 calls just in the last week!

All that extra $ goes straight into my Roth. I’m almost fully funded for 2026. Then I will work on fully funding my husband’s Roth. I’m also maxing out my 401k at work. And, we both are over 50 so we qualify for the catch up contributions.

We also run a small business and have maxed out our SEP Ira’s. By year end we will have saved over $60k. Just 2 years ago before I found FI, I was saving the usual 10% in my 401k and nothing else. We had spending leaks galore, but no more! We are now solidly on our way to FI.

Financial independence = peace of mind.

In early December 2025, on a whim, I decided to update my spreadsheet with my finances including my savings and investments. I hadn’t touched the spreadsheet in two and a half years. I trusted myself with my expenses and I had a high savings rate. I’m a very low risk investor with just treasury bonds, CDs, a little in the VTSAX index fund and then the vested stocks for my company that I work for.

I marveled that my investments had increased by a couple hundred thousand dollars in two and a half years. I had reached a level of financial independence where I could modestly live off of the interest of my investments.

A few hours later, I accompanied my father from his nursing home to the hospital where he stayed for a week. I took time off of work to be with my dad everyday at the hospital. I felt totally comfortable taking the time off of work to be with my dad and then to take care of my own health the following week when I was sick. I know that to people looking at me from the outside they would be afraid that I would lose my job because I had spent so much time taking time off of work for my own illnesses and to take care of my dad. But I knew that I was very comfortable financially because of the frugality that I learned from my parents and that if I lost my job, I would be fine.

This is the peace of mind that being on the road to financial independence and getting there can give you. Maybe you aren’t interested in retiring early or taking a sabbatical. But knowing that your time is yours and if you want to use it to be with your parents as they’re dying or to take care of your own health, you can do it. My dad died about a month after I realized I was financially independent. After his death, I took bereavement and medical leave. I can still safely say that I’m not afraid of losing my job.

At my age (late 40s), my parents were struggling immigrants in the US and they couldn’t afford to take time off. Every lost job meant worrying about paying the bills and taking care of young children.

About a week before my mom died, I thanked her for teaching me about frugality. I told her that I was about two and a half years away from having enough money to be able to live off of the interest of my savings. She smiled and she was very happy that she brought me up correctly.

I hear about so many people in the FIRE community who are living in a spreadsheet. But the freedom comes outside of the spreadsheet when life brings you tragedy, illness and you don’t get to choose when you have to leave work. Life chooses it for you.

My 1% better this week involves spending money not saving it! I am going on a 6 month to year long trip backpacking and cycling through South America.

I have tried to buy things used, on sale, negotiate discounts, etc but had a few last things to buy. They are lightweight outdoor gear and expensive but I bought them and am practicing an abundance mindset and also working on building the muscle to also spend on things that I love and are more suited for a certain season of life.

Spending the money that could go to future investments or travel feels a bit hard but I am focussed on this is an opportunity to appreciate the abundance in my life and spend on current experiences rather than just miserly saving for the future.

Our 1% better was planning and actually following through on taking a week long vacation to Puerto Rico.

My wife and I haven’t had a real vacation (aside from visiting family, which doesn’t really count) in over 10 years. We didn’t use any points or anything, but what we did do is not worry about the price tags on flights/hotel/food/excursions for our trip.

It was really nice to not think about it for once. Just one of those 1% better things to actually enjoy life spending money meaningfully on an experience and it was so worth it!

This seems to be a year when we have multiple large ticket items heading our way.

Our 14 year old vehicle (Toyota Camry) is starting to give so we are researching the next vehicle. Our foundation on our house is starting to give so we are reviewing estimates on our current home. Our SUV (10 year old vehicle) is having some transmission issues so we are bracing for impact on that one as well.

I told my wife because of the consistency in our saving and investing habits we are in a position to take all of these on. Not fun and I can think of other things to utilize this money on, but necessary for the stage of life we are in right now. So I told her consider this a blessing that we can manage this.

I tweaked my index finger over Christmas break lifting a heavy box. The pain hadn’t gone away for three months so I finally went to the doctor.

They recommended an x-ray and sent me to the hospital’s diagnostic center across the way. The estimate for a simple hand x-ray? Over $600, not even including the radiology fee.

Thank goodness for the clerk who told me that hospitals always charge more because of their overhead. She recommended finding an independent diagnostic center in town.

I found a place, sent them my doctor’s orders, then got the same service for $34! I am never getting an x-ray from a hospital again if I can avoid it. The center also performs MRIs, ultrasounds, CTs, etc. I’m hoping I don’t need more scans in the future, but if I do, and they are non-emergency, I know where to go now.