Based on Kelsi's note (I'd forgotten I'd posted & deleted that entry re: savings vs travel) I thought I'd write about it again.
I've been debating whether or not I should start using my vacation time to travel. This travel would likely be long-distance, as there's nothing much locally I'd want to do alone, and the only friends I really have (that are worth hanging out with) all live states/countries away.
So, for the sake of this example, a trip to Germany would cost around $4000US between flights, hotel, car/cycle rental, meals, etc, (unless I could stay with The German). If I invested that each year, rather than spend it, @ a 7% avg rate of return (for the stock market), the total amount of savings + returns after 7 years would be around twice my annual cost of living, which would allow me to retire 2 years earlier! So my debate is, is a 2-3wk trip once a year worth more to me than quitting work 2 yrs earlier? I haven't decided yet.
What I guess it comes down to is, have I become so focused on getting out of the so-called 'rat race' that I'm delaying/avoiding doing things I might enjoy, solely due to the cost component? I've been designating most of my available spending cash to saving up so I can finish the old car. Between my 401K and HSA contributions, and the money I put into my 'Dodge' fund, I'm already saving +60% of my income, so there's not much room for improvement. I guess, though, if I can manage to stop going to bars/venues (like maybe only once/month), that could pay for the trips & still let me reach my goals? I'll have to run some numbers, I think.
Maybe it's possible, but I don't want to get my hopes up. Traveling again would be nice though...
p.s. (I did a quick search on flights to Portland, OR (where my cousin lives), and they seem quite a bit more reasonable, so maybe I'll have to look into hotel/car costs for that instead? He's been wanting me to come out there for several years now...)
p.p.s. I just added a contact email to my main page (on the side, by the 'notes' link), and links to my older entries on both my main and my archive page (pre-2013). Archiving still isn't working, so it's the best I could do for now.
12:59 p.m. - 2019-01-05
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