Life After

I am so used to a routine, it feels weird not to have one any more.

It was usually wake up (around the same time); breakfast, work for 8+ hours and then dinner or some dinner event and life after work. Take out eight planned hours of the day and on the one hand, the world is mine, but on the other, I sometimes miss the structured day.

Not complaining though. It's not that hard to get used to. All sorts of avenues are open to me. I am rediscovering the usefulness of working out. There are also lots of administrative items to take care of that seem to fill up my day so as long as I have one social event- a lunch, a dinner or a happy hour, for now that seems to be enough. Plus the election talking heads keep me entertained and I really don't know how tv will keep up its end of the bargain after election season.

TV and cable are such money sucks. These days everyone seems to be getting rid of cable and saving lots of money. I tend to be pretty frugal and have cut my necessary expenses - my "needs"- quite close. I think cable is probably even more important now since I am spending so much more time at home. I did call my cable company to see if they could offer any discounts. Not only could they not but their current cheapest plans are actually more expensive than my current bundle. I guess I will be looking at other places to trim expenses. 

Forward or Stuck

I recently got laid off. It's a story so popular in the last few years this can only get lumped in with all the other similar stories.  I have no idea what's next. Everyone says it will work out just the way it is supposed to and there are only good things in store for me. I'm brilliant and will have a fantastic new job soon. Let's hope they see a rainbow I just haven't seen yet. Nothing like being let go to really bruise my ego and smash that confidence.

That's the sad news. The good news is I got some severance and am planning to do something wonderful and life changing with it. Or just something useful that moves my life forward. I do not know what yet but please join me on my journey as I find out.

First things first -- what do people with money and time on their hands do? Well I hit the road. I love to travel. It is a passion of mine and has been all my life. My first trip was at age 8 months when my family moved to the UK. I was on the Concorde at age 3. I have lived on 3 continents and been to every continent except Antarctica.  I like planes, I like hotels, I like airports. Ok, well not so much recently with the changes post September 2011 but I still get that feeling at an airport that I am about to embark on an adventures, no matter how small and insignificant.

How will I handle a fixed income that may have to last a long time and champagne travel tastes? I budget big time. I rave about my personal finance skills but I am well aware that I had steady income while I honed those skills. Will that translate well into keeping up almost the same life style and doing it with no additional income. Stay tuned to see how this moves Forward...