Chapter 1

Before the beginning of Chasing FIRE

Let’s look back to the time before I started to get more sense about budgeting and personal finance. Even though I started “fresh” without student loan, I managed to put myself in debt in various ways because 1. I didn’t know what I was doing, 2. I thought I needed to build credit, and 3. I thought I was a big girl and I can do this. (SURE.) What did big girl Mrs. Xennial do?

• LASIK Surgery in 2009: $5k
• Credit card debt at roughly $2k (2009-2012) when I barely make over $2k/month
• Paid that off, and managed to put another $2000 in credit card because I was such a big girl.
• Bought a house in 2014 (oh sweet sweet mortgage)
• Refinanced the mortgage in 2015 (lower rate through VA Loan and debt consolidation) and again in 2017 (because there was an unexpected $700 increase in mortgage payment).
• Got into a car accident in 2017, and used the payout money as down payment for a 2015 Toyota Prius; car loan currently has $7.7k remaining.

Okay okay… this big girl ain’t that smart. I know. Here comes my personal review of my mistakes:

• LASIK was really worth it. But I had no idea what the interest rate was, and with my paycheck at the moment, the payment was a big deal (hence cup noodle often).
• I also fail to mention that I didn’t know how to fill in W-4 when I started working in Hawaii, and hence contributed to my first tax season shocker. I basically had to pay out almost a month worth of paycheck to IRS because that’s how much I didn’t understand tax (and still has much to learn til this day).
• I really didn’t know each time we refinanced our mortgage, it: 1. restarted the 30-year term; 2. the consolidation basically added more to it (thanks, Mr. Xennial; we were partially paying for your motorcycle). And we totally didn’t file for owner occupancy with the state government initially. The first year our property was valued by the vacant land (with a house that has so much water damage that it was torn down), and the increase was from the property tax after the state government valued our “HOUSE ON THE PROPERTY.” There was a $400k increase in value, hence the bump.
• The car? I love it. I have wanted a Prius for its fuel efficiency. I just don’t like the monthly payment.

Also, my employment in Hawaii was… less than ideal. With a Master’s Degree, I was given $23/hour at my first job. It was considered full-time, so benefit? Yes. Retirement? Not even. And since then, all of my jobs have been part-time base until 2016, so no benefit and no retirement. I wasn’t smart enough to know what IRA is, let alone have an account. Luckily, when I met Mr. Xennial in 2012, and got married in 2013, he quickly signed me up to have insurance coverage through his employment. Whew. (I have some pre-existing conditions that would require coverage… or it would be REALLY PRICEY.)

After our career change, we were making about the same combined salary (mine increased, and Mr. Xennial’s decreased). With his child support every month added to the playbook, we were the typical paycheck to paycheck American family that scraps by and hope that there is some leftover amount in the bank accounts.

So, soon after I started listening to the Podcasts, I did Busy Budgeter‘s 90day Budget Bootcamp (found her through her interview on one of the podcasts). And started to study hard to know more. I thought, I have a doctorate degree; if anything I know how to study! (Spoiler alert: I didn’t finish the challenge, though. I’ll explain soon.)

2019 is such a weird year. I went from never wanting to leave the “Aloha La La Land,” to jumping head-in looking for a position on the west coast of continental U.S. in a matter of 3 months. We began the discussion about starting somewhere else some time around the end of 2018. I had just realized that we were house poor, and we have purchased a home that we barely have time to keep up with the maintenance, let alone enjoy. That sunrise over the ocean view over our balcony every morning had became part of the chores, and I started to not even see it towards the end. Not that I have problem with my vision, but I simply had to get ready and get going. Sometimes in the “winter” time, we would need to head out before the sunrise anyway. Quickly, I had an idea: my mom has a house in California. A family friend and her family is renting it, but what if we move in and just pay minimum for a year? I ran it through my mom, and she said let her think about it. Then I realized:

I NEEDED A BREAK FROM PAYING OUR DEBT.

At that point in time, I feel like we were suffocating over everyday adulting: paying bills, doing laundry, doing dishes, mowing the lawn, sweeping the floor, cleaning the litter box, doing grocery shopping… And it felt like every adulting item has a price tag. WE WERE SO TIRED. EVERYDAY. Even our fur babies almost became our roommates… not babies. We almost don’t have time to hang out with them, play with them, walk them… what kind of parents are we?!

Meanwhile, soon after my car accident in 2017, my supervisor left his position, and I took over as an Interim Director for the office. Since then, it took 2 years for me to officially step in (with $50 increase in pay, how glamorous), and my former position was never filled in. In other words, I was working 2 jobs for the most of the 2.5 years. I was so stressed and tired that every time I get sick, I GET SIIIIIIICK. Towards the end, I had several flares from my auto-immune issue several times a year. I also had a cold or flu I couldn’t shake for weeks. When I realize how much work stress is impacting my health, I know changes are necessary. So, I started really looking for employment opportunities when Mr. Xennial said, in the beginning of 2019, “I’ll go wherever you go.” I put hours of my weekends looking for positions; first in California, then expand it to Oregon, Nevada, and then Washington, too. I started to get notices for interviews around April, then in May, I had the first interview for my current position; within a week I was offered the second interview. In June 2019, I was offered the position with the start date of August 1.

And just like that, we moved from Hawaii to Washington.

(Note: With everything happening so fast, I couldn’t find time to continue with the budget challenge (Sorry Rosemarie), and I’m not sure where the printed copy went after our move…)

It had happened faster than we thought, but we are happier for the following reasons:

• I found an apartment close to my work, so I can take bus to work. The employee pass is $80 for a year, and I can use it for numerous transits around the greater Seattle area. Now Mr. Xennial finally embraces the idea of “living close to everything,” too.
• I love my new job where I’m down to doing one job; not 2 jobs with stuff on the side. I also travel for work, and I plan to be even more of a frugal ass and save most of my per diems.
• The apartment, although really small for 2 humans, 2 70-lbs dogs, and 3 cats, is half of what we were paying for the mortgage in Hawaii. And that is after the landlady upped the rent because of the animals.
• Also because of the size of the apartment, we started walking the “Xennial K9s” more often (3-4, sometimes 5 times a day). We spend time with our fur babies and cuddle is a daily occurrence (sometimes for love, sometimes they are cold…we’re not in Hawaii anymore).
• Mr. Xennial picked up part-time restaurant work again. He’s always passionate about cooking for people, and Washington’s higher minimum wage makes it a little better even though he’s only doing part-time. He also picks up a side gig walking dogs, and has become a 5-day-a-week gig.
• Even though our schedule is a little off (Mr. Xennial isn’t always off in the evenings and on weekends), we manage to find time to be with our fur babies and each other. We can now walk to places downtown for date nights if we want to.
• We have shipped my Prius over, and that is the only 4-wheel we have. Mr. Xennial was able to find a second-hand motorcycle and purchased in cash with his payout money from his accident.
• Moving to the continental U.S. also makes us feel that we are that much closer to friends and family. Now traveling is easier and cheaper, even though we still are not in the place to drop money on major international trips.

Also, interestingly, even though I took a $15k pay cut moving from Hawaii to Washington, my take-home pay is actually more in WA than HI. So when everyone says, “Washington is still expensive.” Well, y’all, think again.

Let me stop here before you lose interest. More to come; I promise. 🙂