TicTocLifeWelcome! Thanks for joining our story as we transition from two mid-thirties career-driven folks who reached FI at 33 to retire early at 35! Now in our 40s with our first child, we’re documenting our experience leaving full-time work, sorting out our financial needs, and our mistakes. All in real-time.
If you’re unfamiliar with FIRE, you should start with Financial Independence, Retire Early.
Take a look around our blog or find a list of all the articles we’ve written.
We hope to see you around more often,
Jenni & Chris
A note on timing. This post covers 2023, and it’s reaching you late. We’re catching up on the annual budgets after a multi-year gap. The 2024, 2025, and 2026 annuals will follow. If 2022 was the proof of our return to travel, 2023 was the year we showed it wasn’t a fluke. We spent $57,228.…
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A $4,010 air handler, $292-a-month braces, and a month that still balanced. How discounted gift cards softened the big bill, and where the rest of September's money went.
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A packed August held our son's first overnight trip, a bunch of bank promotions, and a house that really wants to have water leaking in it. Plus A+ charities!
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With Lukas's second month of life came lots of fun with family and exploring our city, but our house got a little jealous and released the gremlins!
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Our first full month having our baby boy Lukas was filled with fun—splash pads and the USA's 250th—but also insurance and bills!
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A big, strong Lukas made his way into the world with our Doula by our side and healthy Jenni after a long labor!
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What's our two favorite posts we've written so far and why?
What? My favorite post is on changing from full-time to part-time work.
Why? This has been my favorite post so far because it helped me reflect on what is really happening right now in my life as I change from full-time to part-time work. Getting it all out seemed to make it real and gave me the kickstart I needed to complete the next thing on my to-do list.
What? My favorite post reflects the mission of my writing on TicTocLife, it’s on how comparison is the thief of joy.
Why? Core to why I write here is to use you to amplify the underlying values FIRE and TicTocLife represent—for you to be a positive comparison for those in your life. To lift up those around you and be a teacher. In that post, I wasn’t overstating the idea that it’s your superpower.