What was your biggest accomplishment of 2019? [Archive]

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catherine

1-1-20, 9:47am

As we look forward to 2020 with new plans and dreams, it's a good time to reflect on past successes.

I asked this question of my DS last night, and when he turned the question back on me, I had to think about it for a moment, but then I determined that unequivocally my biggest accomplishment was downsizing: specifically, getting rid of 2 tons of crap. It was a huge task, but we committed to it, and DH and I did it without too many arguments about what to pitch and what to spare.

The Purge will have have lifetime positive consequences for me. I feel I've grabbed at least one brass ring of the the simple life.

Yppej

1-1-20, 10:16am

Transferring to work at a location closer to home with fewer mean girls.

NewGig

1-1-20, 10:22am

Figured out a way to stop the panic attacks which had made me a hoarder for so long is one. Sold the memoir is the other!

catherine

1-1-20, 10:33am

Sold the memoir is the other!

Let us know when it's available! (If you care to)

Teacher Terry

1-1-20, 10:48am

I can’t think of any big ones but I did get my new Maltese Amy and secure a contract to teach a graduate class. I am excited because I have only taught at the undergraduate level.

iris lilies

1-1-20, 10:58am

I didnt have accomplishments really. But my year of 2019 was marked with a bunch of short travell events. I stayed 7 or 8 times overnight in hotels or Air bnb places, all for garden club/plant related activities. Only one event was an actual long distance vacation, our trip to New England.

So, I would characterize the year as “not especially interesting travel hops.”

CathyA

1-1-20, 10:59am

Just getting through 2019 was my biggest accomplishment. :~)

pinkytoe

1-1-20, 11:27am

Mostly a year of rest after two previous years of upheaval. One thing stands out though - this fall, I developed some sort of physical ailment with mysterious painful symptoms which I immediately followed up on. Invasive medical tests were done with more to follow and so I told myself NO more of this "healthcare". I went to the library and checked out every book on healing I could find. I convinced myself true or not that my mental status might have much to do with all of my symptoms. Within a matter weeks and lots of introspection, all the symptoms gradually disappeared.

razz

1-1-20, 11:32am

l travelled to the south and southwest US which was a longterm wish, figured out that I needed a dog, got my little rescue Beagle who is settling in well becoming more confident and mischievous as the months go by. I ordered a clicker to train him as he is ready for learning tricks.
Cath, this was a good thread for me this morning as I was feeling a little blue and needed a kick in the pants to count my blessings. Once I started counting, life was a joy again.

Tybee

1-1-20, 11:46am

Worked on overhauling my portfolio and my trading and had a solid year in my account, implementing new strategies and new philosophy. Also solid performances in my son and grandchildren's accounts. Lots of hard work and new strategies, which held.

SteveinMN

1-1-20, 11:58am

I would say my biggest accomplishment was learning how to draw some boundaries around a tragic family situation in which I am pretty fully entangled. I really don't want to say more about that now. But being able to put a fence around it has made a huge difference in my life.

ApatheticNoMore

1-1-20, 12:49pm

Got a full time job again. Contract work is better than no work, but it's really a very difficult way to live. Never really knowing when the contract will end (turns out it could have lasted till the end of 2019 - ha I didn't know that - us peons are not privy to such knowledge). That's of course the worst part, never knowing when one will be unemployed again. Losing pay whenever there is a national holiday or you take a day off (I barely did). Expensive BAD health insurance (ACA type). Worrying about one's health and working in a toxic waste dump (ok that's not contract work per se, that's where I worked and that I had health issues, probably unrelated).

With uncertain work you develop an entirely different sense of money but it's not necessarily more frugal, yes you really want to save for unemployment, but I ALSO wanted to buy clothes now or if I was unemployed I may be wearing rags pretty soon etc. - a real stock up mentality (no I've never been one with a closet full of excess clothes). A lot more pressure to money decisions, when otherwise it's "if I don't buy it now, I can later" etc. it's not "I need to both save and stock up on whatever I may need later NOW because who knows about tomorow..."

So that's all? In terms of career no, nothing is really static, it does not work that way, sometimes survival is an obstacle course, sometimes a mine field! :) That really does seem how we live economically these days. Bf and me are always dreaming of the kind of steady careers that seem largely out of reach for various reasons. However, I am in this full time job now, and the people are nice and like me. And I maxed out an IRA last year despite the unstable nature of my work life (did not have access to a 401k). Hey not earth shattering but with so much unstability for much of the year, not bad.

Gardnr

1-1-20, 1:02pm

Gardnr

1-1-20, 1:09pm

RETIREMENT!

Increased our cash assets by 21%.:cool:

Teacher Terry

1-1-20, 1:12pm

APN, have you applied for jobs with the state, county and city? That would give you stability.

iris lilies

1-1-20, 1:13pm

bae

1-1-20, 1:17pm

Finally finished my 1.5-year-long divorce slog at the very end of the year. Now I can be human again.

razz

1-1-20, 1:29pm

Did you go to Santa Fe?

Did not get to Santa Fe which I am told is very worth a visit on its own. I might do that some November when the days are dark at home.

Enjoy your future, Bae, and all its possibilities!

iris lilies

1-1-20, 1:34pm

Did not get to Santa Fe which I am told is very worth a visit on its own. I might do that some November when the days are dark at home.

Enjoy your future, Bae, and all its possibilities!

For me, Santa Fe is the best thing about the Southwest. The culture and architecture draw me. I dislike desert landscapes and am indifferent to visiting the Great West natural resources, although the cave dwelling
Indians are interesting to me.

Teacher Terry

1-1-20, 1:36pm

My mom and I went to Santa Fe and Taos in 1994. Very beautiful and fun!

bae

1-1-20, 1:38pm

For me, Santa Fe is the best thing about the Southwest. The culture and architecture draw me.

I've been going there frequently since I was 14. I almost moved there instead of here ~20 years ago. I have of recent been debating moving there, but I suspect I will simply decide to merely visit Santa Fe more frequently. My daughter and her boyfriend and I are going there next summer for the Opera season.

iris lilies

1-1-20, 2:02pm

I've been going there frequently since I was 14. I almost moved there instead of here ~20 years ago. I have of recent been debating moving there, but I suspect I will simply decide to merely visit Santa Fe more frequently. My daughter and her boyfriend and I are going there next summer for the Opera season.

My former neighbor Charles MacKay was Director of the Santa Fe opera until last year. He’s an interesting guy who grew up in Santa Fe and worked various roles at the Opera House there as a young person. Then he took on some jobs across the country including directing here, the St. Louis Opera Theater for several years I did not know him since he was always working, didn’t come to neighborhood events.

Yppej

1-1-20, 2:38pm

Congrats on the IRA ANM. Funding that is a goal for me every year, never something I can just take for granted I will do.

gimmethesimplelife

1-1-20, 2:55pm

A. Building my savings account, B. Learning more Spanish, C. Getting my teeth fixed in Mexico to the point that in the right light, I might pass for someone who doesn't know the truth of America, D. Feeling more centered in my faith. Rob

Simplemind

1-1-20, 2:58pm

Finally closed my parents estate/trust. Took 17 trips in our new (to us) Minnie Winnie with two maxi dogs. Continued to work on downsizing our possessions.

Gardnr

1-1-20, 3:12pm

My mom and I went to Santa Fe and Taos in 1994. Very beautiful and fun!

Both are fabulous areas. We were there for our 30th anniversary!

gimmethesimplelife

1-1-20, 3:20pm

For me, Santa Fe is the best thing about the Southwest. The culture and architecture draw me. I dislike desert landscapes and am indifferent to visiting the Great West natural resources, although the cave dwelling
Indians are interesting to me.I have been to Santa Fe twice......once with my Mother and her attempt at a second marriage once and once when I fled to Albuquerque to get away from family issues - first time in 1982, the second time in 1985. I loved it, it's a beautiful place with incredible scenery and the light is just....amazing,and I can understand why Santa Fe attracts artistic types. Great climate there, too, and for folks such as myself, New Mexico offers better than Arizona LGBT protections. But the caveat to all of this.....it's very very very expensive there, and just like Flagstaff or Sedona, beautiful but very hard to make a living there. Rob

iris lilies

1-1-20, 3:35pm

Santa Fe *is* expensive. I look at real estate there online. One time there was a super cute condo in an historic building right downtown, for something like $150,000. It was small but charming. I thought that was a great price and thought about making an offer via phone! But then I read the details: it was a purchase of a time share, 1/4 a year in that place. So the real total property cost was something like $600, 000. Yeah, that’s more like it.

There was a time where I eyed a job at the public library there, but frankly, by then I was tired of New
Mexico and the public libraries were not well funded and their automated processes were less than desirable. It would not have been a career advancement for me to work there.

Rogar

1-1-20, 4:20pm

I don't know if it was my biggest, but every year for the past few years I've done a "green" birding list. Self made rules are only species seen from walking or biking from my home. I had a little over 80 species on the list this year with around 2,000 biking miles. Bike miles were down from previous years due to some health issues, but the bird species count was about average. I had cataract surgery earlier in the year which not only helped with birding but improved my quality of life overall.

I've traveled quite a bit through the Southwest and have always thought of Santa Fe as an over priced touristy area. Maybe I should give it another chance sometime, but I have a preference for more quaint areas. More appropriately, the early native Americans were not especially cave dwellers, though some were cliff dwellers. The old Anasazi ruins are fascinating. Among my favorites for ruins are Chaco Canyon and Hovenweep.

happystuff

1-1-20, 4:40pm

Just getting through 2019 was my biggest accomplishment. :~)

Ditto!

rosarugosa

1-1-20, 4:58pm

I can't think of anything momentous, but there was one small thing. On 9/30/18, I set a goal for my self to do at least 10,000 steps a day, every day, with NO exceptions. I met that goal and in fact, still haven't missed a single day. 9/29/18 was the last day I didn't walk at least 10,000 steps.
I'm almost done stripping the cupboard, so although that isn't a completed accomplishment, it did feel significant to move well into the action stage from the just talking-about-it stage.

herbgeek

1-1-20, 5:00pm

I also retired this year, that was big. Since I intentionally have laid low since, while I figure out what is next for me, that's the biggest thing.

rosarugosa

1-1-20, 5:53pm

I also retired this year, that was big. Since I intentionally have laid low since, while I figure out what is next for me, that's the biggest thing.

Yay Herbgeek, that is a biggie!

kib

1-2-20, 3:47pm

Sold a house that I've been holding onto, empty and unrented, for nearly 7 years. Market picked up, I finally admitted that the cost of making remaining repairs I couldn't do myself wouldn't increase my bottom line position and decided to sell "as is". Put it up, had a nibble within 24 hours and an offer 20 minutes after showing it to the first person who saw it. Perhaps I should be kicking myself for not holding out, but in truth I'm just thrilled, I feel like the effort I made paid off. the agreed on price was more than I'd hoped and It's Done! It closed on 12/23, less than a month after I first posted a sign.

Teacher Terry

1-2-20, 5:10pm

That’s great news akin. We have sold many houses and your first offer is usually the best.

kib

1-2-20, 5:17pm

Thanks, it sure is! It was over in an eye blink! I put up a sign in the afternoon. People in the neighborhood walked by the next morning and called. I showed them the house two hours later. I walked them out to their car. Her: "it looks great, we'll have to talk it over." Him: "You said you'd be flexible, how flexible would you be willing to be?" Me: "$." He: "it's a deal." :0! We were in the title office half an hour later, and closed about 3 weeks after that, when the title insurance was complete. I was absolutely floored, it took me seven years to take that step and about seven hours to get the result I wanted. Very empowering!

iris lilies

1-2-20, 5:50pm

I think our two remaining tiny houses (on one parcel) are sold. Buyer gets loan commitment this week. If no loan is forthcoming I am not terribly worried about dumping them on a different buyer because we never put a sign out even, we just floated their For Sale status by word of mouth.

we arent making money on it but arent losing much, either. These properties were our farmette-in-the-City while we were employed. It provided much needed garden space. Many a vegetable and prize winning iris or liky was grown there. While
i was working, I was not going to have a property with land out in the boonies because I didnt want to devote time to driving or taking care of another house. These houses were shells, it was the land
i wanted.

DH did tons of work on these houses’ exteriors which will not be compensated, but that is ok. We stabilized them, 130 year old structures, and made that small corner of that neighborhood better. It was our contribution to the social fabric of St. Louis.

This is a good time to dump unwanted real estate.

catherine

1-2-20, 6:07pm

kib

1-2-20, 6:20pm

Thank you, Catherine. Good luck, IL. My house that sold was 103 years old, and I always felt like one foot was in a singular, venerable and beloved old girl, and the other foot was in a doddering senior citizen about to give up the ghost. Huge weight off, I don't think I'd own another classic, although living in a really old one might be grand if someone else were responsible for the upkeep!

pinkytoe

1-2-20, 6:31pm

We have the realtor who sold us this house salivating over the fact that we might sell next spring or summer. I am determined to once again sell as a FSBO. $20K plus to realtors is nonsense.

JaneV2.0

1-2-20, 6:32pm

Congratulations, real estate mavens! It makes me happy to hear of your title-churning. Maybe I'll get rid of Chez Decay one of these days.

kib

1-2-20, 6:50pm

We have the realtor who sold us this house salivating over the fact that we might sell next spring or summer. I am determined to once again sell as a FSBO. $20K plus to realtors is nonsense.
Totally true. Using a title company cost about $2,000 altogether. I probably could have done it completely alone but I liked the help and streamlining enough to pay that price - but not $20K's worth!

Aside, I listed the house on Zillow during the wait as a precaution and I'm not sure I'd do it again. Got maybe 2 inquiries from actual buyers, and at least 100 contacts asking me when I was going to get serious and use a realtor - them. Bwahahaha ... never!!

KayLR

1-3-20, 1:15pm

Healed, emotionally.

klunick

1-9-20, 6:52am

Losing 60 lbs.