33 Comments

Writing from Brattleboro, Vermont—one of the places that my wife and I are investigating after selling our house in NC. We're adventuring across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic this year, searching for our new hometown. This exploration is funded by our house sale, and I've not regretted a dollar spent! (The house sale also paid off the final debt from my Chapter 13 bankruptcy.) Making this decision to dive deep into a fully aligned place to live in our final years is the most important and FUN thing I've ever done.

Expand full comment
author

This sounds like an incredible adventure! Enjoy your investigations ✨

Expand full comment
Aug 3, 2023Liked by Dana Miranda

Beyoncé ticket and a fancy farm to table dinner

Expand full comment
author

💃

Expand full comment

I coordinated a Barbie movie outing opening weekend for about a dozen friends and I’ve never managed so many venmo transactions in my life 😂 it was a really fun time for everyone!

Expand full comment
author

So jealous! I’m eager to see this movie

Expand full comment
Aug 3, 2023Liked by Dana Miranda

I just went on a holiday with my cat and dog. I did absolutely nothing for a week except decide what to eat. I didn't even spend as much as I thought I would so, yay!! I'm feeling amazing and also, I'm celebrating that last year this wouldn't have been remotely possible. But I do get the occasional twinge of anxiety over the expense. I flick the feeling away like a gnat. I realize it will take a while to rewire those feelings. ❤️

Expand full comment
author

This is all worthy of celebration — the vacation, the acknowledgment of your accomplishment, the growth in your relationship with money, giving yourself grace 💖 Congrats!

Expand full comment
Aug 3, 2023·edited Aug 3, 2023Liked by Dana Miranda

A new kayak for my family. My son out grew his, and my daughter is starting to enjoy life on the water. I'm able to show them the magic of the ocean one paddle at a time and spend quality time with them.

Expand full comment
author

Love this! Something so magical about being on the water with family 💗

Expand full comment

I've signed up for a course with Bayo Akomolafe a do am very excited about a new adventure! Great to celebrate what money can do for us..

Expand full comment
author

I agree! Enjoy your class!

Expand full comment

I signed up for a copyediting/proofreading course so I can start a freelance editorial business that provides those services to self-published authors and possibly publishing houses. Still hashing out my ideal client. I also bought some good shapewear! 😄

Expand full comment
author

Amazing! Keep me posted on your business — how exciting 😃

Expand full comment

I spent too damn much on tickets to see The Chicks play next week! 🎸 But my daughter and I are ridiculously excited. I absolutely know it will be money well spent. And for the record, it wasn't the tickets themselves that were too damn much. It was the stupid Ticketmaster fees (of course).

Expand full comment
author

Of course 😠 Have fun at the show!

Expand full comment
Aug 4, 2023Liked by Dana Miranda

Evening walks to get an ice cream on the rare warm summer days here in Scotland. And, with much larger sums of money, throwing cash at problems that have arisen as I’ve been moving house.

Expand full comment
author

I love summer ice cream walks!

Expand full comment

I am spending the summer looking for jobs so I can move back to the land of sanity...AKA the northeast...Boston in particular. I am spending a lot of time daydreaming about walking in Boston.

We have seen 2 movies at Blossom with the Cleveland Symphony playing and I am headed back for an end of summer season concert with Brandi Carlile with my 12yo daughter.

I am also navigating the golden handcuffs of my 2.75% mortgage and what the heck do we do about the house we own in a place we don't really want to live.

Expand full comment
author

I hope you'll be in Ohio long enough to participate in the upcoming vote! 😉 (Leave it a little better for everyone who's still there...)

Those daydreams are so powerful and let you plan your way into the path you want to be taking. Wish you the best!

Expand full comment

Voting and canvassing for both! And then getting outta here. The town next to us just voted to arm teachers....so I just can't

Expand full comment
author

Thank you for doing that work!

Expand full comment

Lana Del Rey concert in Hyde Park, London with my teenage daughters - epic, forever memories made!

Two weeks in Sicily which was hot, hot, hot but thankfully the gelato was cheap and delicious!

Expand full comment
author
Aug 3, 2023·edited Aug 4, 2023Author

Yes — both sound beautiful!

Expand full comment

I've had 2 big international trips this summer and enjoyed hanging out in cafes and also buying a few tourist knickknacks for me and our cat sitters. I love the one special fridge magnet that makes me smile and think of the place I visited with fondness. (Cardiff, Wales was my fav place in the UK!)

Expand full comment
author

What a wonderful memory to attach to tourist knickknacks 😊

Expand full comment
Aug 3, 2023Liked by Dana Miranda

Spent pretty much all my money to be able to travel around Western Europe for a month, currently on a train riding across Ireland. My first longer holiday in two years, first time in Europe, and second time I've been out of the U.S. The heavy weight I'd been carrying around while I was in the states lifted when I left. I feel lucky and am contemplating the possibility of leaving the states permanently eventually.

Expand full comment
author

What a relief to shed that weight for a while 💖 I hope you find the right place to land next. Thanks for checking in from Ireland!

Expand full comment
Sep 1, 2023Liked by Dana Miranda

The most joyous money spent this summer was an impromptu side of the road taqueria truck stop after a really long day of hiking 1000 miles from home. We bought all the things, the horchata, the churros, the tacos en mass, at it by the side of the highway in a vinyl tent on a plastic picnic table, and it was the most amazing $80 I’ve ever spent on food for my family of four in so many ways, from the food itself to the joy of enjoying it. It helped teach me that there is more to life than saving money...

Expand full comment
author

This is amazing!

Expand full comment

The majority of our summer adventures have been low cost, but the price of a hotel right in LoDo in Denver for two nights when we were there for the Eras tour was the best expense of the summer ❤️ A major splurge but it allowed us to really see the neighborhood on foot ~ well worth every penny!

Expand full comment
author

Great splurge! And low-cost adventures are a joyful way to use money, too ✨

Expand full comment