Happy 2026. I wish I journaled more throughout this past year so I could remember all the tidbits of information and reflections from all of 2025, but alas. Here is what I have.
1. Getting lost is part of finding my way. Getting laid off was not on my bingo card for 2025, but it is what it is. Looking back on where I’m at today, I wouldn’t have gotten to where I am now if everything were to have gone “right”. I’ve been through my fair share of rejections, mistakes, and heartbreaks. At the moment, my lack of employment feels like a setback, but in the back of my mind I feel like the dots will connect. I just don’t know it yet. Everything I’m learning now will shape me into my future self. Without this extended break, I would not have gotten to experience the things I have experienced so far, and would not have had the time to travel abroad for as long as I will this month.
2. Interviewing is a different skill than doing the job. I absolutely need better mental models and more practice with interviews. I know I can do the job. I just need to be able to showcase that in an interview. More on what I learned over the last few months from unemployment can be found here.
3. Keeping more than a year’s worth of emergency savings is safe. I’ve read that having 3-6 months of emergency funds is ideal, but you never know what can happen. So keeping at least 18 months of emergency savings is what I’ll be aiming for moving forward. Not only for the living expenses, but to be able to travel and spend money on things like health and wellness, and learning during this time off, all costs money.
4. A lower income year might mean it’s the right time to do a Roth conversion. Being in a lower tax bracket year (i.e., due to unemployment), our CPA recommended that it’s a good time for us to consider doing a Roth conversion. A Roth conversion is when you move money from a traditional, pre-tax retirement account into a Roth IRA. You pay taxes on the amount now, but after that it grows tax-free, and you won’t owe taxes when you withdraw it later. Because your income is lower, the taxes you pay on the conversion may be much less than they would be in a higher-earning year. And if you’re familiar with FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early), you also know that you can use those converted amounts after a set period of time.
5. If you don’t find meaning in your volunteer work, you don’t need to keep doing it. It sounds obvious, but I felt a lot of guilt leaving a volunteer office position I had for just a few months because it didn’t feel meaningful. I care about the mission and I really liked the people. The work itself just wasn’t the right fit and didn’t feel fulfilling. And so I started exploring different volunteer roles that are a much better fit.
6. Everyone has the capability for violence. This is morbid, I know. But I learned it and I thought it worth mentioning. My husband calls me a raincloud. It’s true though (…that everyone has the capability for violence). I learned this from the book The Gift of Fear, which can be a heavy read but worth reading. The author uses past patterns in stories of violence and abuse, to highlight the inherent predictability of violence. It’s part of the reason why you so often hear friends and family of perpetrators saying “I would’ve never in a million years expected he would be capable of doing this”. Additionally, predators exploit social conditioning. For example, many victims sense danger early but override it to avoid seeming impolite. Your body will sense danger before your mind does.
7. Pickupplease.org will pick up donations straight from your front door. What prevented me from donating more things was having to research where to donate and plan when to drop it off. With pickupplease.org, someone picks up donations straight from your door and all you need to do is leave it outside in the morning.
8. You can donate shopping and gift bags to thrift stores. Call ahead of time to confirm, but all those “nice” shopping bags you couldn’t initially part with, might find new life at a thrift store where they’re in constant need of shopping bags for customer sales!
9. A 50/50 white vinegar and hot water solution will get smells out of jars. Let it sit for 24 hours, and then rinse and clean.
10. Only enzyme cleaners can get pet urine smells out of fabric/rugs, and using any additional cleaner can make the enzyme cleaners ineffective. Our cat had some pee issues this year, and boy was it a learning experience. For extreme messes, soak up the initial stain (if dry, use warm water) and then spray (or even soak) with enzyme cleaners overnight. Don’t use any other cleaner on top of it. Additionally, don’t use hot water which might set the stain. We have gone through our fair share of Rocco and Roxie cleaning agents this year.
11. You won’t get hotel rewards points unless you book directly with the hotel. It’s been a long time since I’ve booked an actual hotel (and never through a third party site). I tried to get points for a stay in West Virginia and learned the hard way that it doesn’t work like this. Even if the third party site/travel portal lets you add in a membership loyalty number.
12. How to Win at Travel by Brian Kelly, aka The Points Guy had a lot of helpful tips about making the most of your travel with points and miles. For example, I learned about the concept of a “stopover” which is when you intentionally build a long layover (often 24 hours or more) into an itinerary so you can actually leave the airport and explore the city, sometimes for multiple days, without paying for an extra flight. Not all airlines allow this and they might often change their rules, but it still exists today.
13. Nothing beats a Jet2 Holiday.
