Guys, I have been struggling to find some topics to write about lately.

I usually write a lot about whatever is going on in my life money-wise, but the weird and awesome thing lately is that my money stuff is all going fine. I think it’s fairly optimized. And, although it’s been a multiple year road, most of my crappy money habits are pretty under wraps.

Sometimes I spend too much on clothes.

But I still currently pay no rent. So, like, that balance makes overspending a little on anything pretty laughable.

And with the whole paying no rent thing, I’m turbo charging the down payment fund, so hopefully when I buy a house – which is a big money thing on my mind lately – I can put down a hefty down payment.

Honestly, if we fall down a money hole on a new topic soon, it will likely be about purchasing a house.

But, at the moment, I’m not there yet.

Where I am with my house hunting is occasionally stalking the area I’d like to move to on Zillow.

I’ve gone and looked at two houses down in that area. I didn’t try to buy either. One was just a ridiculous swamp death trap. The other one I regret not buying, but isn’t for sale anymore.

I’m also waiting to see what happens with my life in the next few months before making more concrete moves to buy this house.

So, at the moment, money things I do include: trying to finish up getting all my mom’s debts sorted out for her estate. The estate is insolvent. They have all been notified by mail. I still keep getting phone calls and letters to pay the debt anyway. So now I just wait to see if any lawsuits happen. Which is awesome.

I set up a Self-Employed 401(k), which has been an interesting adventure with Fidelity. It was kind of a pain to setup and it is kind of pain to contribute to, but when I say “pain,” I have to print out and fill in a one page form every time I do a contribution, write out a check and mail it in, rather than just doing things online.

I find this very silly and antiquated but the tax and retirement benefits there are worth it.

I still collect all my change in a change jar and get very excited when it’s full and I go to the Coinstar. I am also still upset that TD Bank got rid of their coin machines because I especially liked the “guess how much change you have” challenge.

…yes, I realize that feature was for children, but it still used to make my day.

My goal system has been working pretty well for the last few years and I’m happy to keep sticking with it. The goal system is that list of goals at the end of each accountability update. I just start chipping away at each in January and usually by October, they’re pretty much done. I then have some extra spending cash for the holidays or I can get a jump start saving and knock out one of the goals almost immediately at the beginning of the following year. And knocking out a goal almost immediately always sets a good saving and investing tone for the year.

I mostly hustle for fun rather than necessity now.

And if it feels like I’m bragging, maybe I am, but I’m also a little bewildered because I feel totally average, and like I spent a lot of my twenties at a well below average income, and I blew a ton of money on my education, but somehow it all seems to be working out ok.

A lot of that is some wild middle class, white girl privilege, this I know. But some of it is hard work and balanced sacrifices too. Like, as much as I’ve saved living at home for most of the last decade and as lucky as I’ve been to have the opportunity to do so, I don’t exactly love it and am actually really looking forward to having my own place like a normal adult.

I have also spent a lot of time lately trying to figure out what a normal adult even is, so there’s that too.

Thank you for coming to today’s rambling on money and adulting. Are you leaving it even more confused that you arrived? That’s how I feel most days too.