Another crazy year; feel like I'm still catching my breath from it. Financially, there were ups and downs. Personally and in the family, same thing. Let's see if I can recap everything...

Snapshot of the past three year-end reviews:

In a nutshell, our assets have grown steadily but our debt increased the year we bought the rental property (asset gain didn't match debt taken due in part to tanking retirement and a big unforeseen tax hit), so it's taken three years for our net worth to surpass the previous high at the end of 2021.

Still, even if it took awhile, a new high in net worth is something to celebrate! Other bright spots this year:

- WE HIT COAST FIRE! That was the biggie!!! I wasn't sure we'd get there since we stopped Roths and most other retirement contributions for a couple years, but we hit it in June and have stayed above our CoastFIRE number ever since.

- Despite not contributing much at all to retirement, our nest egg grew $115,487 to a new high of $941,738!

- Our assets hit multimillion status ($2M+ ) in March, dipped briefly back below that in April, and then came back up in May and stayed above $2 million!

- We experienced a couple windfalls, most notably a $16K tax refund and a $40K inheritance. We used it to pay off our HELOC and help fund our budget as AS and I grew our business. (We did have to dip back into the HELOC these past few months to the tune of $11K due to some hiccups, but it's not reflected in our debt total because I feel like I have a solid plan for paying it off.)

- We also received partial ownership of several pieces of real estate as my dad wanted to shift some of it over to us so it doesn't ever have to be dealt with in probate. My sisters and I have received several offers from energy companies for various leasing and buying of mineral rights etc. but as of now none of them have turned into anything. I don't know if I'll see much financial difference from co-owning these properties but it's kind of nice despite the hassle of getting our large family to make decisions and such.

We had some hiccups and scares in 2024 too:

- This was the first full year of AS and I both being self-employed, so we did fall a bit short of fully funding the year and had to take some of the HELOC out again ($11,000). This was due to unexpectedly high spending in several categories, most notably $3,000 in pet-health expenses and $5,000 more in healthcare out-of-pocket than budgeted. We also had some repairs needed for the rental property ($4,000). Given those three curveballs and the fact that our business wasn't at its full potential the first part of the year, I feel like we did pretty well.

- NT got into a car-pedestrian accident in late 2023 which we got sued for, and most of 2024 was spent worrying about how it would all pan out, but a couple months ago we got confirmation that everything was covered by our auto and liability insurance. So far, our premiums have barely moved. I don't know if that's because the case is still in process or if they really won't go up, but for now, it didn't end up being a financial nightmare. (A nightmare for the poor lady who was badly injured, had lots of medical bills, and lost income from not being able to work, so I'm glad it sounds like the insurance companies aren't contesting NT being at fault and will likely pay some or all of what she's suing for.)

- As noted above, we had some big vet bills. One of our beloved cats ended up being diagnosed with likely cancer (we're awaiting one more round of blood tests but the vet is pretty certain). From what we understand, chemo (and all the related tests and scans and visits etc) would come to about $20K, and the average survival is 50% live more than one year, 10% make it to three years. Given that our boy has FIV, a heart murmur and anemia and is on the older side, we don't rate his chances very well. And the additional vet visits would severely impact his quality of life for however long he lived (cars and carriers and strangers stress him out). So we're leaning toward palliative care to make him comfortable and let him enjoy the rest of his life. It's still gonna cost us a couple grand probably this year, but whatever we can do to give him the best care possible we'll do. Chemo just doesn't seem like a good route for him.

- Some of the healthcare costs were just stupid. I didn't check that the major hospital I went to for my mammogram was in network on my newish insurance, but it wasn't, so they barely covered anything. I get a diagnostic and cysts removed every year, so it was something like $2500. My monthly premium went up this year too, insult to injury, from $505 to $584. I'm going to try to get on NT's plan soon, and if that doesn't work I'll at least check network coverage VERY carefully before I do anything, since this plan is really crappy. (I shopped other plans on the exchange but I'd have to pay a TON more for anything even remotely good so I'll stick with crappy since I have a chance of not needing it much longer.)

Overall, it was a positive year financially and on paper life is great, but it's not all rosy. There have been ups and downs.

- I'm struggling a lot with having turned 50 in March, which I didn't think was going to bother me at all. It's not the getting old I mind, it's the prospect of mortality. I'm trying to get better about it but it's cast a shadow on most of the year. In lots of other ways I'm doing well though--I'm loving working for myself, I've got lots of awesome hobbies including learning a new language and taking singing lessons, and this music website I run has made me a minor celebrity (in a very niche part of the local music scene anyway, LOL).

- AS had a really tough year mentally, still dealing with some various fallouts from the pandemic and her decision to leave her lifelong career path, along with a definitive split from a family member that was very necessary but not an easy decision to make. She's feeling a bit adrift and not too happy. But I'm somewhat hopeful she'll find her way and I'll do everything I can to help.

- One of our kids, VL (formerly SL) had a rollercoaster year in terms of health (physical and mental) that included some tough times at school. The situation is still in flux but we're trying to help them with both sides of their struggles. (They're still excelling academically despite everything and have joined a few activities that bring them a lot of joy, so it's not all bad.)

- Our other kid AA is a newly minted high-schooler, and she probably had the calmest year of all of us. She's had a little trouble making friends but she seems to be making progress on that front. And doing well academically, and getting to be more independent little by little, so overall a good year for her I think.

- NT had a pretty great year! Other than the stress of the accident lawsuit and some colds and viruses (including COVID once), things have been going well. He likes his part-time job and they love him, but he's got an exciting prospect that he's totally confident is happening and I'll be confident in as soon as I see a job offer in writing. But if it pans out, it could net us over $30K more this year (conservatively) if he starts March 1st as he thinks he will. I worked up two versions of our annual budget, and if that job comes through it'll change the picture considerably! The best part is, it's a job that aligns with his passions and hobbies.

I think those are the big points; I may come in and edit if there's something major I'm missing. I'm grateful things turned out as well as they did this year despite the hurdles and curveballs. I don't take anything for granted anymore, but I'm trying to be open to the possibility that 2025 could be a good year for our family.