Happy June! I love the start of a new month. June, in particular, has always heralded the start of summer for me personally. This June I’ve got big plans, financial and otherwise, and I can’t wait to share them.
I’ve got exactly a week left at my nonprofit job. (I extended my last day twice already for my boss because we’re such a small company.) But now we’re in the final countdown, I begin training my replacement tomorrow and I’ve sent my last invoice! I’m really excited to be wrapping up this job. I’m going out on a positive note with my boss and I made a little extra money by staying a week longer than planned.
I plan on spending the first two weeks of self-employment doing more of the funemployment thing. I am really struggling with burn out, and I’m constantly exhausted. I want to sleep a lot and give myself a little break.
This coincides nicely with the start of June. On the 6th my housemates and I are moving for two weeks while repair work is done on our houses foundation. I plan on taking those two weeks as a staycation, full of self-care and figuring out exactly how I want to build my brand.
Due to the inconvenience of moving out, my landlord has knocked two weeks off of rent for June, and he’s paying for our AirBnb. I’ve also scheduled enough catering events this month to meet my bare minimum income need ($1,200) from that alone. With the extra week of payment from the nonprofit, I feel really good about taking a mini-break from life for two weeks.
(I’ll still be catering throughout those two weeks, but not having to do anything in between catering events for the nonprofit is going to make a HUGE difference.)
My rent for June is due today, and I’m actually going to send in enough money for June and July. I have the money in my account to do so, and I like knowing rent will already be paid for when I start my first true month of freelancing in July.
I am also just a few hundred dollars away from hitting my $2,000 goal for my Fuck it Fund, and my e-fund is actually higher than I had planned on it being. I have 5-6 months of expenses saved up at this point. Plus, I’ll be catering at least a few events each month for the rest of the year, so I should be fine when it comes to hitting that bare minimum each month.
On a non-financial note, June is also going to see a radical shift in my eating habits. I’ve been dealing with stomach pains for the last three years and have no explanation for them. They come and go; sometimes they’re severe and accompanied with vomiting, sometimes they’re mildly annoying. I’ve seen countless doctors and had a bunch of tests done. (Like, I had a colonoscopy at 24.)
I’ve done a few different things throughout the past couple years to combat the pains, but this month marks a new effort. I’m embarking on a very strict elimination diet over the next five weeks with the help of a GI. Hopefully, we’ll be able to find a food or a group of foods that causes the pain and I can just cut it out from my diet altogether.
I’m pretty into healthy eating and already restrict myself in lots of ways- no red meat, no pork, low dairy. But I eat a ton of sugar, I drink coffee every day, and I rely a lot on carbs at most of my meals. I’ll be cutting out sugar, dairy, soy, meat, legumes, eggs, alcohol and gluten over the next five weeks, and then slowly reintroducing things to my diet.
It’s going to be hard! I’ve never done anything like this before. I’m not sure what the cause of the pain is, but I’m willing to do this thing for five weeks to try and find out! I keep telling myself that it’s just like debt payoff- work hard now and reap the rewards later. I’m a sprinter, so I’m just gonna sprint through this!
What are your June plans and goals?
Kara Perez is the original founder of From Frugal To Free. She is a money expert, speaker and founder of Bravely Go, a feminist financial education company. Her work has been featured on NPR, Business Insider, Forbes, and Elite Daily.
Congrats on the job wrapping up. I can’t even imagine the relief you’re feeling. Even though you’ve got the job wrapping up you still sound like you have a few things going on so it’s awesome you’re taking a break to recoup and gather yourself. Also, fingers crossed you find out what’s been troubling your stomach. Having stomach pains is no fun at all:(
Thanks Latoya. The stomach pains have GOT TO GO. It’s enough already! That’s another reason I’m taking the two weeks off- I want to be able to focus on preparing my own meals and tracking what I’m putting into my body.
This sounds like a great plan. Figuring out your health should always be priority 1. And taking time to relax and think is a great start. I’m really hoping this big vacation with just Mr. T and I will do a similar thing for us. We need to figure out where we really want to go and how to get there. Good luck!
Your trip is going to be amazing! True reflection is so important, but so hard to find time for. I really want to make sure the next step is the right step so that i don’t end up repeating this process in a year!
So close! I wonder how much your stomach pains might be due to the stress you’ve been feeling? Either way, I hope you get to the bottom of it! Best of luck!!
Thank you! The pains predate the stress, but I’m sure the stress isn’t helping matters. I did find a white hair the other day….????????
I’m so excited for you Kara – you so deserve this break! And good luck with the diet – I hope you end up figuring out what the problem is, *especially* with so much effort put in to keeping all those things out of your diet.
Thanks! This dies sucks but it’s really only for three weeks- the last two i experiment with putting foods back into my diet and seeing if it makes me ill. I’ve gone so long without knowing anything about why i get pains that if any info comes from this it’s worth it!
Self-care is sooooo important and it’s great that you’re kicking off your transition with prioritizing yourself. It’s hard to be productive when you’re constantly tired, not feeling well, overworked, overwhelmed etc. Best of luck with the transition and smart move on paying rent early!
Thanks! I mailed my rent check today and it felt great. I think taking this personal time will add up to big professional wins. At least, I hope so!
Oh gosh, I’m so sorry you’ve been having stomach pains for so long. That sounds incredibly unpleasant. I hope you can figure it out quickly! And I hope your last week of work goes well too.
Thanks Sarah. The stomach pains are a major bummer. Hopefully i’ll have some concrete answers soon!
Wow! A lot of stuff happening in June! Sometimes a little time away can help regain your focus and get rid of burnout! Glad to hear you are taking time. Hope the stomach pains get better! My wife has struggled with them off and on for years and we are still trying to figure out the root cause.
Oh, my sympathies to your wife! It’s hard not to know the why of pains. I’m really looking forward to some time off ????
The elimination diet is a good way to try and figure out what’s causing the stomach pains. I would make sure you go real bare bones at first and then start re-introducing stuff really slowly. It’s a good idea to keep a food journal to make sure you’re tracking exactly what you’re eating for when the stomach pains resurface.
I am keeping a food and pain journal. I write down what I ate and what my body experienced that day. I haven’t started re introducing anything yet, but I want to really be able to compare the differences. Time to get to the bottom of this!
Just found your blog on rockstar finance and I’m happy to be following 🙂
Just a thought- I hope you’re going grain free (not just gluten free) during your eliminaton diet. I had horrible GI issues most of my life that resolved after I started eating Paleo.
Let me know if you want resources !
Laura
Oh, im not going grain free! Just gluten. Damn it, is that recommended? My doctor said quinoa and rice would be fine. And welcome! So glad to have you here.
” I plan on taking those two weeks as a staycation, full of self-care and figuring out exactly how I want to build my brand.”
Sounds like the perfect opportunity for some creative, low-pressure activities. I’m really curious to see what the result of this staycation will be for you.
Just wanted to say that your blog, among other personal finance blogs, inspired me to start my own and really start working towards financial independence. You’re changing lives, Kara — keep it up.
This is one of the best comments I’ve ever gotten. Thank you so much for the kind words. Personal finance blogs definitely changed my life, so welcome to the fold. You can do amazing things in your own life, which is the most fantastic gift!
Figuring out why food hurts is so frustrating. Good luck on the journey.
The rest of your month and plans sounds incredible. I love stay-cations as a re-set on my values and joy in place.
Thanks! I’m just over a week in on the diet, and I wish it would end, hahaha. But hopefully the answers will be worth it. The staycation is an under appreciated thing in my mind!
Have you been tested for Celiac disease? Your symptoms sound like an allergy to Gluten in Wheat. It could be a lot of things but I’d get tested for this. My wife had similar symptoms for years and finally figured out it was Wheat.
I was tested for Celiac’s three years ago, but I just asked my doctor today to give me another test. You’re not the first on to mention that, so it seems like a good thing to double check on.
Glad to hear you are leaving your job on a good note and have plenty in the bank. Taking time off really did wonders for me in May since I was pretty burnt out too. I hope your diet plan goes well!
Thanks Chonce! So far the diet is going pretty well, but still some time to go. The time off is going pretty well, though I seem to be booking a lot of my time. Why is taking time off so hard?