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Lynn:
Hey there, everyone. This is Lynn Toomey with the Walk the Talk podcast, and I am excited to be recording this week’s episode from Whitefish, Montana. So it was a last minute decision, but I had some great friends that were coming out to Yellowstone and to Whitefish for a two week trip and my significant other and I were invited. But we had a lot of conflicting things going on in our life, so we declined the trip. And then in the 11th hour, we decided life is short, take the trip. So here I am on a hot, hot day in Montana, recording this broadcast, and guess what? It’s all about making the trip, because I do believe that as much as we want to save and make sure that we are preparing for our retirement, I believe that before you retire, you need to make sure that you prioritize some fun, right?
Lynn:
You don’t want to have all work and no play. And you certainly don’t want to miss out on those special moments, those special vacations. So one of the things that I like to tell people is that in your pre-retirement life, you need to think about what are those non-negotiables in your life. And one of mine non-negotiables is certainly travel. I don’t go nuts with travel. It needs to be budget-friendly travel. I’ll talk about that in a few moments, and we’re not taking Greek island cruises or traveling around the world, certainly with COVID we’re not anyway. But I like to think of it as budget-friendly travel that allows us to get out from our everyday routines, make some time for friends, make some time to see the world because life is short and I believe that you should make the trip, eat the cake, and sometimes buy the shoes too.
Lynn:
So that’s what this week’s podcast is all about. Because here I am in this beautiful place that’s always been on my bucket list and my friends were coming. They had reserved the Airbnb, they had the cars reserved, and I sat in my living room at home in Massachusetts and said, what am I doing? Why are we not going? So we didn’t join them for the whole two weeks, because that was a little exorbitant in a year when I have twins that are going to college, but we did decide to join them for the second part of the trip. And we have spent the last few days in Glacier National Park. And I must say it is the most spectacular place I have seen in my lifetime. And I am so glad that over a week and a half ago, as I sat in my living room with my laptop on my desk, looking at Travelocity tickets, that I made the decision and I bought the ticket and here we are.
Lynn:
So I would encourage you all to make sure that you are making time for those special moments, making time that you spend, whether it’s a vacation an hour away from your home or across the country, whatever your budget allows you to do. This podcast is about making that time, making it a priority to make memories. So one of the things that we did that helped us in this decision is we sold a sports car and we refinanced our SUV. And I guess in doing that, I eliminated some servicing to some debt and I freed up some cash each month. So it made me feel a little more comfortable in spending some money to do this trip.
Lynn:
So to me, getting rid of that sports car, lowering our payment on our SUV, if that allows me to do a couple of things, one is save a little bit more for retirement, save a little bit more for a down payment on a house because we currently rent and three, give a little extra money to my girls who are going to college and four, allow us to enjoy some summer fun. Then to me, it was worth exchanging the sports car. And of course the big payment on the SUV didn’t make a lot of sense when we could refinance and significantly cut our payment. But I am so glad that we made that decision because at the end of the day, the car just kind of sat in the driveway. We drove it occasionally, certainly my significant other loved the car, but I think he’s going to love the other things that it will afford us even more. And now when I get back from vacation, I’m on a mission to see what else I can cut from the budget, because I think there’s always fat that you can trim, especially prior to retirement.
Lynn:
And if you take a look at what you are spending on a monthly basis, write down everything, track everything, I’m sure you’re going to be able to trim some fat and allow yourself to use those monies in other ways that are important to you. So I wanted this podcast to happen because I am dedicated to recording every week. So even though I’m on vacation, I wanted to make it a point to record, make a recording and put it out there for everyone. But one of the highlights of our trip was today where we rented e-bikes and we rode up to the top of what’s called Logan Pass. And it was one of the most invigorating, exciting, physically challenging things that I’ve done. And I think that if I had seen pictures on my friend’s Facebook pages of this bike trip and this entire week trip here in Whitefish, Montana, I would have regretted the decision not to come.
Lynn:
So I can’t even say enough about Montana. It’s been on my bucket list. And I knew that my friends probably wouldn’t be coming back here anytime soon. And this was my window of opportunity to check something off of my bucket list. So I would highly encourage you to do what you can to make sure you check things off your bucket list. One of the friends that are with us on this trip, her husband passed away about a month and a half ago, suddenly 58 years old. And he was supposed to be on this trip. So tonight we are taking a gondola up to the top of big mountain and she’s going to spread his ashes. And it just makes you realize that life is very short and you need to appreciate every moment, make those memories. And in a lot of cases, although we need some material things in our life, I think memories are more important than material objects.
Lynn:
So with that, I am going to go because we need to get ready to take that gondola ride to spread Brian’s ashes and to remember him and to cherish the memory he left with everyone. Although we wish he was here on the trip, he is here in spirit. So like to remind you to make the trip, eat the cake, by the shoes if they’re on the sale rack. I’m famous for buying shoes on sale racks so I had to throw that in there. But anyway, I look forward to next week’s episode and I appreciate you listening in and I hope this inspires you to make some time to make those special memories and to look for the fat in your budget where you can trim out some things you really don’t need so that you can afford to have those moments, have those memories, create those memories with your friends and family. So thank you for listening and I will speak to you next week. Have a great day.