My dear reader.

For the past 11 months I have been spending down my savings.

This was intentional — after starting to divest from the stock market in June of 2024 I decided to repurpose a big chunk of that money to cover a year-long sabbatical in 2025, during which the majority of my tiny business (except for this newsletter, and sometimes even that) has been closed.

The most honest thing I can tell you about my gap year is that the reality has been much different from the initial fantasy. Mostly that’s because 2025 wound up being defined by two major things, both agonizing and both entirely outside of my control. The first, my father’s cancer diagnosis and death (and the subsequent need to relocate my disabled mother and take over all the details of her life and care). The second, my country’s rapid fall into authoritarianism alongside a general worsening of worldwide collapse. (What a time to be alive, right?)

So no, the day-to-day of gap year didn’t look at all the way I envisioned when I first planned it, and yet of course I still unearthed so much about myself through this experience.

In the realm of work and money, this week I’d like to tell you about the five most useful things I’ve learned through 11 months of low/no paid work.