Challenge Mantra

Improving myself, one challenge at a time

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Me in 30 Words

Just a 30-something challengemantraengineer blogging somewhere at the intersection of fitness, travel, money, and life hacks. I’m on a mission of self improvement and searching for my calling in life.

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Progress-to-goal: $5,672 / $12,000 My personal inv Progress-to-goal: $5,672 / $12,000
My personal investment philosophy revolves around set-and-forget index fund investing. Occasionally though, I’ve picked up a few shares of a company we feel good about and that we feel could outperform the market.

Well, we had poor timing on one of these one-off investments recently (RIVN) and it took a big dive. While we still feel mildly positive the stock will regain its value, we’re actually able to lock in some value now by selling the stock to REALIZE these capital losses which we can then use to offset taxation of ordinary income for the 2022 tax year. This strategy is known as “tax loss harvesting”. When 30 days has passed after the sale, we can choose to repurchase the stock (if we want) and hope it’ll grow such that we recoup our losses.

I’m estimating $592 as the taxes we’ll save in the 2022 tax season based on the sale of this stock.

#12k2022
Progress-to-goal: $5,080 / $12000 It’s goal sett Progress-to-goal: $5,080 / $12000
It’s goal setting season in my office, and since I spent so much of last year focusing on personal goals, I wanted to make sure I set some professional goals this year, too. I was glad to find my business is willing to cover a professional certification I’m interested in. The certificate is foundational to my current role and should support my near-term professional marketability as well. I expensed the cost ($1,455) and will be spending the next few weeks studying for this.
#12k2022
Progress-to-goal: $3,625 / $12000 In my early care Progress-to-goal: $3,625 / $12000
In my early career, I fell into the hobby of credit card churning as a way to save money on flying home on the holidays. (Note: Churning is only worthwhile if you’re paying off credits card balances in full each month.)
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The American Express Platinum 150k AmEx Reward sign up bonus is probably our most lucrative bonus to date though it comes with a similarly rich annual fee ($695). It won’t be the right card for everyone, but here are the reasons I love it for us:
1️⃣ 100k is the standard sign-up bonus, 125k is offered to a special few, and 150k is the rarest possible. This is a ONCE IN A LIFETIME bonus, which means you won’t be able to earn it a second time. These days, my husband and I sign up for cards separately to maximize on bonuses. One of us was offered the 150k SUB (which we took) while the other wasn’t (so we’re holding off on a 2nd sign up in case it gets offered in the future)
2️⃣ @ThePointsGuy and other gurus value these points at $0.02 each when transferred to eligible travel partners including Delta Airlines, British Airways, and ANA. The actual cash value of these points is only $0.006, so it makes sense to use these on big travel vs cash back.
3️⃣ the card comes with a lot of perks for making the annual fee worth it. A few include $100 refund on Saks purchases, $100 refund on TSA global entry, $200 on airline incidentals (checked baggage, food, beverage), $200 hotel credit, $20/mo on Uber/UberEats, $20/mo on digital entertainment (Audible, New York Times, Peacock, Sirius XM…) , free Walmart+ MONTHLY membership…
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As I explored a potential 3rd trip to Utah this year, I saw that we could use our points for two round trip tickets in Economy class (valued at $0.013/pt). I also have an eye on swinging first class tickets to Tokyo for the 2023 Cherry Blossom season (COVID-19 permitting). The goal is bigger travel experiences for small spend 👌🍹 #12k2022
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