Anniversaries can be handy times to reflect on changes and choices. Two years ago I sold my cottage (868 sq ft) and bought a tiny house (391 sq ft). Life is better, some through good choices, some through luck. Life is better now, and yet, this phase is temporary; but then, isn’t that always the case?

For a deeper dive into my living in a tiny house I suggest one of my other blogs. (Two Years In My Tiny House) My apologies to those who expect either rainbow-and-butterflies literature or to those who expect a grimy-working-through-trauma diatribe. My life is real. The story is between those two extremes.

This blog refers to that day two years ago when I sold my cottage and bought this tiny house. That was when I sold a view, and got rid of a mortgage. I bought a life that is debt-free, with asterisks. My friends are one measure of the transition; they tell me I look less worried and happier. My finances, well, they’re the real reason for this post.

My finances are doing much better now.

The chart shows the money transferring in from the house into my portfolio. Nice bump. The cash eventually became stocks. First, though, it went to paying off debts, un-deferring deferred purchases and services, and to general living expenses. Fine. I sold some stock for various described throughout this blog, and am about ready to sell some more. It looks like I can afford it, though deciding which stock to sell is an active task that I’ll resolve soon.

Every step up in that red line has taken me further from worry. Whew. 

Look at that chart from before May 2024 and imagine how worried I’d been.

My financial recovery has been more immediate than my health recovery. That may take years. Being poor is unhealthy.

And look again at the chart from before May 2024. There wasn’t much there. Today the chart looks much healthier, and it is; but those portfolios from then haven’t changed much now. What has changed was the result of re-investing in the stock market – and probably finding good luck too.

Those pre-2024 stocks were leftovers from selling most of my holdings while losing 98% of my Net Worth. (Browse through posts about ‘Triple Whammy‘ for years of details.) I still have those stocks: GERN, LCTX, MVIS. I bought and have held those stocks, effectively, since circa 2000. LTBH would suggest and the company’s statements and progress would suggest that they may still become profitable to the firm and to me. They languish, regardless.

My post May 2024 stocks have made the positive difference: GMGMF, SLDP, QBTS, and LUNR. They have all at least doubled. QBTS is ‘only’ up >100% in the last year, but it trades at >$22 and I bought it ~$1. 

Luck? Some will say. But it takes money to make luck and the decision to act upon it, which is an active act. I didn’t just ‘luck’ into those stocks.

Both the stocks I’ve held for decades and the recent successes were chosen based on the same criteria: buy stocks in companies working on positive, disruptive, and growing companies is industries ready for disruption. It just happened that my recent purchases were closer to ready than I thought. My older holdings seem to be well-positioned, though I suspect the current administrations are not leaders, more like managers who found a good job. The younger companies tend to be driven by founders who were driven. I see that drive in the recent companies, but not in the older ones.

It’s almost as if two criminal acts (Wall Street white-collar criminals who were found guilty) negated luck, or more than a decade of my opportunities – and I lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Shudder.

After I lost my money and before I sold my house it became easy to hear others’ opinions. They weren’t favorable.

But then I remember that, by living frugally, and investing wisely or luckily or both, I retired at 38 in 1998. Most of those stocks are gone because of a divorce. But, my reawakened confidence reminds me that many others wanted my advice. See Dream. Invest. Live. to see examples of what worked and what didn’t. I wrote the book by request. I’m glad I learned enough then, and have been reminded about it lately. 

There are no guarantees. That period from 2010 to 2024 proved that. But good things can happen, too. My portfolio since my tiny house sale proves that. I haven’t made enough to buy my cottage, or some similar house, back; but that’s mostly because I don’t want a mortgage. The mortgage companies made sure that my experience was sufficiently traumatic that I don’t know if I could survive that level of abuse again, literally.

Money isn’t everything, and investments aren’t money until they’re sold. But of all the adjustments I’ve made to living in a tiny house, the extra money, the lower expenses, and the increased opportunities have been the greatest. I miss having parties. I miss the view. I am recovering from the worries, and can tell they’ll take a while to heal.

I pause as I type for many reasons. Some is a wonder if this is ‘Too Much Information’. Some is a worry about feedback, especially from people who read this post without learning more about my situation. (Muddling By, a roller-coaster ride through America’s wealth classes) But I realize that I’m writing this to chronicle my story and also to not hide the swings that can come into a life. Maybe someone will learn something – and is it a radical notion to expect someone to learn anything? Whoa. That’s an unexpected social commentary. Gotta think about that one.

Good things can happen. Patience is a virtue, but not a guarantee of success. Being resilient can be the only way to get through. But, it is possible to get through the bad to get to the good. Sometimes it takes patience, and remembering to trust yourself and keep learning.