Not much big news to report from me.  Everything is humming along as per the plan, and while I wish some of it was moving faster, I really can't complain about the progress I've made on all fronts since embarking on this big ambitious 4 year goal plan.  

Yesterday was payday.  I had a large amount going into one of the bank bonus accounts, so I went over to one of their branches to withdraw that money.  Conveniently, my main bank was right across the street, so I was able to deposit into my main checking in the same trip.  Nothing unusual about this payday.  Got home, made all of the planned payments for the day and that was about it.  

The direct deposit into the bonus account yesterday was a one and done - meaning that it's the only direct deposit needed to earn that bonus.  So when I got home, I updated my direct deposit info to switch over to the next bonus account.  I also received an offer for a bonus that doesn't need direct deposit, just having to keep a minimum average daily balance for two months.  Since I had more than this amount in savings, I went ahead and opened the account and made the transfer.  Not planning to use for any transactions, so it's no different than sitting in my savings, except in 2 months it'll have earned me $250 lol.  That's a nice return!  This slows down the bonus activity for the year.....after the current bonus I just set up direct deposit for, I just have one more planned out for the year, and I'll start working on that in June.  I am thinking I can probably only get 1-2 more for the year, I'll have exhausted the list of banks that are physically close enough to me to be able to take advantage of the bonuses.  So I'll have to wait at least 6 months, more like 12-24, to be able to take advantage of those bonuses again.  I'll see what comes up over the summer.  

Hopefully by summer, I'll have gotten promoted (this is currently top of mind as I am reviewing job descriptions for my team.  I am currently performing somewhere in between the level above mine, and the one above that.  Always fun to realize.)  But I am hopeful that with all of the high level work I am putting it, I will be recognized.  Obviously, this brings personal and professional satisfaction, but the truth is, I really need a raise to move my plan along.  It's built out based on my current salary, but I am not able to make optimizations that have been identified as a need until I can increase the amount of money coming in.  For the past few months, I've been managing it thanks to snowflakes and such, but I'd really like to move to the next step where all of my expenses are covered by pay, and extra money is literally only used for extra things - such as accelerating debt & savings goals, and fun stuff!  We'll get there.  

Speaking of snowflakes, today is the market research in home study for which I'll be paid $595.  The good news is that I am actually a backup for the study, which means they may not call me to even come.  But I'll get paid anyway (best case scenario).  The maybe not good news is that as a backup, I am not committed to a specific time slot for them to call, and they can call anywhere between 5am and 10pm.  If I am not available/turn them down, I do not get paid.  If they call me before 2:30pm, I can make it work.  When I thought I had to be out of the house for 9 hours, I made a lot of plans for this afternoon, which aren't all that flexible.  So if they call me after that, it'll be harder for me to let them in.  But!  The study is supposed to take 8 hours (plus an hour to let air particles settle after they leave).  So I have my fingers crossed that they wouldn't call after 2 since there would not be enough time to complete the study in the timeframe they're working with....so far so good, but it's only 9:15am here.  It'll be a bummer if they do call and I am unable to accomodate them, but this was all kind of sudden anyway.  I do have tentative plans for spending the incentive but nothing is finalized yet.  If I don't get it, I'll be disappointed but I will live.  

Tomorrow I am traveling for the first time in about a year and a half.  I am going with my mom to clean out my grandfather's apartment, in Las Vegas (a 5 hour flight from where we are in NY).  We are meeting her sister there.  I am not super nervous to travel, as I am fully vaccinated.  It'll be nice to have a change of scenery for a week, even if it won't be a truly fun time.  Hopefully it'll be a low spend week.  Not usually the case with traveling since you're out of your routine etc but I am not anticipating a lot of out of pocket costs for myself.