I am going to steal this thread goal of "living life and being happy." My oncologist and his nurse practitioner are always telling me this: "Go live your live and enjoy it. That is what you are fighting so hard to be able to do!"
I have been staying positive and enjoying a lot of little things during this journey. A very experienced oncology nurse in the hospital told me to not just have big goals in the long distance but to create short term goals, too, and to do something every day that brings me pleasure, makes me happy, or makes me smile. She said that living life positively has a measurable effect on prognosis and outcomes. I am taking all their advice, but I think it is a really sound principle for everyone--even when working on debt reduction, saving more, putting up with stock market swings, etc.
My money challenge is that in two months my medical leave is over. I am applying for Long Term Disability through my work which will pay just 60% of my salary (although some payroll deductions are going to change which should land me closer to 80%). If I am turned down (which I don't expect), I will move right into retirement 18 months ahead of my original plans, but that will be okay, too.
In both cases, I need to streamline my spending (less waste on groceries, less takeout, more cooking, etc.) I will not be able to save as much as I have over the last 3-4 years, but I will make sure that I can still save some percentage of this reduced salary. I have really been spending on Christmas gifts (I have a Christmas savings account but I will use up every penny and usually I save about $200 of it to kickstart the next savings year.
I have also been spending on clothes for myself a lot in the last month, but one of my chemo side effects is that I am freezing cold all the time. I have needed warmer coats, more undershirts for layering, fleece shirts and jackets to wear inside, etc. It is what it is, and I should soon be set up to be more comfortable for the lower temps, wind, and snow that will be around here for the next three months.
Other than that, I have been feeling really good lately (knock on wood big time) and hope to take some vacation trips this year with my daughter. That money has already been saved and not spent since I have been sick. Somewhere warm and sunny, of course!