As most other Russians, I grew up celebrating and giving out presents on New Years instead of on Christmas as Russian Orthodox Christmas occurs on January 7th and is much more a religious based holiday. Although I now do presents on the typical Dec 25th to the wife and her family because of her upbringing (along with my general uncaring attitude towards traditions), I do sometimes miss waking up and getting presents to start the new year. Although I did not get any physical gifts this year, the government finally did something I am in support of and gave me a decent present anyways with their military policy bill veto! To be more specific, congress just overruled President Trump’s veto on the NDAA bill, which means uniformed members will be getting a 3% raise.

For me, that means roughly $113.1 extra per month, or $1,357 a year!

Although that figure doesn’t sound like much to some, due to my already high savings rate, I try to frame it as an experience I no longer have to worry about saving for separately. In my case, this means that the upcoming splurge at Osteria Francescana (which I have had reservations moved three times now due to COVID) along with the nightly hotel stay and some of the day events my wife and I looked up in the area will be taken care of, so not too shabby at all.