Here is the long blog I do every year -- taking an overall look at the previous year.
One of the prettier sights I saw in 2024 (at Niagara Falls).
First thing is a review of my New Year's Resolutions in 2024 and how I did with them:
(REVIEW) New Year's Resolutions for 2024
- Using my Crunchyroll subscription, watch at least 100 episodes' worth of anime / dramas (movies would count as 1 episode per 30 minutes of runtime) -- DONE (Just by finishing the last series on my list below, I watched wayy over 100 episodes' worth. They break down like this [also just to say that I watched the complete series for only some that are mentioned]:)
-Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
-Jujutsu Kaisen
-Jujutsu Kaisen 0 - Movie
-Hunter x Hunter
- Spend at least 100 hours watching Netflix (for things I haven't yet watched) -- DONE (I spent about 192 hours. It's much less than the 243 hours I watched last year, but it still comes out to about 16 hours a month. Below is how it breaks down:)
Movies: 72 (less than last year. It still works out to 6 movies a month >->!)
Shows (1 season counts as 1): 3
Anime (1 season counts as 1): 1
Documentaries: 0
K-Dramas: 2
J-Dramas: 0
Extras (any behind the scenes / extra footage): 1
Of all that I watched on Netflix, my boyfriend watched 3 movies, all the shows, and all the anime series with me. We tend to watch more anime and shows together, so I have to be selective when it comes to movies.
For my media collection, I still kept track of what I experienced, but I didn't keep track of the time. By looking at the number of games and books I completed, I think I went through more of my media collection this year. I read almost 1000 pages of books! That's quite a lot for me. I'll make more efforts to record my time spent in 2025, but as always, we'll see how it goes. Below is how I did with my media collection. For the video games, * means that I played it with my boyfriend.
Video games - Completed at least once
-Nobody Saves the World *
-Portal Knights *
-Broken Age
-Civilization VI *
-World Cruise Story
-Curious Expedition
-Curious Expedition 2
-Stardew Valley *
Video games - Tried out for the first time
-Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove
-Stranded Deep
-Curses N' Chaos *
-Sifu
-Mafia: The Definitive Edition
-Dungeon Punks *
-Skul: The Hero Slayer
-Another World: 20th Anniversary Edition
-King's Quest
-Cook, Serve, Delicious!
-Tunic
-Subnautica
-Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep: A Wonderland's One-shot Adventure *
-Other games I've started before and am still playing
Books / Manga
-Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements
-86 (novel): Volume 1
-Anansi Boys
-Molly's Game
Below are my resolutions for 2025:
New Year's Resolutions for 2025
- Using my Crunchyroll subscription, watch at least 100 episodes' worth of anime / dramas (movies would count as 1 episode per 30 minutes of runtime)
New Year's Resolutions for 2025
- Using my Crunchyroll subscription, watch at least 100 episodes' worth of anime / dramas (movies would count as 1 episode per 30 minutes of runtime)
- Spend at least 100 hours watching Netflix (for things I haven't yet watched)
Just like in 2024, I'm going to stick with only these two resolutions. I anticipate needing to set aside more time towards other things, so I want to be conservative with what I want to accomplish this year.
2024 in Review
2024 felt like being in a limbo for the most part. All the jobs I applied for did not contact me back for an interview, except for two which were referred by my friends. For a time I felt frustrated and discouraged. Was there something wrong with me? Did my resume suck? I was fortunate to be receiving Employment Insurance (EI) during this time, but it felt like my life was temporarily on hold. Now that I found some freelance work, things seem better. There are things I can work towards, like possibly moving out or something else.
As for my boyfriend, we are still together. I never really thought about it much, but these two things have happened since we've been together:
1. I've been going to the gym more often
I know that being healthy is a good thing, which is why I was fine with my boyfriend's value rubbing off on me. I don't think I'd ever go to the gym by myself.
2. I've been eating less snacks
Partway through 2024, my boyfriend and I agreed to eat snacks twice a week instead of when we felt like it (which would likely be everyday). Weight-wise, I don't think snacking less affected me at all, but I'm sure I saved more money. During the Christmas week, I declared that everyday was a snack day because that was my Christmas "gift" to myself. We also had a lot of snacks piling up by then.
We are currently trying to incorporate much of what we learned from reading I Will Teach You to Be Rich into building a "richer" life together, which will likely mean adjustments and possibly some behavioural / habitual changes. I think as long as we don't end up killing each other, things will be fine. :)
Visiting Niagara Falls: This was the closest to a spur-of-the-moment trip for me. It was a long weekend and nothing specific was going on for me nor my boyfriend. My boyfriend said something to the effect of "Let's go on a trip" and I said, "Okay". Then the next day we went to Niagara Falls. After so many years of wanting to dine at IHOP, my wish was finally fulfilled.
Getting a temporary job helping my friend's relative's trophy shop: It was an interesting experience. A shout-out to my former co-workers who taught me how to do a great job while I was there.
My grandmother passing away: With her passing, all of my grandparents have now passed on. May they all rest in peace.
Stopped my last GICs from auto-renewing: It felt like an accomplishment to me.
FFBE Global ending its service: Its announcement got me to log in again. Thank you for the memories! A blog is still coming for it.
FFBE Global ending its service: Its announcement got me to log in again. Thank you for the memories! A blog is still coming for it.
Attending the Anime Symphonic concert: It could have been better, but it did expose me to a great piece from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, so not all was lost.
Here is my blog on the concert: https://ironixgirl.blogspot.com/2024/09/blog-symphonic-anime-2024-meridian-hall.html
Attending the Hatsune Miku concert: Sadly this was a disappointment. I pray that future concerts will be different.
Here is my blog on the concert: https://ironixgirl.blogspot.com/2024/05/blog-hatsune-miku-expo-north-american.html
Hanging out with friends: I will always appreciate this.
Having the LINE voice chats with friends: Having these chats are always nice. <3
Tuning into the Extra Life stream with Stephen, Mal, and friends: This is always a fun and wacky time. When I feel more financially stable I'll donate again.
"Trauma Center: Second Opinion | Extra Life 2024 #18" from StephenVOD.
This was one of the games played during Extra Life. Some of the scenes touch on a sensitive topic (suicide). The reactions to some of the in-game text are gold.
Wrap-ups, Replays, etc. in 2024
Sometimes I look forward to these 'cuz I'm curious about my stats. Some of these links will likely not be accessible after a certain time so check them out while you can if you like. I don't think the Wrap-Up for PS had a shareable link for 2024.
Spotify (my playlist): Link (can you sift through the songs that are only on the list for blogging purposes? Hahaha)
Steam: Link
My Top 5 games for the PS4 Wrap-up. I knew that Genshin would be first, but it was interesting to see the Curious Expedition games and Subnautica in the Top 5 as well.
Top Whatevers in 2024
This is my top list of what was released in 2024 that I experienced. It's really short this year since I experienced a lot of older things.
I should note that I watched Like a Dragon: Yakuza on Amazon Prime. It was the only series I watched that was released in 2024, but I refuse to list it as a top for 2024. It just didn't satisfy me enough!
(Movie): Deadpool & Wolverine
When I thought I'd never see Hugh Jackman as Wolverine again because of Logan... we get this. And it's a fantastic and entertaining movie.
Top Exposures in 2024
This is my top list of what I was exposed to this year, regardless of what year it really came out in. Any titles with two years indicate the original release date, then the English release date. If I list here the same thing from my "Top Whatevers", I will also mention a runner-up.
(Anime): Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009-2010)
This is pretty old now, but I think it still holds well to many series that are out today. Great pacing. Great characters. Great story. It's a great series and definitely worth watching.
(Movie): Tie between Spotlight (2015) and Oppenheimer (2023)
Both Spotlight and Oppenheimer were masterpieces in their own way. Spotlight was a down-to-Earth, realistic retelling of a horrific subject matter. Oppenheimer was a retelling of an intriguing time in history that contained some beautiful (or frightening) cinematic moments. Both had wonderful acting and amazing scripts. It's a bit hard to say if they are enjoyable because of the subject matter (especially for Spotlight), but I think these are important movies to watch.
(Video Game): Curious Expedition [PS4] (2016)
Yes, this beat out Civilization VI for me as well as Curious Expedition 2. While I thought some of the mechanics went more in-depth in Curious Expedition 2, my overall enjoyment was higher with Curious Expedition. The randomness was fun. The gameplay was addictive. All-in-all, Curious Expedition was a delight that didn't wear out its welcome.
(Show): Beyond Evil (2021)
It's a K-drama that started off a bit slow but drew me in strong after the first couple episodes. I loved watching the plot unfold in unexpected ways. The acting was also superb, especially for the main characters. Just talking about it makes me want to watch it again. <3
(Song - English): You're My World from Last Night in Soho (2021)
(Song - English): You're My World from Last Night in Soho (2021)
This song is so haunting but so beautiful at the same time.
"You're My World" from Last Night in Soho.
This is so beautifully sung.
(Song - Non-English): Timeless from Beyond Evil (2021)
It's intense with so much mystery and thrills -- just like the series.
"Timeless" from Beyond Evil.
I think it captures the essence of the series so well.
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And that's that for my review of 2024.
In my last entry, I noted a few things I wanted to do in 2024:
-Find ways to make money (I'm currently doing freelance so I believe that counts)
-Finish up playing the main Yakuza games (I'm still on 6, so nope)
-Learn more about investing (I may not be able to use all the proper terminology in a conversation, but I did learn about it)
For 2025, below are some things I'd like to do:
-Save more money (I have my own internal goal so we'll see if I hit it or not)
-Finish up playing the main Yakuza games (I want the top 3 of the Top 5 games in the PS4 Wrap-Up for 2025 to be Yakuza and Judgement games)
-Play around with streaming (I'm not gonna show my face but I think with all my video game backlog, this could be a chance to share the experience, despite how boring that may be!)
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! Below is a % breakdown of my Top 10 spending in 2024 compared to 2023 and 2022. This breakdown excludes necessities like my cell phone plan, transportation expenses, etc. Click on the image to enlarge it.
Thanks again for reading! May 2025 be filled with amazing health, wealth, and wonderful memories! *hug*
Take care, stay safe, and until next time! :)
Eating out is still pretty high. >.>! I've also spent a lot on gifts this year (I'm not really sure how to reduce that this year other than declining some outing invites...). My boyfriend and I cook together sometimes, which explains the slight increase in food -- non-chips. When I look through my miscellaneous spending, much of it is coming from miscellaneous necessities like 10 bottles of body wash, 10+ packets of cough candy, 10+ bags of floss, etc. I'm hoping my miscellaneous spending will go down this year since I shouldn't need to buy more body wash or floss for a while.
Take care, stay safe, and until next time! :)
