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1. 

   secretwealth
   

   Expert
   Joined: Jun '11
   Posts: 1,520

   Okay, it's time to start posting; I'm going to focus on the financial side because I'm really too far from being a renaissance man as described by Jacob to really talk about woodworking, handiwork, and so on. I hope to develop those skills later, but I'm a tunnel vision sort of person, and I'm now focusing on cost containment and savings and would love help on that side of things.

   So, my income and outgoing for February (including March 1st to make a 30 day fiscal month) boils down to the following:

   Income:

   Job 1 $3,247
   Job 1 Bonus $1,191
   Job 2 $2,117

   Total: $6,555

   All figures are post-tax. No investment income for February; I sold all my holdings in January and made an advance mortgage payment (current balance is $24,979). I did this for two reasons: 1. my mortgage payment is 6.75% and I can't see getting that yield, post-tax, on any investment; 2. I'm expecting a bear market, and today's drop may be the beginning of that. I'm hoping to save up and buy some bargains when the market falls further later this year.

   Outgoings:

   Housing $1,101.00 (513 mortgage, 588 maintenance--this includes property taxes, heat, water, sewage, trash, etc. Yes, it's very high--I live in NYC where this is quite normal)
   Electricity $62.29
   Internet $45.00
   Gym $66.00
   Food $380.80
   Restaurants $377.78
   Entertainment $446.57
   Transportation $163.16

   Total: $2642.60

   Savings rate: 59.6%

   Notes:

   1. The savings rate is slightly higher because part of that mortgage payment goes into equity.
   2. I know the restaurants expense will be the first thing people here will want to cut, but it can't be, really. My wife and I go to inexpensive restaurants (diners, mostly) as a sort of date and I don't think this is going to get trimmed much.
   3. All figures above are for two people. My wife is currently out of work, but she'll be going back to work soon. If we split expenses 50/50, my savings rate would be closer to 80%.
   4. Some of that restaurant expense is take out when my wife and I were too tired/lazy to cook. I need to work on this more.

   Any questions, advice, comments, feedback would be much appreciated!

   Posted 1 year ago #
2. 

   George the original one
   

   Expert
   Joined: Jul '10
   Posts: 1,943

   'Bout time you started one :-)

   Okay, I won't go after the restraunts... but if you found cheaper entertainment, then that could be a 10% bump in your savings rate. On the other hand, if you wife is working, it won't matter.

   Posted 1 year ago #
3. 

   Dragline
   

   Master
   Joined: Aug '11
   Posts: 964

   That's a nice high savings rate. Have you made any projections as to how much you'll need and a time frame?

   I think paying down the mortgage was a smart move, especially at that rate. I did the same thing in January.

   Posted 1 year ago #
4. 

   secretwealth
   

   Expert
   Joined: Jun '11
   Posts: 1,520

   Thanks, guys.

   Dragline: Timeline is three years, although things are going to get bumpy in February, when Job 1's contract ends and my pay is going to get cut drastically. This is based on an irresponsibly high SWR that most people here would crucify me over, but I'm an impatient sort.

   George: Agreed--it's my Achilles heel. But the thing about the restaurants is you have to subtract the cost of the meal at the restaurant to the cost to eat at home. For example, recently my wife and I spent $16.50 at a diner for two meals and drinks. The cost of preparation at home would probably be around $4, so the premium is $12--over 72%, but still not as big of a loss as $16.50 is.

   I need to calculate which dishes are sold at a lower premium in restaurants and go for that; I avoid pasta for exactly this reason.

   Posted 1 year ago #
5. 

   LiquidSapphire
   

   Master
   Joined: Jul '11
   Posts: 434

   I guess I don't understand why you have to go out so much for dates? Is there a reason you can't recreate the date atmosphere at home? Not sure if you have kids but, maybe each Saturday, and you guys can switch off, you can have a candlelight dinner where you attempt to create some kind of extravagant dish that you like. Bonuses are, you will save a little bit of money, you'll eat better (depending on what you're cooking), you break this habit, and you learn to cook awesome stuff! Just an idea.

   Alternatively the weather is picking up nicely, pack a lovely picnic lunch and go enjoy the a nice weather weekend in Central Park. Like some kind of decadent wrap with gourmet mayo and meat and cheese or something like that. Yum. Maybe I just have low standards :)

   I mean, you are spending almost $800 on food, surely you could cut that to $500 or $600 and not feel too much pinch? :)

   You said "I can't" cut restaurants... eeek no offense but you hit upon one of my pet peeves. You CAN cut restaurants. You are actively choosing not to. Do the cost/benefit analysis, really look at what you're getting out of it, is there a cheaper way to get the "date" thing without going to a random diner with mediocre food several times a week? I say this not to be mean but hopefully trigger you into maybe examining some of your assumptions. I think largely you're doing very well so far! Journals are great always.

   Posted 1 year ago #
6. 

   secretwealth
   

   Expert
   Joined: Jun '11
   Posts: 1,520

   LiquidSapphire: You're quite right, and we should work on cutting restaurants more; I think this will be easy after my wife starts working. When she isn't at home most of the day, it'll be easier to stay at home in the evening.

   NYC isn't very conducive to cutting costs--the small apartments (ours is 430 square feet) and tons of interesting places in a small, walkable area make it difficult to stay at home.

   Posted 1 year ago #
7. 

   secretwealth
   

   Expert
   Joined: Jun '11
   Posts: 1,520

   Posting for March a little early, since we're not planning on spending anything over the weekend.

   Incoming:

   Job 1 $3,247
   Job 1 Bonus $1,191
   Job 2 $960
   Rental Income $1280 (I'm renting out my apartment for a few days while going on a trip)

   Total $6678

   Outgoings:

   Housing $1,101.00
   Internet $45
   Electricity $65
   Gym $66
   Food $426.72
   Restaurants $112.87
   Entertainment $77.90
   Transportation $1,105.46 (the figure is high because I bought some pricey plane tickets)
   Total $2999.95

   Savings rate: 44.9%

   Not a good savings rate, despite the lowered expenses. This is mostly due to less work on my side-job. My wife and I are going on a trip next month and we've tried to make the costs neutral by renting our place out, and it seems to have worked somewhat, but the trip will cost us more next week when we actually go. I'll also be writing about the trip and making a bit of money on that, but sadly not as much as the trip will actually cost.

   We did cut down on the restaurants, which helped a bit, but not as much as I'd expected. Cutting down on "entertainment" was really fruitful this month--I hope I can keep this up. I'm pleased that, without the trip, we've got expenses down to less than $2k/mo. and fungible living expenses are down. Still, I really need to work on that savings rate.

   Posted 1 year ago #
8. 

   secretwealth
   

   Expert
   Joined: Jun '11
   Posts: 1,520

   I'm horrible at keeping things like this up, but I thought I'd update since I've changed careers:

   Incoming:

   Freelancing Income: $6059
   Wife's Income: $1204
   Previous Job Severance Pay: $4173

   Total: $11,436

   Outgoings:

   Housing $619.22
   Internet $45
   Electricity $55
   Gym $66
   Groceries $279.11
   Living $1164.46
   Transportation $204
   Education $1590
   Air conditioner $309
   Window blinds: $67.87

   Total $4399.66

   Savings rate: 61.5%

   An okay savings rate, but obviously this is a one-off in several ways. I qualify for two more months of severance pay, which is of course good. My freelance income will surely be lower next month, which isn't good. My wife took a part-time job while she's going to school, and she's hoping to go back to her profession next week and her income will rise. Still, we're not going to hit 5 figure monthly incomes on a regular basis.

   On a more optimistic note, we won't be paying for any more schooling and the air conditioner/blind costs are one-offs that shouldn't happen again. Without those, $2,432.79 isn't too bad for outgoings, but I want to get that below $2,000. With less eating out, that'd be a cinch.

   The big hole in our budget is the living expense, which is high because of a lot of restaurant meals. Hopefully we'll control ourselves a bit more this month.

   Posted 9 months ago #
9. 

   Dragline
   

   Master
   Joined: Aug '11
   Posts: 964

   Well, we're lookin', so you better keep updatin'. (That's what we fancy-schmancy motivation psycho-super dudes and dudettes call "peer pressure".) ;-)

   Anyway, it looks like you are cranking along pretty well. Feel good. $620 housing in nyc -- fuggetaboutit!

   I wish I would have recorded more of my journey like you are doing.

   Posted 9 months ago #
10. 

    secretwealth
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 1,520

    Alright, I divided that "living" into smaller categories, because I need to be more precise if I want to cut costs:

    668.80 Restaurants
    116.22 Delivery
    151.50 Cash
    227.94 Miscellaneous

    Yeah, obviously that restaurant amount has to go down. About $80 of that was due to my wife working and going to school and having to eat out between the two--I was making her lunch, but then I starting pulling 12 hour days freelancing (ironic that I am more busy now than I was before I quit my job), and I just couldn't make her lunches AND work, and I refused to let her prepare her lunches while she's pulling 12-16 hour days herself.

    Another $70 went to a night at Nobu (a pretty small tab for such an expensive restaurant) and another $68 went to Red Lobster--a funny mix of dining experiences to say the least. They were celebrations and not something we're going to repeat again, at least not often.

    Again, the deliveries are the result of my 12 hour days, and I don't feel too guilty about that--that's the sort of business expense that would vanish if I started working less. I could easily cut that in half and still enjoy life.

    So, I think the living expenses could be cut by $200 without breaking a sweat. More could be cut with what would feel like a lifestyle sacrifice. I'd love to get that living expense down to $1000.

    I realize it is truly preposterous that we are spending over $1000/mo. on food. It's our biggest expense. I just enjoy walking around Manhattan then stopping somewhere for a quick bite when I'm hungry. If you want to eat healthy, that's not cheap. Again, if I work less I'll brown-bag more, so I think this could go down to $500/mo.

    Posted 9 months ago #
11. 

    secretwealth
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 1,520

    Incoming:

    Freelancing income: $7233.50
    Wife's income: $1204
    Previous Job Severance Pay: $3052

    Total: $11,489

    Outgoings:

    Housing $619.22
    Electricity $229.58
    Internet $45.00
    Gym $66.00
    Groceries $370.45
    Living $1545.65
    Transportation $208.00

    Total: $3083

    Savings rate: 73%

    Not a good month in terms of spending (I need to break down the living category, which I will do later when I get some time). About $300 of that went to work related expenses for both my wife and myself, but an appalling amount of money (over $1,000) was spent eating out, getting coffee, etc. We've set a goal to cut that down for September with a goal of lowering outgoings to $2,000 for the month. I'm hoping we're successful.

    More optimistically, without work-related one-offs, the month's expenses were $2,700, which is in line with previous months in this journal (and for the months in-between when I was too lazy to post here). This is doubly so when you consider the really high electricity bill is due to the new a/c being on almost constantly thanks to a particularly humid summer here in NYC. I hope cooler weather will help us reach that $2k target, but it's still pretty warm here.

    On the income side, freelancing is by definition unstable, so I cannot know how this is going to change, and I can't depend on it staying strong. My wife will probably double her income, but probably not until January and maybe later. I'd like to keep a savings rate of at least 60%, but to do so will require agility to adjust expenses to a changing income. I'm not going to crow about this month's savings rate--it's only good because of a short-term overlap in income. I can't depend on monthly five-figure income.

    I'm also going to keep investment income and capital appreciation out of this journal. This is more about saving as much of labor income as possible for as long as possible.

    Posted 8 months ago #
12. 

    secretwealth
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 1,520

    I keep thinking of my long-term goals, which have gotten much hazier than when I was working (the goal then was to get promoted to the top of the field, obviously). When I realized I hated the job and discovered ERE, the goal was to save as much as possible and get ERE ASAP.

    While financial independence remains a major goal, it isn't as urgent as before--I like my work now, and I intend on keeping at it, even if I achieve FI at the level where the labor is no longer necessary. My wife also wants to keep working--she's said she wants to work full-time until 45 or so, and part-time thereafter. So our savings needs are massively less than if we were going for an orthodox ERE situation, so I'm trying to figure out what goal to make. A lower SWR? Acquire as many assets as possible? Inflate our lifestyle with greater expenditure? (A second house has been a thought--someplace idyllic like rural Vermont.)

    I feel paralyzed by opportunity, which is not a bad feeling.

    Posted 8 months ago #
13. 

    anomie
    

    Journeyman
    Joined: Apr '12
    Posts: 219

    not a bad feeling.

    Are good feelings to have!

    congrats to you for your situation!

    Posted 8 months ago #
14. 

    George the original one
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jul '10
    Posts: 1,943

    I can't remember how old you are and can't remember whether you're planning on kids.

    Your wife's goal of full-time to age 45 is probably a sound one, though it surely doesn't hurt to have FI earlier. Age 45 is when crappy medical issues start arising, stuff that you can't anticipate.

    [My opinion is that everyone should be minimally FI at that age (e.g. 1-2 Jacobs in no-labor income) in case you can't work... saving 10-15% isn't going to get most people to that goal.]

    Second homes are tough to maintain. Better to be able to rent them short term when you want (says the man with a second home that he's just about ready to put on the rental market). So that's a possible goal for ya, have enough excess income for easy rental!

    Posted 8 months ago #
15. 

    secretwealth
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 1,520

    I'm 32, she's 31. Yes, we're planning on kids in about 6-7 years, so that is an issue. I'm having difficulties imagining the cost involved.

    The biggest concern I have with a second house besides property taxes is simply transportation to the home. It'd involve getting a car (we don't have one), which is a huge and frankly wasteful extra expense.

    Also, I'm not too keen on having a mortgage after just paying off my last one, especially since I'm not too confident in being able to get and retain renters. Renting short-term when we want to live somewhere else is a pretty good plan--maybe we should budget for that.

    Posted 8 months ago #
16. 

    Spartan_Warrior
    

    Master
    Joined: Dec '11
    Posts: 502

    If the second house is in a location where you can walk to amenities and you only need transportation between the two houses, you could always rent a car and/or use a taxi. Depending on the frequency it wouldn't be very expensive, compared to owning a car, holding insurance, maintenance costs, etc.

    Posted 8 months ago #
17. 

    riparian
    

    Master
    Joined: Oct '11
    Posts: 341

    Oh, I didn't know you had a journal. Would you mind saying what kind of freelancing you're doing? I think you've said elsewhere and I've forgotten. Sorry.

    It's good to see that you too have issues with rising expenses when your income rises. If you "have to" eat out because you're working 16 hr days and making good money, maybe that's a business expense? Otoh, you don't have to eat out. You could find healthy frozen food, especially in NYC, and just reheat.

    My take on the second home is to prepare for uncertainty and never go into debt (except IBR-able student loans ;). Plus, most wants will either evolve or go away with time. Wait until you have your ere goal and/or cash for a house. You'll know exactly what you want by then or you'll find that you're over it.

    Posted 8 months ago #
18. 

    secretwealth
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 1,520

    I write--it's a pretty unstable form of freelancing and I want to diversify my portfolio of clients more, but that's pretty much out of my control.

    For the past week we've been able to cut down a bit on the eating out, and I'm hoping we can keep it up for September. My wife's workshift has changed to daytime, which should motivate us both to spend less month, so I'm hoping things will improve on the expense side.

    We talked about the second house thing--we're both in love with Vermont (fitting, given the state's motto), and I think we decided to rent a house for a summer there next year. We're open to upstate NY, NH, MA, and ME as well in case anyone has a place they want to rent out (especially if it's by a lake). I'm hoping we can make it cost neutral by renting out our current place; we successfully did that with a vacation to Thailand a few months ago.

    Posted 8 months ago #
19. 

    secretwealth
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 1,520

    Incoming:

    Freelancing Income: $7144
    Wife's Income: $1250
    Other Income: $800

    Total: $9194

    Outgoing:

    Gym: $66
    Transportation: $208
    Restaurants: $266.37
    Food Delivery: $109.61
    Groceries: $335.7
    Entertainment: $463.5
    Internet: $45
    Housing: $619.22
    Business: $350.29
    Clothes: $84
    Home: $47.47
    Electricity: $143.89

    Total: $2739.05

    Savings Rate: 70.2%

    Considering my severance pay is gone, I'm pleased that I was able to cut down expenses so that my savings rate stayed above 70%. That being said, being almost fully dependent on freelancing income scares me (but, then again, being dependent on any income from labor is kinda scary in an era and society so hostile to labor). I'm also unhappy that expenses are still above the $2,000/mo. target. Minus business expenses, I'm still spending over $2,300/mo.

    Math is funny--my income goes down by over $2,000 but my savings rate stays near level due to cutting just $400. That's quite an eye opener.

    Next month I'm going on a business trip and I think the wife and I are going to take another trip up to Vermont to see the leaves change, so I'm not expecting expenses to go below $2k/mo. I'll try to stay below $3k, but who knows.

    Posted 7 months ago #
20. 

    Spartan_Warrior
    

    Master
    Joined: Dec '11
    Posts: 502

    Very impressive numbers. I'm wondering if I'm in the wrong business after all. I'd be interested in hearing more about what kind of stuff you're writing and how you got started, if you're willing to share. I do occasional freelance writing through some internet sites, but the income potential limits it to a side hustle at best.

    Posted 7 months ago #
21. 

    secretwealth
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 1,520

    I don't think I have the track record to give advice, but I would say that, in my opinion, there are a few key rules that all freelance writers should follow:

    1. Avoid the content farms. I suppose Demand Media, Textbrokers, etc. may be good for people just starting--but probably a blog would be even better (look at Jacob, for instance). It's a race to the bottom. IMO, there are some instances when writing for free will pay off much more in the long run than getting that 5 cents per word.

    2. Keep applying. It takes a lot of time and a lot of trying to get gigs, but the adoption curve can become a hockey stick pretty quickly. Just got to keep trying and not give up, as cliched as it sounds.

    3. Find a niche. I think people succeed in writing by finding a particular genre, topic, or specialty and focusing intently on that. That's what I've done, and the few times that I took writing gigs out of my specialty, the work was really hard, unenjoyable, and exhausting. I took two gigs writing about a personal interest, but wound up hating the writing. Although I was interested in the topic, I knew little about it, and the research crushed me and made the gigs a real chore.

    Take what I say with a grain of salt. I've only been doing this for a few months, and I could lose all my clients tomorrow for all I know.

    Posted 7 months ago #
22. 

    Spartan_Warrior
    

    Master
    Joined: Dec '11
    Posts: 502

    Hah, Textbroker is exactly the website I meant. I honestly don't think it's a bad side hustle considering I can usually crap out a mediocre SEO text of 500 words in give or take 1 hour (so to the tune of $25/hr), but yeah, it's way too tedious and not scalable or reliable enough to be anything more than side hustle.

    I was more wondering how you actually found clients and how that relationship looks. Is it all networking or are there "non-content farm" places where clients post assignments? Are you doing this as an individual or as a business entity (e.g. LLC)? What do the contracts look like?

    I can see how a blog would be helpful as a kind of portfolio. I've been wanting to start one for a while, I just don't have the right combination of interest and expertise in any niche that I can see being successful. I'll have to think over and distill my specialties.

    Posted 7 months ago #
23. 

    secretwealth
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 1,520

    Yes, things like Textbroker will just keep writers in poverty, IMO. They're worth boycotting, and any client who insists on using such a platform should be avoided. I also think any client who asks for a test or a very specific sample is probably looking for free content, and should be avoided too.

    I've found clients through the usual job sources like Craigslist. There are some writer-specific job sites like http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/, but they've been of limited use to me and a lot of their postings are very low paying.

    I'm a sole proprietor for now, but I am planning on incorporating before 2013. Contracts vary from client to client, and some won't even do contracts at all. The latter are scary, obviously, so I usually insist on immediate payment of the first article, and will only agree to this if it's an established site/publication.

    And I should mention I don't have a blog--I kinda got lucky, and being based in NYC really helps a lot.

    Posted 7 months ago #
24. 

    secretwealth
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 1,520

    Incoming:

    Freelancing Income: 9,158.24
    Wife's income: 1100.00

    Total: $11,158.24

    Outgoing:

    Maintenance 619.22
    Phone 313.69
    Electricity 90.47
    Internet 45
    Gym 66.00
    Food 74.21
    Cash 353.73
    Clothes 50.98
    MTA 208
    Restaurant 183.15
    Credit 829.91
    Medical 150.00

    Total $3072.45

    Savings rate: 72.5%

    Very ugly on expenses, and keeping track is a mess too. My credit union changed the way it shows credit card expenses so I wasn't able to get an itemized list of everything I charged on my credit card--a hassle to say the least. I did itemize everything paid with my debit card, and cash payments are just listed as "cash"--that's a running total of all ATM withdrawals. I'm hoping to itemize more exactly next month. I can say a lot of credit card charges are groceries and restaurant purchases plus hotel costs for our trip to Vermont.

    We spent over $1,000 above the target, although part of this is due to the really high cell phone bill, which is largely a business expense and is due to some extra business charges. I was told that next month our cell phone bill should be over $100 less. I hope so. That alone would boost the savings rate up 1%.

    To be honest, writing this out I feel disappointed in myself--I feel like a failure, really. But looking back I see that my savings rate is still at a higher rate than it ever was when I was following the less risky lifestyle of being a salary earner. That's pretty funny.

    I still worry that, if I were to lose a significant portion of my income, it would be a challenge to match this level of expenses. On the other hand, my wife is planning on taking a full-time job soon, which should yield at least $2500 after tax. That would boost out savings rate and make life a bit less stressful.

    Posted 6 months ago #
25. 

    secretwealth
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 1,520

    Incoming:

    Freelancing Income: 10,297

    Outgoing:

    Living 1 -$441.31
    Living 2 -1096.26
    Housing -619.22
    Transport -208
    Internet -$45.00
    Phone -$246.82
    Electricity -$65.79
    Hotel -$400
    Gym -66
    Total -3,188.4

    Savings rate: 69%

    Income is up but again I have no clue how sustainable this is, and I could easily see my income drop by 50% or more at the drop of a hat. Wife quit her job and we're going to be traveling for a month (that's the hotel cost) on frequent flyer miles at the end of December, so she isn't planning on going back to work until we get back, so income is probably going to drop a lot in the coming months. There's also the fact that work will probably dry up around the holiday season.

    I've itemized things differently this time according to my spending patterns. It's just easier this way. "Living 1" are expenses put to my debit card and "Living 2" are expenses put to my credit card, which is paid off in full each month. The credit card expenses are most discretionary charges--restaurants and whatnot--and the debit card expenses are largely withdrawals used to pay for stuff in cash.

    Phone is monstrous, but about $180 of this is refunded from a client. If I lost that client I'd lose the phone, so this expense doesn't bother me too much. It does annoy me thinking about how I could cut expenses in the future, because it makes things complicated.

    I'm going to quit the gym in January--after the year is up. It's an okay place, but it's pretty far and it's just not worth the money. I'll work out at a closer gym or just go gymless for a while.

    Posted 5 months ago #
26. 

    secretwealth
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 1,520

    Incoming:

    Freelance income 9,167

    Outgoing:

    Elec -68.68
    Internet -190
    Maintenance -619.22
    Transport -100
    Food -247.97
    Living -321
    Guatemala trip -400
    Phone -191.80
    Total 1918.67

    Savings rate: 79%

    Spending was way out of hand in November, but spending was artificially low in December since my wife was gone for part of it visiting family and for part of the month I was living on Christmas gifts (cash), which is off the books here. The gym membership was cancelled, which will save some money going forward.

    I don't expect future months to look as good as December. It is a fluke.

    On the income side...therein lies tragedy. I lost a total of three clients in one month. This is obviously not good. I picked up a new one, but new clients are always an unknown quantity. My total client roll is down severely--now I'm down to 5 regular clients. This makes me nervous. On the one hand, one of those clients has increased demand for my work and I am still doing fine on the income side, but on the other hand the lack of diversification unnerves me.

    There's also the off books issue. I received a substantial severance pay from my former employer that was massively overdue. This was a big sum and most of it went straight to savings. Some of it went to buying a car. I know that sounds crazy to the people here, especially since I live in NYC, but crunching the numbers it seems like driving might cost the same as riding the subway, both because I don't have to commute for work and I can get free parking nearby. We shall see--and if this fails, I can always sell the car.

    Another issue is money management. I have a bunch of different accounts in different places and money going to and fro. Determining my savings rate is really a challenge, and I just don't feel like I'm saving as much as I should be. I guess that's largely my impatience acting up.

    Posted 4 months ago #
27. 

    Spartan_Warrior
    

    Master
    Joined: Dec '11
    Posts: 502

    All things being equal cost-wise, I would still prefer public transportation. Driving--or rather, dealing with traffic--remains one of my absolute least favorite activities in life.

    Not sure what to say about the various accounts. I have many accounts as well but it's not too difficult tracking them all in my home-made Excel spreadsheet. Maybe you would benefit from a Quicken-type program, which I believe pulls such data straight from the accounts automatically without any manual effort.

    Posted 4 months ago #
28. 

    sshawnn
    

    Journeyman
    Joined: Mar '11
    Posts: 263

    "I have a bunch of different accounts in different places and money going to and fro. Determining my savings rate is really a challenge,"

    Mint.com should fix this!

    If you made a sensible car choice and have free parking, I can side with you wrt to the car because of the sense of freedom it may give you. I say this because of your contemplating a house in the country etc. A drive or weekend in the country may be good for you now and then. (but then again you are in Guatemala currently)

    Posted 4 months ago #
29. 

    llorona
    

    Apprentice
    Joined: Sep '12
    Posts: 81

    I feel your pain about losing clients. It's nerve wracking! Good luck with recruiting new folks.

    Posted 4 months ago #
30. 

    secretwealth
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 1,520

    Re: cars--I hate traffic too and went a total of 12 years without a car. The problem with NYC is the busses get stuck in traffic and are much slower. As for the subway, well, I've smelled the urine of the homeless at 59th st station enough for one lifetime.

    As for tracking--one of my accounts (credit union) is t set up with Mint.com or anyone else, but they're also the cheapest and most beneficial institution for me.

    Posted 4 months ago #
31. 

    BeyondtheWrap
    

    Journeyman
    Joined: Jul '10
    Posts: 267

    Wife had no income in December?

    Posted 4 months ago #
32. 

    secretwealth
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 1,520

    Nope--she quit her job a few months ago and will be going back to work in March or April.

    Posted 4 months ago #
33. 

    secretwealth
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 1,520

    Incoming:

    Freelance income 8040
    Airbnb 485
    Total 8525

    Outgoing:

    Housing -619.22
    Guatemala trip -891.10
    Groceries -419.68
    Travel -125
    Internet/Phone -57.69
    Restaurant -46.93
    Electricity -58.02
    Work expenses -106
    Total 2323.64

    Savings rate: 72.7%

    Another odd month due to the fact that the first 3 weeks were spent in Guatemala. This should mean that my groceries cost would be much lower, but we had an empty kitchen and really stocked up towards the end of the month. Hopefully, this will mean grocery costs will be lower in February. Fortunately, with the car it's been much easier to buy groceries in bulk and I find I have much more energy to cook, so our restaurant expenses have plummeted. I hope to keep this up.

    Income side remains disappointing; my wife is planning to start working again in February, which will help a lot. I'd like to get more clients and I was in touch with three potentials, but nothing panned out. Very frustrating.

    Posted 3 months ago #
34. 

    RealPerson
    

    Journeyman
    Joined: Nov '12
    Posts: 236

    Watch out for the hidden charges with Quicken. I have an older version of quicken, that I used to directly download account info from the bank. Never updated the software because I don't need the new features. All of a sudden: mystery charge of $9.95 on my bank statement. Intuit was charging this because I was not updating my software. This is a MONTHLY charge. So, no more downloads, which makes Quicken kind of useless. On to mint.com, but handing over logins for all my accounts is definitely not in my comfort zone. I have the same problem you do, with all kinds of accounts it is hard to keep track. A new version of quicken is another option, but the $9.95 trick to get you to do that ticks me off. I don't want to support an IMHO unfair business practice.

    BTW I am impressed with the income you make by freelance writing. I did not know it pays so well, but I assume you have to be really good for that. It's especially impressive because I thought writing is one of those things easy to outsource. Why not move out of such an expensive area as NYC? You could write from a cabin in Montana, except that getting new clients might be hard. Better yet, make that a sailboat in the BVI.

    Posted 3 months ago #
35. 

    George the original one
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jul '10
    Posts: 1,943

    > I thought writing is one of those things easy to outsource.

    In this case, since he's a contractor, secretwealth IS the outsource :-)

    There's also a difference between outsourcing for cost and outsourcing for quality.

    Posted 3 months ago #
36. 

    pooablo
    

    Journeyman
    Joined: Aug '11
    Posts: 189

    Hey secretwealth,

    I noticed that you offer you room via the Airbnb service. How has your experience been with it so far? Maybe I'll have to rent a room from you the next time I am in town. :)

    I hope you had fun in Guatemala!

    Posted 3 months ago #
37. 

    secretwealth
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 1,520

    Guatemala was great, thanks. Airbnb has been a mixed bag--I am renting the place out again for the next two months, so we'll see how that goes. Last time was, frankly, a disaster. But there's no reward without risk. If you do want to rent the place, let me know before you come and we can work something out!

    @RealPerson: Part of the idea of going to Guatemala was to see what it'd be like working in a remote location like that. It may be something I do in the future, but for now, being in NYC really does help me get and retain clients. Still, I guess I don't write from a beach somewhere because I kinda don't want to. One of the greatest tragedies of my life: I have finally got to the point where I could work from anywhere on Earth--a dream of mine when I was in my twenties--and now I'm sick of traveling. Go figure.

    Also, I may be making a decent income now, but that could disappear altogether next month and I could be working at Starbucks. But I guess that's true with most jobs these days, whether you freelance or work full time.

    Let me digress a little. What has happened with writing is that the industry has segregated into three tiers: Premium, sub-premium, and discount. Premium would be the New Yorker, New York Times (although that's changing) type of outlets that will pay a writing thousands of dollars for one piece. These involve a lot of research, fact-finding, and field research.

    Then there is sub-premium, where you get charged by the hour or by the word to get out something that isn't necessarily earth shattering, but is still a bit original and of value to an audience. This is usually highly targeted, and pays lower than premium, but still pays well.

    Then there is the discount stuff, the sort of banal texts that content mills pay pennies per word for.

    For someone who types fast, carves a niche, and gets familiar with the relevant genres, a decent and consistent living can be made in the sub-premium market. Content mill work will probably always be just scraping by. Premium is the hardest nut to crack (just imagine how many white twentysomethings from Ohio have moved to Brooklyn with the hope of becoming the next Maureen Dowd), and a declining market. The sub-premium market offers real value for consumers who want/need it, and real earning potential for writers who embrace it.

    Posted 3 months ago #
38. 

    secretwealth
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 1,520

    Incoming:
    Freelance income 8162
    Airbnb 1500
    Total 9662

    Outgoing:
    Groceries -778.25
    Restaurant -204.56
    Gas -140.80
    Car Insurance -42.67
    Home Insurance -49.08
    Housing -619.22
    Housing 2 -1,237.00
    Phone -63
    Living -$400
    Electricity -58.34
    Internet 1 -45
    Internet 2 -55
    TOTAL 3692.92

    Savings rate: 61%

    Well, I bought the house, and I acknowledge that it was both a very un-ERE thing to do and a disaster to my savings rate. I'm not going to try to justify it by talking about property appreciation or any of that. I do, however, consider it an investment in my sanity. Because of the home purchase, I have not factored in home improvements (about 1200) and closing costs (north of 30,000, mostly because of the down payment), and I'm hoping housing expenses will not be higher next month.

    Groceries were substantially more expensive because we had to stock the second house with food, which is good. We are renting out the apartment, which gives some temporary income and bolsters the savings rate, but it also postpones my wife's job hunt, so this self-indulgence isn't really as profitable as it seems.

    Looking at the past, it seems our expenditure in a normal month was about $3,000, meaning this purchase raised our monthly costs by 23%. Still, there is a limit to how frugal I can be--I'm not as tough as most of the people on this forum--and for the past month being out in the countryside, I've been able to focus a lot of that spending into building equity instead of going to restaurants and making short trips out of the city.

    This is definitely an experiment and by no means a cheap one, so we'll see what happens.

    Posted 2 months ago #
39. 

    jennypenny
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jul '11
    Posts: 1,344

    >>Well, I bought the house

    Where? In Vermont?

    Posted 2 months ago #
40. 

    secretwealth
    

    Expert
    Joined: Jun '11
    Posts: 1,520

    Nope--upstate New York, about 1.5 hours from NYC. It's a chalet-style cabin (full electricity, internet, etc.) that I hope to rent out by the day or week in the high season. Around here these places rent for about $100-$150 per night.

    Posted 2 months ago #

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