C40's Journal

[saving-10-years]

@c40 Love the garden pictures. Have you thought of impressing your dates with a bunch of fresh flowers?

[C40]

I've only given them to my ex so far (she helped plant them, loves flowers, and I see her every now and then)

I've never been one to, say, take flowers along with me on a date. I guess I could.

[saving-10-years]

Maybe talk about the flowers on the first date and if you like her and she shows interest bring them along to the next date? It should make a very good impression (better than store bought).

[C40]

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JULY 2014
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SPENDING - $1,300
- Home - $500
- Travel - $320
- Entertainment – 270
- Food - $130
- Transportation - $40
- Hygiene/Other - $50

Details:
Food = $77 groceries, $50 eating out
Entertainment = $56 dating, $55 house plants and pots, $85 pen stuff
Travel costs are below


TRAVEL
I went out to Oregon to visit friends. My old friend and his wife live near Portland. I’ve been thinking about going out there for a while but this is the first time. I was just going to go myself, but other friends joined and we ended up with 6 people there total (the 2 that live there and 4 visitors). I was there 4.5 days. It was a pretty cheap trip:
Total: $320
- Rental car - $80
- Food - $70
- Airport parking - $60
- Gas - $40
- Seattle Duck Tour - $30 (yes, really) http://www.ridetheducksofseattle.com/
- Parking - $20
- Misc. $20

$140 of this could’ve been avoided. The rental car shouldn’t have been necessary, but the 6 people couldn’t fit well into the two cars that our friends there have, so we rented one. I learned that rental cars are crazy expensive in Portland. Like 2-3x higher than normal. My friend had a friend in the business who claimed he was family so we got a “deal”, which really ended up being what’s would generally be a normal price. We’d planned to rent a car big enough to hold 6 people, but there was a mix-up and we got a smaller vehicle, and still had to use two cars.

$50 of the food spending was eating while out. The biggest cost was at a Japanese/Sushi restaurant. I was voting for the other option presented by the locals – a Mexican place, but the group wanted sushi. This provided a striking example of my friends’ current spending habits. I didn’t feel much like sushi and didn’t want to split a big bill (Sushi always seems to end up being expensive). I ordered $15 steak meal, and put $20 down when the bill came. Our friend that was the first one to order had ordered basically enough sushi for everyone (his intention I believe). Another friend ordered a bunch more (more than he would eat for sure), and then the last male friend ordered sushi for him. Also, everyone else ordered some soup and/or tempura. So they had ordered more than enough sushi for everyone, even though only 4 of the 6 were going to eat sushi, plus enough other food that would normally be full meals on their own. So we ended up with twice as much food as we should have ordered. Fast forward to the end and more than half the sushi is uneaten. We had to leave with 4 to-go boxes. I don't know what the bill came to.

While that situation stood out to me, our spending differences didn’t cause any problems. When we were planning our days, I generally suggested outdoor activities where we could relax and enjoy each other’s company without having to run around and spend money. (Going to parks, exploring downtown Portland, exploring nearby mountains and waterfalls, a trip to a lake, etc.) That ended up working well and the best day we had was going out to Lake Merwin:





This was a really nice lake. It looks beautiful. It has a nice little swimming area with some large logs that were fun messing around on. It has some picnic tables and grassy areas overlooking the lake - and we got a great one. Plus it was cheap – just $1 per person to enter (It is owned by the utility company that runs a dam downstream. so no messing around with park stickers).


What we did:
Day 1 – Wedding of a couple that came up, at a winery
Day 2 – Went to downtown Portland, drove up into the mountains around Mt. Hood. Sushi
Day 3 – Went to the lake. Went to eat at some food carts and to a bar that is an arcade.
Day 4 – Went to Seattle (Market/downtown, Duck tour, Fremont neighborhood)

This was my first time visiting Oregon or Washington. I can see why so many on the forum consider moving there. It’s certainly high on my list now. I’d have to check on what the weather is like the rest of the year. It was perfect now.


CHARTS



I'm happy with my spending here. It's not going to get much lower unless I get a room mate. On that note - I have one candidate - a friend/acquaintance here is an option. She has a lease until November. She travels a lot on the weekends - which would be great as she'd be there when I'm not, and often she'd not be there when I am.

OTHER

Course adjustments – I’ve been meaning to make some adjustments to my net worth and retirement target numbers:
- Adjustment of Pension amount. I need to check on what my options will be at retirement. Will it be taxed? How much? (and thus, how much of it should I actually consider mine in my net worth?) Can I roll it into an IRA? Etc..
- Research of healthcare costs.
- Spending projections
- Some more consideration of future spending.. How much wiggle room do I want? How would I feel if it feel like my investment income doesn't cover as much spending as I want? (Would I wish I'd stayed in my current job longer? Will I be cool just spending less? Will I feel like working more? How scalable are my hobby income possibilities?)

I don’t expect these to change my retirement plans. But as this approaches I want to check on some details. Things like taxes, healthcare, expected hobby income, expected spending for various living scenarios/adventures. I just want to: A – look at these things in more detail to feel more prepared, and B – Think more about what I want to do in the first years after quitting, as there may be preparations to start now. (If travel to South America – learning Spanish… If touring the US – doing some small trips to see how I like it)

Dreaming/Planning - I go through phases where sometimes I think a lot about post-FI plans. I’m nearly certain that eventually I’ll want to settle down and stay in one place for a long time. I think it’d work better to do the travel stuff at the beginning as this will help me decide where to settle down, and it will not interrupt long-term hobbies/projects/commitments.

Currently the two main things I’ve been thinking about are van-touring the U.S., and about travel to / living in South America or SE Asia (So if you’re reading M741 and Akratic, I may have some questions for you soon).

[C40]

Oh, one other thing to add.. One of my close co-workers is saying F-U at work. He's been frustrated with our boss for quite some time. His situation is worse than mine as he has a formal role of leading a team and our boss basically prevents him from being able to do what he's supposed to with the team. I'm pretty certain he'll be getting a different job and continue working, but he at least has the ability to take a walk. He might be in a pretty good position. He's married and it sounds like his spouse makes a lot. He drives a 15 year old car and they have a reasonably sized house in a cheap part of town.

[C40]

MINI-MEETUP:
I had a small meetup with a couple guys from MMM (Chedder Stacker and Whitedragon) in the park last Tuesday evening. It was nice meeting and talking with them. Between ERE and MMM we have a fair amount of people, enough to have a meetup a few times a year. I'll probably plan one this fall - in September or October.

NEW BIKE:
I bought a bike today. Before, I had 2 bicycles. There was a time when I had 5, and I whittled down the herd over a few years. I had an awesome touring bike and sold it back when I was racing. That's the one bike I really regret selling now. I also sold a sweet steel road bike, but I can't blame myself for selling either of those - you don't know exactly what you'll desire in the future.

So anyways, my two current bikes are:
- A racing bike. Really light. It's actually 10 years old now but there have only been very small and insignificant technological advances in the last 10 years. A top-level pro-racer could use this bike tomorrow (with racing wheels) and be every bit as likely to win the race as on a brand new bike.
- A fancy single speed. I would sell this bike except that I won the frame when I won a racing series a few years ago. I built it up with really good looking and well-functioning parts. So it looks too good and is worth too much (both in $ and sentiment) for me to use for transportation and to leave outside for significant amounts of time. I want to keep this bike because it could last a very very long time, and it's nice riding around on a trophy.

I've been wanting a bike for general transportation: getting groceries, riding to work, and going to bars/people's houses/events, etc.. I wanted a bike I can lock up well and not worry much about it being stolen. My criteria were:
- Single speed ( a frame meant for it - with horizontal, rear facing dropouts)
- With eyelet mounts for fenders and a rear rack
- Room for fairly big tires (cyclocross size, which is about halfway between road and mountain)
- Reasonably durable
- Inexpensive and not too flashy so I don't have to worry about theft

Well, the combination of single speed and having the rack/fender mounts is quite rare. Surly makes exactly what I want (The Cross-Check single speed). But these are hard to find, especially in St Louis where few people use bicycles.

My co-worker's spouse is also a cyclist and when we met he told me about an advocacy group that finds and receives old bikes, fixes them, and sells them. They use the money they make to give classes and bikes to kids. I went to this shop and it is pretty nice. (For anyone in St Louis - it is "Bicycle Works" in Soulard). They didn't have exactly what I wanted, but they had something that is close enough for now:



A Bridgestone MB-5. It's a low-end mountain bike with shitty drivetrain parts. $180. I couldn't test-ride it because it was raining. If I did I would've asked to pay $150 since the shifting kind of sucks but it's still an ok deal anyways (and I knew the shifting would suck - it has really cheap parts). I think I'll ride it until one of the deraillers fail, and then convert it to single speed. I might get tired of the crappy shifting and do it earlier though. We'll see.

The store also had a lot of old parts. A quality used-bike store can be a gold mine. This shop has a well-organized parts section - with labeled containers for different types of parts.. (and they were specific - shifters and deraillers separated into speed #s, different types of brakes, bottom brackets, boxes full of rack mounting hardware, etc..) So I got a rack and crate for $23, plus a set of brake levers for when I remove the shifters (it has integrated brake/shift levers). So all I need for a bare minimum ss-conversion is a chain tensioner. I don't want to use a derailler for that.

With the rack and basket installed:




I'm not used to mountain bike sizing. I think this is about 1" small for me, but that's ok with me. I prefer bikes a little small anyways. I might have to replace the saddle. It is some kind of "gel" saddle - it's too soft and it will put pressure on places it isn't supposed to.

[spoonman]

Very nice bike. Pardon my ignorance, but why is single-speed a requirement?

[Gilberto de Piento]

Nice ride! I had something like that set up as a single speed for commuting one winter. You should be able to make it shift properly, those parts aren't SRAM red but they should work correctly unless they're worn out. Did you try new cables and housing?

Regarding single speeding it looks like it has a semi horizontal dropout. If so you can probably tension the chain with that. I'm using that method with an old 27" road bike set up as a single speed commuter bike. It might not work very well if the wheels are not bolt on though as the skewers just can't get tight enough.

If vertical dropouts try the "magic gear" http://www.63xc.com/toddp/halflink.htm. My single speed cross bike is set up this way. I used a half link http://www.pricepoint.com/Brand/KMC/KMC ... MwodukQABw.

[C40]

Spoonman - It's just a personal preference. Some of my reasons:
- It costs less to maintain. It reduces the drivetrain parts to about 30% of the parts you need for a shifting drivetrain.
- It is much simpler to maintain. Once you have it set up, all you need to do is clean/lube the chain. No adjustments, ever.
- It can, at times at least, be more fun to ride. Your mind is freed from the consideration of when to shift. It feels like you have a more direct link to the drivetrain - especially if you use fixed gear, but I don't anymore because I think some of the drawbacks (tight cornering becomes riskier, harder to manage jumping curbs, not being able to stop pedaling when going very fast (downhill esp.))
- The power transmission (when you're able to pedal at a reasonable rpm) is more efficient. The chain is always straight on a SS, and it doesn't have to travel through the rear derailler.
- It makes the bike lighter. (don't need any shifters, deraillers, cassette, or multiple chainrings)

The main drawback, for me, is:
- You don't get as much choice about how slowly to go up a big hill. There's basically a minimum pedaling rate I don't want to go below, so you can't take it as easy going up the hill
- It reduces the available range of effort. On a geared bike if you have a flat or uphill road, your effort can range from very easy to very hard. You can get a good workout. You can ride very easy and not get sweaty. etc.. On a SS you just have the one, so the range of effort is narrowed. I'll use a fairly short gear, so I won't be able to go very fast, but when I'm riding for transportation I'd rather go a little slower and not get all sweaty.

[C40]

Gilberto - yeah I haven't made any adjustments yet but I will certainly do so. I'm expecting that with these old and cheap parts, with old cables and housing, I'd have to adjust more often than my nicer bike, and it still won't work as well. Some from design limitations like not being able to trim the front derailler.. but also, my other bike has Campagnolo Record, I'm used to beautiful, precise, quick shifting. I don't want to mess around with buying/using new cables or housing for it. I like single speed anyways, so if I spend money on the drivetrain, it will be for SS conversion.

The dropouts are not completely vertical. I don't know why I was thinking I'd need the tensioner. I've done this before. ha! Thanks!

[spoonman]

Thanks for the thorough response. You know, I am realizing more and more how insanely ingnorant I am about bikes. It'll be something to look forward to in the years to come =).

Btw, have any of you guys ever seen a bike with rear gears inside some sort of "gear box"? I saw this bike that had such an arrangement, with a thick chain made of some of some sort composite material. The guy told me that the bike was heavy, so that's probably a major downside, but it seems like such an elegant concept.

[henrik]

Btw, have any of you guys ever seen a bike with rear gears inside some sort of "gear box"? I saw this bike that had such an arrangement, with a thick chain made of some of some sort composite material. The guy told me that the bike was heavy, so that's probably a major downside, but it seems like such an elegant concept.

You mean an internally geared hub? I ride one of those. Not sure what the thick chain had to do with gearing though?

[C40]

The thick chain would either be a 1/8" chain, which is a thicker size used for track bikes (and others?), vs the more common 3/32" width chains.

Or, they may have been talking about a belt-drive bike. I got the chance to ride a prototype belt drive bicycle briefly back when I worked for a belt manufacturer, around 2,002. I don't know when the first belt drive bikes were actually sold. It was nice because there was essentially no play between the pedals and tires. (Even with a fixed gear bike, there is some from the chain/gear interface). I think changing the gear ratio might be more difficult with a belt because you cannot adjust the length of a belt like you can a chain (?).

http://ww2.gates.com/ptdesign/trek.html

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2012/02/urban ... ive-bikes/

https://www.youtube.com/user/GatesCarbonDrive/videos

[spoonman]

You mean an internally geared hub? I ride one of those.

Yup, that's the one. But instead of having a regular chain it had one of the belts shown in C40's post (that's what I meant by "thick chain", I just didn't know the terminology). The guy had told me that it was nearly impossible for the belt to come off.

I just thought it was pretty cool.

[mxlr650]

It can, at times at least, be more fun to ride. Your mind is freed from the consideration of when to shift. It feels like you have a more direct link to the drivetrain - especially if you use fixed gear, but I don't anymore because I think some of the drawbacks (tight cornering becomes riskier, harder to manage jumping curbs, not being able to stop pedaling when going very fast (downhill esp.))

I always wondered why SS do not have freewheel? You get a real SS behavior when freewheel fails (keep pedaling). In many developing countries where bicycle is THE mode of transportation/hauling (instead of lifestyle/fashion machines like here in developed countries) most bikes are single speed with freewheel.

Also, If toothed belt can work for Harley, it sure can be made to work for bikes. Less maintenance too.

[C40]

Here are the terms used to describe the two setups you're discussing:

FIXED GEAR - is a single rear cog drivetrain with no freewheel. It can drive the wheel either forwards or backwards. Whenever the wheel is turning, the cranks/pedals are turning. The cog is "fixed" to the wheel. (this is what you're calling single speed or SS without freewheel - they're referred to as fixed gear)

SINGLE SPEED - is a single rear cog drivetrain with a freewheel. It can apply force to the wheel in one direction. So you can "coast" while the bike is moving just like a normally geared bike. (What you're calling 'single speed with a freewheel' - it's normally just called single speed)

[C40]

I’VE BEEN TESTING MY OWN PATIENCE

Three things happened within the last month that triggered a mental journey which is now trying my patience and testing my resolve to stick to my plan.

I wrote about these three things in my July journal update. I don’t recall which of the later two happened first. These, in unison, are having a much stronger impact than just one or two could. Some adventurous and daring part of me has allowed these two to collude against my patience, my persistence, my instincts and habits of preparation enough for certainty.

FRIENDS AND PNW
The first of these three was my recent trip to Washington. There were two important things about that trip. One: spending time with my closest friends. Two: the location.

I don’t get to see these friends often any more – and very rarely all three of them at the same time. When we get a chance to all be together it often has a strong impact on me. The first big trip we went on together, back 10 years ago, sparked a (good) social aggression in me - to be much more assertive about what I want from other people. Before this, I had only been internally aggressive. I drove myself very hard, but I kept that energy to myself rather than sharing it with others. Then later.. a year or two ago , seeing them and one other old friend drove me to think seriously about what I was missing by not having serious romantic relationships, and I’ve been acting on that.

Now these days we’re all getting older. Friend #1 has been married a year and it appears he may be feeling stagnant or even disappointed with where life is going (that’s actually why I went out there to see him but then everyone else came so I couldn’t really tell). Friend #2 is now married with a child on the way. Friend #3 is working like crazy, and driving a ton to work in two different locations – one of them quite desolate. He's also eating himself to an early death from diabetes (which he brought up when talking about how his forefathers died - also overweight & got diabetes). It wasn’t all gloom – we had a lot of fun together. I see them moving on to the next phases of the lives they are going to live (which contain a mix of good and bad).

Seeing them take their next steps through life pushed me to go on with the life I’m having/going to have. Being around them also gives me a boost of confidence and inspiration. So I feel restless to take the next steps.

The second important part about Washington was the location – the scenery, the clean air, the possibility of the land there. We went exploring one day, and spent the next day relaxing at a lake. It is a beautiful area. I found myself checking out areas and buildings and thinking, “I could live up here”. I found myself at the lake thinking “who needs a house, a city, when you can have this for $1 a person!?”. (It only cost $1 a person to enter this area/park).

CO-WORKER SAYS "FUCK YOU" (To our boss)
So he’s gone now and today our group met to discuss what we’d do next. As is usual, my boss was frustrating. He wants to give up on the important things he should be driving.. “Well, the priority is blah blah blah*, so that’s what we have to focus on for now…”

* the "blah blah blah", coincidentally, is the only thing he’s comfortable doing. And.. I'm the one who actually does it. Not him. So, yeah... An hour after that meeting, a guy who I have a some tangential work relationship with came to me with a good idea, but I didn’t even want to talk about it. Just basically said “Ok.. yeah.. that’s good.. you know what – yeah talk to xxxxx and let’s figure it out later”.

The co-worker that quit was the strongest in our group. Then there’s me. And then there’s a huge chasm of skill gap down to the other co-worker and out boss. I guess the good part is that I’m more indispensable now. But when you’re not doing something that feels important, or when you see a fairly low ceiling on what your work can deliver, it gets really boring. When I’m out at the factories it will be ok. I’ve been at the office a lot the last few weeks and that’s when it gets draining.

So, having work be less than fulfilling, and seeing another leave – it makes me think about bailing too.

[Side note here – when the co-worker that left was talking with the boss months ago, and he had basically told him he plans to leave, the boss said “I can get you more money”. The thought has popped into my mind a few times to demand more myself. On multiple times my boss has asked if I was frustrated or thinking about leaving. He can be awkward so I don’t know exactly where this came from. It’s clear he feels the ground shifting under him. Feels his job is not stable due to his performance. One strong member just left our team. He wouldn’t want to lose another. He’d probably be willing to pay me more to keep me. If I could get another $15,000 per year, I’d retire 6 months earlier. I don’t want to feel like I’m taking advantage of him while he’s down though, so I probably won’t do this... Maybe if his search for a replacement of our co-worker goes on too long.. or if I decide I want to work part time or something then the time will be right. If he's still my boss, he'll still be on shaky ground. Our company is too 'nice' to fire him, but I could see a change coming within a couple years if they make or get him to change positions]

VAN-TOURING -- DREAMING AND PLANNING
I also mentioned something about course corrections in my last post, and about planning ahead. Well, I started with the dreaming/planning side. I had been thinking about the merits and order of van living/touring vs moving to other countries for a few years or more. /expatriation. I had settled on doing the van-touring first.

Feeling restless one afternoon at work, I took a few sheets of paper and wrote “EXIT PLAN” at the top of the first sheet. I drafted out steps to start living in a van. One section related to selling my house. One, a list of family and friends who might welcome me to live with them while finding and prepping a van. I’ve considered what I’d get rid of vs. try to store. I have a list of family that have storage space I might be able to use. Another list is of cars to look for right now for test-runs. These are cars/SUVs/vans that would work as a replacement for my car now but that I could also sleep well in. The list has things like whether the back seats fold fold down flat, interior space, and fuel mileage. (If I enjoy these, I’d get a larger vehicle after quitting. I’ve started researching those as well. I’d like to get a Sprinter. Vanagons are trendy but they are expensive!.) Another sheet now contains a list of all the systems to figure out. Electricity. Water. Hygiene. Storage. Internet access. Etc.. I’ve started doing vehicle research. I have a list of different car models that might work. Interior dimensions. Whether the back seats fold down flat. Fuel mileage. When I’m driving or riding around I now look at cars and think “would that work?”.

I got a couple books. I started finding and reading blogs. (Two of my favorites: http://wheresmyofficenow.com/ (great videos) and http://63mph.com/)

SHUT UP ALREADY C40...
This three-pronged impact I’ve somehow devised against myself really has me itching to act. I've been asking - can I quit now? When? My plan has been to quit in 2,017 but I right now I don't feel like waiting until then. I’ve done math in my head a number of times – “ok, if I rent the house, that would get me…..” “ok.. if I can get $500 per month of shirt income, then….. “. But when I look close at he numbers, I see that the money isn’t ready yet. I see that if I just stick it out three more years then I won’t have to worry about what-if’s or about going back to work. I’d rather just do it now and be done with it than to have looming questions about whether I’ll need to work a significant amount or whether I’ll need to get a career job again.

I think the prudent thing to do is to keep myself busy searching for and outfitting a car to take test-runs in. I have a pretty good vacation balance so I have room to do these. I plan to run my vacation balance down to zero before quitting, so I can take 5-6 weeks off each year. Should be plenty of time for test runs. Gotta figure out if I actually like doing this before I get crazy about it. I also started up a counter again (I used to have a white board on my fridge with the number of work days to FI). I have it in my phone now since I’m gone often – it has a spot for the number of work weeks to FI (30) and weeks to RE (134).

[Tyler9000]

Your car test-run plan sounds like a great idea.

I went through a similar negotiation phase a few years ago. For me, committing to the goal by moving to a new city (to establish true retirement-level expenses) and starting a new job (to do something new & enjoyable in the meantime) did the trick without simply calling it prematurely. I was that close, but in retrospect I'm really glad we stayed the course and kept saving. I just needed a renewed sense of purpose and a reprieve from the previous lackluster job.

Perhaps I missed a previous post, but what's the plan for the two work years after FI? Are you saving for additional savings buffer, or for a specific goal?

[spoonman]

About a year ago I thought about bailing early, but came to the same conclusion you did: it's better to stick it out a bit longer for a better margin of safety and more options. I mean, you could run off to Thailand or Ecuador and be fine, but you probably want more options than that. Since you are not adding an extra year to your baseline plan it's not a case of "One More Year Syndrome".

I like your idea of testing things out with the vehicles before actually taking the plunge.

Back in 2012 I was bitten by the RV bug. I was totally obsessed with RVs and researched the subject to death. Then, later that year, my obsession disappeared for whatever reason (I would like to go RVing one day, but not in the first few years). If you continue to be excited after doing some test runs then you're probably on the right path.

[mxlr650]

Here are the terms used to describe the two setups you're discussing: FIXED GEAR - is a single rear cog drivetrain with no freewheel.

Thanks for the clarification! I am not into bikes so its nice to know the right terminology, not just how it works.

I think the prudent thing to do is to keep myself busy searching for and outfitting a car to take test-runs in. I have a pretty good vacation balance so I have room to do these.

Working diligently towards a goal (retiring at certain age, working towards PhD, or even going to evening school for Masters) has the dark side of having to deal with the mental rebellion against the best laid out plans. Being in a steady relationship/hobby that you enjoy, and keeping yourself busy (assuming you enjoy your work) could make a world of difference.

Is it a possibility that you could find a job in PNW and move there for a while? How about spinning a story that allows you to work remotely out of PNW for next 6 months? That would probably make you lot happier than say $15k pay raise.

Good luck!