ERE in Sweden

[Forskaren]

I updated my first post in the journal to be more accurate, since some people only see the first post.

In May 2016 I am five months into keeping track of all my expenses each month. During the last 10 years, I estimate that annual savings rates have fluctuated between 20 and 50%, not including any capital gains, retirement accounts or inheritance.

[heyhey]

Welcome Forskaren! Why not start right now with tracking your expenses and income?
Not necessarily here on the forum, but it will get you in the habit and you might see some things that will change your budget for 2016.
Just a thought

[Forskaren]

I think you have to work on a few issues at a time, and the detailed budget can for me wait until next year.
I have noticed that I spend far too much time looking at screens. Taking a break from Xbox and thinking that I have to take a break from my iPad. I noticed that I have a difficulty not taking a quick look at news sites at work.

I think I should stop the following when at home:
-Xbox
-Ipad
-Traditional Tv
-Tv-series
-Daily news
-Daily social media
-Surfing the web without a clear goal

I should restrict use of the following when at home:
-Laptop and mobile phone
-Movies
-weekly news
-Podcasts

What do you think? Have you also experienced how much time and energy the screens steal?

[FBeyer]

I'm doing it right now!
Check up on news once per week. Change your password to something crazy long and complicated you can't remember by heart and you'll be well on your way to another three or four more hours of solid quality time every day. If you can stash your phone somewhere so you won't check it every five minutes you're good.

[Forskaren]

I have now created an Excel-file to keep track of my spending during 2016.

When it comes to income I think I will just use my earned income. It is a bit tricky to give a fair figure for the income from investments, so maybe it is better to just compare my spending to earned income. In the end of the year, I should be able to calculate a withdrawal rate that corresponds to my expenses that year.

How do you handle dividends and fluctuations in your capital in a monthly budget?

[Forskaren]

January:
Report USD

Earned income 3428

Expenses
Rent 473
Transport 0
Food 238
Entertainment 0
Other 163

Total 875
Savings 2553

Saving rate (%) 74

[themodernchap]

Amazing progress. Keep it up.

Make some charts, we like charts!

[Forskaren]

Thank you.

I was a bit lucky in January since I didn't refuel my car. About half of my food costs were alcohol related, so I guess there could be savings there. February will probably have higher expenses in food than January, since I already spent quite a bit of money on eating and drinking on restaurants when I was in another town. In February I also expect to refuel the car once and pay some money for a mandatory control of my car.

[ether]

Keep it up, your savings rate is amazing!

[Forskaren]

I already know all expenses for February. This month I paid insurance for my apartment, fueled my car with diesel, paid for service for the car and for motor vehicle inspection. I also made a trip to another town on the beginning of the month and spent money on eating out.

Hopefully Mars will be more frugal. I still need to work on decreasing time spent on watching TV and playing TV-games. I also started a new diet, which I will continue in Mars.

Report US dollars

Earned income 3290

Expenses
Rent 472
Transport 537
Food 476
Entertainment 0
Other 294
Total 1779

Savings 1511
Saving rate (%) 46

[nitelight]

Good work 46% is still probably higher than 99% of the general population in Sweden.

Do you need the car? I currently bicycle to work everyday, and the benefits are great, Only done it for a little over two months but already have people at work commenting that I've lost weight . The beer belly is disappearing at a decent speed.

[Forskaren]

Yes, I suspect that savings rates are much lower for most people here.

I am planning on getting a bike once the snow disappears. I will see how well that replaces my car for some trips.

I am living in a rural area, so the car can be practical. If I would want to visit the dentist, the supermarket, the doctor, the pharmacy, the bath house etc. that is about 20 km round trip. That could probably be solved by using a bicycle, but right now it’s snow and ice on the roads. If I want to visit the hospital, that’s 200 km round trip. Sometimes I use the car to take guests at work to lunch restaurants etc. I visit a relative about two times each month, which is about 250 km round trip. The probability is also quite high that I have to travel if I start dating some woman, or want to do social activities.

I walk to work each day, which takes less than 15 minutes one way.

[Forskaren]

I will have no more expenses in Mars. The expenses were quite low in Mars.

Report US$
Earned income : 3378

Expenses
Rent : 481
Transport : 0
Food : 156
Entertainment : 0
Other : 111
Total : 748

Savings : 2630

Saving rate (%) : 78

[nitelight]

Really impressive savings rate. Any news on the dating front. What is your current timeline for fi ? And do you see yourself fi'ing in Sweden or another country?

[Forskaren]

So far I am still thinking of retiring in Sweden. Depends also a bit on how things changes with taxes, services and family.

+Language and culture
+Stable and democratic
+Healthcare almost free
-Taxes generally high

Sweden got the worlds highest marginal taxes on earned income. Sales tax 25% on top of price for many products and services, 12% for food.

If I don't work or work very little, taxes not too bad. So in that regard doing things yourself, living on capital income and not spending much while still getting services like healthcare is pretty good. One reason to keep working is that if I am unlucky and get permanent sick, I will be able to get payment from the state until normal retirement. I will probably keep working unless I find reason to stop. At the end of this year I will be able to calculate my SWR with my current level of expenses. My montly costs seems to go up and down very strongly. I estimate that I will come to about 3-4% SWR with my current capital and annual expences,

[Forskaren]

I had the lowest saving rate in April of all months so far, but it is not too alarming. Most of the expenses should not repeat so often.

Transport: Transport costs include that I paid for the annual car insurance, bought a new bike and had some additional costs related to the car and bike.

Entertainment: I pre-paid for a train ticket to and from the airport for my summer vacation. I also paid for an online entertainment service and bought a movie online. I bought the elite controller to Xbox one, after 30 days on my waiting list.

Food: I spent $120 on whisky, gin and beer. I still got the gin at home.

Other: I paid a large internet bill this month. I bought some shoes for use at work.

Report US$:
Earned income 3457

Rent 492
Transport 1238
Food 296
Entertainment 315
Other 267
Total 2609

Saving 848
Saving rate (%) 25

[Forskaren]

I already know that it is highly unlikely that I will have more expenses this month.

May has been pretty good month for me with a savings rate of 75%. I didn't refuel my car and I had no other transport expenses.

The company that I work for have some financial problems which could in the long run threaten my work. It feels really good that I could already be FI or close to being FI depending on how you calculates.

I am doing some experiments with days free of TV, Internet and games. I get very much energy those days for cleaning and cooking, and that is quite interesting.

Report US $

Earned income: 3366

Expenses
Rent :480
Transport : 0
Food : 95
Entertainment: 18
Other: 237
Total: 830

Savings (not included retirement accounts): 2536
Savings rate (%) 75

[FBeyer]

I can only recommend selling your TV as fast as possible. A TV does nothing (to the best of my knowledge) that a computer won't do for you as well(*). You'll also be free to arrange your furniture any way you see fit now that there is no longer a strong furniture-magnetic pole to align your sofa to

Are you enjoying yourself with that savings rate, or are you squirrelling as much money away as you can as an experiment in frugality?

(*) Unless you are one of those fabled 'console gamers' I hear so much about on the 'nets.

[Forskaren]

I have never really been a big spender of money. I live pretty well on my current spending and as you see, I seem to spend more money every second month so far.

This year is kind of an experiment for me where I as a hobby decrease my spending and try to use my resources more efficient. Traditionally I have had hobbies that was cheap, but took a lot of time. Hobbies such as computer gaming, watching movies, TV-series, reading fiction books and console gaming. I can think of different phases that I want to try.

-Phase 1 (get control over spending money)
-Phase 2 (get control over spending time)
-Phase 3 (be productive with money and time)

I feel that I have started quite strongly on the first phase. For the second phase I am removing my expensive fiber Internet at home, and I will spend less time Internet surfing and gaming.

[Cloudberry]

Hej Forskaren,

nice to see another fellow ERE in Sweden, I will be following your journal.