Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Where are you and where are you going?
frihet
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Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by frihet »

Best of luck to you and good luck finding a career. You sound like you know who you are and what talents you have. A very good start :)

I envy you a bit who have all this information about ERE just starting out. If I have had it I would not be working by now at 35. Saved and speculated in mining shares aggressively between 20-25 accumulating half of the stash I have now thinking I was on a clear path to FI. Then when the stock market crashed and i lost half of it I lost track and hope for 5 years.

I really like Harry Browne's philosophy of keeping most of your stash in a Permanent Portfolio thereby protecting your capital from large losses. Then speculate with a small portion taking big risks and going for home runs. Fully prepared to loss this speculative portion but being exposed in best case for life changing wealth. But each has to find an investment philosophy they are comfortable with and believe they can stick with.

Lemon
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Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Lemon »

Welcome and Good luck!

Very lucky to be finding this so young. I thought I did ok finding it at 23 (although I was already at uni so that choice was made so earning wasn't going to happen in any meaningful way until 24).

On career, pick something to increase your earnings. University/Apprenticeship/On the job/Something else. Look at the Pros and Cons and don't spend too long waiting, you can start with one that has a low drop out penalty if uncertain just to get started. But bear in mind that UK student debt probably won't be paid back by someone living frugal ERE as their income will likely drop to the point where certainly with the new unfavourable loans it won't be repaid. Doesn't discount the opportunity cost though.

Sabaka
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Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

June 2017 Summary

Ledger:

Name - Cost - Date

Book - 12.91 - 5/6/17
Food - 9.25 - 9/6/17
Food - 10.7 - 10/6/17
New Investment* - 88.26 - 13/6/17
Donation - 10 - 16/6/17
Food - 4.9 - 18/06/176
Food - 16.23 - 30/06/17

Total (£) - 152.25

Overall, a largely decent month. My food costs totaled up to £41.08p, a good £9 below my average. I decided that a third of the meals I made would be vegetarian, and to my surprise, they were quite tasty and I did not instantly lose all my muscle mass :lol: . Definitely a habit I wish to continue. The book I have bought is the hardback version of 'A Strange Death of Europe' by Douglas Murray. Not the most uplifting read, but excellent nonetheless, I'd highly recommend. I do have a weakness for purchasing books, it will need to be checked if I am ever to achieve FIRE :lol: . I shall expand on the 'new investment' in the investments/savings section.

In other news, I have canceled my gym membership. For the past few months, I have been following the main bodyweight focused workout, a workout that in all honesty does not require access to gym equipment. Given this, I have decided to scrap the membership and bank the £17.99!

Investments:

First, the boring stuff. I contributed £555.02 into my ISA and my LISA. £334 of this was invested into the LISA, with the remaining £221.02 being held as cash in my standard ISA. The value of my ISAs now totals at £6338. Due to a tax return of £509.80, I now have £837.13 cash sitting in the bank, to be used to finance the portfolio changes outlined below.

Inspired by Frihet (thanks!)
frihet wrote:
Sat Jun 03, 2017 9:09 am
I have decided that I would like to shuffle around my portfolio a little. I'm quite skeptical regarding the 'Permanent Portfolio'. For me, the proportion of the portfolio allocated towards both metals and bonds seems very high. I do not believe I will ever be a very high earner, so in order for me to achieve my goal of FI growth is of paramount importance. I understand that as an investment strategy it is more suited to those who wish to reduce volatility? I have not researched a great deal into it though, so apologies if what's written above is complete garbage :lol:.

Your idea around speculating with a small part of the overall portfolio resonates with me. I believe, as long as it is money you are prepared to lose, and you speculate with a level head, it can be a beneficial approach to investing. I have therefore decided to allocate 10% of my portfolio to a new speculatory investment, which is.....

Cryptocurrencies. I have been aware of cryptcurrencies for approximately 1 year, but I really started to research into them in the past month or so. The plus side is that the sector has experienced phenomenal growth over the past few years. There is the famous story of the Norweigan lad who bought $26 dollars worth of Bitcoin in 2009 to discover they had grown to $886k dollars in 2013. That $26 dollars worth of Bitcoin would be worth multi-million dollars today. The down side is that the market is incredibly volatile, and also a lot of the hype reminds me of what I have read of the 'dot-com crash' in the early 2000s :shock:.

However, I do believe in the concept. I believe that the Blockchain technology is quite revolutionary and that the appeal of a decentralized currency is massive. I come from a libertarian standpoint on this anyway, so of course, a decentralized currency excites me :lol: . So, therefore I am going to invest (a small amount) into this sector. WIsh me luck :).

(The 'New Investment' cost outlined in the ledger above is for a hardware wallet which is required to safely store cryptocurrencies)

Focuses for July

I go on holiday at the end of the month, and this requires me to *slightly* update my wardrobe. I also have family Bdays and the like approaching, so this month could be more expensive. Hopefully, if I maintain a frugal mindset, it won't be too expensive. By the end of this month, I aim to have reallocated my portfolio to reflect the wishes I outlined in this post. Other than that, not much else. Keep on learning I guess.
Crazylemon wrote:
Sat Jun 03, 2017 1:40 pm
Thanks for the suggestions man! The actual debt does not concern me at all regarding university, the cost opportunity (i.e: 3-4 years lost working full time) is what worries me most. This coupled with the dearth of opportunities for graduates is the major reason behind my skepticism of university.

Wow, that was a long one. Cheers for reading if you managed to make it though :lol: Seeya again soon!

frihet
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Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by frihet »

Cryptocurrencies. I have been aware of cryptcurrencies for approximately 1 year, but I really started to research into them in the past month or so
Good luck with your speculation! I'm not sure this is the best time to get in to crypto, but who knows? Still holding myself though, although it is a freeride. But considering shifting more of it into gold if it has another run.

Which ones do you hold? Do you buy through Kraken.com?

I hold Bitcoin, ethereum, ethereum classic and litecoin myself.

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Viktor K
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Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Viktor K »

There's been a lot of talk lately around here about cryptocurrencies. Mostly, it comes to mind more frequently than normal because it is one option for shipping money from China to the US, without worrying about the usual costs associated with it. I've considered trying it out with some lump of cash, but can't seem to figure out how to go about it. I feel more research is needed on my part. Any suggested readings? Or maybe a PM on how to go about making the first purchase :D

Sabaka
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Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

frihet wrote:
Sun Jul 02, 2017 3:36 am

Cheers!

I've been wondering that myself. The highs and lows over the recent period have been quite scary, and I'm not even invested yet! However, I believe that the value of the good cryptocurrencies will rise over the long term, and therefore I'm going to stick to the principle of dollar-cost averaging and hope for the best!

Gold certainly has a more established and stable value than any cryptocurrency, so you might have the right idea there.


Which ones do you hold? Do you buy through Kraken.com?

I hold Bitcoin, ethereum, ethereum classic and litecoin myself.

Still waiting to get verified with Kraken! The FAQs state that the waiting time for verification is 2-4 weeks due to a recent surge in applications. It's approaching the fourth week now so hopefully I'll be able to start trading soon. I'm verified with a smaller, U.K based exchange called Cryptomate. However, their individual coin mark up is huge so I think I'll just hold out for Kraken

Good selection of coins. Are you tempted at all by the multitude of other Alt-coins? I will be looking to invest in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, and Ripple.

If you could impart any other advice, it'd be greatly appreciated! I'm just trying to learn as much as possible at the moment.

frihet
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Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by frihet »

Not much advice to give. Just a lucky beginner myself :)

But a few smart people to follow on twitter are

https://twitter.com/TuurDemeester

https://twitter.com/NickSzabo4

https://twitter.com/aantonop

Sabaka
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Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

frihet wrote:
Mon Jul 03, 2017 9:28 am
Thanks, Frihet!

Hi everyone! Just a quick update.

My Kraken account has finally been verified and therefore I was able to begin my speculation!

With my 710 euros deposited into the Kraken account, I have bought:

- 2.08161 Ether
- 0.06459 Bitcoin
- 365.55982 Ripple
- 0.37150 Dash


This has left me 4.81 euros in change.

As of writing, the value of these coins combined is 677.85 euros, which converted to GBP is £596.95

Unfortunately, the cost of transferring the initial 710 euros into my Kraken account cost me £9.50! :o A ridiculous amount. I have now looked around for a better deal, and have signed up with a German bank called Fidor, which only charges a transaction cost of £2.49. Still, a considerable fee, so, therefore, my deposits will be limited to once-monthly, maybe once every two months.

With my speculative investments finally sorted, I could once again turn my attention towards my other investments. Overall, I contributed £685.27 into my two ISAs, with £131.73 going into my LISA and £553.54 going into my standard ISA. As usual, these investments were divided between my four choice index funds.

The total value of these accounts is at the time of writing ££7,031.62

Therefore, the combined worth of my speculative and my normal investments is £7628.57. I turn 20 in September, I think it would be overly bullish to hope for a total 'net worth' of £10k before then, but aim for the stars and all that.

Anyways, that's about it I suppose. Cheers!

Noedig
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Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Noedig »

Sam, I will join the chorus saying you are light years ahead of almost all in this forum - you have wised up so young and are off to a flying start. At 19! Kudos be thine. As parent of a kid about to go to uni and incur much debt, I totally concur that unless you really think you will have an absolute blast and enjoy the study and benefit from it afterwards - then best not to go. I anticipate however that you eventually tire of Costco and either enlist, or look into something else like a modern apprenticeship, or find something with a bit of a career path.

A popular route for saving you may wish to consider is the High Yield Portfolio route - described quite well here https://web.archive.org/web/20071231131 ... avers.aspx

Re: Kraken. While I understand currency is just a token, and money is a dilutable token at the whim of whatever Central Bank, and that crytocurrencies are tokens that can't be diluted - what with all that I still just can't summon up the suspension of disbelief required to speculate in them (I will not call it "invest"). Also with Kraken you cannot spend the currency, it is not a bank account. That said, I look forward to your tales of triumph so that I can kick my own ass round the block in self-recrimination. Might take a while though.

You seem firmly on track, good luck to you.

Sabaka
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Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

Noedig wrote:
Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:00 pm
Thank you for your words of encouragement Noedig. I am wary, however, of presenting a version of myself in this forum that displays too little of my mistakes (and therefore indications of my flaws). My journey to ERE and FI is one of mistakes, of trial and error. An example of this would be my investment history. When I turned 18 my parents gave me £500 as a present, and I immediately invested this whole sum into one company (BAE.) Now regardless of the fact that I eventually sold off this investment for a decent profit, I look back at how foolish an investment it was. I still have roughly 1.4k invested in these types of foolish investments (Whether these will eventually yield a profit, time will tell :? :lol:)

As for your comments regarding cryptocurrency, I completetly agree! In fact, in all my documents I am careful to distinguish between my normal 'investments' (i.e: stocks and shares, etc) and my 'speculations' (cryptocurrency). I cannot help but be excited about the sector, however, and I feel it would be futile to try and supress my speculative instincts (which I believe all people have to a degree). Alltogether, better cryptocurrencies than gambling is my overall thought.

Good luck with your child heading off to uni. Not long now! In terms of debt, it is about the best sort you can have. Everyone I know who has gone to uni loves it, and a good degree opens up so many opportunites. Good luck on your own journey also!



July 2017 Summary

A little early, however I go on holiday in a couple of days, so access to my computer will be gone for a couple of weeks.

Ledger

Name - Cost - Date

Holiday essentials - 79.02 - 1/7/17
Holiday essentials - 41.57 - 7/7/17
Food - 19.57 - 7/7/17
Misc - 2.49 - 13/7/17
Food - 25.19 - 16/7/17

Total (£) - 167.84

Overall, a good month. I have termed what I spent on summer clothes and spending money as 'holiday essentials'. Whether they are actually 'essential' could be deemed to be a matter of subjective opinion ;) I have managed to not spend any money on books so far this month, however I will be buying some for holiday, but I shall include them in the ledger for August. Food costs were okay. £25.19p was too much, however I love dark chocolate and spotted a 100% cacoa type on sale, so I thought why not :lol:

Investments

Overall, I invested £1113.68p into my various ISAs this month. Of this, £334 was invested into my LISA, and £779.68p was invested into my standard ISA. This brings the total value of my ISAs to (as of writing) £7480.06

Speculation

As outlined in an earlier post, this month I made my inital investment into cryptocurrencies. The total worth of these coins is (as of writing) 615.28 euros, which converted into GBP is £548.82. Down roughly £50 in half a month! The nature of the sector, I'm afraid. I also currently have £101.23 sitting in my Fidor bank account, waiting to be invested in cryptocurrencies. The total value of my speculative investment is therefore £650.05

Alltogether, the total value of my normal and my speculative investments is currently £8130.11. The prospect of reaching 10k in investments is a goal that actually quite excites me. I do not believe I will reach it before my birthday in September, but it should not take much longer beyond that! :)

Focuses for August

I am on holiday! Luckily with family, and therefore not a burden on my own pocket! My goals will be to sleep through the night (rather than get up for work), eat lots of good food and read a ton of books :D . Not to be tempted too much by holiday souveniers, and to come back with good change from the 70 euros I am taking. The timing is perfect. Work had become incredibly dishearting, and I had begun to feel down because of it. This should help lift the spirits. Beyond my holiday, I feel some serious thinking is required about my future. This can wait however!

Thank you all for reading, and see you soon!

Sabaka
Posts: 135
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Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

Hiya! Again, this post shall be a couple days short off the end of the month. These entries tend to take a little while and so I therefore coincide the writing of them with my days off.

August 2017 Summary

Ledger

Name - Cost - Date

Books - 11.22 - 1/8/17
Headphone cable - 10.98 - 7/8/17
Food - 14.38 - 7/8/17
Stationary - 43.27 - 15/8/17
Medicine - 4 - 16/8/17
Food - 10.7 - 22/8/17
Birthday Present - 19.68 - 22/8/17

Total (£) - 114.23

Overall, a fairly okay month. Positives are that I managed to spend just 10 euros on holiday, and not be tempted by the wealth of shopping opportunities available in Florence. It was very enjoyable holiday actually, Florence is a beautiful city, and the food was fantastic! However, that aside, some disappointing expenditures this month. The prime example being the £10.98 spent on the replacement headphone cable. I listen to music, podcasts, etc all the time, so when my headphone cable broke I panicked and made an impulse purchase. Looking back, I could have at least attempted fixing the original cable myself, or failing that bought a replacement though Ebay for, no doubt, a much cheaper cost. Live and learn. Another slightly disappointing expenditure was the amount spent on (necessary, I expand why in my focuses for September section below) stationary. The bulk of this comes from a new calculator for £30. I could have looked out a second hand deal, again, I'll have to learn from this.

More positive is the amount spent on food. I once again experimented with vegan meals, and managed to prepare 10 meals for £10.70!

To conclude, as stated above, an okay month. I believe improving on my ERE/Frugal mindset is a short term imperative. I am quite lucky that due to a lack of any substantial bills I'm afforded a fair amount of leniency in the amount I can spend on unnecessary purchases whilst still maintaining a high savings rate. If were in a position where I had to move out and pay these standard bills, I would fall quite abit short of that golden 75% savings rate. Lucky that I'm nowhere near to moving out then! :lol: .

Investments

A total contribution of £336.84p into my various ISAs this month. Of this, £334.51 was invested into my LISA, and £2.33 (big spender ;) :lol: ) into my standard ISA. The £2.33 is just to cover broker fees and the like. The current worth of my ISAs combined now stands at (as of writing) £7884.10p

Speculation

I contributed a total of £150.19 into my various cryptocurrencies. The sector also experienced something of a bounce, resulting in the total value of my cryptocurrency portfolio being (as of writing) 1185.41 euros. This converted into GBP is: £1095.

Altogether, the total value of my normal and speculative investments combined currently stands at £8979.10p.

I also have been stockpiling cash this month in preparation for a large planned expenditure in September. The total value of this cash amount is: £572.86 . I did not conclude this in my total savings as, well, I won't have it soon :lol: . Quite exciting that if I had instead invested this amount I would have reached roughly £9.5k in savings, making it almost certain (bar market collapses in either the crypto or standard financial sectors) that I would have been able to reach £10k in savings before my 20th birthday in mid-Sept! The powers of ERE.

Focuses for September

I have decided on my next life step. I have chosen to study towards a Financial Advisory Diploma. It is a distance learning course, meaning that I will be able to study according to my own schedule, which suits me perfectly. It will cost £895 :o . A large initial outlay, but hopefully one that will pay off in due time. You know what they say, speculate to accumulate ;) I will continue working part-time in my hated job over the 12 months of the course, meaning that whilst the amount I am able to save will be reduced, at least I will be able to save something and not eat into any of the savings (The stationary costs this month are for the required equipment to study this course).

My reasons for this step? I have decided that the military was not for me. I cannot exactly pinpoint the reasons why. They are clearer in my own mind, but any attempt to set them out in this entry would inevitably leave both me and the reader very confused, so I will not bother :lol: I have chosen to study towards a diploma in finance as it is a subject I have a genuine interest in, the career prospects are decent and, well, I need to do something. I cannot allow myself any further period of doing nothing, it's not good for me in any way.

Anyways, that's it I suppose. Thank you for sticking with me the last few months, and especially for sticking with me through this long, winding journal entry. I am excited, whilst apprehensive for the future, but with ERE (the mindset and the community) I believe I have the best tools going forward. Cheers!

Jason

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Jason »

Takes a lot of courage to change directions. Good luck. Out of respect, I won't speculate on why you are leaving the military but I would think it takes courage to join in the first place, so you should be alright.

Sabaka
Posts: 135
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Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

Hiya everyone, it's that time of the month again!

September 2017 Summary

Ledger

Name - Cost - Date

Food - 10.46 - 1/9/17
Diploma - 300 - 1/9/17
Diploma - 25 - 5/9/17
Food - 11.23 - 13/9/2017
Clothes - 7.69 - 16/9/17
Food - 7.8 - 25/9/17

Total (£) - 362.18

Overall, disregarding the diploma costs, a very good month. The larger of the diploma costs was for the first unit of the course, the second, smaller cost for a recommended training pack. I'm happy with the amount spent on my lunchtime meals, accomplished through an entire month of being a lunchtime veggie! I'd be pretty cool switching to an entirely vegetarian diet, however, with my parents and brother being meat eaters, I wouldn't feel comfortable imposing any of my dietary restrictions on them. The clothes cost was for a 'new' pair of jeans. I'd been down to two very ragged pairs for over a month and it was becoming a little bit of a burden. The jeans themselves I purchased from eBay, a designer label brand with a RRP of £30+, going for next to nothing because they'd been worn a couple of times. What a mad world we live in.

Investments

A total contribution of 736.96 into my various ISA's this month. Of this, £334.65 was invested into my LISA, and £402.31 into my standard ISA. The total current value of my combined ISA's is (as of writing) £8294.25

Speculation

I deposited £36.08 into my Crypto bank account. The value of my actual Crypto portfolio is (as of writing) 1049.99 euros. This amount, converted into GBP and added to the cash sitting in the Crypto bank account results in a total Crypto investment value of £956.85

The total value of my combined investment and speculative investments is currently £9251.10

I also have a cash reserve sitting in my bank account, however due to the fact that I expect to be spending this soon (on purchasing unit 2 of my course), I have not included it in my overall investment value.

Focuses for October

Read, listen and learn :)

For a long time, I have struggled with my general well-being. I do not like self-diagnosis, so I can't really put a name on it. I struggle with the 'Why?'. The 'Why?' for me is, essentially, 'Why do anything?'. 'Why get up for work?' 'Why go downstairs to eat?', etc. Eventually, the 'Why?' becomes 'Why am I even here?'.

Due to this, my main goal is trying to find the 'Why?'. To do this, I engage in an almost constant exploration of different philosophies of life, religions, habits, life strategies, etc. I am basically trying to build a mental toolbox, using tools from of all these different things, to answer the question of 'Why?'. Aspects of FIRE have become an important tool in this mental toolbox.

So, to get back to the point of this section, my focuses for October will be to continue building this mental toolbox

Cheers for reading, seeya soon!

wolf
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2017 5:09 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by wolf »

Sabaka wrote:
Tue Sep 26, 2017 2:47 pm
Due to this, my main goal is trying to find the 'Why?'. To do this, I engage in an almost constant exploration of different philosophies of life, religions, habits, life strategies, etc. I am basically trying to build a mental toolbox, using tools from of all these different things, to answer the question of 'Why?'. Aspects of FIRE have become an important tool in this mental toolbox.
Hi Sabaka. Well done with the "September Summary". Keep on going!
If I remember correctly, you are relatively young, 19 years old. It is a really good thing, that you discovered ERE with your young age!

What "tools" have you already explored?

In my opinion, it is good to decide for some "tools" and stay on the path. Don't change permanently. At least this works for me these days/years. (I am 34 years old) It is more about finding and staying on the path, than searching and changing. Well, of course, I find it very important that you find your own individual and personal tool box, principles, systems, ways of doing things. I value authenticity and integrity very much, because if you find out about your deepest values in life, these can become great a great motivation.

I am looking forward to read more about your "mental tool box". Take care!

Sabaka
Posts: 135
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:41 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

MDFIRE2024 wrote:
Wed Sep 27, 2017 12:55 am

What "tools" have you already explored?

In my opinion, it is good to decide for some "tools" and stay on the path. Don't change permanently. At least this works for me these days/years. (I am 34 years old) It is more about finding and staying on the path, than searching and changing. Well, of course, I find it very important that you find your own individual and personal tool box, principles, systems, ways of doing things. I value authenticity and integrity very much, because if you find out about your deepest values in life, these can become great a great motivation.

I am looking forward to read more about your "mental tool box". Take care!
Hiya MDFIRE2024. Thank you for your words, I think you've hit the nail on the head. Its tempting to try and transport an entire 'life system' onto one's own life, however I believe this is ultimately ineffective in pursuing the good life.
For myself personally, Stoicism is the major tool I use. The beliefs come most naturally to me. Seneca's letters are the most insightful and most enlightening pieces of writing I have ever read. I couldn't recommend them highly enough to the ERE/FIRE community, although I imagine most here will be familiar with them. In fact, Stoicism and the whole ERE/FIRE philosophy naturally compliment each over, in my mind.

New summary coming soon!

wolf
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2017 5:09 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by wolf »

Sabaka wrote:
Tue Sep 26, 2017 2:47 pm
Due to this, my main goal is trying to find the 'Why?'. To do this, I engage in an almost constant exploration of different philosophies of life, religions, habits, life strategies, etc.
Have you found out more about your "why"? Personally, I think that having a purpose (at least an individual one for the near future) is motivating. It could be a difficult thing, trying to answer the "why". I have found meaning (at least for now ;-) in the connection between:
- Personal Life Satisfaction
- ERE
- FI
This is supported by my virtues in life: personal development, integrity, authenticity and independence, freedom.

What value you in life? What do you "believe" in? I hope that, I don't ask too much.

How is it going financially and ERE-like?

Sabaka
Posts: 135
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:41 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

Congratulations on having found a purpose! Having caught up with your journal the other day, you are in a new relationship, if I am correct? I believe this can play an important part in personal life satisfaction, a soul to share the world with. I say believe as I have yet to be in a relationship. This is part of my journey towards finding a 'why?'. I'm naturally quite introverted and shy, however I have tried recently to 'put myself out there more'. Generally this has not gone well. I'm sure you will have found this also, but the FIRE lifestyle is not exactly in trend with the mainstream culture, making finding a potential partner who shares similar values to one's own quite a difficult task.

Altogether, my FIRE values, along with my other characteristics and beliefs I hold, make finding a potential partner the equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack :lol: To be clear, I am not looking to act as moral arbiter for the whole society. People should be free to live their lives in the way they best see fit. However, for me, I could not imagine finding fulfilment in a relationship with a partner who's values are completely antithetical to my own.

Anyway, tangent over :lol: .

For me, my values in life correspond to those of the Stoics (Apologies for mentioning them once again, I believe they really were onto something though :lol: ). The Stoics talk of four cardinal virtues. I have listed them below, and included besides each virtue a summary of my action plan with regards to best fulfilling that specific virtue, leading to, hopefully, 'Eudaimonia' (Human flourishing, Happiness)

Wisdom: Incorporate Stoicism into my daily life. Also learn from and borrow good ideas from other ideas, systems and philosophies. FIRE is especially a system (and a community) I have learnt much from. Following your advice, I have decided the ones I particularly wish to focus on myself are Stoicism and FIRE.
Courage: Not being shy to live by these values. As mentioned earlier, these types of ideas are not the mainstream. Believing in them, and living your life according to them, can open one up to to mostly ridicule and, I have felt sometimes, disdain (although rarely this strong). Jacob talks about this in the ERE book as to why this is, much better than I can express here. For a long time I allowed this to have quite an effect on me. Not anymore.
Moderation: This is the virtue I feel most advanced with. For some, moderation is a restriction they have to adapt to before they experience its benefits. For others, its comes more naturally. I believe I fall into the latter category. My action plan for this is simple: Never reject the 'harder' option.
Justice: Acting in accordance with the best interest of the people around me, to the best of my abilities.

That's it basically.

With regards to the financials, my net worth has surpassed the £10,000 ceiling! I shall expand on this more in the monthly summary :D I may also write up a general outline of my FIRE goals soon, it will be helpful to me to set it out clearly.

If you've managed to read through all that, congratulations! :lol:
MDFIRE2024 wrote:
Mon Oct 23, 2017 12:04 am
This is supported by my virtues in life: personal development, integrity, authenticity and independence, freedom.
Would you mind me asking if you could expand on how your virtues impact (or help formulate) your own goals/action plan?

Cheers!

wolf
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2017 5:09 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by wolf »

Sabaka wrote:
Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:23 pm
I'm naturally quite introverted and shy, however I have tried recently to 'put myself out there more'. Generally this has not gone well. I'm sure you will have found this also, but the FIRE lifestyle is not exactly in trend with the mainstream culture, making finding a potential partner who shares similar values to one's own quite a difficult task.

Altogether, my FIRE values, along with my other characteristics and beliefs I hold, make finding a potential partner the equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack :lol: To be clear, I am not looking to act as moral arbiter for the whole society. People should be free to live their lives in the way they best see fit. However, for me, I could not imagine finding fulfilment in a relationship with a partner who's values are completely antithetical to my own.
I understand exactly what you mean. I dated the woman three times, but "out of the blue" she lost interest and she didn't answer my last message. This was quite a surprising, because overall we get along very well. So, I do understand what you mean. There was/is this difficulty to find someone who share similar beliefs and values and principles. Becoming ERE and FI and finding a person, who understand, is difficult in my opinion. On top of that, if you have practiced and internalized ERE quite some time. Usually I am also very introverted. I am not shy at work. But I don't do many extroverted things in my free time. This is a difficulty I understand and am aware of. I have accepted this and on the same time I am trying to be open for persons and others who share and do similar things. Living authentically means in this context, that I practice my hobbies, which I love doing. If I meet somebody while doing this, that would be a good basis for communication, friendship, or relationship. I don't know how much I have to let go of perfection regarding relationships and expectation of a possible partner. Personal development helps me to be happy on my own. If I am not happy with myself, how can I be happy with someone else together. You know for sure the book from Stephen Covey "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". I have read it about 6 years ago, when all this (FI, ERE, minimalism, ...) began. I have read it again recently. What I now see very clearly, that I took the first step from dependence to independence. But Stephen explains, that this ist not the ultimate goal. He describes that the next step would be from independence to interdependence. This is currently my challenge. In the FAQ section of his book he is honest and says that this step from independence to interdependence (with others) is ten times more difficult than the first step. Now I experience this as well. Well, long story short. I guess trying to find a partner for a meaningful relationship is a great "why". Take care and thanks for sharing your journey in your journal.

Sabaka
Posts: 135
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:41 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

MDFIRE2024 wrote:
Tue Oct 24, 2017 11:36 am
Usually I am also very introverted. I am not shy at work. But I don't do many extroverted things in my free time. This is a difficulty I understand and am aware of. I have accepted this and on the same time I am trying to be open for persons and others who share and do similar things. Living authentically means in this context, that I practice my hobbies, which I love doing. If I meet somebody while doing this, that would be a good basis for communication, friendship, or relationship. I don't know how much I have to let go of perfection regarding relationships and expectation of a possible partner.

I understand what you are saying. Within the right context (eg. hobbies, conversation with people I click with, etc), I become my sort of 'superhero' self, haha. More more confidant, better at talking, etc. Meeting people in this context is a much easier and more enjoyable experience than forcing myself to be 'out there' :lol: . With regards to letting go of perfection, again, I can sympathise. At heart I'm a daydreamer, and so I have a fantasists view of how the 'perfect' relationship of how a relationship should be, regardless of reality. It is difficult to find a compromise between not having unreasonable standards and not compromising so much that you end up sacrificing your own happiness.

MDFIRE2024 wrote:
Tue Oct 24, 2017 11:36 am
You know for sure the book from Stephen Covey "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". I have read it about 6 years ago, when all this (FI, ERE, minimalism, ...) began. I have read it again recently. What I now see very clearly, that I took the first step from dependence to independence. But Stephen explains, that this ist not the ultimate goal. He describes that the next step would be from independence to interdependence. This is currently my challenge. In the FAQ section of his book he is honest and says that this step from independence to interdependence (with others) is ten times more difficult than the first step. Now I experience this as well. Well, long story short. I guess trying to find a partner for a meaningful relationship is a great "why". Take care and thanks for sharing your journey in your journal.

In fact, I have not yet read the adult version. I believe I have read the one geared towards teenagers, but it was so long ago I can't really claim to have remembered much. I will definitely have to revisit the adult version soon! Your point regarding interdependence reminds me, in one of C.S Lewis's books he paints a picture of hell as being somewhere we are all abandoned to our own separate islands, without any sort of community or interaction with others. I have not yet read that work also, another one for the reading list!

Thanks for your kind words, and keep us updated with regards to your journal!

Sabaka
Posts: 135
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:41 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

Alas, it is that time of the month once again!

October 2017 Summary

Ledger

Name - Cost - Date

Stationary - 0.77 - 1/10/17
Diploma - 666.55 - 1/10/17
Packing tape - 1.5 - 5/10/17
Food - 7.08 - 7/10/2017
Economist - 12 - 14/10/17
Food - 10.12 - 18/10/17
Book - 3.79 - 22/10/17
Book - 3.99 - 24/10/17

Total (£) - 705.8

Once again, disregarding diploma costs, a solid month. That is the diploma completely paid for now, now I've just go to make sure that I pass my exams and make good use of it! My veggie streak continues. For 20 decent sized, healthy lunch time meals a price of £17.20 is one I'm very happy with. I have subscribed to the Economist magazine, for the introductory offer of 12 issues for £12 at the least. If I find value in it, I will continue with it. I've worked out that for my magazine subscriptions the price will work out at £26 p/m, which although is high, takes the overall regular 'leisure' costs (disregarding the occasional buying of books) to £96 p/m, which I believe is a fair amount. With regards to books, I believe it will always be a miscellaneous cost I will struggle with! :lol: . However, in a an effort to control this cost, I now apply the following system. If I wish to obtain a book, first I: 1) Check if it is available from the library. If not, I; 2) Check that if it is available in a hardback/paperback form and that I will be able to sell it on later, if not, I; 3) Buy it on kindle. The only exception to this system is in the case of a book I will continue to find value from over the course of many years, in which case I buy.

Investments

A total contribution of £1190.76 into my various ISAs this month. Of this £561.74 was invested into my LISA, and £629.02 into my standard ISA. My grandparents gifted me and my brother £500 this month, resulting in the higher contribution. Overall, the total value of my combined ISA's is (as of writing) £9482.12

Speculation

A deposit of £69.88 into my Crypto bank account. The value of my actual Crypto portfolio is (as of writing) 1197.73 euros. This amount, converted into GBP and added to the cash sitting in the Crypto bank account results in a total Crypto investment value of £1169.83

Also, I have decided it would be prudent practice to have a safety fund, so I have deposited £300 emergency cash sum in an easy access savings account. Luckily, due to the fact that live at home and therefore have very little in the way of bills or obligations, I don't envision there being much that could cause me to need this use this fund (other than job loss), but I thought it'd be good to have it anyway.

The total value, therefore, of my combined normal and speculative investments, plus my safety fund is £10951.95. I've cracked the £10,000 net worth mark! Feels very good, onwards to £100,000 now, it'll only take me the rest of my life :shock: :lol:

Focuses for November

The final month of study for unit 1 of my diploma! These two months have gone by very quickly, I've been committing lots of time to study and revision, so hopefully I'll have done okay. My exam is on December the 6th, so if I have gone silent after then just assume I've run away to join some cult somewhere :lol:

Other than that, I'm currently trying to get through a 1300 page book of Montaigne's complete works, so that's going to keep me occupied on the book front front for a while :shock: :lol: As part of incorporating Stoicism into my life. I have also a bought couple of new books, one by a modern Stoic author, the other a selection of Epictetus' work, which I dip into as part of my morning and evening routines respectively. I'd recommend both Montaigne and Epictetus' work, both really good.

A final recommendation, the T.V show "Ben Fogles: New LIves in the Wild" started up again this past month for a new series. It is essentially that, a show about people who give up the standard 9-5 to build new lives in all sorts of interesting places. It contains many elements which I think would be of interest to FIRE-minded people, including building your own habitation, etc. If you're U.K based, it's on Channel 5 every Tuesday at 9pm, or on demand. If you're international you may be able to access on demand, or they'll probably have older episodes on Youtube.

Anyways, that's everything. Seeya soon!

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