SustainableHappiness Journal

[distracted_at_work]

Thank you for the insight. For some more context, my last relationship ended when I wouldn't spend all my money on weekends in B.C or on expensive vacations abroad.....She also couldn't (or chose not to?) spell properly, which silently infuriated me. There's a fun, forum-only, tidbit about my life.

Glad to know the money is worth it. If I found the right person, I'm sure I would think the same.

[Jason]

I think that's the first time I ever heard of a relationship breaking up over spelling issues, at least in couples who have made it beyond the second grade. I could see how that could be annoying though.

But I'm genuinely interested. How was her grammar? Was she possibly dyslexic? Was there a specific word that broke the camel's back? Do you think it relates to the culture of texting? Did she speak well? Did you discuss it? Did you try to help her?

I'm not trivializing it but I'm thinking it has to be relative to the other person. I mean, just thinking out loud, if its Serena Williams, I frankly couldn't care less if she could read or recite her home address without consulting the phone book, let alone spell.

Also, once your married, like me, you become painfully aware of things you can't do or understand. For instance, for 18 years my wife has been trying to explain to me how light and darkness work, specifically with regard to curtain status. I just can't grasp the concept and I'm pretty certain from the looks I get that all our neighbors have seen my ass. Her frustration level has gotten to defcon levels but I think she knows it would be hard to legally equate it with spousal abuse although I'm sure it feels like it to her.

So my point is its kind of a value thing. You value spelling. My wife values someone who can understand how light and shadows work. I don't know if she would have dumped me had she known this about me before she said yes but I'm guessing she would have.

[distracted_at_work]

Without derailing SustainableHappiness' journal too much... (sorry by the way)

@Jason. Never discussed. There were bigger issues. It was something that nagged at me with every text exchange though.

You gotta close the curtains when you walk around naked man

[SustainableHappiness]

April Update
10.26 Numbers of Years in Hopper
25 Ultimate FI Goal
0.40 Years accumulated per month on average
0.56 Years accumulated this month

A good month overall, financials in particular went well due to some offset rental income from previous months finally catching up. It also marks the first time DW and I have broken the 10 years in investments mark (that is not including any growth over those 10 years, just a straight Net Worth/Expenses per year for simplicity). This is exciting for us as that was our original FU Money target. Although we aren’t changing careers and lifestyles immediately due to the timing of our child, it feels like the psychological OMY barrier has been broken down significantly.

We’ve been listening to a wicked podcast while cooking dinners called “The Bright Sessions” about a psychiatrist who takes on patients with super powers and helps them deal with being different, highly recommended if you think that idea sounds cool. I’ve also been reading the ERE book for the first time, out loud to DW as we are both interested in it and it is fun to both explore the concepts and have immediate feedback from each other to discuss them. Reading to each other means the process is slow, but it is enjoyable so who cares?

My mountain bikes pedal has broken (the metal portion has busted through the plastic portion) and I now in need of a replacement pedal. Besides my initial repairs and a few little things over the past couple years since I started biking a lot, this is the first time I have really been confronted with the fact my bike will decay and need to be rebuilt and that the harder I treat it the faster it will decay. It’s funny, because that sounds so obvious, but it didn’t really click until it manifested physically versus just being a “nothing lasts forever” abstraction.
Keep on rockin’.

[SustainableHappiness]

May Update
10.54 Numbers of Years in Hopper
25 Ultimate FI Goal
0.39 Years accumulated per month on average
0.28 Years accumulated this month

Weakest month from an ERE perspective in a while, with a hefty tax bill, due to a miscalculation on my part for RRSP deductions for DW and I, as well as a hefty taxable benefits portion of my pay from a company car (not as free as people like to believe). RRSP transfers now rectified, however it'll take a whole year for it to come out in the wash, DAMN!

Work has been a little painful this month and I've informed my employer that I will be taking a 37 week paternity leave in the fall. Fuck yeah! It was a confusing (for them) conversation on how it all works and the HR team couldn't remember the last time someone took a pat leave, but I am so excited for the time off to spend both with DW and the newborn, as well as exploring new skills that may be useful or interesting.

I have held the feeling that my work is meaningless to me for over 2 years now, and therefore I am continuing to take steps to give myself freedom from that single income stream and skill set. Staying at my job is a conscious decision primarily for the financial benefits, but I am already unlocked mentally and I will be taking a break from cubicle dwelling days. A "break", meaning I could see myself taking short-term high pay contracts with a high savings rate just to give a cash boost after leaving cubicle city.

DW asked me whether or not it was the end goal of the work I found meaningless, or the work itself. I had never really thought in this context before, assuming that if I was doing the same work for an organization that I believed in that this need would be solved, but after reflecting on that, I think I may need to try entirely different work.

Keep on rockin'.

[wolf]

Interesting journal. I wish you all the best with the paternity leave. Here in Germany it is quite common and the employers know of that.

How do you calculate
... years accumulated in average this month...
I have never seen it before.

[SustainableHappiness]

Thank you, still a few months until it gets under way, but hopefully I can represent one more data point in Canada pushing towards it being more common!

Years accumulated per month* = Monthly $ Networth Change/Annual Spend $
*Note, this doesn't take into account any growth on the $, but I find it is an easy to calculate and understand metric and at worse it is underestimating.

I use that value instead of a net worth or savings % because, the way I track my expenses at the moment includes rental properties expenses, as they were tied directly into my own living expenses for a couple years (since we lived in 1 unit and breaking it out was not a useful exercise). It also helps me put into perspective that for each month I continue in this job and owning the properties, I earn ~4.5 months of financial freedom which helps cope with The Grind for the time being.

When I do the extra math to calculate a savings % it averages around 75% ish. But this doesn't take into account an accelerated mortgage on the rentals is essentially savings as well...Either way, I feel like we are kicking ass and getting to the exact number lost it's lustre a while ago.

What I am REALLY excited for is the day we sell the rentals and I can actualize the capital gains on the severance process which could be upwards of 2 years of annual spend!

[SustainableHappiness]

Pregnancy
2 Weeks until DW goes off on an early pregnancy leave and we get our first taste of RE/Semi-RE living (well, one of us does!). She is very excited as she’ll finally be able to have a good sleep (she is currently working nights, which while very pregnant has proved difficult for sleeping patterns) and have 2 months off prior to the baby to (in ERE-speak, which I like) leverage social capital to lounge around various pools, cottages and lakes of friends and family who enjoy spending $$ more than we do (!).

Travel Hacking
Our travel hacking experiment is also almost to fruition, for 0$ in Part 1, I have accumulated 45 000 aeroplan miles via credit card offers over the past 3 months, note I say 0$ versus no effort, because there was a little time spent researching and signing up for cards, plus an additional 3% stress load of having 3 credit cards in my wallet (1 of which have specific places it needs to be used at)…

However, DW is now about 30% done Part 2 of the travel hacking bit (her effort) with all cards received and now she needs to either get to the $1500 3 month spend via natural means or inflate our monthly spend in the 3rd month by purchasing a large gift card (the latter looks more likely than the former) to get the resulting 45 000 points.

As a result we will be able to initiate part 3 of the “The Great Travel Hacking Escapade” and plan a heavily subsidized trip to Hawaii with the baby next winter. It’s beautiful in some ways that the current commercial system allows for these sorts of luxury loopholes for people who are willing to research, pay attention and be patient.

ERE Living
Spent a lot of time at the beach this weekend, and concluded once again that beaches are one of the most ERE-conducive child rearing environments for the best combination of cost, fun and learning (for example, creating clay sculptures while talking about ancient clay pots with my various nieces and nephews). Being near a lake or other body of water is growing higher on my list of wants for our future family living location.

Keep on rockin’.

[SustainableHappiness]

July 1 Update
Unfortunately I can’t access all my accounts this morning and some rent didn’t come through so I am going to skip the financials, however…what a month!

Semi-Retirement Extreme Phase 1.5 Begins
DW officially began her maternity leave last week a couple months ahead of the due date to take the summer off entirely and relax leading up to the new chill’un. She is bouncing around campsites, cottages and friends pools and of course catching up on sleep after working straight nights for the past 6 months. So far (only 1 week in), the results are great and revitalizing. She has been able to walk to work to “pick me up” and I walk my bike home beside her and we also have the option of grabbing groceries since it’s on the way…Walking is also terrific pregnancy exercise since she is carrying an additional 30 lbs (luckily she has a past as a dancer so her legs are jacked).

It was interesting to watch her emotional states change in the couple weeks leading up to the last day, as she went from excitement, to anxiety, to confusion about what she would do with the summer and what not working would be like, luckily it has turned back to excitement once the last day came and went. I think the real test will be in a couple weeks when her schedule calms down a little and she experiences boredom for a day or two in a row.

Slumlording
1 of 4 sets of tenants officially evicted and their apartment has been ripped out. Fun fact, if you want a job done quickly and you don’t think the kitchen is worth very much, call a charity builder like “Habitat 4 Humanity” and they will send a bunch of retired guys who will do all the work (well, I might add) and haul everything away for you for free.

Had to clean-up, do a little plumbing to move a few lines behind a wall and re-drywall where the cabinetry was. In the process learned a fun new plumbing method called “Sharkbites”, since I have never soldered before I was seeing if there was a painless way to cap copper pipes without getting a torch and after a couple calls to wiser people than I found Sharkbites, which you simply push on to the ends of open copper pipe and it self-seals…It’s even easier that gluing ABS. Cool.

Also had to chase down a rent cheque which is never fun, posting N4 notices and such to families is not cool. However I try to avoid getting too emotional about contractual relationships, but it is still hard for me.

Stuff Attitude
This month I had an interesting experience where my attitude towards stuff hurt the emotions of an in-law who I respect. Essentially, without knowing she has made a baby gift that I viewed as useless space taker upper, I put my foot in my mouth and said, “great…another XX” totally discounting the effort she had put towards the object in question. Made me feel like a fucking idiot and I apologized profusely, and although she forgave me, I know some damage can’t be undone in situations like that without the help of time.

It also made me question the divides I put up based on my disregard for stuff in general. It’s definitely one of the bigger “struggles” between DW and I, as we continue to accumulate stuff given to us by her family (my family is slightly better at not giving stuff, although baby stuff is a different story). The fortunate thing is we currently have a lot of space in our apartment (hence why we often conclude to keep the object at hand until we need less space), but with both of us having dreams of RV-ing eventually I can’t help but think of the slippery slopes that large living quarters provide (even if those quarters are well-priced).

Once again this issue is not a pants-on-fire problem and therefore I feel no need to belabour the point more than a comment or two since the stress isn’t worth it and I love DW 5000% (hyperbole much?) than I don’t love stuff.

Work
Likely made my company a lot of money this month. The President now knows my name and jokes around with me as my name came up in the last Board of Directors meeting as an example of work I’ve done was used as an example of good things that are currently happening (likely since my VP and I get along swimmingly and respect each other).

Mixed feedback from colleagues on me taking 9 months off for pat leave now that it is running through the rumour mill. Some respect it, some can’t understand it, some think I am shooting myself in the foot. However, I am confident with my track record that it is viewed more as “a millennial changing the way things work” i.e. “the new normal”, rather than “a millennial pushing against established structures and shirking work” (even though I reality it is more the latter). Interesting how the exact same actions in a different context would be the death knell for a career (which is likely what the people who are scared for me are scared of). However, maybe the reason why it doesn’t affect me is simply because I am not scared at all and if anything view it as stronger negotiation leverage? Optimism +1, Pessimism still at zero.

[SustainableHappiness]

August 3rd Update
9.2% SWR
10.88 Numbers of Years in Hopper
25 Ultimate FI Goal
0.36 Years accumulated per month on average
0.09 Years accumulated this month

Financial
Below average month of accumulation due to:
1) DW hasn’t received a paycheque all month as she is waiting on the first retroactive mat leave payment to come through and governments are slow
2) 1 tenant evicted = $850 less cash flow with minimal decreases in expenses
3) 1 tenant decided to stop paying us. Luckily the relationship is decent and they are a large family who has not gone into “fuck the system” mode and still desires not to go to court and have a permanent blemish on their record and/or garnished wages and/or need to find a new job and move to an unknown address to prevent me from following and yada yada yada yada = $900 less cashflow and no decrease in expenses
Ah well, we (i.e. me who is the more concerned of our dynamic duo with $$$) is trying to spin it as an opportunity to see how the next 9 months will go with minimal cash flow. Still a little sad to see.

Fuck You Money
As my pat leave approaches my fuck you money has gained power in my mind and strengthened my resolve at work to not do shit I don’t want to do. This and the inevitability of the leave occurring has given me symptoms of Stockholm syndrome in that a piece of me now sees coming back to full time work in my current company as a good idea instead of trying something radically different.

Fitness
Haven’t really talked to fitness on here before, but I have gotten into a really nice routine of soccer 2 nights a week alternated with rowing, windsprints/hill training and body weight exercises (pull-ups, push-ups, 1 legged squats)…Although I am not pumping iron like I was in the winter, my chronic injuries (which correlate strongly with the amount of soccer I play) have diminished which makes me very happy. All in all, I feel like I could run 20k, lift couches for a full day or shovel most the driveways in my neighbourhood without feeling that sore the next day…this is fitness success for me.

Work
Apathy and grind are the name of the game. While mentally stable (and content) and filled with a sense that at any time I can change my work situation, the pros of staying for 1 more month greatly outweigh the cons and therefore I continue to enjoy my bike rides to and from, working out at lunch and free coffee.

[SustainableHappiness]

Interestingly enough we actually tried the property manager thing for the first year, and although we may have had a bad sample size of 1. The manager still contacted us for all decisions and generally had a larger associated cost with each fix that was required. The useful thing they did was show the unit and get people in quickly, however this cost a full months rent for something that for us really only cost energy.

I fired them as soon as the first contract we had came to a close.

Also, we definitely have a bad taste in our mouths for landlording and have heard different takes on it, although we are probably just more idealistic and less handy than the people we hear positive reviews from.

[SustainableHappiness]

Sept 5th Update

9.0% SWR
11.17 Numbers of Years in Hopper
25 Ultimate FI Goal
0.36 Years accumulated per month on average
0.30 Years accumulated this month

A Baby

Holy crow. We’ve got a baby! A 7lb 6oz little bundle of joy (now 8 lb 9 oz after 2 weeks, boy likes to eat, fart and cuddle breasts…insert offside comment here, but like father, like son). He is truly awesome, as in I often stare at him in awe for hours at a time. I don’t really know where to start on this experience, but suffice it to say it’s already having implications for my risk tolerance at the moment as noted in a thread I started on the same topic to see how other ERE’ers have handled babydom.
7WB5 made the great point that DW and baby SH are particularily vulnerable right now (which they are) and that phase will pass and I can foresee my yearning for something more fulfilling and less stable returning, however right now I am content knowing that at the end of a 9 month leave I have a solid career to return to.

Finances, Bureaucratic Nonsense and Renting

Financially it was a good month due to some back payments of rent and EI for DW coming in. Non-paying tenants fully removed from unit with a new seemingly solid bet entering into it. This makes me happy. Fortunately all of the effort to sever the houses also appears to be in its final stages, the city and county have all signed off (after I was forced to pay a $100 clearance letter fee to the county of course…this is as mundane and simple as it sounds, they changed the address on a fucking template and sign it and walk it downstairs for $100), and now all that remains is the professionals wrangling (Lawyer -> Insurance Broker -> Surveyor -> City Clerk) and the selling. Hoping to unlock that equity and be out of the Real Estate game for a while.

Speaking of not owning a home, the place we are renting (basement apt) has sprung a leak! After 2 weeks of investigation the owner has highly likely found a crack in the foundation (only a 17 y/o home!) and is mighty pissed. Definitely a multiple thousand $$$ fix in store, not to mentioned because of the tile in-laid tub that would need to be pulled out and re-installed. Although DW and I are discussing future living situations and home ownership is a possibility, moments like these make me shy away from the idea.

Good News for Semi Retirement

Excellent news occurred when one of my contacts at the community college I teach at who has now been promoted to Chair of Business offered me a part-time day-time teaching role. This would be a ~$50 and hour gig for 3 hours per week vs the current ~$25 that I am paid for teaching night-time courses. Fucking cool and scalable if I am able to continue building my contacts at the school…This has unlocked the potential for working 12-15 hours a week at something I enjoy. Unfortunately they are all 4 month contracts so the risk is still there of not having enough work, but DW and I are both moving away from the idea of “a number” for FIRE, instead just build a lifestyle we want now (which we are slowly but surely) and aim to cover expenses plus some surplus instead. Unfortunately the question is still, when to pull the plug on traditional work?

A 4 year Summary of Income Streams

Also, wanted to capture this here. I posted it on the MMM forum in the main thread I follow on Semi-retirement and thought it’s a decent summary.
Additional income streams went like this; FT Job 4 years ago (Stream 1) -> immediate Rental Property Obsession (Stream 2) -> Equities Fixation (Stream 3) -> Discovered ERE after MMM about 2.5 years ago and decided 1 FT job with no back-up plan seemed non-resilient so worked on the academic path concurrently -> PT night class teaching (Stream 4) -> DW Pregnancy changed all plans -> Parental leave as a semi-ER test -> Soon ditching Stream 2 to beef up Stream 3 since rentals have had too high of a PITA factor attached and the market where the properties are is still mildly hot.

[suomalainen]

Oh lordy, all those streams and side hustles make me tired just looking at them. I'm not a fan of the full time job, and I get diversification, but man, the short term corporate track followed by a transition to part time hustling is looking more agreeable than long term part-to-full time hustling. Maybe I'm just lazy. But another part of it is having three kids. Congrats on the baby. Enjoy it and all, but they are expensive fuckers so bear that in mind.

[Viktor K]

Welcome baby SH!!

[SustainableHappiness]

Oh lordy, all those streams and side hustles make me tired just looking at them. I'm not a fan of the full time job, and I get diversification, but man, the short term corporate track followed by a transition to part time hustling is looking more agreeable than long term part-to-full time hustling. Maybe I'm just lazy. But another part of it is having three kids. Congrats on the baby. Enjoy it and all, but they are expensive fuckers so bear that in mind.

Hahaha, just a hunch, but I think most lists encapsulating 4 years of work with a goal to de-specialize would look exhausting. Glad to see another member here going for ERE with a gaggle of children...We're still set on having 4 total, but we'll see how everything progresses, fully realizing that a consequence of 4 expensive fuckers will likely be Dad (me) working some more total hours in my lifetime. However, I've discovered that waking up and working for 3-4 hours hard and being very productive, then using the rest of the day to play and work out is an agreeable schedule for me.

Welcome baby SH!!

Woo hoo! Thanks Victor!

[suomalainen]

Glad to see another member here going for ERE with a gaggle of children...We're still set on having 4 total, but we'll see how everything progresses, fully realizing that a consequence of 4 expensive fuckers will likely be Dad (me) working some more total hours in my lifetime.

Undoubtedly true, just by virtue of the math. For what it's worth, my $.02 is that kids do not equal freedom. They just can't co-exist. The nature of children is that you sacrifice for them...pretty much 100% of yourself. So if you're looking to ERE for "freedom" generally, be sure your expectations w/r/t the kids is realistic. I found your loss of freedom with each child is geometric, not linear, in terms of time amd energy. The normalized financial cost increase is linear-ish and not necessarily 1:1.

Anyway, best of luck! It is a wild, wonderful journey with very, very low points as well as very, very high points. Enjoy the snuggly-buggly stage, my absolute favorite. My kids aren't snuggly anymore. It has to be "wrestling" now (I have 3 boys, 8, 10 and 13).

[SustainableHappiness]

For what it's worth, my $.02 is that kids do not equal freedom. They just can't co-exist. The nature of children is that you sacrifice for them...pretty much 100% of yourself. So if you're looking to ERE for "freedom" generally, be sure your expectations w/r/t the kids is realistic. I found your loss of freedom with each child is geometric, not linear, in terms of time and energy.

You raise a very good point on “freedom” derived from an ERE lifestyle. It’s funny because I still view ERE as freeing. However, it is the distinction I’ve seen on this forum a number of times and really like, “freedom from” vs “freedom to”. Basically reducing my expenses and diversifying my skill set (in my case pursuing high $ per hour work and working less vs going full FIRE) will give me the freedom to be un-free with my family. Kind of funny when worded like that, but like you pointed out, the amount of effort and time that goes into children is immense.

The trick is, I have not (nor have I ever) been trying to avoid effort, just shitty work that doesn’t feel right.

Oh and I can not wait to WRESTLE! Gotta get this kid upping his weight class as soon as possible

[SustainableHappiness]

8.6% SWR
11.53 Numbers of Years in Hopper
25 Ultimate FI Goal
0.36 Years accumulated per month on average
0.48 Years accumulated this month

What a kick ass month. I also started my 9 month leave in October. Bring on the free time. Wooo! Interestingly, my employer told me this month they want to move me into a new position when I go back, which sounds quite enticing. It also revealed they have doubts about whether I will be coming back or not…This helps me feel more in a position of strength as well, even though I wasn’t intentionally sending these signals.

Financial
Nailed it, all tenants paying again, back on track. Accumulated over $1k in gift cards from baby stuff, so baby expenses are handled for a long time. This is not taken into account in the net worth, but still pretty friggin great. It’s good this was a good month for accumulation because we’re now entering into unknown income territory.

Family
DW doing great. Baby doing great, started smiling at us intentionally a couple weeks ago. It is the best and most addictive action the baby has done yet. I’ve been sleeping on the couch while I was still working to get full nights sleeps and it’s been working well for us as a unit, as I have energy to do dishes, cook, etc. still and have therefore been able to be a good helper for my wife’s mental status!

Non 9-5 Work
1) I’m doing two classes this semester with one being a new type I hadn’t done before which pays more than twice as much, but is without a doubt more challenging (3x the number of students and undergrads vs mature students), but it will definitely keep me on my toes until January. Overall, my reputation at the school is improving and this will help long run for using this as a scalable income source.

2) I’ve intentionally stumbled into another possible income stream in the form of remote work for a friend. I’ve wanted to learn digital marketing skills for over a year now, but haven’t had the outlet to do it in. Therefore I’ve been pitching to people I’ll do some work for free for mentorship and they can start paying me when I am worth it. Took a couple tries, but looks like it’ll work out. The strategic intent behind this is to create another fully mobile income stream with scalable hours and $$ (yes, there is a pattern here).

Leave
First couple days actually had me feeling quite a bit of anxiety relative to my “normal” daily state I ruminated a little on why, before realizing it is likely just the natural response to a large mental and daily shift like this. I’m thinking I might write on here a little more often while on leave to capture the emotional process of being off. We’ll see, don’t really feel like committing myself to anything right now.

The sweet spot for non 9-5 work (marking, lesson planning, etc.) that I think I like best is the morning over my daily coffee 1-3 hours. Once again will have to toy with different schedules and such until something clicks.

All in all, feeling good about this Semi-ERE change and plan.

[classical_Liberal]

...

[SustainableHappiness]

Thanks CL.

I am also interested in journaling the emotional side a little heavier in the next few months especially because it feels like a crucial time in de-institutionalizing (this was the best word I could think of), because that is what it feels like I am doing (albeit 5 days in). Changing my levels and times of engagement with technology (e.g. I am keeping my phone in a drawer and only checking it in the morning and at night). This change alone actually produce MORE anxious feelings than anticipated since one of the key behaviours to my success at work is instant, clear and concise responses/problem solving. The change in my account balances will also be a feeling I'll need to overcome if I truly want to move past "hard accumulation" to FI. We've been successfully increased our net worth by over $10K a month for a while now via work+rental+investment income, and we're planning on selling our rentals in the near future as well, so the tracker is going to go pretty stagnant potentially!!

I do not know what PRN translates to? But if it means full-time role, the answer is no. She's actually become quite passionate (for over 2 years now) about the idea of leveraging her nursing experience with babies/kids into a sole proprietorship as a Doula (birthing coach)/Registered Nurse. Once again this would provide the scalability we would like + unlike me with anything so far, she has a strong positive feeling towards the actual work involved. But the beauty is, as long as she is still registered with the College and keeps up her skills (which the business would do) she can go back to regular nursing whenever she wanted (since the employment landscape in Canada is similar to what you described in the States). Like you said, anti-fragility is the key to success with our plans, especially since kids are really a known unknown in terms of associated expenses.

Keep on rockin'.