Riparian's Journal

Where are you and where are you going?
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riparian
Posts: 650
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:00 am

Post by riparian »

Hi! I guess I should have done this all together, but I didn't. So if you're super interested in me, I made an intro/question thread here: viewtopic.php?t=1712&replies=4#post-23030
Summary:
My income varies depending how much I do what.

My expenses are $525/month, but I have more expenses (travel) when I work.

Some money I get paid in bank/check form and some money is cash, which I file. Yes, I pay taxes.
Goals:
Live a life that I can love 100% of.

Save $30k+ to build a rental next summer.
August:

$800 from gig 1

$977 from the internet (holy shit, how did that happen?)
+ 977 went in the bank

- 300 went to start a secured credit card

- 350 went to bills
+ 800 in cash was divided five ways, so

160 was saved forever

160 was what I spent on gas and food

160 went in all the other files
September:

$1400 from gig 1

$304 from the internet (residual from what I did the month before, I think I underestimated my internet income)

$1251 from gig 3
$1555 went in the bank and I bought a ticket to Texas so I could be with my mom during a medical issue (which meant not working for 4 weeks)

$1400 cash =

280 forever saved

280 on food and stuff (that was hard while travelling)

280 in all the other files
October (I'll just do it cause it's almost over)

$1800 from gig 1

$60 from the internet

$1600-ish anticipated from gig 3
$1660 will go in the bank

TOTAL bank balance will be 4100 - 10 months expenses or one emergency
$1800 cash = +360/file
360 is a lot of spending money and I still have 300 left, including accumulation from the last few months
Forever savings total is $1160
-500 from vehicle envelope for good snow tires

-670 from outfit envelope for a new self defense weapon (my old one, which was free to me, was made out of plastic and would jam half the time, this one should last me forever and hold resale value. also it's shiny and stainless steel!)
November goals:
I have lots of gig3 scheduled during the first week and hopefully after that the river will be frozen so I can go home! I'm scheduled to come back to town for gig3 thanksgiving weekend.
Hopefully I'm just gonna stay home, make new shelves, cut a bunch of wood, start tanning two moose hides, and perfect the art of killing snowshoe hare with a sling.
On my down time in town I want to finish a new site that'll hopefully make passive income without needing to be updated/maintained all the time.
Also maybe I should make a video while I'm at home, but being winter I might not have enough electricity.


ExpatERE
Posts: 220
Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2011 5:49 pm

Post by ExpatERE »

Welcome!!
"Live a life that I can love 100% of."
Now that is a goal!!


riparian
Posts: 650
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:00 am

Post by riparian »

It makes me happy, even if I fall a little short sometimes. Tho actually, it's surprisingly easy to attain when I'm intentional about it.


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Chris
Posts: 773
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2010 2:44 pm

Post by Chris »

A friend of mine taught me slinging some years ago. It's pretty awesome, but I've tried to imagine hunting that way, and it seems daunting. What is your plan for the snowshoe hares? And the tanned hides as well, will they be for personal use or for sale?


riparian
Posts: 650
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:00 am

Post by riparian »

I got no fish or moose this summer (because I was busy making money and doing the family crisis thing) so I get to eat rabbit and burbot this winter. Luckily I've got five gallons of fat in the shed (given to me by yuppies who bought it for the health benefits and then decided it was yucky, heh). The rabbit hides are too thin to do much with, I've been braiding them into a blanket but thinking about tanning them and seeing if they'll hold up to being underwear. Moose hides are for personal use, I never sell parts of other animals.
(See, this is an example of why sometimes making money can be bad - cause sure I made a couple grand in town during moose hunting season, but it'd cost more than that to replace the moose I didn't get with a grass fed hormone free cow.)
The problem with slings in winter is the lack of rocks, and in deep snow I lose them when I'm practicing. But last winter I was getting to about 1/10 success rate with the bunny killing. This winter I'm going to wean myself off snares by just not using any to begin with.


riparian
Posts: 650
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:00 am

Post by riparian »

Updated for real October numbers.
Income -
1 - 1900

2 - 181

3 - 1814
Spent:
bills - 360

cash - 380 (but still 200 of that left)
Saved:
forever - 2194

for other goals - 1520
percent saved - 85%
Total saved forever:
1 - 3364

2 - 1260

= - 4624
So I'm 15% to my goal and I have 9 months worth of expenses saved.


riparian
Posts: 650
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:00 am

Post by riparian »

I just sent off my IBR paperwork and while I don't know for sure yet, it looks like my student loan payments are going to adjust to $0!! That would bring my monthly expenses down to $225 (more for adventures) and mean that I have almost two years of expenses saves rather than 9 months.
Thanks LiquidSapphire!
I think that makes me as retired as I want to be... I have 3 income streams that I enjoy, and I also want to spend more time at home.
I'm having November goal fail cause it's really warm and the river won't freeze so I can go home. Oh well, at least while I'm stuck in town I'm making money.


riparian
Posts: 650
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:00 am

Post by riparian »

Ugh, bad ERE month.
Income-
1 - 2000 net

2 - 109

3 - 2190

total 4299
Outgo
300 student loan

40 internet

480 two years worth of cell phone, ugh

12,000 new truck

a bunch on food and stuff while stuck in town
Truck: One of my goals is to have a good enough "outfit" that I never have to buy anything and need very little money. My van I had for a total of 9 years, lived in it for four of those years, and lived in it whenever I was in town working. It was dying (head gasket) and I realized that if I'm going to keep making money I need a vehicle to get to town (the places I make money are 100 and 400 miles away) and to keep warm in (I was just stuck in town van camping at forty below and it woulda really sucked camping in a bicycle). I was keeping my eye on craigslist and waiting for the perfect deal to come along or until I had more money... and then the perfect deal came along. I got a 2005 Toyota Tacoma v6 4x4 6speed for $12k, like 60% of blue book. It was a good buy but a bad financial decision cause now I have negative 4k to my name. But it'll last me 20 years plus hold it's resale value and I'll be out of debt in a month or two, goddess willing and the creek don't rise. :)
In other news I spent 160 hours making that $2190 and 6 hours making that $2k. I always knew jobs were a bad idea. And somehow my credit score went up 350 points while I wasn't paying attention!


George the original one
Posts: 5404
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:28 am
Location: Wettest corner of Orygun

Post by George the original one »

The frugal in me wants to know why you didn't get a rebuilt motor? Time/weather constraints?
I've camped a few times in the mountains when the night became frosty, dipping a few degrees below zero. Really hate that cold feeling, so I can't even imagine camping during really cold weather like that!


riparian
Posts: 650
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:00 am

Post by riparian »

For the van? It had close to 200k miles on it and wouldn't have lasted long even if I put a new head and gasket on it, the transmission would go next, the heater core already went, etc. it just didn't seem worth fixing anymore. Also too cold for that kind of thing.


Lorraine
Posts: 26
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2011 6:00 am

Post by Lorraine »

Good luck with the Tacoma! I just sold the same one but an '06 for 18k. It's a great truck but I wanted

to pay off my mortgage (which I did).


Lorraine
Posts: 26
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2011 6:00 am

Post by Lorraine »

Good luck with the Tacoma! I just sold the same one but an '06 for 18k. It's a great truck but I wanted

to pay off my mortgage (which I did).


riparian
Posts: 650
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:00 am

Post by riparian »

Thanks Lorraine, and congrats on paying off your mortgage.
So besides watching the trucks on Craigslist I've also been watching the real estate. I found that my original assessment was wrong - while there are 5-10 acre lots going for $10k they aren't in the area I want. In the area I want those lots are more like $4-60k. Then I started thinking if my student loan is (probably) going away I might not need rental income. Anyways, today the perfect property went up! It's in an even better area than I'd wanted, 7 acres and a cabin that might rent for $3-500 after a little work and plenty of room to build more cabins for 30k. And now I have no money!!! Crap. It'll come around again, right?


riparian
Posts: 650
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:00 am

Post by riparian »

December:
In come:

1130 +

293.74 +

958.13 +

=

2,381.87
Out go:
I dunno where it went. I spent most of the month with a friend in the ICU and I spent a ton of money on eating out, gas, groceries for the friends I stayed with, paying my sick friend's phone bill, etc.
I came out of it with about $1000 surplus that I put towards paying back the $3k I borrowed for the truck, but they want it all at once so I'm holding onto it for now.
ERE Progress:

I got a calender that I'm going to write what I spend on and be able to categorize pre/post ERE expenses. Today I'm in town working and I spent $10 on deli food and coffee.
January:

NO trips to the far away big city for money.

Make some money on the internet and take care of my health.

Another $1k towards the truck loan.

Hopefully IBR will disappear my student loan payment.


riparian
Posts: 650
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:00 am

Post by riparian »

I think from here on out I'm just going to post my semi-ERE income and my post ERE expenses (ie, my expenses minus the traveling for work).
January
Income:
Internet - 656.55
Outgoes:
Groceries - $34

Gas - $30.32

Outfit - $30.75 (this is like, batteries, candles, bullets, tools)

Entertainment - $6

Gifts - $137

Other - $63.69 (I wasted $40 trying to fix my sisters printer, then printed my late xmas cards at the copy store instead for $25. Lesson learned.)

Health -$129 (supplements)
Total – 430.76
Difference + 225.79
Income: That was about half passive sales and half from three phone calls. I made a new informational site and it made like $15 in affiliate money it's first month. In February I'm planning on making a couple ebooks for it and doing a little networking/promotion.
Outgoes: Normally I would pay my $40 internet bill, but I've apparently overpaid and now don't have to pay for a bit. Usually I don't spend so much on gifts, but I paid my friends phone bill because she was in the hospital for weeks and didn't have any money. Also I mailed 7 belated holiday gifts at $4.95 each (flat rate), and I have a bunch still to mail. The printing fiasco was stupid. I probably do spend a hundred bucks most months on self improvement or health.
February:
Car insurance ($500) is due. I'll be traveling to do non-ERE work and build up my stash – hopefully I'll still put in a few hours to maintain my internet money.


chenda
Posts: 3289
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:17 pm
Location: Nether Wallop

Post by chenda »

I love how you virtually have no housing or utility expenses. Self sufficient living can really reduce basic expenses close to zero.
Have you a savings target for FI ?


riparian
Posts: 650
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:00 am

Post by riparian »

@chenda I don't know. On the one hand my goal is to diversify and passify my Internet income and therefore not need a big chunk of cash for investing. I'd also like to have a rental property to diversify my passive income even more and make sure that my income is about 2x expenses.


Eliza
Posts: 15
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2010 4:07 pm

Post by Eliza »

Your expenses are impressive. I have what I consider to be very cheap rent, but you spend less total than my rent! Thanks for keeping a journal, it's quite inspiring.


riparian
Posts: 650
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:00 am

Post by riparian »

Thanks!


riparian
Posts: 650
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 4:00 am

Post by riparian »

February -
totally passive internet income - $199.75
outgoes is hard to say because I was travelling for work for 3 weeks of the month. But -
truck insurance - $486

internet - $73 (usually $50)

truck topper - $300

setting truck topper up for town living - $14

new laptop $501
So, lots of expenses, mostly not recurring except the internet and insurance.
I have a lot of unexpected expenses lately tho!
Dec - travel for friends medical emergency

Jan - laptop died, truck insurance, etc.

Feb - paid back $3k truck loan from friend

March - owe the IRS $2400

April - need new thermostat for truck, want chainsaw and 30.06

May - might get $1k plane ticket which is like speculation to hopefully make $4k+ but you never know

July - will travel to conference and stuff
These things hardly seem to happen in you folks budgets tho? How come?


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