Carbon Negativity for Fun and Profit (now with dividends!)

[Seppia]

If you need less at $2.50/month, this is what I'm on:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-50-Mo-Red-Po ... 3196831828

Does the phone work (= receive text messages) even when abroad?
I can see a future for me when I will be located in Europe but will still need receive sms for the various us based services that require that (ie banks etc).
It is my understanding that Google Voice will not work.


Sorry for the hijack OP

[take2]

Google voice can partially work - I have it and I receive texts.

However some banks, etc won’t let you sign up with a Google voice only number (I’m not sure how they know but I’ve been rejected a few times). Most of mine are fine.

[AxelHeyst]

Welcome zkseven! Sounds like we've got similar goals with different circumstances. Right on.

Regarding povertyFIRE vs ecoFIRE etc... names are tricky. I'm not sure this is a good One Name to Explain It All situation. I'm fond of something along the lines of 'ERE/fire with a target ttmCOL of $8k' or whatever your target is (ttm = trailing twelve months). I like the specificity and not calling attention to the poverty line which gets messy in a hurry.

Although.... fairFIRE comes to mind. justFIRE. ooh, justFIRE, that has a nice ring to it. It'll definitely piss people off, but, y'know.

[UrbanHomesteader]

I've checked out the PovertyFIRE reddit and found some good info there. However, there are also a lot of posts from people who confuse the subreddit for a place to go for advice on being really low income without the perspective of the investments and financial independence peace. These folks can also benefit from some of the same tactics but are at a clear disadvantage over those who are able to either earn multiples of the poverty line or who can reap that Poverty line income from investments (and often have paid off housing).

I got a kick out of the phrase "ERExtremists" but not sure how that would sound from a P.R. perspective.

[zkseven]

I'd make whatever I could that would still be of high value. This post details why I won't make my own detergent specifically (tl;dr: detergent that cleans clothes to the thoroughness we expect them to be cleaned can't be made outside of a lab), but if you know any ways to make efficacious soap et al., though, I'm all ears!

Sadly, nopoo (no shampoo) doesn't work with my hair type, and so I've had to find a shampoo brand that works for me, called "Grandpa's Shampoo" or something. Perhaps, with even more experimentation I can make my own variant that will work for my hair to prevent flakes. The type of deodorant I use is anything made of potassium alum - aka "crystal rock (salt) deodorant". It's the only thing that works for me. (The more I type, the more I realize how unintentionally hipster I am in my product choices. At least I'm using potassium alum before it's cool...). My water is fairly hard so I'd like (need?) lotion, but I've never even considered growing aloe! Thank you for the idea, will research (will also scour freecycle for candles).

For paper products, I already am using reusable washclothes! Joy of joys was in my heart when I swapped out my paper towel rolls for a set of 50-ish washable clothes: it was the moment that taught me saving money is also Saving The Planet(TM). I also do have a bidet, and use very little toilet paper. When I do have to buy, I buy in bulk, of course. I bought 100 rolls 3ish years ago, and I've still got about 25ish left.

After your encouragement about reexamining this category, I've come to the conclusion that you're right, and it is indeed reduce-able! For one, I haven't calculated this number recently. That 100$ figure is so round because it's an estimate from the time when I wasn't entirely sure what exactly my list of perishables/incidentals would be. I was also content to just accept my fate and say, "oh well, I guess I can go out to eat this week (and the next) because it's covered in my incidentals". And while that's technically true, and I wouldn't mind going out to each once or twice per month maybe, I should still not just give in, but should keep a tighter budget in this area. I shouldn't be content spending the full 100$ just because I've allotted it. Normally I'm pretty good about the other areas I think, but I don't know how I let this egregious Spendypants waste slip through. I will definitely need to reconfigure and re-tally this category. Thanks, @mathiverse (and thanks also for the JAFI links)!

I've also made a MASSIVE typo I've rectified already in my initial posts. My final mortgage payment is finished January, 2034, not 2024. If only.

[zkseven]

What could possibly be a better term? Given how there are now dozens of FIRE subspecies, why not add another one.

You should definitely read the Merkel book.

Why not, right? Every good subspecies deserves three more. Interesting to note that while this could be another subspecies of FIRE, it's also just plain ole' ERE: I'm aspiring to <= 1 JAFI, want to take part in the Renaissance, and I care about my emissions (I recall in an interview you had (I think with MMM) you said that ERE was "really just a peak oil blog in disguise"). If that's the case, I'll happily take up the ERE moniker, instead of rolling my own.

Just purchased the book. A travesty to purchase a thing, I know. But there are certain books that are important enough to own physically, and I feel (almost) all of the WL ERE books will eventually be in my collection (and some already are).

================================

What you're really paying for when you buy car insurance is the insurance company's lawyers.
[...]
Car accidents for most of us are low-frequency, high-severity, which is where insurance works best. US health insurance is basically the opposite.
[...]
I pay something like $220 for six months of liability several multiples of the state minimum, about what you pay. Just a cost of doing business. Could be worse. Usually the way an individual legally self-insures is to deposit the state minimum in government bonds to some sort of state regulatory agency. I can imagine getting this money back is neither the easiest, quickest nor most guaranteed transaction.

Really appreciate the input - I like this interpretation, and it helps vindicate where, when and for what insurance should be purchased for (in certain cases).

I never said that I was going with the surety bond! Just that I was curious I just wanted to toss out one crazy idea that could or could not be refined by you wiser, more experienced ERExtremists. It seems, doing the math, that even paying a surety bond all up front would cost more - over my entire lifetime - than just paying the 33$/mo "cost of doing business". Thanks also for the phone service information.

================================

Welcome zkseven! Sounds like we've got similar goals with different circumstances. Right on.

Hey, Axel! My journal was certainly inspired by yours, and I'm very dirtbag-ERE adjacent. It does seem like we are similar in a lot of ways, and I look forward to stealing, uh borrowing all I can from you.

================================

I got a kick out of the phrase "ERExtremists" but not sure how that would sound from a P.R. perspective.

Well this is Early Retirement Extreme, is it not?

[mathiverse]

Dang, you already considered all my tricks! All that makes sense. Sadly, I have no advice on the laundry detergent side. In fact, you've taught me. I look forward to learning more from you and seeing how you progress further!

[7Wannabe5]

I suppose that I did say "as soon as possible, at *any* cost", but perhaps there is maybe ONE thing I wouldn't do to be FIRED... and that's living with others. At least at this point in my life. I've lived with people all of my life, and I enjoy my freedom to much to give it back. In that way, the freedom from conventional employment, and the freedom from "the tyranny of others" is certainly what I value above the alternatives.

Interesting, because I am currently in the same situation/perspective (although female in late 50s) and it has bumped my expenses up to the extent that they are approximately the same as yours from a previously quite lower level. Have you considered the possibility that being the owner/landlord in a house-hack situation might alter the power-structure towards not so much experience of "the tyranny of others?"

Obviously, the "poverty line" metric falls apart around WL6, because other forms of capital become so much more relevant. For instance, the cultural capital inherent in the "graduate student or frugal young professional lifestyle" will buy you much better (safer/more reliable/more pleasant) group housing opportunities for the same $$ than the "working 36 hours at the gas-n-go lifestyle." This is also why RDPD is the "stupidest" book on the reading list from the multi-generational, broad societal perspective.

[jacob]

(I recall in an interview you had (I think with MMM) you said that ERE was "really just a peak oil blog in disguise"). If that's the case, I'll happily take up the ERE moniker, instead of rolling my own.

See http://earlyretirementextreme.com/myths ... uture.html

[zkseven]

Hi all, I've updated my Net Worth post. Rather than have everyone go back to the first page, I'll post it here as well:

Active Income

Notes: Currently no formal employment.

Passive Income

Code: Select all

Rent Roll: ~1300$/month

Notes: I own a private apartment complex that nets 1300$/month (after expenses et al.).

Investments

Code: Select all

Traditional IRA: ~80,000$ total

Debts

Code: Select all

College Loans: ~17,000$ total

Notes: Sadly a holdover from before I discovered FIRE, a thorn in my side, the blight on my otherwise perfect record. Deferred until who-knows-when (and deferred several times already), with 0% interest rates. I'm hoping that by living close to the Federal-Line-that-shall-not-be-named with no formal employment, these can be forgiven entirely, or paid off minimally veeeerrrryy slowly. (Political clarification: I'm not necessarily taking a position for, or against whether or not student loans should be forgiven, but as an incentive-based human, if the powers that be decide that they can be forgiven, I will take advantage of that.)

I ignore this number in all of my calculations because they've been deferred for years now. If and when they become relevant, things may change.

Net Worth Totals
My monthly income is currently ~1300$/month, and my total net worth (not including home equities) is ~80,000$ (or ~63,000$ if you don't ignore my college loans). My monthly expenditure is ~1500$, so minus the income of 1300$, that leaves 200$ dollars in expenses remaining.

=========

My strategy at this point is a little unconventional, even for FIRE standards (but I'd be very curious to see what ERExtremists think of it). Ever since the massive layoffs in the tech sector, it's been hard finding employment. Before, when the market was hot, I would have considered adding to my nest egg for at least six more months to get at least 20,000 more dollars. But seeing as I've sent out at about 400 resumes to only two interviews, it's making me reconsider.

After balancing the checkbooks, I realized that it was actually feasible for me to withdraw the remainder of my expenses (200$ monthly * 12 = 2400$ per year) from my IRA (year by year, not lump sum), and just simply pay the additional 10% tax each time (N.B.: it's not actually a penalty, it's a tax (and therefore can't ever be abated)), still ending up ahead in the long run (assuming 4% SWR). Very importantly, my mortgage is paid off in eleven years, so the actual FULL amount I'd need to float me until then is only ~26,400$. After that, I would be cash-flow positive.

In the risk of something catastrophic, I can use insurance, medicaid, or HELOC dollars to fund said emergency. As it's often said, if an emergency happens that was SO catastrophic it'd wipe me entirely out while FIRE'd, I presume it would likely wipe me out if I was working, too. I have the opposite of the "one more year syndrome": why go through all of the hassle to find a job, then interview, then suffer for more months (or YEARS??!) as a wage slave? I've tasted freedom in this currently period of non-conventional employment, and I'd like not to go back to slavery, even if I have to incur more risk. As MMM says, "first retire, then get rich". With me buying all my time back, I can now spend it devising new revenue streams that could take me to cash-flow positivity even more quickly. In my mind, this course of action is very worth it.

Finally, one more word regarding taxes in this setup: I project that my AGI will be around $18,000 per annum, making my tax rate 10% (after applying the standard deduction). And I know nothing about rental depreciation, but after I do some learning, I might be able to reduce that income even further (any help here would be fantastic). If it would be possible for me to even hit 0$ in income, then the only taxes I would pay would be that IRA "additional" 10% tax! I believe all of my math checks out. Please let me know if I'm wrong.

[zkseven]

Have you considered [...] house-hack[ing]?

Hey, 7Wannabe5! What is your name in reference to?

I certainly have considered house-hacking to change the dynamic (and put me on top ), but people encroaching in your space is still people encroaching in your space. When I want to blast music loudly, I'd prefer not to have someone tell me that they've decided that that second is the perfect second for their nap... Vice versa, the tenant would have the same right to blast music while I wanted my mid-day nap, I'd approach tyranny myself for having them kowtow to my whims while they're also paying the for the "opportunity" to live in the space, you know?

Mathematically speaking, I'd be paying 800-900$ (+ ~20$ renters insurance) for rent currently vs 800$ + 140 (for property taxes)$. So the opportunity cost analysis is that I'm paying a 120$/mo "tax" for the peace and quiet of solitude, on the lower end. That is certainly higher, but how much lower were your expense when you were living with people for comparison?

[UrbanHomesteader]

With regard to depreciation tax deduction on the rental property, if you have had the property rented out for a couple of years, than you can check your tax forms to see what the annual depreciation deduction is for that property. The value of the structure (not land) is deducted over a 27.5 year period. Therefore, it would have been half as much in the first year, and then a steady amount in the subsequent 27 years. Of course the other deductibles and expenses will vary from year to year, so if you are trying to stay under the Medicaid income threshold, you'll want to watch income/expense closely throughout the year.

[mathiverse]

What email provider do you use? I'm potentially interested in switching away from Gmail, so I am curious to hear about what you use and how you like it.

[zkseven]

Thanks for the info, @UrbanHomesteader!

What email provider do you use? I'm potentially interested in switching away from Gmail, so I am curious to hear about what you use and how you like it.

The reason I spend 8$ dollars is actually because I have *two* services: I'm transitioning from FastMail to ProtonMail. I don't know if you've ever transitioned email addresses/providers before, but it's very painful and takes about ten years. Anyway, each ends up being 4$/mo (FastMail might be a bit more, I think I have an older, grandfathered plan). They're both good, but for different things: FastMail has top-notch integration with the iPhone that I use: most importantly, the native mail and calendar apps. And their own app is good, too. ProtonMail can't use the native apps because they use end-to-end encryption (and thus need their own apps for that functionality), but I've had no problems as of yet with them. I must say that I'm not an "advanced mail" user - that is, the sort of person who lives in Outlook: constantly sending invites, needing to work with upstream/company Exchange servers, etc.. - so for my basic usage patterns, either one is fine.

As of now, I cannot recommend FastMail though, because of one MAJORLY important detriment: when you delete your account, someone else can re-register your address. With Gmail, for example, if you use math@example.com, then delete the account, math@example.com can NEVER be used again, a sensible policy to prevent someone from hijacking people still sending email to your old emails. With FastMail, if you use math@example.com then delete your account, someone else can use math@example.com, and get all the old email that would have been sent to you.

[zbigi]

I'm on ProtonMail as well, I'd say their biggest drawback is the lack of ability to search through email's contents via their apps. That is because the contents are encrypted on the server, so ProtonMail can't search through it - and the PM apps don't download all email contents locally, so they can't search through it either. I go around that issue by doing 90% of my e-mail via third-party app (Thunderbird), which downloads all email content to my PC and thus is able to full-text search. However, I gotta admit, not being able to search through emails on my phone while I'm on the go can be limiting sometimes.