Part time work full time happiness

[cmonkey]

For myself, I am comfortable going long periods of time not "indulging" if you will (i.e. eating out). Last year I implemented a 'no-spend' month. The whole month of April 2014 I spent a total of 7 dollars on 'non-required' (outside food & transport). I have made it a personal game to see how long I can go without spending a single penny (although this year I am failing).

The DW has recently come on board more and like just being at home and living a very low-price life.

Soon, what was thought of as sacrifice will seem normal and what was once normal will seem like a sacrifice. That is exactly the situation I have/am moving into. Making small cuts over a longer period of time while keeping the ultimate goal in mind is the best approach. Large leaps are bound to have rebounds.

[thrifty++]

Right time for my first saving update since becoming an ERE poster.

Well my savings rate for May 2015 is not the best. It comes in at a clean 30%. This savings rate is mainly low due to me covering all the rent for my apartment for most of this month. Previous months April, March and February were 42%, 44% and 42% respectively. Bear in mind that in this rate I include my student loan repayments of 12% as I really have no choice in whether that comes out of my income or not. It also makes me feel better about repaying it if I think of it that way. It is increasing Net Worth so I will count it as such.

My net worth is now
Assets $71,240
Less student loan $21,400
Net worth $49,840

Sounds a little small compared to the big fish on here. But due to massive student debt I was in negative net worth as recent as maybe two years ago. So I have come a long way since then. My salary has also increased substantially in the last couple of years. So hopefully I can start making some decent savings.

My next steps are to get a nice flatmate to reduce my main expense (rent). My June 2015 savings ratio should look much better. I am aiming for a 50% saving ratio now. I know most of you achieve more. But I think living in NZ is much more expensive that North America and I just don't think I can get any higher than that. Not yet anyways> Baby steps.

[Scrubby]

That brings me to the thought - to what extent do you make sacrifices in the pursuit of ERE? Its a bit of a balance between making your life miserable for the next 4 years in order to have a basic level of wealth to retire on v cutting costs to the level of reasonable comfort.

I make almost no sacrifices, but I don't mind living in a studio flat. I much prefer that to sharing a larger home with someone. Living very cheap for just 4 years won't have much influence on how much money you need to keep you going for the rest of your life. If you increase your expenses after that you'll spend what you saved very quickly.

[thrifty++]

@ scrubby - yes I don't want to stress myself out too much and reduce my quality of life too much in the pursuit of ERE. Just to a level where my life is improved not worsened. Most frugal changes have actually improved my quality of life. I too would probably prefer a studio flat. But the cost of that here is around $1400 per month. I am comfortable with sharing an apartment to reduce costs substantially but still need a decent room in that flat I have decided.

@cmonkey - I like the sounds of your game. I might actually try that. It would be something that I would be comfortable with as its not focussed on reducing basics needs - eg food and shelter.

@did - yes I understand what you mean by an adventure - I have travelled extensively and am happy to sleep in huts in the middle of nowhere with no toilet facilities or dorms with 8 stinky people per room. But when working in a professional job many hours of each week I think I need a certain level of comfort - eg peace and sleep and cleanliness. And have less capacity for living conditions stress.

[jacob]

That brings me to the thought - to what extent do you make sacrifices in the pursuit of ERE? Its a bit of a balance between making your life miserable for the next 4 years in order to have a basic level of wealth to retire on v cutting costs to the level of reasonable comfort.

Preferably to no extent at all. Sacrifice sets in if you cut away things before you figure out the smarter replacement through some other means than just buying things, that is, if you try to run before you can walk.

Sacrificing only happens to those who go to fast, those who are forced into it, or those who refuse to learn.

[thrifty++]

@Jacob - yes most of my frugal life changes have added value rather than subtracted. I want to continue doing things in that fashion.

I have sorted out my apartment rental cost crisis! I have a new flatmate moving in today. Very happy about this. I have managed to get my rent down to $860 per month and I am still staying in the big proper bedroom. Hopefully I am now set to save 50% of my income this month. I have done a budget and after deducting my fixed and essential expenses I should have around $330 flexible money. In a normal month of bad spending most of that could easily be swooped up in the dining and drinks category. But now I am extra frugal and am 2 weeks into a 2 month detox of not a drop of alcohol. I plan on finding some free and cheap things to do for fun.

[thrifty++]

So its not even a week into my new ramped up ERE focus and already I am making huge improvements in my net worth. I have already increased NW in the last week but will wait until the end of the month to post. I have a feeling this might be a huge month.

I have another ERE dilemma now. There is a job opportunity in another city which is about 2 hours drive away. I could transfer with my current employer. It would be the same job and same salary except that the other city has a substantially cheaper cost of living. My current rent for my room in a small 2/1.5 bedroom apartment is $860 per week. In this other city it would be half of that to live in a shared flat in the city. Or it would be about the same to have a whole place to myself and maybe $1000 to $1100 to have a nice place in the city with a nice outdoor space for a garden for me to grow my own food. The mortgage on buying a place in the city might be around the same. And I would be paying money into an asset not totally an expense (and there is no tax on capital gains in NZ). Currently buying a house in my current city is out of the question. The average house price is $820k and you are required to have 20% deposit (or 50% deposit for an apartment).

The downside is that that this city has been labelled the most boring city in NZ on many occasions. Boring being likely a result of: having only around 220,000 people; being the only inland city in NZ (not on the coast); not being close to any mountains; being a newly grown city and thus lacking in character buildings/structures; not being much of a cultural/artistic centre and having a less desirable climate due to being inland (colder and hotter). On the plus side it does have a nice river running through the city and is also the birthplace of the famous Rocky Horror Picture Show. Also I don't know anyone who lives there now. So it could potentially be very isolating and lonely. I don't feel confident about building networks in a small city as opposed to a large vibrant one. It is however at least only a two hour drive from my current city where all my family and friends are.

So tough decision. Any thoughts or experiences of others are welcome.

[cmonkey]

That is a tough one. I am inclined to think the personal connections are most important, but if driving 2 hours isn't a big deal for you it wouldn't be as bad. You would feel homesick at first but the feeling will disperse, leaving you with more money in your pocket.

I cannot comment on the lack of culture/character in community since I have lived in Anytown, USA for all my life and so am used to that. I imagine living in a place with character to be quite enjoyable.

[thrifty++]

@ cmonkey - I am just still pondering it at the moment. I envisage I may have one more week to sit on whether to move or not.

I am actually thinking that I really like my current job which I have been in for about 5 months. I am away on a business trip for work on my own at the moment.

I am enjoying my current work and can really feel and see the value I add. So I am not sure whether I would completely retire in 3 or so years. It might rather be a matter of me renegotiating a reduction in hours to part time. It will depend on how I feel about my work at that time I guess. Things can change. In any event I want to be in an economic position to choose.

I have been investing money in managed funds. However I want to start allocating money to dividend growth stocks. I am a little overwhelmed though and am procrastinating. I often have to conduct loads of analysis before I make a decision so I have been putting it off.

[cmonkey]

I would suggest you look into Fast Graphs. Spoonman turned me on to it and I am finding it well worth the 9.95 a month. You might think most of the market is overvalued right now but there are quite a few DG stocks that are fair/under valued. For someone who is learning, I have found it very useful.

[thrifty++]

Thanks very much cmonkey. Any tips are welcome. I don't really know where to start with buying stocks. I will check out Fast graphs. Hopefully it deals with NZ and AUS shares as well.

[thrifty++]

Ok so I finally did it. I made my first sharemarket trade!

I spent a number of hours doing some research and then started to get sick of it and decided to give it a punt. I have not totally analysed things until the cows come home yet as I needed to put my foot in the door or I would forever procrastinate. I will be motivated to continue analysing investment strategies now.

I ended up going with a large safe and stable blue chip organisation which has shown a steady history of reasonable growth in its dividends each year and appears to be going through a bit of a price dip at the moment. I have not looked too much further into analysing stocks at this point. It is just a little bit of money to get my started. I did notice one large company has had an enormous price dip! Lower than it was two years ago. Looks like it could be one for the picking. But I could not find much information about its dividend growth history. I am going to watch it and do more analysis.

Does anyone have much in the way of tips they would be happy to share for picking out good growth dividend stocks? And is the information generally available on the stock exchange websites - eg NZX/ AUX and the US equivalent Dow Jones or whatever it is?

[thrifty++]

My progress with stock buying is going well and I now have four under my belt. All in NZ and Australian stocks. My picking must have gone well as I seem to be making large capital gains.

The "NZ peso" has been going a little funky. After hitting a massive high two months ago it has fallen to a 5 year low against the USD. Interest rates have been cut successively and currency buyers have flocked away from the NZD. As a result of this I am feeling somewhat paralysed as to where to invest next. My original plan was to start investing in Canadian and US stocks. However I don't want to invest in any foreign stocks as I will lose lots of money with the currency transfer. Even the Aussie dollar is too high against ours now. So that leaves the NZ stock market. I feel unsettled about buying too many stocks in the NZ market as it feels like sticking all eggs in one risky market. NZ has a small and illiquid stock market. Not like the US. I am glad I entered into two foreign stock managed funds a while back.

I have been on zero alcohol for well over a month now. It feels amazing. This is the longest I have ever been without alcohol. My sleeps are deep with loads of REM. I am waking prior to my alarm going off on a regular basis feeling well rested and with loads of energy. Alcohol now feels like it was such a time thief for me as I now feel like I have so much more available. The original plan was for two months of zero alcohol but it is working so well I may just decide to cease drinking for longer. I love the multiplicity of positive effects from ERE measures. Zero alcohol for me is big money saving but is also benefitting my health, generating more energy, higher sleep quality, more time, and I am feeling more spiritually focussed.

Since with zero alcohol I am falling asleep early and waking up early I have been using my early mornings to meditate. This is something I have never tried (except for a failed attempt at vipassana) but have always wanted to do. I am gradually increasing the length of my meditations and at this stage I am doing 15 minutes each morning. I am finding how crazy my mind is and thank goodness I am now giving it a little bit of peace in the morning. I have also been going for walks early in the morning and that has nice in the crisp clear winter weather. I don't think I would have gotten on to doing meditation without zero alcohol. It just seemed to have created the opportunity. I am feeling truly cleaned out and detoxed.

[cmonkey]

I am not a dividend wizard yet but here is what I have developed as a research method over the past few months.

For dividend stocks I almost always go to Google Finance. I look at the '5 year' chart (because it shows dividend payments) and look for increasing blue tick marks (those are dividend payments).

So a good example is General Mills - https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3 ... mAGrlICYAQ



They have been paying dividends since at least 1987 (probably longer) and have increased them at least every year, sometimes more often. From 2009 to 2015 they increased from 22 cents to 41 cents.

Google Finance also lets you find similar stocks within that sector and can sort by dividend yield as well. They should be listed below the stock you are viewing. 'Dividend Yield' is not a default column, so you have to 'Add' it.

Combine that with a glance at Fast Graphs and I can tell if they stock is currently trading high (based on historical valuations) or low. If it's low I would purchase, if its high I would wait until it came down. Some stocks consistently trade at a premium (like Coca Cola) so I would purchase it even if it trades high compared to valuation, but low/fair based on historical price.

This is a very basic way to get started, there is quite a bit more you can research as well, particularly debt to earnings ratios and the trend that is following.

Also, great job on the alcohol. It tends to be very pricey in terms of value added to life! We are experimenting with making Elderflower Champagne this summer (which is essentially free). All you need are the flowers, a couple lemons, a little vinegar, some plastic bottles and about 2 weeks of waiting. The flowers have natural yeasts on them that do the fermenting and carbonating.

[thrifty++]

Awesome thanks for the tip cmonkey! I have been looking all over the place for that elusive long term dividend information and it was sitting right in my face in google finance! I had not been able to find such long term info on NZ stocks. Only on Aussie ones. But google finance has everything. General Mills looks excellent as even in the crux of the recession they still paid a slightly increased dividend. Unfortunately one of mine did not, only just discovered this now Oh well you learn as you go. I will start using this to find longer term dividends history.

Great to hear about your elderflower champagne. Prior to zero alcohol I often drank Elderflower cider and it was really nice. I think brewing my own alcohol might be the next step when I resume alcohol. It would be great to see your progress steps on production if you end up posting

[thrifty++]

I have been on zero alcohol for more than 5 weeks now. I have also been meditating almost every morning for almost 2 weeks. The last couple of days I have started to meditate properly and reach an aligned state of meditation rather than staring at my watch every 2 minutes or getting distracted. This morning I had a profound experience. After waking up naturally at 530am and meditating for fifteen minutes I suddenly felt a prolonged sense of euphoria, happiness, bliss and relaxation. I am 100% certain that it was the result of zero alcohol and meditation. It lasted for 3 hours until I encountered my flatmate in a state of stress. Nonetheless I relished the experience and hope I can experience more of the same in the future.

Its 8pm Saturday night and I am sitting at home on my laptop. Since I have commenced zero alcohol I have been more of a hermit. Partially because I am worried about slipping back into drinking alcohol. Partly because I am concerned about people giving me a hard time about not drinking. I have to admit it is also because I love my own company and zero alcohol is giving me a great excuse.

I am finding part of the challenge with ERE is dealing with long term friends who live lives of excess. I had agreed to travel (by bus) up to stay at a big beachfront house with a spa pool with some friends of mine about 30kms from the city. However I started to grow weary of being insulted by my friend for not drinking alcohol or being called cheap (which he has done before on both counts). I also don't like being around cultures of excess where there is large quantities of alcohol and high calorie processed food being consumed. My friend lives very much lives such a lifestyle. He also has been enabled to own the flash house and cars and toys and the like as a result of his parents handing the money to him to purchase such items. After my blissful morning I wanted to do whatever I could to ensure I might attain such a level of happiness again. Heading to my friends place I was concerned that I could potentially be subjected to insults, excess and stress which could disrupt the peaceful path I am now on. So I decided to cancel the engagement late in the day. My friend was pissed off. But I am sure he will get over it. And I am sure we can reconnect at some stage once I feel that I have aligned my habits sufficiently with zero alcohol and simple living to withstand external pressure.

Many of my friends lead lifestyles of excess. I do value the relationships with them however so I want to try finding a way of maintaining those relationships while avoiding being exposed to the excess myself. Some friends are easier than others. I have arranged tomorrow morning to grab a coffee and walk to a nearby beautiful natural volcano/mountain. I have also arranged to go with another friend to the $5 movies on Wednesday and I will take a thermos of hot chocolate for us (its winter here). But none of my friends are anywhere near the kind of frugality and health that I want to focus on. I enjoy reading all the posts on here as I feel I am among a community of likeminded souls.

I have just started reading Jacobs ERE book today after finishing reading the Alchemist (great book).

[thrifty++]

Newsflash! The month of June has been an enormous save for me. I hit savings of 71% of my salary! I had planned for 50% but ended up smashing my budget.

There were two things which I think helped me achieve such high savings. I got paid three times last month rather than two. Also I went away for work a couple of times so my food costs were a little less. But still the biggest contributions to this savings rate was my focus on extreme frugality. Finding this forum and documenting my journey have definitely spurred me on. This last month is a huge outlier in my history, by far the most enormous amount of saving I have made in a single month.

My net worth has experienced a huge jump as a result of the savings. My investments aren't doing that great because of the issues in Greece. WTF the NZ and Australian share market have to do with the Greek economy is beside me, but apparently heaps looking at the collapsed share market. Just as well I have made massive saving gains as my investments have not helped me out. My investments are now slowly climbing back above a net loss now that the Greek drama is over. Might be a good time to buy a couple of more stocks while still climbing though

I have started to focus on exploring ways to bring in additional income streams.I am looking at a part time consulting gig working remotely. Also love the idea of having an option be a living in a shack on a remote beautiful NZ beach and getting up at my own pace in the morning to start plotting away on my laptop at my leisure. I would like to build this income stream as a potential ERE job that I would be happy to continue remotely from stunning cheap locations. One company has come back and advised that they would be interested when some work is available and will contact me (they previously offered me the job last year).

I am also looking into potentially selling real estate on the weekend. I think it would be a reasonably easy nice job and possibilities of a quick huge buck. I don't want to spend much money or time educating myself and getting licensed though so this requires more research and contemplation.

I am more motivated than ever to continue with my ERE strategy. However I will only have two pays this month so I doubt I will be getting anything like 71%, but I am aiming for 50 to 55% and am confident I can achieve

[cmonkey]

Congrats on that savings rate! July will be the first month I finally get to realize a great number like that.

Also love the idea of having an option be a hermit living in a shack on a remote beautiful NZ beach and getting up at my own pace in the morning to start plotting away on my laptop at my leisure. I would like to build this income stream as a potential ERE job that I would be happy to continue remotely from stunning cheap locations.

This reminded me of the documentary Ego shared yesterday morning. I love the part (about 46:35) when they are walking along on the land he has parked his RV and comments about how 'right over there' are milion dollar homes that have essentially the same thing he does, but he doesn't have the million dollar home payment.

[thrifty++]

Thanks Cmonkey! Good luck for the July savings.

[thrifty++]

I am back on the booze again after 6 weeks zero alcohol.

I am proud of myself for doing six whole weeks. That's a huge milestone for me. I will do two months another time when I do a detox. I detox regularly and the detoxes get longer each time. There was one time only a few years ago where two weeks zero alcohol was a huge challenge for me.
But for now I am casually sipping a red wine which tastes so rich and silky. I have been craving it all day. I am going out to dinner with some nice friends tonight and will indulge myself in another delicious glass or two.