Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Where are you and where are you going?
orthodoxcaveman
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Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by orthodoxcaveman »

I am starting this journal because I can't find anything exactly like my case out there right now, and because writing helps me visualize goals and progress.

Background:

I and my wife are both 28. Both attorneys, both extreme INTJs (me -A, her -T). No children. Two small poodles. Late to the game on ERE and certain related concepts, but with a relatively strong foundation that should enable us to make rapid and nontrivial progress, if not to ERE or FIRE in the (very admirable) five year timeframe. We are both fairly content with and entertained by our work, so there is no material hurry for us. We are, however, drawn to ERE on a philosophical/moral level and we would both like to retire relatively young in order to spend quality time with the family we hope to have soon.

Current Goals:
  • Achieve a positive net worth
  • Get out of debt
  • Have children
  • Buy acreage for homestead
  • Retire
Liabilities:
  • $440k in student loan debt (Household)
  • No mortgage or rent for time being (hopefully I can stretch this another year)
  • No car payment
  • No other debt
Assets:
  • Income - 245k (Household annual, not including structured raises/bonuses)
  • 50k in various tax sheltered retirement accts (401k, Roth IRA, HSA)
  • 20k cash emergency fund
Estimated Current Net Worth: -$366k

Current Strategy:

The plan right now is first to track spending to get a good picture of our actual monthly spending, then to apply ERE principles to aggressively minimize those expenses. After retirement contributions and taxes, allowing for a VERY generous 30k/y (2.5k/mo) living expense, that would allow us to put around 110k/y or 9.16k/mo toward that massive loan balance. Keep in mind that given our income, and by filling two 401ks and IRAs, living on 30k will mean a savings rate of about 85%. That would mean a $0 net worth in about two years, and debt free in about 4 years (with substantial retirement funds). At that point, we will have to reevaluate our position and consider whether she wants to retire, I want to move to a lower-stress job, or whether we want to sprint a few more years to a cushy finish.

Notes:

In the meantime, before you all choke on that 30k/y number, my priority is to practice financial discipline to drive that number as low as possible without driving my wife nuts.

While I am currently fairly tight with my food budget, there is certainly some fat to be trimmed on that front (I've been known to buy flats of diet Dr. Pepper EVEN THOUGH I get all the free diet sodas I want through work) and I will start tracking that expenditure monthly.

I also tend to be a little profligate with my entertainment: Buying (used) books when I could read the myriad public domain books that already live on my Kindle or just go to the library; buying (on-sale) video-games when I could just play one of the (many) video games I bought on sale years ago and still haven't played.

I also have a relatively spendy hobby in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu - not as bad as some, but with travel, gym dues, gear, etc, it amounts to probably $2.5k/year. However, that's my only exercise expense and only hobby expense, so I am relatively unlikely to cut that at this point.

The plan for the Journal is to update at least monthly, perhaps oftener. I plan to track net worth over time, as well as post monthly numbers for spending and debt repayment. I will also reflect as I feel led on the process of learning this discipline and practicing ERE principles in a very ERE unfriendly setting.

Feel free to say hello. I'll respond when I can and update I have something to say.
Last edited by orthodoxcaveman on Fri Sep 21, 2018 2:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

prognastat
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Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by prognastat »

Sounds like you've got a pretty big mountain to climb with that debt, but you have the income to be able to take care of it within a reasonable amount of time.

Full on FIRE in 5 years if you cut to 30k and plan to remain at that level after would depend a lot on how the market performs in that time and how much risk you are comfortable with, but not impossible.

If you do manage to cut expenses to 30k you could probably get away with taking 5k from your emergency fund and putting it towards the debt, while still easily covering 6 months of expenses. Of course, I would get it down to 30k first though.

I have some similar weaknesses instead of BJJ I have archery which while a little cheaper once the equipment has been purchased still isn't a cheap hobby if you don't have the room to do it at home(which I don't). I also tend to have too many books and far too many video games though I have tried to reduce these by buying almost everything on sale rather than when it just released.

Tracking your spending is definitely a good first step so you have a good idea of where you can go with your budget.

fell-like-rain
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Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by fell-like-rain »

Well, you definitely started deeper in hock than most of us, but earning a quarter mil a year should make up the difference pretty quick. Out of curiosity, what's your current living situation that enables you to be rent/mortgage-free, and does your 30k/year plan account for future housing expenses? I imagine most BigLaw firms tend to be in high-COL cities, so I'd be interested to see how you manage to stay within budget.

Re: the 30k number, I don't think anyone's going to yell at you- this isn't the MMM forums with their 'facepunches'. Rather, I tend to find that the mindset is infectious. You start off thinking, "Living off of less is just impossible for us, because [fervently argued reasons]", but later you find yourself reading other people's journals and saying, "Well, they found a good alternative for [extravagance]. And maybe we could save a few bucks on [necessity]..." Sooner or later it adds up.

orthodoxcaveman
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Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by orthodoxcaveman »

fell-like-rain: My parents have a MIL suite that my wife and I are staying in gratis, but they're trying to sell the house and downsize, so it remains to be seen for how long I can avoid taking on a mortgage. I'm at a biglaw firm office in a secondary market with relatively reasonable COL, so kinda best of both worlds there.

Re: the 30k number, I'm glad. Frankly, the 30k is just an outside calculation that I'm using to account for housing and other unplanned but suspected expenses. I don't yet have a clear snapshot of what our spending looks like right now - working on that - I imagine I'll refine the actual number once I have better data on our spending.

prognastat: I have a cousin who is deep into archery - seems like the kind of thing with a lot of creeping expenses :lol:. I think our timeframe is more like 10 years - we get that kids are an expenses and a dispersal of focus, but it's worth it to us.

prognastat
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Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by prognastat »

orthodoxcaveman wrote:
Sun Sep 23, 2018 4:05 pm
prognastat: I have a cousin who is deep into archery - seems like the kind of thing with a lot of creeping expenses :lol:. I think our timeframe is more like 10 years - we get that kids are an expenses and a dispersal of focus, but it's worth it to us.
Yeah it definitely can be costly depending on how deep you go. Of course as with anything there are ways to cut costs and thankfully once purchased most of the more expensive parts of the equipment can last a long time. However just the classes I go to for 1 hour are $20 a pop which adds up(at 1-2 hour a week that's $1040-2080 per year not even counting equipment) hopefully eventually I'll have a backyard capable of allowing me to do archery which would allow me to do it much more frequently at a lower cost, but that's for future me to achieve.

10 years would definitely be much more easily achieved. Kids definitely do add expenses, but there are ways to not spend as much as everyone says you need to be spending.

orthodoxcaveman
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Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by orthodoxcaveman »

SEPTEMBER REVIEW UPDATE

Because I posted midway through September, the needles haven't shifted all that much and not a whole lot has changed in the last few weeks.

Assets:
27k in cash (checking, HYS, CD) (cash holdings will grow in the next few months as we save for a downpayment).
59k in retirement accts (IRAs, 401Ks, HSAs)
4k in stock (VFINX)

liabilities:
439k (household student loans)

net worth:
-349k

I know that's a shift of +17k since the last time I posted, but I think I failed to account for something last time because there have only been two paychecks in the interim, which means we only actually added about +10k from income. Still, that's about 4.5% change, which is very motivating to me.

notes:

Tracking my spending has gone well. I built a fun spreadsheet and am starting to get a more refined picture of where my money goes. I'm not a spendthrift by nature. That means there just isn't much fat to trim. We are projected to be well under the $30k/y number I had allowed for.

Dining out was our last major negotiable area of spending, but we got that under control at the beginning of 2018. Since we bought a BBQ smoker a month ago (Weber Smokey Mtn. 22") we eat primarily brisket, pork belly, and pulled pork [butt], which are about as cheap a cut of meat as you can get. We bought 75lb of brisket on sale for $1.99/lb. Pork belly and butt are rarely above $3/lb. With incidentals like butter, cheese, cream, our household food costs are under $10/day for two people. If you are wondering, yes, as a general thing we both eat nothing but meat. During work functions, holidays, nights out with friends or whatever, we're omnivores as we please. Sometimes we'll get flavored sparkling waters, or my wife will bake keto desserts, or something like that that inflates our food spending marginally - and the charcoal for the smoker must be counted - but overall, we spend very little on food.

Now, our largest budget item is travel. Unfortunately, her entire family lives on the other side of the country and while our recent relocation to live near my family has solved our double-travel-cost problem, that cost remains and there's not a lot I can do about it.

(An aside: I did a lot of shoestring travel in my youth - as in years and many tens of countries - and at a certain point, I began to hate it. I remember the exact day: the first snowy day of the year in Beyoglu, Istanbul, in 2012. I felt it change in me like someone flicked a light switch, quit my job, went home, started applying to law schools. Around that time I met my now-wife and while I love her and would not change anything for any reason, I offer this advice. Go to school local and marry local. No matter what anyone says, geographic proximity matters, and it matters a lot. Call me reactionary, traditionalist, etc, and you'll be right, but I'm right too.)

Overall, I'm happy with where we seem to be in terms of our spending habits and our lifestyle. I will remain vigilant against creep.

The real challenge for me lately has been my transition to a new job, and fighting my constant hatred for compulsory work of all types, even the type I do now, which is about as pleasant a job as you could ask for. Nevertheless, all jobs threaten me with a spiritual deadness and ennui when they are compelled by mountains of scary debt.

Still, my achievement in September has been to start internalizing the "skin in the game" value of that debt. It will hold my toes to the fire and force me to rise to the challenge of succeeding in a demanding practice.

Fiction-writing and Jiu-jitsu practice continue to suffer as my time and energy are demanded by work and family, but I begin to see that such is the nature of the place I am in my life - pursuing achievement through sacrifice:
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms;
And then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth.
And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
GOALS FOR OCTOBER:
Complete saving for house downpayment (~15k)
Bill 200 hours :twisted:
Finish my re-read of Book of the New Sun
Write 15k words in my current fiction project
Jiu-jitsu 3x/week

orthodoxcaveman
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Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by orthodoxcaveman »

Despite the guarded and maybe misleading optimism in my recent post, I am feeling down this week. The corporate nature of my job breeds spiritual ennui. My own incompetence and newness frustrates me. I am committed to sticking it out in the short- and mid-terms, and I trust that my newness and incompetence will fade, but right now it is an anchor around my neck and making it difficult for me to engage with work in the way I should in order to make the work fun and meaningful while I must do it.

That is an interesting negative-feedback spiral. The trouble is that the ennui and frustration breed distraction, and make it difficult to gather my focus and energy enough to take the threshold actions and emotional movements necessary to wrestle the negative spiral into a positive spiral, where successfully completing tasks rewards me with a sense of strength, competence, meaning.

Nevertheless, laying out the problem always helps, and coming up with a plan will force me to act. It always does.
  • 1: Turn off my cell
  • 2: Order my tasks in descending order of urgency, and within urgency, difficulty(already done)
  • 3: Pray a Decade of the Rosary
  • 4: Imagine what the final product of the first task will look like
  • 5: Attack the task until I have a suitable final product
  • 6: Repeat 3-5
When my mind begins to wander, I tend to indulge it more than I should. In my prayer, distraction, rather than torpor or other hindrances, is always the problem.

Writing helps me focus. Signing off to put the plan into action.

prognastat
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Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by prognastat »

Good luck, hope you feel better in your next update. Sometimes time alone is enough to make a difference as we all have our ups and downs.

orthodoxcaveman
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Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by orthodoxcaveman »

MID-OCTOBER UPDATE

Assets:
29k in cash (checking, HYS, CD) (cash holdings will grow in the next few months as we save for a downpayment).
59k in retirement accts (IRAs, 401Ks, HSAs)
4k in stock (VFINX)

liabilities:
439k (household student loans)

net worth:
-347k

Not much shift in the numbers since the last update, but just a function of the current market correction.

notes:

Went to Dallas for a weekend for a conference, so I worked the first two weeks of October without any pause or break. When last weekend came, I was ragged and tired, but the weekend rejuvenated me.

The weather in the desert turned while I was in Dallas, so I came home to perfect fall weather much earlier in the year than I had expected it. I wasn't truly tired of summer yet, but I like when things end on a high note :)

Food spending is admirably low. Even including our "splurge" of $70 on our anniversary dinner, two people spend about $60/week on food.

goal updates:
  • Saving for house downpayment is on-track. We will probably continue saving for it through November, just in case it makes sense to put a full 20% down.
  • I probably won't bill 200 hours this month, but I'm billing above my threshold and if we lose another associate I might get 200 after all :( :o
  • I'm halfway through Book of the New Sun (finished Claw of the Conciliator last night, started Sword of the Lictor this morning).
  • I am behind the curve on my writing side-gig but have good plans to make up the missing words in the butt end of the month
  • My biggest failure. Travel and other obligations have made this difficult but I shouldn't make excuses. I could have gone if I wasn't so lazy. Renewing my goal.

orthodoxcaveman
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Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by orthodoxcaveman »

OCTOBER IN REVIEW

Assets:
~34k in cash (checking, HYS, CD) (cash holdings will grow in next few months as we save for a downpayment)
~64k in noncash holdings, including retirement accounts

Liabilities:
439k (household student loans)

Net Worth:
-341k (asset-debt .22)

Notes:

Working on the home-purchase process now. Miserable, even with a reliable and trusted realtor.

Increasing frustration and disillusion with the state of the modern world. The whole thing is a bubble enabled by irresponsible profligacy with fossil fuels. Modernity itself is a purchased on debts that will soon come due. The wealth we imagine is ours is a mirage - the huge concrete buildings, the wide streets built for fast cars, the neon night-lights, the broad accessibility of recreational air travel, the cheap flip-a-switch electricity - all a wild party that's going to wind down relatively soon. Generations, perhaps.

But I don't want to wait. I'm tired of it. I left my cell charger at work over the weekend and found a bizarre form of mental freedom. I had no phone to check. I was connected to reality in a way I hadn't been since I was a teenager.

My pessimism and running internal crisis makes my wife nervous. I don't act intemperately and I'm not lazy - I wouldn't be in the relatively high-trust position I'm in if that were true - but neither can I act inconsistently with my own inner vision of life. And my vision of life is growing less and less consistent with biglaw bullshit.

Weather continues to be beautiful, though still warm enough for mosquitos to plague me at dawn and dusk. I'm at the start of a three-day fast.

I finished Book of the New Sun as planned for October - on to Urth of the New Sun, then perhaps Long Sun for the first time. Gene Wolfe gets better with every read.

I didn't make it to the desired 15k words, but I think I got close to 10k or so, so I'm pleased.

Similarly, I've made it to BJJ once or twice a week, which is pretty good, all things considered.

Goals for November:
1. Write daily - even just a sentence or two. Shoot for another 10k words in the story.
2. BJJ twice a week - three is better, but two is good.
3. Finish saving for house down payment (though given our first time buyer status, this could already be done)

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unemployable
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Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by unemployable »

Why aren't you paying down your student loans? That's a guaranteed return. You're hoarding cash so you can take on even more debt (the mortgage)? That's not my idea of freedom.
Increasing frustration and disillusion with the state of the modern world. The whole thing is a bubble enabled by irresponsible profligacy with fossil fuels. Modernity itself is a purchased on debts that will soon come due. The wealth we imagine is ours is a mirage - the huge concrete buildings, the wide streets built for fast cars, the neon night-lights, the broad accessibility of recreational air travel, the cheap flip-a-switch electricity - all a wild party that's going to wind down relatively soon. Generations, perhaps.
I say enjoy it while it lasts. As miserly as I am I don't pretend I don't like nice things.

orthodoxcaveman
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Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by orthodoxcaveman »

unemployable wrote:
Mon Nov 05, 2018 3:18 pm
Why aren't you paying down your student loans? That's a guaranteed return. You're hoarding cash so you can take on even more debt (the mortgage)? That's not my idea of freedom.
Gotta live somewhere. I don't want or need the flexibility of rent. I've done my world traveling and I'm not going anywhere for a long time. Mortgage makes sense.

We'll start paying down the loans aggressively in December, once we have enough liquid to get into a house and avoid the PMI.

My idea of freedom is being able to to think about what I want to think about. Don't mind work every day or staying in one place.

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unemployable
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Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by unemployable »

orthodoxcaveman wrote:
Mon Nov 05, 2018 5:01 pm
My idea of freedom is being able to to think about what I want to think about. Don't mind work every day or staying in one place.
So I take it you've resolved your feelings of spiritual ennui?

orthodoxcaveman
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Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by orthodoxcaveman »

unemployable wrote:
Mon Nov 05, 2018 5:35 pm
So I take it you've resolved your feelings of spiritual ennui?
I strongly suspect that my ennui is a result of the mammoth amount of my time spent in work that takes me away from my family, does not directly contribute to wellbeing, and forces me to think about certain things in certain ways.

If you are implying I'm tricking myself into thinking I actually don't mind working, I would agree I don't like working as much as I do.

But I don't mind being obligated to do things when the obligation is one that's good for me.

orthodoxcaveman
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Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by orthodoxcaveman »

November In Review

Assets:
67.4k retirement accts
16k cash
25k house equity

Liabilities:
439k household student loan debt

Net Worth:
-330k

Notes:

We bought a house because we're certainly going to stay where we are for the long term and our current rent-free situation is coming to an end. I'm happy with how it went and I am furnishing it for free from my parents excess furniture as they downsize. I'm happy about that because it's all very high quality stuff. It's at least 15k in free furniture, and will furnish 95% of our home. Close to work, walking distance to BJJ and groceries, centrally located in a good, quiet neighborhood. I'm very pleased.

Work is going well. Continued effort is paying off for me. I'm getting better feedback and consistent work, not feeling so much ennui as I begin to form more meaningful relationships with the office. Of course, the content of the work is still ultimately trivial in my opinion, but the fact remains that due to the mistakes I made in the past, excelling where I am now is the fastest responsible way to get to where I want to be. And I see more and more that the competencies and character born of honest hard work are irreplaceable. So for that at least I'm grateful to be where I am.

November felt long. I did a tremendous amount of work between my actual job (overloaded because two of my three co-associates are still out on parental leave), the home-buying process, a cousin's wedding, the holiday (my family takes them seriously), and myriad personal goals and resolutions (writing, fitness, cooking, spending time with wife and dogs, social calendar, work social calendar).

I finished Urth of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe and moved on to the Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. I'm a bit more than halfway through and enjoying the hitherto unexplored (by me) Catholic thematic elements of Lord of the Rings.

December Goals:
Map Out 2019 - A critical year for me. I will need to fully achieve new heights of productivity which I have currently only partly achieved. The theme of 2019 for me will be "nose to the grindstone." This will likely be my last year before children interrupt my ability and desire to work heedlessly, so I will need to be very careful and aggressive about how I spend my time. Part of that will be putting into true practice some of the techniques I have experimented with this year in terms of phone use management, internet management, etc. I begin to see clearly how St. Thomas can call curiosity a sin - "there may be sin by reason of the appetite or study directed to the learning of truth being itself inordinate; and this in four ways. First, when a man is withdrawn by a less profitable study from a study that is an obligation incumbent on him." I need to be better at discerning when I'm wasting time amusing myself by reading pointless articles or even books at the expense of my greater and more meaningful obligations.

This goal also includes a set of goals and tentative deadlines for accomplishing those goals. I will probably map the year out down to the weekly level, as well as use a template for each day. I do best when I have no questions about what I need to do at any given time.

Fill Roth IRAs - Leftover cash in December will be used to fill Roths, which have about 9k to be contributed. We will also open Trad IRAs for 2019 as our income will exceed the Roth upper limit.

Spend quality time with family over the holidays - My brothers fly home from Colorado and Ireland respectively, so I will need to moderate my after-hours work and come up with engaging stuff to do with the family while everyone is in town.

orthodoxcaveman
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Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by orthodoxcaveman »

April Update

The first third of the year is nearly done and I am sitting through a boring but mandatory seminar so I thought I would finally update and talk about how the year's gone so far.

basic data
Married man, age 28, lawyer, southwestern US, Catholic, no kids yet.

household income:
255k/yr

Assets:
90k retirement accts
12k cash (+ 20k emergency fund)
35k house equity

Liabilities:
433k household student loan debt

net worth:
-276k

notes:

The first third of the year has been insanely busy, and I have only just been able to pick my head up and see where things are. I've been at my new job for nearly nine months and just received a decent raise.

We're moved into my new house and very happy with it. It's exactly the right size for us right now, and I'm very pleased to have furnished it for free. I plan to stay here for the next ten years or so if possible.

After a hectic year of changing jobs, moving cross-country, buying a house, etc, I'm very happy to announce that we've finally started putting big chunks of cash toward our student loan debts :lol:. We should be able to push 8-9k toward it monthly right now, which feels great.

things i'm feeling good about:

1. I wrote the third novel in an SFF trilogy I've been working on for a year or two. I'm excited to start the editing/publishing process this summer.
2. My diet has been good.
3. I'm getting involved with the choir at my parish, will soon audition to join our Gregorian chant group.
4. I have developed some great relationships with local ranchers from whom I am getting high quality local beef and pork (98% of my diet) for cheap.
5. I have been very consistent about my prayer practice and I think it's doing a lot for my psychic and emotional stability and personal relationships, especially with my wife.

things to work on:

1. I need to bill more hours at work -- I had some soft weeks early and just took all Holy Week off to visit family, so I'm a bit behind.
2. I need to stop rubbing on my phone and watching tv/youtube. I revert to that a lot when I'm tired or worn down. I can cut that wasted time and use it to do the things that follow.
3. I need to get serious about fitness -- I've been inexcusably lazy about that. I'm getting a decent home gym weight set (power cage, bar, full plate set, bike, heavy bag, pull-up bar) gratis from downsizing parents.
4. I need to spend more time working on active training with my dogs. They know the basics pretty well but we don't have an active practice going and they're getting sloppy. I also just like hanging out with them and want to do it more.
Last edited by orthodoxcaveman on Mon Apr 22, 2019 4:31 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Fish
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Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by Fish »

orthodoxcaveman wrote:
Mon Apr 22, 2019 12:48 pm
Assets:
35k house equity

Liabilities:
365k mortgage
It appears you are double-counting your mortgage and NW should be 365k higher than the -641k reported. If you include home equity as an asset, you can omit the mortgage from the liabilities column (since equity is already net of mortgage). Or replace equity with the home’s full value in the assets column to properly offset the mortgage.

orthodoxcaveman
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Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by orthodoxcaveman »

Fish wrote:
Mon Apr 22, 2019 2:17 pm
It appears you are double-counting your mortgage and NW should be 365k higher than the -641k reported. If you include home equity as an asset, you can omit the mortgage from the liabilities column (since equity is already net of mortgage). Or replace equity with the home’s full value in the assets column to properly offset the mortgage.
Whoops, of course, thanks for the heads up :lol:. -276k looks a lot better than -641k.

orthodoxcaveman
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Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by orthodoxcaveman »

Updating because I've finally moved the needle enough to be worth writing home about.

2019 Year in Review:

basic information:
Married man, 29, lawyer, southwestern US, Catholic, no kids yet.

household income:
221k/yr(+ bonus potential)

Assets:
Total = 148k
98k retirement accts
9k cash
5k random stock
6k HSA
30k home equity

liabilities:
Total = -319
-143k wife's student loans
-176k my student loans

net worth:
-171k

notes:
  • Looking back at my April 19 update, my net jumped by +105k over the course of the year. Most of that has just been the result of shoveling a sickening amount of money at our student loans as aggressively as possible.
  • Our strategy is to prioritize the loan repayment because the interest rates are painfully high (6-7%) and because both of us want to be free to reduce our hours/income in the next few years as our lives change. To that end, I will probably contribute less to retirement accounts for the next few years while I try to eliminate these loans altogether.
  • We've been in our house for about a year now. We refinanced about six month in and cut about 2% off our mortgage rate. We save about $300 a month because of that. It cost about $600 to refinance, so I'm very pleased with that decision.
  • I left my old job, which is why our household income dipped. The old job was not a good fit based on what I want to do with my legal practice. They were unwilling to support my efforts toward client development, which is sort of the be-all and end-all of a successful legal career. I took a pay cut to join a firm with a much higher future upside and much more sustainable standard of living.
  • We also bought a new (lightly used) car this year. 10k in cash for something that will fit a few upcoming babies.
  • I stayed really busy in 2019. My "nose to the grindstone" theme was prophetic. I suspect 2020 will be even more intense in this regard, because our first baby is due late march. My wife is working through the pregnancy and will keep working after. My parents and aunts are promising free childcare - one of the innumerable privileges of a big tight Hispanic christian family.
things I did in 2019:
  • kept the faith
  • bought a house
  • changed jobs for a big QOL raise
  • wrote a novel and planned others. wrote consistently
  • published first short story
  • made great financial progress
  • stayed in shape
  • made a baby :lol:
things I'll do in 2020:
  • keep the faith
  • have a baby (due late march) :D
  • compete in a BJJ competition
  • publish the novels I've been working on
  • make more financial progress (100k+ toward loans)
  • get stronger (4 plate deadlift)
  • be distracted by phone and internet less
I distrust every idea that doesn’t seem obsolete and grotesque to my contemporaries. - Nicolas Gomez Davila

Hristo Botev
Posts: 1731
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2018 3:42 am

Re: Journal of Orthodox Caveman

Post by Hristo Botev »

Great to see another post from you and CONGRATS on the baby and on the great progress at paying down the loans! I was about 5 years into my legal career when I finally managed to get those 6-figure student loans paid off, and man alive, what a wonderful feeling it was. It gave me the freedom to make all sorts of positive and relatively drastic QOL changes, which have benefited me and my family immensely. Keep posting! I love reading about the experiences of another Catholic, law-firm lawyer who has his head screwed on a lot straighter than mine was at 29.

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