Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Where are you and where are you going?
prognastat
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Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by prognastat »

Finances September 2018

Still calculating the finances as 50% of our shared expenses as the divorce hasn’t been started yet and we are still sharing expenses.

Income September 2018

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| Category     |   $  |   %   |
|--------------|------|-------|
| Total        | 5375 | 100.0 |
| Paychecks    | 3252 |  60.6 |
| 401k         | 2123 |  39.4 |
This month’s income was a bit higher due to my wife receiving a bonus from work. My income was a little lower due to being on vacation for 3 weeks and not getting any OT during those weeks which usually means between 5 and 10 hours extra at 1.5 rate. The bonus outweighed the lower income to we still averaged higher than usual.

Spending September 2018

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| Category     |   $  |   %   |
|--------------|------|-------|
| Total        | 1942 | 100.0 |
| Home         |  847 |  43.6 |
| Pets         |  290 |  14.9 |
| Food         |  219 |  11.2 |
| Auto         |  132 |   6.8 |
| Entertainment|  128 |   6.6 |
| Bills        |  115 |   5.9 |
| Health       |  106 |   5.5 |
| Shopping     |   98 |   5.0 |
| Other        |    6 |   0.0 |
Went on a trip to visit family, but the ticket was already paid for in a previous month and I was staying with family so costs were barely higher than they usually would have been. We did have some vet related costs come up though. Other than that everything is trending in the right direction still.

Net Worth September 2018

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| Category     |    $    |   %   |
|--------------|---------|-------|
| Total        | 246,255 | 100.0 |
| Cash         |   9,194 |       |
| Home         | 108,365 |       |
| Investments  | 193,188 |       |
| Credit       |  -2,452 |       |
| Mortgage     | -62,040 |       |
Net worth grew about 5k from the previous month could be better, but I’ll take it.

Spending/Savings Rate September 2018

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| Category     |    $    |   %   |
|--------------|---------|-------|
| Income       |   5,375 | 100.0 |
| Spending     |   1,942 |  36.1 |
| Savings      |   3,433 |  63.8 |
Last edited by prognastat on Mon Oct 08, 2018 12:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.

PoorButWealthy
Posts: 36
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2017 12:11 pm

Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by PoorButWealthy »

While I was there my father in law helped me with some exercises that I was having trouble with, apparently I have a very short achilles tendon which is making it impossible for me to do the squats and lunges I've been wanting to add. I was however able to add deadlifts to my leg day. Hopefully I can stretch the tendon enough to allow me to add the squats and lunges.
Have you considered adding something under your heels (like e.g. small weight plates) and thus bringing your heels higher while doing squats and lunges? This helps a lot and often provides extra stability for the squatting. You could also consider purchasing a pair of weighlifting shoes with higher heels (e.g. https://www.roguefitness.com/adidas-pow ... matte-gold).

I have the same problem as you and I cannot squat without adding something under my heels or using weightlifting shoes.

Kriegsspiel
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Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by Kriegsspiel »

I also can barely squat with good form without wearing lifting shoes. I've had the same pair for about 2 decades.

prognastat
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Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by prognastat »

I might have to give that a try, currently when I've been attempting to do squats I just fall flat on my ass.

I think going forward I'll also add a savings rate to my financial journal entries to keep track of that over time hopefully seeing steady improvements.

Scott 2
Posts: 2825
Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2012 10:34 pm

Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by Scott 2 »

Lifting! My favorite ERE topic :). I've had a lot of trouble with squat form. This long and boring video series helped me to think about the form differently - aligning a center of mass over a series of levers:

https://youtu.be/gpGA9f1boLQ

I'd summarize it as, you need to decide if you want your squat to be posterior chain dominant or quad dominant.

Posterior chain - wide stance, low bar, flat shoe, limited forward knee travel, a good amount of forward lean. I bet you can do this today.

Quad dominant - narrower stance, high bar, raised heel, more forward knee travel, limited forward lean. I bet this is what you struggle with.

I have a hard time doing a quad dominant squat, and it is what I want in my training. I have tight ankles and weak quads. They need the work. Some things that have helped me:

1. Height beneath the heels - a 5lb plate was enough for me. I eventually got tired of screwing with this and dropped it once I sorted the other tricks.

2. Doing some leg curls before I squat, to get my hamstrings firing in the bottom position. This helps keep a more upright torso.

3. Doing some glute activation work. I use a hip circle, walk forwards and backwards, left and right, do some body weight squats. Firing the glutes helps keeps the torso upright. It also reduces the amount of bend needed at the ankles.

4. Moving the center of mass of the bar forward relative to the center of mass of my body. High bar does this more so than low bar. You can take it further, with a front squat. If even that isn't working, a goblet squat might.

5. I also spent a lot of time playing with my squat stance width, trying to balance the trade off between foot spacing, upright torso and forward travel of the knees. Squatting directly in front of a wall will give you this feedback very quickly.

prognastat
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Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by prognastat »

Thanks for all the tips. Hopefully once things calm down at work again and I'm no longer working 11+ hours a day I can take some time to try making it work.

Kriegsspiel
Posts: 952
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Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by Kriegsspiel »

Paul Carter wrote an article about different squatting styles on his Lift Run Bang blog a while ago that was helpful. Personally, I don't think you should "decide" to be a posterior chain squatter (low bar, wide stance) or quad (high bar, close stance). You just go with whatever you're strongest at and go for it. Personally, I squat with low bar position and fairly close stance.

prognastat
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Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by prognastat »

Finances October 2018

Still calculating the finances as 50% of our shared expenses as the divorce hasn’t been finalised yet and we are still sharing expenses.

Income October 2018

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| Category     |   $   |   %   |
|--------------|-------|-------|
| Total        | 6,860 | 100.0 |
| Paychecks    | 4,511 |  65.7 |
| 401k         | 2,349 |  34.3 |
This month’s income was a lot higher than usual, almost double, due to both my wife and I receiving bonuses and a bunch of additional hours(50+ hours a week) on my part. If only every month was this good…

Spending October 2018

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| Category     |   $  |   %   |
|--------------|------|-------|
| Total        |2,762 | 100.0 |
| Home         |  737 |  26.7 |
| Entertainment|  501 |  18.1 |
| Food         |  473 |  17.1 |
| Pets         |  277 |  10.0 |
| Health       |  219 |   7.9 |
| Bills        |  155 |   5.5 |
| Legal        |  147 |   5.3 |
| Hobbies      |   81 |   2.9 |
| Auto         |   67 |   2.4 |
| Insurance    |   58 |   2.0 |
| Gifts        |   45 |   1.6 |
| Other        |    7 |   0.0 |
More vet bills and my wife went on a spending bender for a video game, despite wanting us to agree to spend a minimal amount on personal spending until the divorce and finances have been finalised. She also took a trip to family for a week, though the ticket was paid for as expected this has lead to a little more spending on eating out and similar expenses.

A good example of why there would always be issues financially in our relationship as she wanted an agreement to limit personal spending until the divorce and then spending $600 without asking or even warning.

There were also some fees related to starting the divorce process.

Healthcare spending was up a little as I bought a new pair of glasses, however given how long my last pair lasted it should be many years before it will need replacing.

At least utilities were down some now that temperatures are finally dropping.

Net Worth October 2018

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| Category     |    $    |   %   |
|--------------|---------|-------|
| Total        | 242,544 | 100.0 |
| Cash         |  10,546 |       |
| Home         | 107,381 |       |
| Investments  | 188,758 |       |
| Credit       |  -2,101 |       |
| Mortgage     | -61,913 |       |
Net worth went down about 4k from the previous month despite added savings, investments and paying off debt due to obvious reasons.

Spending/Savings Rate October 2018

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| Category     |    $    |   %   |
|--------------|---------|-------|
| Income       |   6,860 | 100.0 |
| Spending     |   2,762 |  40.2 |
| Savings      |   3,433 |  59.8 |

Riggerjack
Posts: 3182
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 3:09 am

Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by Riggerjack »

A good example of why there would always be issues financially in our relationship as she wanted an agreement to limit personal spending until the divorce and then spending $600 without asking or even warning.
That's hard, and I am sorry you are dealing with this.

This falls under the category of "when entering a contract, I am responsible for upholding my end, and enforcement of terms" as 7w5 likes to point out. This is a skill that needs practice. Setting up agreements with terms for failure to uphold the agreement set up at the same time, when it can be decided with calm minds and good intentions.

We all fail at achieving goals. That includes relationship goals. After failure happens is the wrong time to decide on corrective action, while emotions are high. Agreement to make a change has to have enforcement mechanism of that change, built in from the start.

Otherwise it devolves into one person hounding the other for as long as the relationship lasts, and alienated partners.

Or so I have read...

Good luck.

prognastat
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Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by prognastat »

Thanks. It's not really new, but usually it's me asking us to limit spending and being disappointed in the outcome rather than her asking it and still ending up disappointed. I was hoping that since this time the request came from herself it would be different, but I guess I should have known better after many years of experience.

It's kind of hard to set up any enforcement terms when a divorce has already been agreed upon and I'm trying to keep the whole thing amicable at least. So I haven't made a big deal of it.

I've definitely learned that I'm going to have to be clearer in my expectations in future relationships from the beginning.

prognastat
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Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by prognastat »

Health October 2018

This month wasn’t great on the diet front, but could be worse. I made some progress in weight loss, then gain a decent bit back. My wife brought ice cream and chocolate in the house and I caved and broke my keto diet and ate way too much ice cream and chocolate. Then I got back on course a little and halloween came around and wrecked it again. In the end I lost less than a pound. At least I didn’t gain, but not the rate I’m expecting of myself.

Working out I could have pushed harder, but did move up in weight some on almost all exercises so there is some progress. Most progress was made on the Deadlifts as I’m still settling on a weight where I’m pushing my limits without jumping up a lot from one week to the next and risking injury. Moved up some every single week and don’t think I’ve hit it just yet.

Due to a lot of extra hours at work I did cut out a little of my cardio to save some time, this will hopefully be changing back in this next month.

My goal for next month is to stick to my diet, increase my cardio back to what I was doing before my hours at work increased, and pushing my weights up some again. I’m hoping this will lead to some more weight loss than I experienced this month. I would like to at least be below 180 Lbs before the end of this month.

Health Metrics October 2018

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| Category | Absolute | Loss |
|----------|----------|------|
| Weight   |    183.2 | 46.8 |
| BodyFat% |     20.2 | 15.8 |
Workout Progress October 2018

Mondays(Back Day):

Code: Select all

| Exercise                | Reps | Lbs | Cals | Time |
|-------------------------|------|-----|------|------|
| Pull Ups                |   20 | -60 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Pull Ups                |   15 | -60 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Pull Ups                |   12 | -60 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Pull Ups                |   10 | -60 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Pull Ups                |   10 | -60 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Push Ups                |   16 | N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| Push Ups                |   16 | N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| Push Ups                |   16 | N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| Push Ups                |   16 | N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| Push Ups                |   16 | N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A |   73 |   5m |
| Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns |   12 | 110 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns |   12 | 110 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns |   12 | 110 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns |   12 | 110 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Strength Row     |   12 |  95 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Strength Row     |   12 |  95 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Strength Row     |   12 |  95 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Strength Row     |   12 |  95 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A |   71 |   5m |
| One Arm Row             |   12 |  55 | N/A  | N/A  |
| One Arm Row             |   12 |  55 | N/A  | N/A  |
| One Arm Row             |   12 |  55 | N/A  | N/A  |
| One Arm Row             |   12 |  55 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Back Hyperextensions    |   25 |  25 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Back Hyperextensions    |   20 |  25 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Back Hyperextensions    |   15 |  25 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Back Hyperextensions    |   15 |  25 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A |   70 |   5m |
| Plank                   | N/A |  N/A | N/A  |  60s |
| Plank                   | N/A |  N/A | N/A  |  60s |
| Plank                   | N/A |  N/A | N/A  |  60s |
| Leg Raises              |  12 |  N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Raises              |  12 |  N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Raises              |  12 |  N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| Side Plank              | N/A |  N/A | N/A  |  60s |
| Side Plank              | N/A |  N/A | N/A  |  60s |
| Side Plank              | N/A |  N/A | N/A  |  60s |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A |   80 |   5m |
Tuesdays(Chest Day):

Code: Select all

| Exercise                    | Reps | Lbs | Cals | Time |
|-----------------------------|------|-----|------|------|
| Bench Press                 |   12 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Bench Press                 |   10 | 100 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Bench Press                 |    8 | 110 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Bench Press                 |    6 | 120 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Bench Press                 |    4 | 140 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Bench Press                 |    4 | 140 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Bench Press                 |    4 | 140 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Bench Press                 |    4 | 140 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                      | N/A  | N/A | 133  |  15m |
| Incline Bench Press         |   12 |  80 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Incline Bench Press         |   12 |  80 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Incline Bench Press         |   12 |  80 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Incline Bench Press         |   12 |  80 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Strength Bench Press |   15 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Strength Bench Press |   15 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Strength Bench Press |   15 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Strength Bench Press |   15 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                      | N/A  | N/A | 133  |  15m |
| Weighted Dips               |   10 | -50 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Weighted Dips               |   10 | -50 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Weighted Dips               |   10 | -50 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Weighted Dips               |   10 | -50 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Chest Fly                   |   12 |  95 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Chest Fly                   |   12 |  95 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Chest Fly                   |   12 |  95 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Chest Fly                   |   12 |  95 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                      | N/A  | N/A | 134  |  15m |
Wednesday(Leg Day):

Code: Select all

| Exercise                | Reps | Lbs | Cals | Time |
|-------------------------|------|-----|------|------|
| Deadlifts               |   12 | 100 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Deadlifts               |   10 | 100 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Deadlifts               |    8 | 100 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Deadlifts               |    6 | 100 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Press               |   27 | 540 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Press               |   27 | 450 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Press               |   35 | 360 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Press               |   40 | 270 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Press               |   45 | 180 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Press               |   45 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Extension           |   20 | 125 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Extension           |   20 | 125 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Extension           |   20 | 125 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Curls               |   20 |  85 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Curls               |   20 |  85 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Curls               |   20 |  85 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Calf Raise              |   20 | 150 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Calf Raise              |   20 | 150 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Calf Raise              |   20 | 150 | N/A  | N/A  |
Thursday(Shoulder Day):

Code: Select all

| Exercise                | Reps | Lbs | Cals | Time |
|-------------------------|------|-----|------|------|
| Military Press          |   10 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Military Press          |    8 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Military Press          |    6 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Military Press          |    5 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Military Press          |    4 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Military Press          |    3 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Military Press          |    3 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A | 140  |  15m |
| Arnold Press            |   12 |  70 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Arnold Press            |   12 |  70 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Arnold Press            |   12 |  70 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Arnold Press            |   12 |  70 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Barbell Shrugs          |   12 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Barbell Shrugs          |   12 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Barbell Shrugs          |   12 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Barbell Shrugs          |   12 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A | 140  |  15m |
| Lateral Raises          |   12 |  30 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Lateral Raises          |   12 |  30 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Lateral Raises          |   12 |  30 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Front Raises            |   12 |  30 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Front Raises            |   12 |  30 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Front Raises            |   12 |  30 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Rear Delt Flys          |   12 |  70 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Rear Delt Flys          |   12 |  70 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Rear Delt Flys          |   12 |  70 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A | 140  |  15m |
Friday(Arm Day):

Code: Select all

| Exercise                | Reps | Lbs   | Cals | Time |
|-------------------------|------|-------|------|------|
| Barbell Curls           |   10 |  70   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Barbell Curls           |   10 |  70   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Barbell Curls           |   10 |  70   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Skull Crushers          |   10 |  50   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Skull Crushers          |   10 |  50   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Skull Crushers          |   10 |  50   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A   |  70  |  15m |
| Preacher Curls          |   10 |  60   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Preacher Curls          |   10 |  60   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Preacher Curls          |   10 |  60   | N/A  | N/A  |
| French Curls            |   10 |  50   | N/A  | N/A  |
| French Curls            |   10 |  50   | N/A  | N/A  |
| French Curls            |   10 |  50   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A   |  70  |  15m |
| Hammer Curls            |   10 |  50   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Curls            |   10 |  50   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Curls            |   10 |  50   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Tricep Rope Pull Downs  |   10 |  45.5 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Tricep Rope Pull Downs  |   10 |  45.5 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Tricep Rope Pull Downs  |   10 |  45.5 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A   |  70  |  15m |
| Wrist Curls             |   20 |  40   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Wrist Curls             |   20 |  40   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Wrist Curls             |   20 |  40   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Reverse Wrist Curls     |   20 |  25   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Reverse Wrist Curls     |   20 |  25   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Reverse Wrist Curls     |   20 |  25   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Plank                   | N/A  |  N/A  | N/A  |  60s |
| Plank                   | N/A  |  N/A  | N/A  |  60s |
| Plank                   | N/A  |  N/A  | N/A  |  60s |
| Leg Raises              |   12 |  N/A  | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Raises              |   12 |  N/A  | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Raises              |   12 |  N/A  | N/A  | N/A  |
| Side Plank              | N/A  |  N/A  | N/A  |  60s |
| Side Plank              | N/A  |  N/A  | N/A  |  60s |
| Side Plank              | N/A  |  N/A  | N/A  |  60s |

prognastat
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Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by prognastat »

2018 Recap

Finances:
Income - $136k
Expenses - $60k
Savings Rate - 56%
Net Worth Start - $405k
Net Worth End - $445k

Not at all happy on this one. 2017 spending was 50k and my goal was actually to get that closer to 40k so this year was a rather large increase when I was hoping to lower spending. Almost all of this 10k increase in spending was done after we decided to get divorced(unfortunate, but not too surprising). This is the downside of being financially tied to someone, if you agree on your goals it can really boost things. If you don't though it is going to be worse than it ever would be when you are in full control of your own finances. The year started strong and ended weak. Both due to deciding on the divorce and this removing any motivation my wife has to appease my spending wishes and the market downturn which took us down from almost 490k net worth to 445k at the end. A shame, but to stay positive it's still up 40k from the start of the year. However with the divorce this will soon be halved so about $222.5k will be mine after the divorce.

Lesson learned, be careful in your chosen partner as they can be a major support or can fight you on your goals. If the goals you don't align on aren't that important to you this might not be a problem, but if they are important to you this can be a major cause for friction.

Health:
Start - 230 Lbs
End - 195 Lbs
Loss - 35 Lbs

I didn't set any goals last year beyond getting healthier. Similarly to the finances started the year great then took a dive near the end, but still ended up ahead of where I started. Got down to about 175 Lbs at the lightest and need to get back to that. Hopefully once the divorce is over and I have 100% control over what food is around me I'll have an easier time making good progress again plus no food based holidays for quite a while again. I thankfully have managed not to lose progress in my weight training in this same time so at least that part has continued to progress slowly.

Lesson learned here is actually quite similar to the Financial one. So the big lesson is get a partner that is supportive of your goals as dealing with a partner that doesn't care about you achieving your goals is going to undermine progress.

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Mister Imperceptible
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Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by Mister Imperceptible »

When will the divorce be final?

Jason

Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by Jason »

I never know what to say to people who are getting divorced. I've said "I'm sorry" and have gotten, "You kidding, me? You ever try finding a reliable hit man?" to "I never saw it coming" to "Stop asking if I have more pictures of my ex-wife swinging a sledge hammer and get the fuck off my website, asshole." You seem to be handling it well, so I hope you land on your feet.

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Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by prognastat »

@Mister Imperceptible
Originally the idea was to have it wrapped up before the end of the year. That obviously didn't end up happening. The last quarter of the year is busy at work for us both and add to that dealing with the holidays etc. Right now we are waiting to get the result of the appraisal for our home. Once we have that done we need to determine how that will cause the finances to split and talk to a lawyer to verify this and and write out the paperwork with us. Then finally go to court to finalise it all. I'm not hoping to have this done before January is over.

@Jason
Thanks, mostly it's because it wasn't a "I never saw it coming." I moved out and we lives separately for a few months a few years back and we decided to give it another shot instead of divorcing and have gone through months of couples counseling and not being able to resolve things and coming to the conclusion we just want very different things out of our lives both having drifted in different directions over the years. So not that we are happy to be going through divorce, but we can't say we haven't tried and we both knew it was coming.

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Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by prognastat »

Goals 2019

I'm going to actually try setting some more defined goals this year.

Financial Goals:

Currently personal invested net worth is about $225.5k, given that I'm in the middle of a divorce this is only a rough estimation about how much I would have after the divorce is over so it's simply half of our combined net worth. Over 2019 I would like to invest an additional 50k to increase this to at least about 275k(depending on market performance of course) before the end of 2019.

Meanwhile I would like to take the divorce and 2019 to drastically reduce my expenses and use the saved money towards a 20% downpayment for a home closer to work. I would like to save 20k in cash for this purpose.

I'm looking to move closer to work and find a much smaller place to stay. Pretty much as small and cheap as I can get for the first year. This way I can save both on rent and on transit.

I also want to stop owning a car and switch to primarily using a bicycle to get to work and groceries. For longer trips that don't require any hauling I might hold on to my motorcycle and for any hauling(this will probably rarely happen) I'll see if anyone I know can help me out or just rent a truck or van from home depot/uhaul etc.

If I can manage these things I should achieve a savings rate of over 90% and would effectively be FI at that spending rate(though this wouldn't be a sustainable spending long term). Not planning on maintaining this high a savings rate/spending in perpetuity, but at least for the first year to save up some money quickly to solidify my housing situation. I'm not completely sure on what I want the housing situation to be, but I'll have a year to figure it out and having some cash for it will be good regardless on what I end up doing.

Health Goals:

Currently at just under 200 Lbs, I want to set my goal to get to 170 Lbs by the end of the year while still focusing on increasing muscle mass. This should be doable as I actually got quite close to it at my lowest(174 Lbs) this year, just need to make sure I get back on track. This would mean losing about 2-3 Lbs a month on average which is well within reasonable limits. I'm guessing just getting back on track after the holidays I will probably drop at least 5 Lbs including water weight in the first week after which it'll slow down significantly. Once I get to 170 things might get tougher to track as I'll be needing to focus more on composition rather than weight on the scale, so I'll have to figure that out when I get there.

Keep going to the gym 5 times a week at least.

Get back on top of Keto.

Try to consistently get 8+ hours of sleep per night and a more regular sleep schedule.

Make sure to get at least 3 sessions in the sauna per week.

Other Goals:

Complete 1 video game per month.

Complete 1 Fiction book per month.

Complete 1 Non-Fiction book per month.

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Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by prognastat »

Well since I set a reading goal this year for non fiction books I figured I'd already get started for the first month and read *mumbles* ERE first.

Read it for about an hour before going to bed last night.

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Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by prognastat »

Well finally moved out this past weekend. Still working on the divorce though. The lawyer wrote up a first draft of the decree of divorce and once we have some questions answered either we can sign that or get a second draft to sign then we will have to go court and have a judge approve it.

I'm renting a bedroom near work. It's close to work. Only about 11 minute walk from my room to my desk which has been amazing, on a bicycle it's only about 6 minutes. I'm also going from a 3bed2.45 bath house for about 1500 a month in rent to a bedroom for 600 for rent and utilities included, so not only saving on not needing a car with it's costs but also saving on rent and utilities. At least once the divorce is final and we aren't technically paying for both the house and room.

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Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by jacob »

I presume you're keeping the room. Is she keeping the house/buying you out or are you selling it?

Also what is 2.45 bathrooms? :-D

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Re: Tilting at Windmills(Prognastat's Journal)

Post by prognastat »

She is keeping the house and I'll be staying in the rented room. I wanted to be closer to work and don't need a house by myself, though I am thinking about saving the extra money from the lower rent and utilities to save a downpayment for a house close to work and might rent out the extra rooms to cover rent+utilities completely. I do want to be in the same area though if I do as I went from needing 1 hour from getting up to getting to my desk to 20 minutes for the same while the former requiring a car and the latter just a bicycle.

2.45 bathroom is when you have 2 bathrooms with shower/bath and toilets and one that doesn't have a sit down toilet, but rather one of the standing only toilets like in public bathrooms....ok you got me, it was a typo.

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