I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
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Mister Imperceptible
- Posts: 1669
- Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2017 4:18 pm
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
Take it easy, I thought by sending that message the moment it ended you would see that I had read your journal and contemplated the same thing.
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
@MI, ok ok, not the best at reading between the lines over here.
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Net Worth
Up 11.99% from Aug 31st to Oct. 31st including contributions. If I'm able to save 10k in the next two months and the market stays flat I'll have doubled my NW in 12 months. My average monthly savings YTD is hovering right around $3500, so 10k would be a stretch goal especially considering all the days off we get for holidays this time of year. The one unknown is how large my Christmas Party bonus will be. We customarily get a small check at the event which might push me over the edge if it's larger than normal.
On the Origin of the Engine Hobby
My grandpa grew up in the 20's with a couple hit 'n miss engines on the family farm. However, he didn't get into the hobby until in the late 70's my Uncle B bought him an old one. I do not know the story behind UB's decision to purchase one for him, but from that point on Grandpa liked restoring these engines, attending engine shows, and gaining a small collection of them.
Despite buying him his first collector piece (and several others) UB was never much a part of the hobby. UB married a lady who said lots of mean things and treated the family like shit. UB went along with it and before I was born their relation with rest of the family had fallen apart. It's too bad because my Mom and UB were very close growing up and she has always lamented the loss of her brother who she says would have been a very fun Uncle.
Back to engines: by the time I came along grandpa was retired and immersed in this hobby. I grew up hanging out around him/them, attending engine shows, and going to old farm auctions. I loved every minute of it. When grandpa passed away in 2010 UB received the engines he had initially bought for grandpa, which in my families' view was very equitable. But since I got motivated and actually spearheaded exhibiting at a show last year I've been strongly wondering what happened to those engines. In all likelihood I think they're sitting in UB's barn.
Despite not having a relationship with UB I asked my Mom for his number a few weeks ago with a plan to call him out of the blue. I was going to ask the story behind the first engine he bought, also a couple other questions about grandpa, and tell him one of the stories about his dad I heard at the engine show this past summer. Finally, I think he would probably have given me, or at least let me borrow, those engines if he still had them and I asked. He knew how involved I was with grandpa in the whole hobby. I hadn't gotten around to making the call yet and I guess I shouldn't have waited because, if you hadn't guessed from the past tense, UB passed away on Tuesday. Complications from a heart attack. He was 64.
So the whole thing is a major bummer. I'm sad I now don't have a chance to cultivate some little sort of relationship with him and that I'm not sure if getting those engines is even possible. Mom is torn up, despite not having a close relationship with him for 35+ years, that her favorite sibling has passed away. No service is set yet, but I suppose I will go to it even though I won't know anybody there. Weird thing to say about someone as close in the family tree as an uncle, but I think it's the right thing to do.
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Net Worth
Up 11.99% from Aug 31st to Oct. 31st including contributions. If I'm able to save 10k in the next two months and the market stays flat I'll have doubled my NW in 12 months. My average monthly savings YTD is hovering right around $3500, so 10k would be a stretch goal especially considering all the days off we get for holidays this time of year. The one unknown is how large my Christmas Party bonus will be. We customarily get a small check at the event which might push me over the edge if it's larger than normal.
On the Origin of the Engine Hobby
My grandpa grew up in the 20's with a couple hit 'n miss engines on the family farm. However, he didn't get into the hobby until in the late 70's my Uncle B bought him an old one. I do not know the story behind UB's decision to purchase one for him, but from that point on Grandpa liked restoring these engines, attending engine shows, and gaining a small collection of them.
Despite buying him his first collector piece (and several others) UB was never much a part of the hobby. UB married a lady who said lots of mean things and treated the family like shit. UB went along with it and before I was born their relation with rest of the family had fallen apart. It's too bad because my Mom and UB were very close growing up and she has always lamented the loss of her brother who she says would have been a very fun Uncle.
Back to engines: by the time I came along grandpa was retired and immersed in this hobby. I grew up hanging out around him/them, attending engine shows, and going to old farm auctions. I loved every minute of it. When grandpa passed away in 2010 UB received the engines he had initially bought for grandpa, which in my families' view was very equitable. But since I got motivated and actually spearheaded exhibiting at a show last year I've been strongly wondering what happened to those engines. In all likelihood I think they're sitting in UB's barn.
Despite not having a relationship with UB I asked my Mom for his number a few weeks ago with a plan to call him out of the blue. I was going to ask the story behind the first engine he bought, also a couple other questions about grandpa, and tell him one of the stories about his dad I heard at the engine show this past summer. Finally, I think he would probably have given me, or at least let me borrow, those engines if he still had them and I asked. He knew how involved I was with grandpa in the whole hobby. I hadn't gotten around to making the call yet and I guess I shouldn't have waited because, if you hadn't guessed from the past tense, UB passed away on Tuesday. Complications from a heart attack. He was 64.
So the whole thing is a major bummer. I'm sad I now don't have a chance to cultivate some little sort of relationship with him and that I'm not sure if getting those engines is even possible. Mom is torn up, despite not having a close relationship with him for 35+ years, that her favorite sibling has passed away. No service is set yet, but I suppose I will go to it even though I won't know anybody there. Weird thing to say about someone as close in the family tree as an uncle, but I think it's the right thing to do.
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
Reading
39. The Squares of the City - Brunner
Another disappointing one from Brunner. It started out pretty good and then quickly lost me. I made it 50 pages from the end before I bailed and am gonna cheat and count it anyway. Come to find out he wrote the book modeled after an actual game of chess. Each character represents and piece and every move in the particular game he chose is supposed to be represented in the book. Sort of gimmicky and the book comes across that way.
40. Red Mars - Robinson
I've been carrying around a used copy of this for years now. Upon reading some of Casey Handmer's SpaceX blog posts (per @SavingWithBabies recommendation in their Starlink thread) my interest in space colonization reached a new pique. I'm eating it up on this long weekend. Tea + cat asleep on my lap + reading a hundred pages has been a nice start to each of these three days. The book is pretty optimistic about on the technological hurdle colonizing Mars would involve. Halfway through (and a quarter century into the colonization) and there's been nary a mention of disaster along the way. Instead the book focuses mostly on the social and political problems involved.
I've always had a strong romantic streak in me regarding space colonization. I feel like if I had been born at a time when volunteers for a colony were being chosen I would sign up for evaluation in a heartbeat. Being part of (and feeling like a part of) something so much larger than myself sounds very nice. Getting away from our excessively individualistic society sounds refreshing to the bit of idealist in me.
Ultimately my desire for those feelings of community and shared vision probably stem from my own feelings of alienation which are definitely due to more internal factors than external. I can definitely get closer to the dream with my own self improvement. But I do nonetheless feel that an endeavor so thoroughly strenuous and difficult as attempting to colonize mars with a bunch of other humans would be the perfect environment for such a change. It's neither here nor there since if such a thing happens in my lifetime I'll of course be way too old for consideration.
39. The Squares of the City - Brunner
Another disappointing one from Brunner. It started out pretty good and then quickly lost me. I made it 50 pages from the end before I bailed and am gonna cheat and count it anyway. Come to find out he wrote the book modeled after an actual game of chess. Each character represents and piece and every move in the particular game he chose is supposed to be represented in the book. Sort of gimmicky and the book comes across that way.
40. Red Mars - Robinson
I've been carrying around a used copy of this for years now. Upon reading some of Casey Handmer's SpaceX blog posts (per @SavingWithBabies recommendation in their Starlink thread) my interest in space colonization reached a new pique. I'm eating it up on this long weekend. Tea + cat asleep on my lap + reading a hundred pages has been a nice start to each of these three days. The book is pretty optimistic about on the technological hurdle colonizing Mars would involve. Halfway through (and a quarter century into the colonization) and there's been nary a mention of disaster along the way. Instead the book focuses mostly on the social and political problems involved.
I've always had a strong romantic streak in me regarding space colonization. I feel like if I had been born at a time when volunteers for a colony were being chosen I would sign up for evaluation in a heartbeat. Being part of (and feeling like a part of) something so much larger than myself sounds very nice. Getting away from our excessively individualistic society sounds refreshing to the bit of idealist in me.
Ultimately my desire for those feelings of community and shared vision probably stem from my own feelings of alienation which are definitely due to more internal factors than external. I can definitely get closer to the dream with my own self improvement. But I do nonetheless feel that an endeavor so thoroughly strenuous and difficult as attempting to colonize mars with a bunch of other humans would be the perfect environment for such a change. It's neither here nor there since if such a thing happens in my lifetime I'll of course be way too old for consideration.
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jacob
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Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
KRS also wrote Antarctica which IIRC there was a renegade colonization of Antarctica story line going on on top of everything else.
That might be easier than Mars. At least the air is breathable, there's water, the air is slightly warmer, and it's less than 24 hrs away
That might be easier than Mars. At least the air is breathable, there's water, the air is slightly warmer, and it's less than 24 hrs away
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
But it just wouldn't be the same without all dust! haha
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
Work
Things are slowing down. Two major projects got pushed off till late spring. Lay-offs are coming down the pike. This is definitely the tightest the company has been work/crew ratio wise since I started. While I can't be sure what's going to happen I think it's likely I'm safe for now. Being paid less than a journeyman and being very competent is good incentive to keep me around. I'm probably in the mid-hanging fruit level and I do have two of the favorite foreman who think I'm the bees knees, which certainly doesn't hurt.
I'm on a project within walking distance right now. I haven't been able to walk to work since before I started plumbing and it's been very nice. Gives me some ample music listening time and frees me from the urgency I sometimes feel while biking. Since I can travel relatively quickly while biking I often feel like I should time everything out to the minute to maximize my time not traveling. Since walking takes longer I completely lose that tendency and simply give myself enough time to go where I need in a relaxed and leisurely manner.
This is the 4th job I've been on with a tower crane. The other three tower cranes have been bolted to a large and thick concrete pad. This crane only has four feet set in maybe a 30 foot square.
It's crazy to me that a boom that extends nearly 200 feet stands on such a narrow base. That's obviously a lot of weight stacked on it, but jeez... Talking to the bellman this crane is rated for 5 tons at the tip. It's also one with a stationary counterweight and I wonder how much the crane is weighted to the rear sans load. When the crane is coming to a stop after turning you can watch the vertical frame flex A LOT. It's freaky.
The first week I was at this job I did nothing but pressure test waste systems I had no hand in installing. The rubber in the shielded couplings used to fasten caste iron pipe together were not holding well considering it was the coldest week of the fall so far. It was a very frustrating and slow week and has made me appreciate just how much faster the day goes when I'm installing pipe like I was this last week.
Baking
I've been making some leaps and bounds with my baking lately. I've been trying to continue to push my comfort zone with the recipes I choose. This was my very first attempt at challah that I tried on Monday. It browned faster than I was expecting so I wasn't able to bake it long enough for the crevices between the plaits to brown and achieve a completely uniform color, but I'm pretty proud of that for a first try anyway so I have to show it off. Now the hard part: replication!
Funny Anecdote
Anybody ever played the card game Pit? In the game you're trading commodity cards (such as wheat, barley or corn) in an attempt to "corner the market", i.e. get all 8 cards of one type, at which point you ring the bell in the middle of the table and win the round. I used to play it with my family and when my GF had her annual Halloween party in October I convinced 8 people to play. They were all skeptical but before long everybody was drunkenly and boisterously trading in an attempt to ring that bell first. One of the folks who played, who I did not know prior to the party a who does not know of my meager financial literacy, has now solicited me for investment advice! Hahahaha, I had to let them down easy and say that I don't actually know anything even though I like the game.
Things are slowing down. Two major projects got pushed off till late spring. Lay-offs are coming down the pike. This is definitely the tightest the company has been work/crew ratio wise since I started. While I can't be sure what's going to happen I think it's likely I'm safe for now. Being paid less than a journeyman and being very competent is good incentive to keep me around. I'm probably in the mid-hanging fruit level and I do have two of the favorite foreman who think I'm the bees knees, which certainly doesn't hurt.
I'm on a project within walking distance right now. I haven't been able to walk to work since before I started plumbing and it's been very nice. Gives me some ample music listening time and frees me from the urgency I sometimes feel while biking. Since I can travel relatively quickly while biking I often feel like I should time everything out to the minute to maximize my time not traveling. Since walking takes longer I completely lose that tendency and simply give myself enough time to go where I need in a relaxed and leisurely manner.
This is the 4th job I've been on with a tower crane. The other three tower cranes have been bolted to a large and thick concrete pad. This crane only has four feet set in maybe a 30 foot square.
It's crazy to me that a boom that extends nearly 200 feet stands on such a narrow base. That's obviously a lot of weight stacked on it, but jeez... Talking to the bellman this crane is rated for 5 tons at the tip. It's also one with a stationary counterweight and I wonder how much the crane is weighted to the rear sans load. When the crane is coming to a stop after turning you can watch the vertical frame flex A LOT. It's freaky.
The first week I was at this job I did nothing but pressure test waste systems I had no hand in installing. The rubber in the shielded couplings used to fasten caste iron pipe together were not holding well considering it was the coldest week of the fall so far. It was a very frustrating and slow week and has made me appreciate just how much faster the day goes when I'm installing pipe like I was this last week.
Baking
I've been making some leaps and bounds with my baking lately. I've been trying to continue to push my comfort zone with the recipes I choose. This was my very first attempt at challah that I tried on Monday. It browned faster than I was expecting so I wasn't able to bake it long enough for the crevices between the plaits to brown and achieve a completely uniform color, but I'm pretty proud of that for a first try anyway so I have to show it off. Now the hard part: replication!
Funny Anecdote
Anybody ever played the card game Pit? In the game you're trading commodity cards (such as wheat, barley or corn) in an attempt to "corner the market", i.e. get all 8 cards of one type, at which point you ring the bell in the middle of the table and win the round. I used to play it with my family and when my GF had her annual Halloween party in October I convinced 8 people to play. They were all skeptical but before long everybody was drunkenly and boisterously trading in an attempt to ring that bell first. One of the folks who played, who I did not know prior to the party a who does not know of my meager financial literacy, has now solicited me for investment advice! Hahahaha, I had to let them down easy and say that I don't actually know anything even though I like the game.
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
November Update
Spending
Rent - 250
Groceries - 157.61
X-mas gifts - 131.99
Urgent Care - 48.33
2x eating out - 36.25
Internet - 35
Engine projects - 33.84
Oil & Filter - 29.98
Phone - 17.93
9" Tart Tin - 14.99
Movie Rental - 3.99
Net Worth
Up 6.146% from last month. If this market rally holds I'll pretty easily reach my doubled NW stretch goal. I only need to save $3,000 more to reach that number. Approximately 79% of that net worth increase will be money I saved. And the even better news is I just realized I misread my spreadsheet and my NW will have actually doubled since Jan. 31st. As of right now my NW doubled in the 11 months from Dec. 31st 2018 to Dec. 1st 2019.
Investments
Now that I have arbitrarily deemed my number somewhat sizeable I need to start making an improved investment plan. To that end I'm going to go into a little more detail here. I plan to adjust to my yet to be determined preferred allocation using next year's contributions. Once I reach my allocation I'll then worry about re-balancing from then on.
Breakdown
Cash - 24.47% (Checking, Savings, and HY Savings)
Bonds - 10.81%
41. Green Mars
42. Clark: the Autobiography of Clark Terry. Badass trumpet/flugelhorn player who's long been a favorite of mine. Oldschool jazz player autobiographies are always full of the most ridiculous anecdotes. This one isn't disappointing.
Spending
Rent - 250
Groceries - 157.61
X-mas gifts - 131.99
Urgent Care - 48.33
2x eating out - 36.25
Internet - 35
Engine projects - 33.84
Oil & Filter - 29.98
Phone - 17.93
9" Tart Tin - 14.99
Movie Rental - 3.99
Net Worth
Up 6.146% from last month. If this market rally holds I'll pretty easily reach my doubled NW stretch goal. I only need to save $3,000 more to reach that number. Approximately 79% of that net worth increase will be money I saved. And the even better news is I just realized I misread my spreadsheet and my NW will have actually doubled since Jan. 31st. As of right now my NW doubled in the 11 months from Dec. 31st 2018 to Dec. 1st 2019.
Investments
Now that I have arbitrarily deemed my number somewhat sizeable I need to start making an improved investment plan. To that end I'm going to go into a little more detail here. I plan to adjust to my yet to be determined preferred allocation using next year's contributions. Once I reach my allocation I'll then worry about re-balancing from then on.
Breakdown
Cash - 24.47% (Checking, Savings, and HY Savings)
Bonds - 10.81%
- MetWest Total Return Bond Fund - 4.19% (401K)
- Vanguard Intermediate Bond Index - 6.62% (Roth IRA, tIRA)
- Mainstay McKay SP500 Index - 32.45% (401k)
- VTSAX - 32.27% (tIRA, Taxable)
- As I mentioned earlier in this journal I would like a more conservative portfolio since future returns affect success rate far more than they chop time off my relatively short path to FI.
- I'm going to continue to bulk my cash reserves for two reasons. First, that cash is what I consider my emergency/FU fund and while it's plenty large for about any emergency I can think of I would like it to be equally large if/when my expenses go up (read: I end up buying a house). Second, if I do buy a house not only will my FU fund need to be larger to cover my increased expenses, but I want to be putting a good chunk down as well. Increasing my cash holdings by about 60% will give me enough to put 20% down and still have over 2 years living expenses saved at my approximate mortgage included spending rate.
- I'm going to continue adding more to bonds. Probably won't go over 20% of my total NW to bonds, though.
- Reading this thread https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/inves ... s-v-gurus/ pretty much convinced me it's probably in my best interest to hold my than just Total Market/Total Bond. I don't want to get too complicated and throw in a bunch of more or less random funds just for the sake of holding them (though that does seem to be somewhat the point that thread was getting at). On Tyler9000's site the construction of the PinWheel Portfolio makes the most intuitive sense to me, but I ultimately have very little knowledge base to use to make judgement calls about this stuff. The tentative plan is to start molding the part of my portfolio that isn't my FU/Home Buying stash into something vaguely pinwheel like.
41. Green Mars
42. Clark: the Autobiography of Clark Terry. Badass trumpet/flugelhorn player who's long been a favorite of mine. Oldschool jazz player autobiographies are always full of the most ridiculous anecdotes. This one isn't disappointing.
Last edited by Cheepnis on Sun Mar 28, 2021 7:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
Engine Projects
Got that 1.5hp Model M (pictured a few posts ago) running. First run in 30+ years. Now that it's running I built a little battery box for it that I mounted under the head. Here's a video link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhBOpDO ... e=youtu.be I'll be taking it back and swapping it for another project (a 2.25 hp Associated) when I visit my parents for x-mas. The other little engine I've got here is 1.5hp Little Jumbo. I had it running a while back and I haven't been able to get it started since! Persnickety bastard. Probably go out and tinker on it this afternoon.
Purchasing MO
I've always operated on the patience principle: that things cost less if you're patient. You can either make the purchase when it's on sale, or wait to find one used, or get creative and find a completely different solution. I'm becoming increasingly worried this will not be the case with homes in my area. I live in one of the parts of the country with a somewhat anomalous housing market. We've got real estate refugees coming from all directions using the equity from their old house to purchase a nicer house here for cash. That doesn't seem like it will end anytime soon.
Long term, if I were to live here my whole life, this area will be an early refuge as various southern climate concerns crop up. Unfortunately it seems I would have to travel 1000 miles inland to start finding housing markets that are more amenable to my budget and I don't think I really want to live in, say, Nebraska. I'm not going to be rushing into anything, yet I do think that the ingredients for mostly unimpeded upward spiraling, regardless of what's going on nationally, are chopped and ready for use in neat little prep bowls.
Did you know this recipe which requires 12 different chopped vegetables and 5 quantities of different liquids only takes 10 Minutes and is soooo easy? Hahaha, I like pushing myself in the kitchen, but some of those blogs are straight up delusional about their prep time estimates.
Got that 1.5hp Model M (pictured a few posts ago) running. First run in 30+ years. Now that it's running I built a little battery box for it that I mounted under the head. Here's a video link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhBOpDO ... e=youtu.be I'll be taking it back and swapping it for another project (a 2.25 hp Associated) when I visit my parents for x-mas. The other little engine I've got here is 1.5hp Little Jumbo. I had it running a while back and I haven't been able to get it started since! Persnickety bastard. Probably go out and tinker on it this afternoon.
Purchasing MO
I've always operated on the patience principle: that things cost less if you're patient. You can either make the purchase when it's on sale, or wait to find one used, or get creative and find a completely different solution. I'm becoming increasingly worried this will not be the case with homes in my area. I live in one of the parts of the country with a somewhat anomalous housing market. We've got real estate refugees coming from all directions using the equity from their old house to purchase a nicer house here for cash. That doesn't seem like it will end anytime soon.
Long term, if I were to live here my whole life, this area will be an early refuge as various southern climate concerns crop up. Unfortunately it seems I would have to travel 1000 miles inland to start finding housing markets that are more amenable to my budget and I don't think I really want to live in, say, Nebraska. I'm not going to be rushing into anything, yet I do think that the ingredients for mostly unimpeded upward spiraling, regardless of what's going on nationally, are chopped and ready for use in neat little prep bowls.
Did you know this recipe which requires 12 different chopped vegetables and 5 quantities of different liquids only takes 10 Minutes and is soooo easy? Hahaha, I like pushing myself in the kitchen, but some of those blogs are straight up delusional about their prep time estimates.
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
Reading
43. Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo
I think I enjoyed* them in about that order. Phaedo was definitely last. Not only the longest but I had a much harder time keeping my attention on it.
*90% chance my enjoyment is strongly correlated with my understanding of them
44. Lee Morgan - His LIfe, Music, and Culture
Another badass trumpet player. 18 years younger than Terry and dying at only 33, he was a prodigy in his time. The book was written a half century following his death so, by necessity, relies mainly on accounts of a few people still alive who knew him and the social/economic/musical history surrounding him.
On to...
45. Blue Mars
Has been great so far. Really opened with a bang. Will probably be my last book for the year. So I'm going to fall 5 short of my 50 book goal.
Pinochle
I come from a card playing family. Grandma and Grandpa coming over was synonymous with a long night of Pinochle, light competition, and shit talking. Being mostly bored and having nothing to say during the conversation at the break table (at work) I brought in a deck a few weeks back. Had to start by convincing one person to learn the game. It's grown to four now, which is good because four handed is the most fun.
I like having activities or topics to focus my socializing around. Something like pinochle allows for light competition, but isn't so heavy the conversation can't turn to other things. Once the talking is over the game acts a safety net for the group. It makes morning break and lunch soooo much better. I didn't think it would be quite so hard to get 4 of 14 guys on the job willing to play some cards. We've finally got a little group of 4 going. I suspected the declinations were due to issues of masculinity and have since had some confirmation with comments along the lines of "pinochle is gay" or "I only play serious games like poker".
Hahahaha I don't know when cards became an effeminate activity. In that light it's no surprise 3/4 of us card players are the only "libs" that are on the job and everyone else is more of the MAGA variety. It's a cliche, but absolutely true that we live in completely different worlds. It's kind of amazing. Several of my coworkers still try to get under my skin in that typical schoolyard manner and are continually surprised I play along instead of getting offended. Middle school shame tactics don't work much on me and it doesn't compute.
Anyway, we're expanding into cribbage now. I love pinochle & cribbage, I go to bed at 9 and get up at 5 every day, and I think about retirement planning way to much. When my gf tells me I'm 70 at heart I think she might be right.
Gambling
Get ready for the most un-FI phrase ever uttered, I'll lesson the blow by starting with a BIG qualification: if the money is fake, gambling is a lot of fun! Company Christmas party was last weekend and there's always game tables with fake money gambling late into the night/morning. I was at the craps table for 3 hours because craps is the most ridiculous game. At the end you cash your chips in for raffle tickets. This year I won a $500 amazon gift card. My half of that will be turning into work boots for the next couple years.
43. Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo
I think I enjoyed* them in about that order. Phaedo was definitely last. Not only the longest but I had a much harder time keeping my attention on it.
*90% chance my enjoyment is strongly correlated with my understanding of them
44. Lee Morgan - His LIfe, Music, and Culture
Another badass trumpet player. 18 years younger than Terry and dying at only 33, he was a prodigy in his time. The book was written a half century following his death so, by necessity, relies mainly on accounts of a few people still alive who knew him and the social/economic/musical history surrounding him.
On to...
45. Blue Mars
Has been great so far. Really opened with a bang. Will probably be my last book for the year. So I'm going to fall 5 short of my 50 book goal.
Pinochle
I come from a card playing family. Grandma and Grandpa coming over was synonymous with a long night of Pinochle, light competition, and shit talking. Being mostly bored and having nothing to say during the conversation at the break table (at work) I brought in a deck a few weeks back. Had to start by convincing one person to learn the game. It's grown to four now, which is good because four handed is the most fun.
I like having activities or topics to focus my socializing around. Something like pinochle allows for light competition, but isn't so heavy the conversation can't turn to other things. Once the talking is over the game acts a safety net for the group. It makes morning break and lunch soooo much better. I didn't think it would be quite so hard to get 4 of 14 guys on the job willing to play some cards. We've finally got a little group of 4 going. I suspected the declinations were due to issues of masculinity and have since had some confirmation with comments along the lines of "pinochle is gay" or "I only play serious games like poker".
Hahahaha I don't know when cards became an effeminate activity. In that light it's no surprise 3/4 of us card players are the only "libs" that are on the job and everyone else is more of the MAGA variety. It's a cliche, but absolutely true that we live in completely different worlds. It's kind of amazing. Several of my coworkers still try to get under my skin in that typical schoolyard manner and are continually surprised I play along instead of getting offended. Middle school shame tactics don't work much on me and it doesn't compute.
Anyway, we're expanding into cribbage now. I love pinochle & cribbage, I go to bed at 9 and get up at 5 every day, and I think about retirement planning way to much. When my gf tells me I'm 70 at heart I think she might be right.
Gambling
Get ready for the most un-FI phrase ever uttered, I'll lesson the blow by starting with a BIG qualification: if the money is fake, gambling is a lot of fun! Company Christmas party was last weekend and there's always game tables with fake money gambling late into the night/morning. I was at the craps table for 3 hours because craps is the most ridiculous game. At the end you cash your chips in for raffle tickets. This year I won a $500 amazon gift card. My half of that will be turning into work boots for the next couple years.
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Mister Imperceptible
- Posts: 1669
- Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2017 4:18 pm
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
For us it’s Cribbage and Forty-Fives.(*)
(*)My father and uncles became so proficient at Forty-Fives years ago that they had to stop playing because everyone else who envy the Imperceptibles were trying to cheat them. For example, I can cough to let my partner know I have hearts, or pull upon my earlobe to indicate to him that I have spades, and hum a tune if I’ve made a risky bid and I want my partner to outbid me if he has a good hand. Only play team Forty-Fives for money if you plan to get into a fist-fight.
My father stopped playing Cribbage when we started playing for small sums and realized he just kept paying out losses. It was not the $1 losses so much as the demoralization factor. I spent my whole youth losing to him and enduring his taunts and he did not appreciate the tables being turned. Now he won’t even play without stakes.
(*)My father and uncles became so proficient at Forty-Fives years ago that they had to stop playing because everyone else who envy the Imperceptibles were trying to cheat them. For example, I can cough to let my partner know I have hearts, or pull upon my earlobe to indicate to him that I have spades, and hum a tune if I’ve made a risky bid and I want my partner to outbid me if he has a good hand. Only play team Forty-Fives for money if you plan to get into a fist-fight.
My father stopped playing Cribbage when we started playing for small sums and realized he just kept paying out losses. It was not the $1 losses so much as the demoralization factor. I spent my whole youth losing to him and enduring his taunts and he did not appreciate the tables being turned. Now he won’t even play without stakes.
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
December Update
Spending
Rent - 250
Eating Out x8 - 136.11
Groceries - 106.2
Gifts - 84.38
Records - 42.99
Gas - 42.95
Internet - 35
Phone - 17.93
Engine Projects - 11.31
MISC - 0.75
Wow, horrendous month for indulgences in general. Hit the record store and ate out way too much.
2019 Review
2019 Savings Rate: 79.54%*
Goals going in:
1 - Read 50 Books
2 - Spend under $10,000
I failed on both accounts, but I don't feel bad about it. I read 45 books and spent a total of $11,746.1. There was a pretty big dip in reading pace during July and August, but other than that I kept a book/week pace. If we take out the Ireland trip expenses I spent under 10k. As it is I already spent $1,223.64 less than last year anyway. Taking out all the engine project expenses I'd be closer to 9k. Taking the trip out is a reasonable assumption because travel is not a major priority of mine, however removing money spent on other projects or activities -- engine related or not -- is probably not reasonable. I always like having stuff to do/work on and I'm entirely unsure just how high on the wheaton scale I will ever make it.
All in all I'd say this year was a great success.
*Humblebrag: if we want to get really nit-picky about it my true savings rate is above 80% because I do not include vacation pay, which is deposited into another account**, as part of my income in my spreadsheet calculations. I don't track the vacation account as it's only $1.50 per hour that goes in there and I'm to lazy to alter my spreadsheet to both accurately display my actual debit account balance and incorporate this other random money that it doesn't otherwise know exists into my pay/SR/WR/and other calculations. So basically I save a bit more than my spreadsheet says I do.
**We "pay ourselves" for time off by having a portion of our pay go into a separate account to draw from when we take time off. It's stupid and unnecessarily cumbersome.
Spending
Rent - 250
Eating Out x8 - 136.11
Groceries - 106.2
Gifts - 84.38
Records - 42.99
Gas - 42.95
Internet - 35
Phone - 17.93
Engine Projects - 11.31
MISC - 0.75
Wow, horrendous month for indulgences in general. Hit the record store and ate out way too much.
2019 Review
2019 Savings Rate: 79.54%*
Goals going in:
1 - Read 50 Books
2 - Spend under $10,000
I failed on both accounts, but I don't feel bad about it. I read 45 books and spent a total of $11,746.1. There was a pretty big dip in reading pace during July and August, but other than that I kept a book/week pace. If we take out the Ireland trip expenses I spent under 10k. As it is I already spent $1,223.64 less than last year anyway. Taking out all the engine project expenses I'd be closer to 9k. Taking the trip out is a reasonable assumption because travel is not a major priority of mine, however removing money spent on other projects or activities -- engine related or not -- is probably not reasonable. I always like having stuff to do/work on and I'm entirely unsure just how high on the wheaton scale I will ever make it.
All in all I'd say this year was a great success.
*Humblebrag: if we want to get really nit-picky about it my true savings rate is above 80% because I do not include vacation pay, which is deposited into another account**, as part of my income in my spreadsheet calculations. I don't track the vacation account as it's only $1.50 per hour that goes in there and I'm to lazy to alter my spreadsheet to both accurately display my actual debit account balance and incorporate this other random money that it doesn't otherwise know exists into my pay/SR/WR/and other calculations. So basically I save a bit more than my spreadsheet says I do.
**We "pay ourselves" for time off by having a portion of our pay go into a separate account to draw from when we take time off. It's stupid and unnecessarily cumbersome.
Last edited by Cheepnis on Sun Mar 28, 2021 7:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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mooretrees
- Posts: 764
- Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2019 1:21 pm
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
Dude your numbers are so awesome! I went back to look at your early posts because I started to get curious about what you were planning next. You seem like you are on the fast track to ERE. I think you have 2 1/2 years to finish your training? If your housing situation stays the same, what are you thinking about doing when you finish training? That time will go back quickly and if your spending stays the same (or lowers) then you'll be in an amazing position to start making different choices than full time work.
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
Thanks, mooretrees! If the stock market were to keep this up I'd be at 4% SWR (at my current expenses) in about 2.5-3 years, you're correct. I'm pretty much counting on the market not continuing this behavior throughout my accumulation phase, so that is tempering my expectations. For my FI calculations in my spreadsheet I'm using a 3% SWR which increases my required savings by about 100k or basically two years of working w/o returns.
Those very loose projections all required my housing expenses to remain absurdly low. There's really only two options I see that could keep them this low following this arrangement: 1) van living or 2) owning a small house outright*. While the whole van thing is vaguely alluring to the hipster millennial in me I am not at all a nomad or free spirit and am reasonably certain I wouldn't at all like it.
*Which would still likely result in a slight increase
I think a decent option once I reach my base FI would be to buy a house and continue working for a few years until it's paid off at which point I'd be fully FI. I've detailed some issues with buying a house several times upthread. As far as ER endgame there are other things to consider on that front. In order to buy a house I would obviously have to keep working, which would require me to buy in the state I work in, which is not a good state tax-wise to retire in. Buying a house, spending 3-4 years aggressively paying it off, only to turn around and sell it seems like a poor financial choice. While I do mostly like where I live it will take longer to reach FI if I don't move somewhere else.
Ultimately I don't really know. I could see myself in 5-7 years being very close to FI and requesting part time work with the caveat that if they're unwilling I'll quit. I don't know. I'm not unhappy with where I'm at, what I'm working towards, and what I spend my time doing right now. I'm still locked into 18 months of apprenticeship so my attitude might change once I have that lifted off my shoulders. In the mean time I'm doing my best to take it one day at a time.
Those very loose projections all required my housing expenses to remain absurdly low. There's really only two options I see that could keep them this low following this arrangement: 1) van living or 2) owning a small house outright*. While the whole van thing is vaguely alluring to the hipster millennial in me I am not at all a nomad or free spirit and am reasonably certain I wouldn't at all like it.
*Which would still likely result in a slight increase
I think a decent option once I reach my base FI would be to buy a house and continue working for a few years until it's paid off at which point I'd be fully FI. I've detailed some issues with buying a house several times upthread. As far as ER endgame there are other things to consider on that front. In order to buy a house I would obviously have to keep working, which would require me to buy in the state I work in, which is not a good state tax-wise to retire in. Buying a house, spending 3-4 years aggressively paying it off, only to turn around and sell it seems like a poor financial choice. While I do mostly like where I live it will take longer to reach FI if I don't move somewhere else.
Ultimately I don't really know. I could see myself in 5-7 years being very close to FI and requesting part time work with the caveat that if they're unwilling I'll quit. I don't know. I'm not unhappy with where I'm at, what I'm working towards, and what I spend my time doing right now. I'm still locked into 18 months of apprenticeship so my attitude might change once I have that lifted off my shoulders. In the mean time I'm doing my best to take it one day at a time.
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
2020 Outlook
Goals
Last year I had the two publicly stated goal: to read 50 books and spend <$10,000. I'd like to keep this reading pace up so I'm sticking with that goal for 2020. I'm already nearly 4% of the way there too! I might as well set another $10,000 spending goal. There will be no big trip this year, which will help greatly. No expected large expenses either. I will be attending some more concerts than last year, an area I really cut back on in 2019, and I do have a few small trips planned, but it should be doable.
I want to add another publicly accountable goal for this year. To that end I was toying around with the idea of setting a 1000 mile running goal. Upon further reflection I think 1000 miles is a little steep. I've maintained a 20m/w pace before, but never for a full year, and I'm not currently in that kind of shape. On top of that my two nights/week of class effectively means I'm required to run m/w/f/s/s (assuming I'm running 4 miles 5x/w) and I'd much prefer a 2on/1off/3on/1off schedule opposed to the 4on/1off/1on/1off. As it stands now I'm setting a 500 mile goal. which I expect to overshoot easily.
I really enjoy running and have sorely missed how great I feel when I exercise regularly.
Money
The GF and I are changing how we split expenses. It's been rather unscientific so far with me paying car insurance/internet/larger portion of rent and she paying electric. We're going to split rent/power/internet/car insurance/and groceries even now. I think the net result will be slightly lower bills for me and slightly higher for her, but not a major change for either. I think this gives us more solid ground for future spending evaluations/decisions. This will also force her to keep track of her expenses a little more diligently and bring into clear picture just what our combined base expenses are.
Reading
1. The Creativity Code: Art and Innovation in the Age of AI - Marcus du Sautoy
Received this for Christmas. It was a little lighter read than I was expecting. A few interesting philosophical reflections on algorithm produced art and where/why art gains its value. Other than that it was mostly quick rundowns of algorithms' current capabilities in a variety of artistic fields.
2. The Tightwad Gazette I - Amy Dacyczyn
Almost finished with this. Since I don't have children or live in the 90's most of this is irrelevant to me, but it's been a light interesting read anyway. The arts and crafts guide to FI. I have bookmarked a couple recipes, craft projects, and good reuse ideas.
Engine Projects
Here's the next victim. 2-1/4hp Associated c. 1921. If the rain lets up today I'm gonna take it out, put it back together, tune up the magneto, turn it over and see what happens. This one doesn't have many issues. The timing is correct, compression is good, fuel lines and mixer free of debris. Only real ? is the ignition.
Goals
Last year I had the two publicly stated goal: to read 50 books and spend <$10,000. I'd like to keep this reading pace up so I'm sticking with that goal for 2020. I'm already nearly 4% of the way there too! I might as well set another $10,000 spending goal. There will be no big trip this year, which will help greatly. No expected large expenses either. I will be attending some more concerts than last year, an area I really cut back on in 2019, and I do have a few small trips planned, but it should be doable.
I want to add another publicly accountable goal for this year. To that end I was toying around with the idea of setting a 1000 mile running goal. Upon further reflection I think 1000 miles is a little steep. I've maintained a 20m/w pace before, but never for a full year, and I'm not currently in that kind of shape. On top of that my two nights/week of class effectively means I'm required to run m/w/f/s/s (assuming I'm running 4 miles 5x/w) and I'd much prefer a 2on/1off/3on/1off schedule opposed to the 4on/1off/1on/1off. As it stands now I'm setting a 500 mile goal. which I expect to overshoot easily.
I really enjoy running and have sorely missed how great I feel when I exercise regularly.
Money
The GF and I are changing how we split expenses. It's been rather unscientific so far with me paying car insurance/internet/larger portion of rent and she paying electric. We're going to split rent/power/internet/car insurance/and groceries even now. I think the net result will be slightly lower bills for me and slightly higher for her, but not a major change for either. I think this gives us more solid ground for future spending evaluations/decisions. This will also force her to keep track of her expenses a little more diligently and bring into clear picture just what our combined base expenses are.
Reading
1. The Creativity Code: Art and Innovation in the Age of AI - Marcus du Sautoy
Received this for Christmas. It was a little lighter read than I was expecting. A few interesting philosophical reflections on algorithm produced art and where/why art gains its value. Other than that it was mostly quick rundowns of algorithms' current capabilities in a variety of artistic fields.
2. The Tightwad Gazette I - Amy Dacyczyn
Almost finished with this. Since I don't have children or live in the 90's most of this is irrelevant to me, but it's been a light interesting read anyway. The arts and crafts guide to FI. I have bookmarked a couple recipes, craft projects, and good reuse ideas.
Engine Projects
Here's the next victim. 2-1/4hp Associated c. 1921. If the rain lets up today I'm gonna take it out, put it back together, tune up the magneto, turn it over and see what happens. This one doesn't have many issues. The timing is correct, compression is good, fuel lines and mixer free of debris. Only real ? is the ignition.
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mooretrees
- Posts: 764
- Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2019 1:21 pm
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
Ha ha, "don't live in the 90's"! The best and simplest recipe for making yogurt with a cooler was in one of the Frugal Gazettes. I do have a kid so maybe I should go reread it.....
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
I have a lot of admiration for Dacyczyn's problem solving. I read the full 900 page collection years ago. It does get repetitive.
There was a catch up interview with her in 2009:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AUFyD-FTf-E
I saw it as cautionary. The frugality seems to have become her identity, rather than a tool. It's not the path I wanted to follow and caused some course correction.
There was a catch up interview with her in 2009:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AUFyD-FTf-E
I saw it as cautionary. The frugality seems to have become her identity, rather than a tool. It's not the path I wanted to follow and caused some course correction.
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
@Scott2, I can see how you get that from that interview. I think it's probably hard to avoid some identity shift when you're so well known for something. The 5-minute local news segment is also just a terrible vehicle for expounding on a topic like frugality or FI.
Reading
3. Clay's Ark - Octavia Butler
My brother's been on me for a while about how awesome Octavia Butler is. Clay's Ark did not disappoint. Found out it's actually a prequel (published last) to her Patternist series. So that's on hold at the library now.
4. Coltrane: The Story of A Sound - Ben Ratliff
The book is solely about the driving factors in Coltrane's life that caused him to make the musical decisions and frequent reinventions he did. To that end it's not much at all of a biography but a run down of his recorded output with history of the influences/inspirations leading up to the recordings. It's definitely inspired me to go back and listen to some of Coltrane's music I didn't give it's full due back in my saxophone days.
Running
Days ran: 5
Miles ran: 20.5
I've got a plethora of distance options by combining different sets of footbridges on the river. The shortest loop I can make is 4.1 miles (+ a block and a half cooldown walk to the front door). I've ran that 5 times now. While I'm old enough my body has plateaued physically and I'm looking the long decline directly in the face, I'm still young enough I'm experiencing very quick improvement. While I'm not setting any time goals I'm naturally inclined on shorter runs to push myself in that metric since the distance isn't an issue.
1st run: legs felt it day after, got a side-ache partway through
2nd run: got a side ache in the last 1/4 mile, legs felt fine
3rd run: broke 40 minutes from living room to living room
4th run: broke 37 minutes from living room to living room
5th run: took a nice easy Saturday morning jaunt and intentionally kept the pace down
Back in "the day" I'd do this same run in 30 minutes. I think it will take me a while to get there, but I expect that isn't out of the question by the end of the year.
Posting HQ
Spent yesterday converting the lower half of a built in bookcase in the front room to a desk. This project cost me exactly $0 and will allow me to get rid of my big ugly desk at which time the great furniture shuffle of 2020 will commence and hopefully we'll be able to set the apartment up a little bit better.
Reading
3. Clay's Ark - Octavia Butler
My brother's been on me for a while about how awesome Octavia Butler is. Clay's Ark did not disappoint. Found out it's actually a prequel (published last) to her Patternist series. So that's on hold at the library now.
4. Coltrane: The Story of A Sound - Ben Ratliff
The book is solely about the driving factors in Coltrane's life that caused him to make the musical decisions and frequent reinventions he did. To that end it's not much at all of a biography but a run down of his recorded output with history of the influences/inspirations leading up to the recordings. It's definitely inspired me to go back and listen to some of Coltrane's music I didn't give it's full due back in my saxophone days.
Running
Days ran: 5
Miles ran: 20.5
I've got a plethora of distance options by combining different sets of footbridges on the river. The shortest loop I can make is 4.1 miles (+ a block and a half cooldown walk to the front door). I've ran that 5 times now. While I'm old enough my body has plateaued physically and I'm looking the long decline directly in the face, I'm still young enough I'm experiencing very quick improvement. While I'm not setting any time goals I'm naturally inclined on shorter runs to push myself in that metric since the distance isn't an issue.
1st run: legs felt it day after, got a side-ache partway through
2nd run: got a side ache in the last 1/4 mile, legs felt fine
3rd run: broke 40 minutes from living room to living room
4th run: broke 37 minutes from living room to living room
5th run: took a nice easy Saturday morning jaunt and intentionally kept the pace down
Back in "the day" I'd do this same run in 30 minutes. I think it will take me a while to get there, but I expect that isn't out of the question by the end of the year.
Posting HQ
Spent yesterday converting the lower half of a built in bookcase in the front room to a desk. This project cost me exactly $0 and will allow me to get rid of my big ugly desk at which time the great furniture shuffle of 2020 will commence and hopefully we'll be able to set the apartment up a little bit better.
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
Reading
5. The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape The Future - Vali Nasr
I found it surprisingly hard to follow because I had a hard time keeping all the names straight. The author does seem to have been onto something considering everything that's gone down since the book was published in 2007.
6. John Coltrane - Bill Cole
Very Disappointing. It was extremely disjointed with no clear organizational purpose to the chapters. Chapter breaks left ideas half-formed. Chapter breaks split up one topic into two chapters with paragraphs reading as if there wasn't a chapter break at all. Wouldn't recommend.
On to...
Not sure.
Running
Days ran: 11
Miles ran: 45.1
Haven't set any new time benchmarks, but the runs have been feeling much better. The last three were very enjoyable. I haven't run any path other than the 4.1 mile loop so far. My other options, depending on how I combine the footbridges, are:
5.5
6.2
8.1
9.8
I can detour and run the butte while on the 4.1, 6.2, 8.1 and 9.8 loops which adds 1.5 miles. As I work back up to some moderate level of fitness I'll start interspersing the longer runs/adding the butte to keep pushing a little harder.
Saving's Rate
On track for an almost 90% SR this month. Standard income month + lowest spending month to date = sweet number.
5. The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape The Future - Vali Nasr
I found it surprisingly hard to follow because I had a hard time keeping all the names straight. The author does seem to have been onto something considering everything that's gone down since the book was published in 2007.
6. John Coltrane - Bill Cole
Very Disappointing. It was extremely disjointed with no clear organizational purpose to the chapters. Chapter breaks left ideas half-formed. Chapter breaks split up one topic into two chapters with paragraphs reading as if there wasn't a chapter break at all. Wouldn't recommend.
On to...
Not sure.
Running
Days ran: 11
Miles ran: 45.1
Haven't set any new time benchmarks, but the runs have been feeling much better. The last three were very enjoyable. I haven't run any path other than the 4.1 mile loop so far. My other options, depending on how I combine the footbridges, are:
5.5
6.2
8.1
9.8
I can detour and run the butte while on the 4.1, 6.2, 8.1 and 9.8 loops which adds 1.5 miles. As I work back up to some moderate level of fitness I'll start interspersing the longer runs/adding the butte to keep pushing a little harder.
Saving's Rate
On track for an almost 90% SR this month. Standard income month + lowest spending month to date = sweet number.
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
Just had my first case of hitting preview and having my long update go poof! Quite frustrating. Long story short: great month for savings, continuing to make progress on my reading/running goals, I've shifted gears and fine tuned my investment strategy discussed a couple months ago. Perhaps I'll feel like typing it all out again later.
Re: I Saved Some Money, Accumulated So Good
Let’s try this again: January Update
Spending
Rent – 212.5
Groceries – 103.19
Eating Out 10x – 60.48
Electricity – 48.81
Gifts – 41.12
Phone – 17.93
Internet – 17.5
Worms for the Turtle – 2.29
Thrift Store – 3.98
This is the first month under the new 50/50 split with the GF. I predicted the new arrangement would be slightly in my favor and I was correct having spent $6.19 less than I would have. The gap will be a little more pronounced in the summer time when the electrical bill goes down. Eating out was still a little high partly because I succumbed to a BOGO in the mail for my favorite local pizza joint. The 10x indicates how many meals we got out of the money spent. It’s a cheat to make myself feel better.
Reading
7. The Discourses of Epictetus
I received the Enchiridion for xmas. I did not realize it is so short. Having read that several times I decided to jump for the whole kit and caboodle. As with the Socratic dialogues I read two months ago I think my attentiveness to the text heavily correlated with my understanding/prior knowledge of the subject. For this reason the discourses will benefit from future visits, which I plan to do. On the whole they were not too bad to get through. The recent injections of stoic readings/philosophy into my life has really helped me focus on the things in my life that are going great, even if everything isn’t perfect.
8. Patternmaster – Octavia E. Butler
Very short. Very good. Octavia is not disappointing. She will be popping up quite a bit on the list this year I should think.
9. Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong – Terry Teachout
The world of academic jazz performance is primarily concerned with jazz from the bebop era (very late 30’s-late 40’s) on. With only a couple notable exceptions (Ellington and Basie foremost among them) the music of the swing era and earlier New Orleans flavored jass isn’t given hardly a passing thought outside jazz musicology circles. For whatever reason I’ve decided to undo my own academic indoctrination and round out my own knowledge a little more. To that end I have been listening to lots of early jazz lately and am now reading this book.
Running
Days Ran: 15
Miles Ran: 64.3
Frequency has dropped a little these past couple weeks. Exceptionally shitty weather is partially my excuse. I have gone on a couple of the 5.5 mile runs though and I’m still on track for the goal.
Investment Strategy
A few updates ago I posted my first ever-so-slightly specific investment strategy going forward. I sat down to work out the particulars and looking at my portfolio closer I have decided to change my previously stated strategy. The limiting factor is my 401k, which is already the largest single account in my portfolio, a situation that will only become more pronounced for the next few years.
I was not finding any good way to implement my prior goal while keeping low expense ratios. I’ve decided that, at my very low level of investing knowledge, sticking to the fundamentals is a better strategy than moving away from them for reasons I don’t fully understand. I have adjusted my strategy accordingly.
Current portfolio: ~60/40 stocks/bonds
The 60% stocks are split at almost an even 50/50 between an SP500 index in the 401k and VTSAX in my IRA/brokerage with Vanguard.
The 40% “bonds” are split 27.9% bonds and 72.1% cash.
Given that here are my goals going forward:
Spending
Rent – 212.5
Groceries – 103.19
Eating Out 10x – 60.48
Electricity – 48.81
Gifts – 41.12
Phone – 17.93
Internet – 17.5
Worms for the Turtle – 2.29
Thrift Store – 3.98
This is the first month under the new 50/50 split with the GF. I predicted the new arrangement would be slightly in my favor and I was correct having spent $6.19 less than I would have. The gap will be a little more pronounced in the summer time when the electrical bill goes down. Eating out was still a little high partly because I succumbed to a BOGO in the mail for my favorite local pizza joint. The 10x indicates how many meals we got out of the money spent. It’s a cheat to make myself feel better.
Reading
7. The Discourses of Epictetus
I received the Enchiridion for xmas. I did not realize it is so short. Having read that several times I decided to jump for the whole kit and caboodle. As with the Socratic dialogues I read two months ago I think my attentiveness to the text heavily correlated with my understanding/prior knowledge of the subject. For this reason the discourses will benefit from future visits, which I plan to do. On the whole they were not too bad to get through. The recent injections of stoic readings/philosophy into my life has really helped me focus on the things in my life that are going great, even if everything isn’t perfect.
8. Patternmaster – Octavia E. Butler
Very short. Very good. Octavia is not disappointing. She will be popping up quite a bit on the list this year I should think.
9. Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong – Terry Teachout
The world of academic jazz performance is primarily concerned with jazz from the bebop era (very late 30’s-late 40’s) on. With only a couple notable exceptions (Ellington and Basie foremost among them) the music of the swing era and earlier New Orleans flavored jass isn’t given hardly a passing thought outside jazz musicology circles. For whatever reason I’ve decided to undo my own academic indoctrination and round out my own knowledge a little more. To that end I have been listening to lots of early jazz lately and am now reading this book.
Running
Days Ran: 15
Miles Ran: 64.3
Frequency has dropped a little these past couple weeks. Exceptionally shitty weather is partially my excuse. I have gone on a couple of the 5.5 mile runs though and I’m still on track for the goal.
Investment Strategy
A few updates ago I posted my first ever-so-slightly specific investment strategy going forward. I sat down to work out the particulars and looking at my portfolio closer I have decided to change my previously stated strategy. The limiting factor is my 401k, which is already the largest single account in my portfolio, a situation that will only become more pronounced for the next few years.
I was not finding any good way to implement my prior goal while keeping low expense ratios. I’ve decided that, at my very low level of investing knowledge, sticking to the fundamentals is a better strategy than moving away from them for reasons I don’t fully understand. I have adjusted my strategy accordingly.
Current portfolio: ~60/40 stocks/bonds
The 60% stocks are split at almost an even 50/50 between an SP500 index in the 401k and VTSAX in my IRA/brokerage with Vanguard.
The 40% “bonds” are split 27.9% bonds and 72.1% cash.
Given that here are my goals going forward:
- Continue to increase cash holdings for future large downpayment and future mortgage-included FU fund
- Increase bond holdings relative to cash.
- Add a small cap value tilt to the stock side of the portfolio
- Maintain an overall 60/40 split
Last edited by Cheepnis on Sun Mar 28, 2021 7:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.