Clean Slate

[Dautsen]

There are too many ideas and things and people. Too many directions to go. I was starting to believe the reason it matters to care passionately about something, is that it whittles the world down to a more manageable size. - Charlie Kaufman

Profile
*Mid-20's, environmental engineer, job hopper,
*FI+: simple lifestyle; no attachments, no knives on my throat, hooked on slow travel = sufficient time to absorb local language, culture & cooking skills. I lived in Peru, Congo-Brazza, Crimea & China. Currently calming down & enjoying home base too.
*FI-: I'd love to "have" (breed? a football team of kids one day (*); I don't feel like retiring after 5-10 years building up a 9-5 (or 6-11) career. Another path for me.
*Random: I believe in immortality. Not the wuhu kind, but eternal life that will be proven by science one day.
*Love: grandma-dishes, Chinese smelly street dishes and almost any other foreign dish; absolutely hating to get up early but losing that feeling walking in the peep of the day, hearing birds tjirping and watching the sky glow; the smell of nature; a good homemade beer/cider on a nice terrace or mountain hill when the sun goes down after enjoying an intensive day; big families with many children; the outdoors; Latino events; self study; cheese croquettes; running/biking solely in rain/snow; folding clothes while telling mom I ironed everything ... she never noticed ...
*Hate: having too many ideas (not this mere fact), which makes my head explode and me insecure of what I really should be doing right now
*Fears: time passing by too quickly because I'm living in my head, producing ideas, but forget on executing them; stagnating emotionally & mentally
*Mission: live as autonomous as possible, sharing experiences with whomever crosses my road

(*) I'm slowly working through the whys of the kids-desire. I'll manage without kids. I have enough siblings to borrow some from The main reasons for my wants are;
*I like to work with youngsters
*I admit it: as an ENFP it's very entertaining for me to have a big family.
*It's an absolute pleasure to see those little carrots & pees grow up into unique creatures, each with their own character and emo/intel. backpack. I adore seeing my brothers and sisters grow up and find their way in life. I prosper when coaching them, taking them on adventures, and just being naughty playful children.
*I'm idealizing a big family. We had our fair share of issues to work through.
I want to have a sip of parenthood. Obviously I can fulfill my desires in an alternative way. The main theme is people, people, people. I can ramp up my contact with youngsters & see where it leads me. E.g. I will apply for short term fostering when I have a stable homebase.

Financial start
*Spending = <6000E/year. Some years it's much less. I will start tracking so I can analyze patterns. Big expenditures are often airline tickets. The cost levels out as I stay for 6 months minimum in a 2nd-3rd world country. I have been slow traveling a lot throughout my school years. Each time I returned home for exams. I graduated this year.
*Savings = 7000E build up through student jobs
*Shares = 700E. I honestly know nothing about it. They are stock certificates from Triodos bank. Each year I choose for a stock dividend.
*Debt =0E

*Challenge/opportunity: I work when needed. This is actually a bit of a trap as I need almost nothing to live of. It makes me lazy in earning money. If I need food, I can do some chores somewhere and they'll more than not offer me a meal. I need to build up a bigger nest egg and achieve ERE in the long run. Putting money aside for potential kids, projects, ...
*Income streams: very unstable, no fixed job.
(1) Trading 4days/month webmaster "skills" for a simple small room & shared kitchen/bathroom. This was my first proper project I was sticking to long term, for which I'm proud. There is potential for expansion, but the topic is not a passion of mine & I'm not IT gifted. I just learned the stuff I needed along the way.
(2) I can work 1day/week cleaning houses for a low pay, choosing my hours. I don't always do it. It depends on how I'm spending my time. I like the work when it is limited to a couple of days a month. It's sort of a workout. I put some language lessons on and there I go for the day;
(3) I do random jobs for my surroundings (gardening, kids entertainment, delivery driver, warehouse loader, moving partner, private chauffeur, ...)
(4) Some tutoring now and then. I enjoy doing it, but I haven't been putting an effort into building a "fanbase", mainly because I'm traveling a lot. I want to set up a collaboration with schools in my neighborhood.
(5) Babysitting
(6) ...
(?) I'm creating a niche site about a passion of mine. I plan on making it an income stream, although this might still take a year or two. My main goal is to learn to stick through a project and to do something consistently for about 5 years.

Financial goals part I
- I've made the deal with myself to not touch my savings. From now on if I want to do something, I'll save up the money first. So I act like I have 0E in my account. I'm leaving for China from April on and I'll go skiing in February. I need to save up about 3500E. I will be doing some private tutoring in China, which can also pay for daily life.

- I can see myself giving moneygoals each year. Like "save 6000 euro for year 2014, doesn't matter in what way". For my food etc the challenge is not to touch any savings and be creative.

Action list for 12/2013
*Start the cleaning job one day a week, combined with learning Chinese
*Try to pump up the webmaster project to about 8days/month
*Look for interimjobs for over the holidays. They earn good money.
*Keep writing weekly for my nichewebsite
*Eat up all my foodstock

[GandK]

My little sister, whom I adore, is an ENFP. She's an accountant, and she works for the US Environmental Protection Agency. Her job itself is not particularly fulfilling (government bureaucracy, etc.), but the agency's work is in line with her values, and working for the government gives her a ton of time off with which to pursue her passions. Since those passions have changed frequently throughout her life (she's 37), she finally decided the best move for her was to focus on pursuing her passions outside of work rather than at work. Otherwise she'd constantly be looking for a different/better work situation that fit whatever she was interested in at the moment, and then she'd never build up seniority/benefits/credibility. ERE would be a solution to all of that, but although she sees the value in it, getting her over the "what other people would think" hump is too difficult for me. I still wrestle with that myself (INFJ).

My sister had the same internal debate that you're having re: kids, and eventually decided NOT to have kids and to focus her attention on rescuing stray animals (and stray people!) instead.

By the way, you should check out this description of ENFPs: Lenore Thomson's ENFP

[Dautsen]

work is in line with her values [...] Otherwise she'd constantly be looking for a different/better work situation

The niche website I'm creating involves a practical project around it, which will be in line with all my values and aspirations. I'll have to find solace in that I just can't do everything. In the meanwhile I"ll save up with jobs that help other people out. I haven't decided yet if I'm going for a fixed job. That'll depend on me reaching my monthly financial goals ^^

getting her over the "what other people would think" hump

Yeah my entire youth I've worked through this. Now I'm used to doing whatever I like, even though social norms don't agree. In the end it's a comfortable cozy feeling, sometimes lonely, on that other road. You know what you're doing, why you're doing it and what happiness it brings you (in the end). People also start seeing you as the person who'll take the unsure, strange road. They wont make a fuss about it anymore. The feelings of shame or whatever diminish over time.

E.g. a lot of people still think it's ugly and disgusting not to shave your legs, even tough many women consider it a burden to do it x times every week, like a slave. They realize that something is not right in the equation. Now imagine a world where entirely shaving of your eyebrows is normal and wanted. But this action didn't even cross your mind. Even if people make remarks about your eyebrows, it doesn't touch you. You just don't understand what's so weird about them and you feel comfortable with your face-bush. Mmm I think that only women can understand that comparison. Anyways the latter thinking/feeling mode only came after following the road not taken for a while. Try it, taste it, indulge in it!

eventually decided NOT to have kids and to focus her attention on rescuing stray animals (and stray people!) instead.

Time will tell on which side of the spectrum I'll end up. The past weeks I decided that IF I'm going to have kids, it will be a very conscious decision. I'm even changing birth control to decrease any unconscious events. There are enough ways for satisfying the underlying desires.

It's good to read stories of other ENFPs who have already surpassed some of the typical hurdles.

[...] deep personal engagement is sometimes misread. Although they’re capable of identifying with another so completely [...] their exclusive attention is no indication of affective priority

I've ended up quite a bit in a relationship for the wrong reasons. Now I realize it is mainly because I connect easily on a "deeper" level. I always think I have something special with this guy, but I have something "special" with many guys . It's partially why polyamory seems a valid option. I'm still defining my line between all the types of relationships.

[Dautsen]

Estimated expenses (EUR/month)
It might be totally off, but here's a rough estimation.

IMMO = 250 (currently 0E, due to IT-for-room-exchange)
TRANSPORT = 78
INSUR. & TAX = 12
CELL & NET = 20
SUPERMARKET = 158
ENT. & TRAVEL = 87
HEALTH = 29

Total = 634-250E



Ways I've reduced costs over the years
*IMMO: house/room sharing, when abroad stop renting in home country (official address @family), rent the simplest/smallest room I could find & cozy it up, exchange labor for rent, Couchsurfing, cold-showers-mentality, cuddle up in big furry clothes, no gadgets, ...
*TRANSPORT: I've been driving around kids & in return I can borrow the parents car, I used to do miles&miles with my bike through rain/snow and thunderstorms; it's exhilarating. Walk instead of taking subway, makes me discover new areas, hitchhiking, cycling instead of taking the train, ...
*INSURANCE & TAXES; this will rise significantly over the next years, as taxes are ridiculously low for student jobs. Same for health insurance: I'm automatically under the insurance of my parents until I graduate. I do take a liability insurance
*CELLPHONE & INTERNET: I've moved my website to the server of my client (with permission), both projects are still fairly small and don't interfere in usage, prepaid card: I try to use up only my free benefits of my cell plan, the remaining money can be gained back partially by phoning a special pay number (a youngster put up a smart system), free wifi, ...
*SUPERMARKET: as I often help people out at home with my jobs, I get offered free homemade meals and surpluses from gardens, I make trades with people (e.g. they can save up with their credit card while buying my airplane ticket in return for labor), I get second hand clothing from sisters & friends, I want to learn to tailor clothes to my needs.
*ENTERTAINMENT & TRAVEL: slow travel reduces costs immensely, there are many ways to have cheap or free nights out, which are more entertaining and tasty than the paid version. They make my creativity gene blossom and thrive. Lots of hiking, cycling, picnics, potlucks, home parties, ...
*HEALTH: the past years I've been working on changing my emotional and physical lifestyle. I try to automate this as much as possible (cfr walking & cycling to work etc)
*POSSESSIONS: converted to a simple lifestyle, cut through many attachments, learned to have fun without spending money, ... this took a couple of years. Gradually the difficulty level increases, including comfort level.

Update 01/01/2014 goal
I've saved the 500E, yey. It might be more cost/time efficient to find a fixed job instead of living of random jobs around the country. Au contrary I've been thinking about profiling myself as an interim worker. They are very needed these days and I learn new stuff and adapt quickly to many jobs. This way I can maintain my free lifestyle.

When saving money explicitly, I've bumped into my focusing issues. I've been trying to balance my niche website which needs tons of work, with saving up/working, with personal life. I know that's the life of a normal person ^^ . I'm cutting out as much distractions as possible. New ideas end up stashed away more easily.

I still have a hard time focusing and figuring out what's a priority. The action list of my first post was a fail. Too much wants. I can have only 2 actions or something: save money, write for website = filled day. Am I not doing one of them, then change course. Workout etc. are all on automatic (cycling to work, fixed training schedules, eat at work, ...)

Update goals
I'm looking into 1 interim job for the remaining 3 months, till my trip to China. It'll offer more stability. The cleaning & website will be done during the weekends. It will be kept to 8 days/month total max. I don't want to spend energy on trying to pump it up. So 3000E by 01/04/2014 saved up.

Future thoughts
*I wont be thinking about an ERE strategy yet. First I want to get into stable saving and stable living for that matter
*The niche website is an all round project with an on- & offline life, which has the possibility to satisfy all my aspirations and even fits in the retired lifestyle. But first it still needs a massive amount of work.
*In October I'll be back from China. The past years I've been checking into buying a small house to fix it up. I'm eager to learn many of the renovating skills. I will borrow from family, whom will be payed back through future renters. Focus: small houses (MAX 85m2 = 914 ft2). They are getting popular due to single parent families, bad economies and people hating to live in apartments. The profit lies in renovating it yourself with ROI mindset.
*I've been living for almost a year in my homecountry. I can see myself spending my old days here. For now I'm a bit too addicted to slow travel. Depending on what I'll do after/during my China trip, I'll have more clarity on where to live.
*Interest rates in our country are very low and inflation high. SWR might not work for me. I also know nothing - yet - about investing in the stockmarket + I don't like the atmosphere of that world. I prefer building up a diverse project package as a passive income (renovating/renting out houses, invest in projects where I have a close connection to, make an income from my hobby, ...). So I'll probably "work" the rest of my life, but with a casual semi retired twist to it.

[riparian]

Oh holy crap, your my extrovert twin? Someone was just commenting on my eyebrows yesterday!

Have you thought about sex work? You can have deep soul connections for an hour and help people feel better then move on with your life plus money. Keen.com is a good (supposedly non) phone sex site where you get a lot of guys looking to really connect. If they get too explicit for your comfort you can just remind them of the site rules. I like keen and Niteflirt cause you can log in as sporadically as you want and one or two calls is $100.

[Jean]

Even with a lot of money saved and invested, managing it is still work if you don't enjoy doing it.
Being frugal allows you to create a situation where you have enough with the money flowing in just from what you enjoy doing.
Lending small houses looks like a nice option.

[Dautsen]

Have you thought about sex work? You can have deep soul connections for an hour and help people feel better then move on with your life plus money. Keen.com is a good (supposedly non) phone sex

I would make for a terrible sexworker I don't easily give myself on that level. Once I do, it's harder for me to let go. I learned from the past that I need to protect my (sexual) boundaries & keep my energy nice and close to myself. I did subscribe for keen.com, but haven't experimented with it yet. Looks indeed like a good service!

Even with a lot of money saved and invested, managing it is still work if you don't enjoy doing it.

That's well said. I haven't thought about it that way. It definitely means I need to make the right choices concerning investing or I might easily lose it all. I keep looking into the housingmarket, visiting many houses & learning everyday. My plans are growing steadily, but the investing wont be for now.

[Dautsen]

Expenses (EUR/month)



January February
IMMO € 0,00 € 0,00
TRANSPORT € 0,00 € 11,70
INS & TAX € 0,00 € 0,00
CELL & NET € 33,00 € 10,00
SUPERMARKET€ 13,90 € 165,51
ENT & TRAVEL € 7,00 € 819,05
HEALTH € 28,14 € 0,00
TOTAL € 82,04 € 1.006,26

Two biggest costs: 404 for skiing and 290E subscription fee for a doctoral program. I've also bought a lot of snack food. My highs and lows really match my spending January might be an average month. With my IT-trade for housing & a meal, I'm well off.

Good news

Yes, I know phdcomics.com and and yes I've seen this link https://web.archive.org/web/20151101012 ... 012-3?IR=T

Why a PhD in China is interesting for me (actually I'm getting a PhD in my home country too in a well accredited university, 'cause it's in the light of a bilateral agreement):

0. I'm student again! Low taxes, low health insurance,... the government leaves me alone Working 2 months/year in my home country as a student I would already have 2.5/3 of my yearly estimated expenses.
1. I can easily get extensions for my visa (I have a semi boyfriend in China)
2. I can teach those well behaved Chinese. I taught before in China and these students are absolutely adorable, nice, respectful & very eager to learn from a crazy foreigner. They need a teacher who gives them another view on learning (I never went to classes, was always abroad doing some project and still graduated cum laude.)
3. I will get a teaching degree while earning money. Normally in my country I would have to do an extra educational program for teaching, although its complete rubbish. I already saw that in China they look for many math/chemics/bio blabla teachers for middle school. It pays 17000-20000 rmb/month for 20 hours/week teaching. I need a bit more experience/accreditation though, to get those jobs. So if i can do some teaching/phd for a year that will help. Anyways, 20 hours a week + housing + airplane ticket + bonus seems like a fair trade for a job I really enjoy.
4. I can slip out more easily compared to a real job. This point is so important to me. Eventhough my tutor still expects me to work in my dormitory, if I'm not at the office (I'm never there. I don't like the atmosphere and can't focus) or in the lab. I've already done research in China. Most students work from 8am - 10pm/7 days a week in the lab, but I've managed to get around those hours and go my way. As long as I provided good innovative results and my published papers on time, my tutor lets me do whatever I want.
5. The project I chose offers me the opportunity to work anywhere, anytime the biggest part of the research.
6. The main boring thing is collecting data, which my master and bachelor degree workhorses do for me (yes as a phd researcher you can have "employees", its a vicious cycle . Unfortunately some of these students are a bit inexperienced. Ah well, still wanna have a taste of it. I love to mentor bachelor and master students in the lab and outside while they contribute to my research
7. For the first time in my life I will do a mature well rounded broad hands on project, from beginning to end (well maybe): I'll need tons of skills and will develop many new ones. It's like my masterdegree helped me to overcome my fear of failure and sticking to smt for the first time (I wanted to quit that thing many times. Yes a degree is not necessary but I needed to overcome some ENFP-crap). This project topic teaches me how to handle real life problems and sticking to it. Indeed, it wont be fun many times, but def. very rewarding
8. I can stop anytime. Funds will just stop and my tutor wont be very happy. But I warned her from the beginning. I should let her sign a paper and spit on each others hands to make it official. The suggestion is to commit for short periods and evaluate each time. She knows I am not school material. Same for my homecountry-tutor.
9. Its like a real engineering job!! "Look I have an issue, Engineer come and fix it". I have to work out the entire project. Its not boring detail work like my thesis. Its very broad, which I like. I also have to check into social and cultural aspects of china. It will demand for many of my skills and I will develop new ones. I'll be an expert on wastewater treatment in China. They will ask for my brain all over the country! Not exactly my wet dream, but ah so many potential ideas and projects are already popping up in my head!
10. This plan will lead to a retirement in 4-5 years. IF I can keep my funds every year.
11. I'll become fluent in mandarin. I'd better be able to understand what my future children are talking about behind my back. I love communicating in the local language. You understand the culture on a completely different and deeper level. It's weird when you talk to a person both in English and in his local language. It's like another person.
12. If I win all the scholarships and grants I'm partially payed in taxfree RMB and partially payed in taxfree euros. Very good for investing.
13. Apart from housing (I get dormitory for free), China is pretty cheap for daily life. Last year I averaged 15eur/week without housing. Cheapskate-student-style-spending tho.
14. PhD pay is a little bit higher than starter engineer wage. I already have funds for the research materials and I'm accepted by the university. They can't wait for me to start. If I don't receive the "wage fund", I'll come back in October and let my brain produce some new ideas.
I already know that I can work for a year and then buy a small cottage of 40-60m2 on a 250m2 plot. This could earn me around 350euro/month.

There are many cons for a PhD but I've already decided on it, so I'll just try to avoid the cons as much as I can. I'm really looking forward to my research. I will understand so much more about Chinese culture and my research has the potential of turning the WWT-industry in China on his head (dreamy dreamy .... & depends on how I perform obvs...). I just drop out if I grow tired of it. I also want to stay a MAX of 4 years in China. It is a bit too polluted for my taste. Cant' destroy my health before I go into retirement. I'm planning on doing my PhD in 2 years (I already have some published papers I can use). Ok I know, I'm very naive. I'm trying to hack the efficiently-graduate-from-a-phd-code. I did that very well for my masters degree.

So that's a lot of IFs and I didn't earn a lot of money the past months, because I've been preparing my research proposal and bureaucratic papers. I might get a studentjob for the remainder....

[Dautsen]

Wow, seems like ages have passed. I'd better start writing after I've achieved something, instead of living in an endless dream... In short: I left China (someday I'll do a PhD, but it wont be following the standard path), dumped the boyfriend, worked on a tourist trailerpark, bought a house, now working on the road as sales rep, which learns me heaps about human behavior.

I haven't been tracking my expenses, but I think it went from 600 to ~1100 eur including my loan. It needs brushing up & I need to readjust to the new lifestyle.

I feel like I've entered a totally different phase in my life and it is all fine. The next 2 year's focus 'll be on renovating my house (getting it ready to rent out), savoring the "grown-up"-fixed-job-work-life (fun for now) and prepping for another foreign adventure in 2017. I already have an idea on how to end those 2 years with a bang, but I'd better first do and then babble on about it

[Jean]

Congrats for the house.
What kind is it?
Is it in a Town?

[JamesR]

I hope you're investing your money, actually sticking it in some low fee index funds and whatnot.

[GandK]

Congratulations on your life changes! Keep us posted on your progress.

[Dautsen]

@JamesR: I'm not investing any money (yet?). As mentioned I don't like that virtual world ==> I prefer investing in projects that I can closely follow up & even contribute (labor) to. Ah well, that's for when the housing project is finished.

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

It's a 1 593 sq ft enclosed house (no garden) to be renovated, including a 828 sq ft shop/office/smt-commercial-whatever-I-decide-it-to-be. Houses have official functions & you're not allowed to change it without permit. This house is semi apartment (2 bedroom), semi commercial.

Location
It is in the middle of the center, in a small-middle sized city (that'll be tiny for Americans), right behind the commercial area. Hospitals, schools/unis, supermarkets, parks, country side, fun big cities, swimming pool, cycle friendly, train/bus stations, alternative cinemas, library, canal for kayaking (friend has one), non profit barracks where you can freely use tools/with lots of artists & skilled people (e.g. once a month they do a bike-repair cafe), ... lots of goodies at walking & cycling distance. Perfect for ERE.

Buying price incl taxes: 124K E
*Mortgage: 40K E over 10 years. My interest is leveled out by tax benefits. Including estimated inflation I will have paid around 31K E for borrowing 40K E. 40K was the max for optimized borrowing. Higher than that, the return stays the same.
*110K inheritance. I came back from China due to the passing of a loved one. It was the "right" time for this project
*Trying to save up 700-1000 E/month for reno (40-57% from income), while slowly working on the house.

I see my reno costs as a separate notion.

Reno
*2 roofs need to be replaced, new bathroom, kitchen, the shop is a complete dump & Atlantis now and then,... I'm going to put in order the outer structure & rent it out like that. Shopowners have tax benefit when they furnish/redo the place + they immediately do it the way they want it = win-win
*Estimated house worth after reno 250K E (w/o terrace, calculated based on [sold] houses & sq ft in the area) ==> max to spend 110K on reno for break even, I'm aiming at 70K, depending on what I can do myself. When value increases, I can invest more in reno overtime.
*As for tools, I can borrow a lot from friends, family & a local non-profit toolproject. The stuff I do have to buy, I put in my reno costs Excel and not in my monthly spending. I can recoup it when I sell the house.

Increasing value
I've been looking for/visiting houses for >6 years. This has been the best so far. They are renewing my street (will go from car-pass-through to solely pedestrian street) and other houses are being renovated as well. I'm 2 houses away from a big parking lot-square with restaurants, music schools, some tourist monastery stuff & ancient houses around it. The next 2 years they will make an underground parking from the square, with a park on top. Besides that they're building a retirement home attached to this square. ==> boom in value

The weird thing is (1) the city is a combo of lots of snobbish rich peepz who keep the city clean & drive the massive commercial movement in the city & an underground alternative movement that e.g. created these barracks (partially funded by the rich) and takes care of lots of cheap/free entertainment. (2) Despite the booming city (universities are growing, business is growing, lots of houses being renovated, ...) housing is still very cheap. I can check statistics from the gov. The city is lagging behind BUT increasing in value ==> another push on my house worth

Last but not least: I'm renovating the house in such a way that will increase the value as well. I have no garden but will be adding 2 rooftop terraces. One has sun all day and the other will be a hidden garden, instead of a dirty wall to look at. This will add an extra 430 outdoor square feet. Apart from that I try to optimize the surface area. The living room can add up as an extra bedroom, which benefits a co-housing project. For increased selling value I'll make it again a living room. I'm also adding all the connections on the ground floor, should I ever want to convert it in another apartment.

The house having 2 functions (commercial & ap) also gives a better guarantee in income + higher than would it just be a house. These are rented out on 2 different contracts, even if it would be the same person. If the shop owner goes broke e.g., by law he still has to pay every month for the app, while I'm waiting for the shop's rent.

Monthly housing costs: Still needs to be optimized
*Energy & gas: now at 113E. Energy company estimated this based on the previous owner. Heating is off or in winter on 59F/15°C and I don't consume a lot of electricity. I will ask for a reevaluation by showing my meter stats after a couple of months.
*Mortgage: ~364 E (tax benefit not included)
*Water: unknown for now. I don't take showers, cause bathroom is broken. I wash at sink. 25E maybe?
*Fire/house insurance (obligatory): 32E (will increase when I add more functions to the house)
*Housing tax: 81E (will increase when house value increases)
*City tax: 7,9% on part of income. Have to figure out how this is calculated, because it also gives tax benefit on mortgage.
*Sewer tax: 5E/month (yeah we have all sorts of taxes)
*I'm probably forgetting some other tax
*Housing income: I hope by dec 2015 I can start to rent out a first room. This will give me an extra 350E. Within 1-2years I hope the house to be entirely finished. This'll give me an income of 1200 E/month (based on the house w/o terraces) & by then I'll quit my job and start a new adventure. No need for me to live in the house anymore.

[Dautsen]

Alternative housing plan
Shouldn't I have had the windfall, I would have proceeded with the cottage idea. I was coming back from China for sure due to family issues. 10K-50K buys a cottage with small garden that rents out for 250-500 E. Plus, these cottages are perfect for self sufficient living. I will try that out once my travel bug has disappeared. Although I can combine it: buy a cottage in a foreign country. I prefer countries with cheap daily life, perfect for a hobo.

Renovation
I'll put in some reno photos next time. So far I've been tearing down heaps of walls, tiles, pipes, mirrorwalls etc. It's so inconceivable how much construction trash a house generates. The house wasn't well maintained, so a lot for me to take out.

The architect finished his plans and send it up for my building permit. Big construction works are planned for oct 2015. I will outsource the roofs and windows. Due to height of the house & setup between other buildings it is a no-go for me to try it out myself. I will lose more money & time in dabbling.

Good news:
- I got a splendid kitchen, bathroom & build in wardrobes (to be customized) for free. A guy bought a renovated house and didn't like the interior. I was more than willing to volunteer to take it out.
- City started construction works. The street & park upgrade should be finished after a year. I'm so curious about how everything will turn out.

Old House


New House




Livingroom can double up as 3rd bedroom with private terrace ==> good for co-housing. I can ask 400E for that room with all costs included (maybe 50E) + Looking forward to starting a roofgarden!

EDIT: 30% of the plans changed. Mainly for more efficient use of space. E.g. the stairs will be in an L-shape, taking up less space.

Job thoughts
I had a pre-agreed raise after 6 months. I like my freedom in this job. I'm becoming a bit of a chubby ass tho. The weeks I wasn't renovating & doing kayak/cycle/hike tours (with friends we're mapping out kayak routes ==> future book) my weight increases immensely. My job as a sales rep is being on the road all day visiting clients. Picture me: right hand grabbing snacks, left hand on the steering wheel. Apart from all the language tapes, being 7 hours on the road ain't healthy or entertaining. As soon as the house is rented out, I'm out. When that day arrives, I will make it a celebration. I have already so much "as soon as the house is rented out projects". Ups I promised myself not to write about anything, before I achieved something.

Parallel project plan
If I want to keep different taxbenefits, I can not invest in any other house for the next 10 years. I will focus on expanding my projectportfolio. To have a safety buffer, I will only start with these projects when the house is rented out.

1. Buy a 40K E van type of rv (most popular, sleeps about 3-4, small & efficient) & rent it out. Will be with start up company & loan (much more interesting for tax & if something goes wrong I can only lose what's in the company). The calm weeks I will go myself on roadtrips + sell van under 62K miles (optimum for high ROI, quality rvs are still sold at high% of initial worth) ==> omnium renters insurance is ~2000 E/year and covers about everything, which will keep my investment save. Per week I can charge weekend-low-mid-high season ~250-445-750-950 E.
2. The website project I talked about in my first post is still running. I've not been putting effort in it, but the idea is still alive and kicking. Earns me about 30 E/month in ads and I'm at 187 unique visitors/day. Despite the low figures, I have many peepz emailing me for advice. Shows me there's an interest for it. It is a come-together of all the things I am doing here.
3. I was thinking about using the commercial space in my house to start up a company myself. Once it passed start up phase, I can sell the business and I'm left with a rental contract & minor profit.
Ideas:
- An Escape House (low investment cost + fun)
- A kids nursery (shortage on these, government gives subsidies + easy to get a permit through evening course + perfect location)
- Tutoring lab (>4 universities in my city + x30 schools)
- ...

Too many ideas...I put a paper on my wall saying "focus = house reno & $". I have the tendency to start a million projects on the side, so I finish nothing properly.

The numbers
All a bit an estimation. I try to stay below a certain budget, but don't keep detailed records. I installed an app on my phone to solve that.

Monthly income: + 1800 E
Sold my van: + 1604 E - ~120/month (tax/insurance/gas): I got the van for free through a work trade. So this is a pure gain. I used it to transport bigger materials and buttloads of trash & helped friends moving. Friends also used it. Now I'll be borrowing a tricycle cargo bike (like the overloaded one's you see in China). Good thing: exercise AND free to enter the recycling park. Otherwise you have to pay $/kg trash. With my company car I'm more than good.
I cleaned out moms house, which still had some of my stuff. To be sold for around 500 E (bikes, phones, books, sheepskin, art, ...)

Reno costs (I'll include those costs in my final house worth/budget)
Architect: - 1900 E. Will be around 7-10K if he oversees construction work as well; best to do that, seen contractor companies have tendency to file for bankruptcy.
Random tools I couldn't borrow & equipment to keep my house from flooding: ~1000 E
Estimated for roof, windows & renewing of rear side of the house (new walls needed): 40 K E
With 30K I'll have more than enough to fix the inside of my house. I'd like to spend no more than 70K on reno.
House worth after reno ~240-250K, spend already 124K+70K costs+ <10K architect (preferably about 10% of total reno costs. The average around here) = >36K profit

Monthly budget
Food & stuff - 200 E
Internet - 27 E
Housing costs - 620 E (break down previous post)
Still haven't optimized any costs. My heating boiler is already off for 2 months. Some circuit broke and it's not necessary to fix it for now. Washing at the sink with cold water became a soothing activity. The only thing I wouldn't be able to miss in my squat house is my gas stove. Nothing beats a good meal. The guy I'm dating now seems to be a polar bear with no need for fancy stuff. Yeah he can marry me
==> ~950 E left for reno. I want to up it to 1000 E.

Conclusion: lots to do for now & so many adventures ahead. If I could keep my attention for days in a row on reno & $, that would speed up the process a lot.