Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Where are you and where are you going?
Star*Bucks
Posts: 288
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 10:27 am
Location: California

Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by Star*Bucks »

thrifty++ wrote:
Sat Mar 31, 2018 8:03 pm
Wow thats a cracker of a net worth and amazing what happens over time.

If you are feeling burnt out have you thought about using the leverage of your FU money to take a sabattical? Like even 3 months to do a little bit of travelling and some R&R - maybe just one place and hang out there for a while. Ask your work for the time off?
Hey Thrifty, I’m putting in for a vacation request this week. Hope they let me go 2-3 weeks would be the max. I would love a long sabbatical but I gotta keep the momentum going. I think it will be Thailand again! Love the place and the people it’s very budget friendly as well. One day I will visit Japan but from my research it’s a bit pricey.

Star*Bucks
Posts: 288
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 10:27 am
Location: California

Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by Star*Bucks »

2Birds1Stone wrote:
Sat Mar 31, 2018 8:59 pm
We are super close in terms of progress/net worth and more importantly goals (ie travel the world on a low <$1500/month budget).

Trying to time the market like that is a fools game. It should be obvious if you analyze the statement itself.

If you had real conviction that the stock market was going to crash, you should sell now and eat the loss. Read into anchoring, as well as sunken cost fallacy.

Aside from the many many reasons investment psychology has shown that we are our own worst enemies when it comes to investing, and make mostly highly irrational decisions at precisely the wrong time.......

For that reason I would wager your risk tolerance is not what you thought it was before you accumulated a small fortune.

Why not keep 25% in CD's earning 2%, 25% in a very broad stock ETF, 25% in Medium term bonds, and 25% in commodities/reits etc?

That way you capture growth if this crash never materializes, and if it does you can over-re-balance.

Usually the handful of worst days in a year, and handful of best will make up the bulk of the market moves for the year. If you cash out, knowing precisely when to get back in will be another chance to screw things up.

Just some friendly advice from a stranger on the internet, take it with a grain of salt.
I feel like JL Collins himself wrote this comment to me :) It’s very good information you point out and I’m fighting with myself as well, but I truly feel there will be a big tank soon. You see I have an emergency fund that would last me over two years which is overkill in my opinion but everything is over valued and I am happy just leaving it in an online bank account which is federally insured and earning 1.55% interest. I was considering selling off and rolling everything over into something FDIC insured and earning 1.55% (or more) and just wait.

I’d like to reiterate that your comment was 100% factually correct and great advice even for a stranger on the net. I just have a feeling and I don’t want to hate myself by not acting upon it. That being said my decision is not made up yet. We will see how things go over the next few weeks

2Birds1Stone
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Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

Star*Bucks wrote:
Sun Apr 01, 2018 7:05 pm
I feel like JL Collins himself wrote this comment to me :) It’s very good information you point out and I’m fighting with myself as well, but I truly feel there will be a big tank soon. You see I have an emergency fund that would last me over two years which is overkill in my opinion but everything is over valued and I am happy just leaving it in an online bank account which is federally insured and earning 1.55% interest. I was considering selling off and rolling everything over into something FDIC insured and earning 1.55% (or more) and just wait.

I’d like to reiterate that your comment was 100% factually correct and great advice even for a stranger on the net. I just have a feeling and I don’t want to hate myself by not acting upon it. That being said my decision is not made up yet. We will see how things go over the next few weeks
That's exactly why it's so important to spread your risk.

Take 50% of your position off the table.

Throw it into 2%+ yield CD's/Bonds/MM/savings etc.

Keep the other 50% in stocks, highly diversified.

I could be wrong, I could be right, but variety is the spice of life........

Star*Bucks
Posts: 288
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 10:27 am
Location: California

Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by Star*Bucks »

April 2018 Update:


Current Assets:
Cash $41,403
Former 401k $151,735
Current 401k $152
2nd Job 401k $1,222
IRA $28,045
Roth IRA $7,272
HSA $14,073
Home $70,000
Car $13,300

Current Debts:
Credit Card -$168


Prior Months Net Worth $329,315
Current Net Worth $327,034

Net Worth Decrease of $2,281

Prior Months SWR 5.465%
Current SWR 5.5%

Really worked hard in April. I paid a total of $6,000 between the money I owed in State/Federal Income Taxes and my Property Taxes. FML! The one good thing I can say is that I used Credit Karma Tax service online which was 100% free and surprisingly good. I know they will try to market shit to me but that’s the way of the world nowadays.

I did my parents taxes as well using Credit Karma. It went smoothly but I found out my mother had nearly 5k in Credit Card debt. When I called my mom to tell her I finished with the taxes I asked what was up with the credit card debt and then came excuses of unforeseen expenses blah blah blah. I told her how important it was to not pay high ass interest on a credit card and I basically let her know how disappointed I was. I spent the next 10 minutes advising her how to reduce her spending but this isn’t the first time we’ve had this conversation. Long story short I mailed my mother a 5k check to pay off that 9% interest credit card and she will pay me back $400 per month for 12 months starting June. My parents are living on Social Security only with a very small savings but their bills should be manageable, but my parents have never been good at managing/spending money. I hope for their own good they figure this shit out because I’m not planning on working forever and being their safety net.

I purchased a new bed from formerly SleepTrain now MattressFirm about 3 years ago. It was the worst 1k I’ve ever spent! The bed had a 5 year warranty on it (even though the salesman at the time said it had a 10 year warranty) and it started going down hill after year 1. I contacted them about the warranty and how the springs in the middle have absolutely given out and no matter where on the bed you lay you end up rolling to the middle. The hoops you gotta jump through for the warranty are just too much and besides the best outcome would be for them to replace it with a new bed of the same model which I absolutely do not want. I will be purchasing a new memory foam mattress from Costco which was one of the best rated beds by Consumer Reports and it’s only $800 with a great warranty. I wish I would have done better research a couple years back.

Year to date gross of both jobs combined is right at 40k. If this continues I will be at 120k gross earning for the year and that doesn’t include interest, dividends, or cash back rewards from my credit card. It’s looking to be that 2018 will be my most financially productive year. I’m just very scared of the taxes I will owe next year. Unfortunately I don’t have an option with either company I work for to contribute to a 401k. I will be over the threshold to be able to contribute to any IRA & my current company forced us into their healthcare plan so I no longer have a high deductible plan thus no HSA.

I logged into ssa.gov and found that they have my earnings from each year that I have worked. It’s real interesting to look at and I did some math and found out I made the same amount of money from 1994-2012 as I did from 2013-2017. To be exact there is less than a 5k difference in the earnings from my first 19 years combined to my last 5 years combined and that’s not counting a single cent of what I earned in 2018! Man I wish I could have focused more on this shit when I was younger or had a mentor who could have put me on the right path. The cool thing about ssa.gov is it gives you an estimated Social Security check payout assuming you make the same amount of money all the way til retirement age. I’m planning to not need Social Security but it will be great as a cherry on top. The one positive about working all these hours is that I have 2 employers paying into Social Security on my behalf which increases the benefit I will get down the line.

Goals for April were:
-Do my Income Taxes & Pay the IRS Done!
-Do my parents Taxes Done!
-Pay my Property Taxes Done!
-Put in a request for a Long Overdue Vacation Fail!

Goals for May are:
-Buy the new bed from Costco and toss the old POS mattress

George the original one
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Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by George the original one »

Star*Bucks wrote:
Tue May 01, 2018 4:14 am
The cool thing about ssa.gov is it gives you an estimated Social Security check payout assuming you make the same amount of money all the way til retirement age.
I haven't checked this year, but there should also be an estimate for "I quit working in year XXXX". As I recall, it's a button or menu option once you have the regular estimate.

Star*Bucks
Posts: 288
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 10:27 am
Location: California

Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by Star*Bucks »

May 2018 Update:


Current Assets:
Cash $5,373
Former 401k $152,654
Current 401k $225
2nd Job 401k $1,508
IRA $28.207
Roth IRA $7,307
HSA $14,695
Non Retirement Investments $46,900
Home $70,000
Car $13,300

Current Debts:
Credit Card -$740

Prior Months Net Worth $327,034
Current Net Worth $339,429

Net Worth Increase of $12,395

Prior Months SWR 5.5%
Current SWR 5.31%

As I stated last month I wanted to buy a new bed from Costco but I thought at that time it would be $800. Luckily I got it a lot cheaper. Initially I ordered my Queen Sized 14” Memory Foam Mattress from costco.com for $599 minus $100 promo so I thought that was a great deal $499 plus tax for a new memory foam mattress; especially since that’s half the cost of what my last mattress was. The day before my expected UPS delivery of the mattress I happened to be in Costco shopping and I see the same mattress in store for $499 minus $100 promo so it would be $399 plus tax ($100 less than online) I called Costco and they said the online pricing at times is more to factor in shipping costs. They were nice enough to cancel my delivery and I bought my mattress for less than $450 out the door! I could have bought two of these excellent memory foam mattresses and had money left over compared to that crap bed I purchased from SleepTrain/MattressFirm. I’m sleeping like a baby and my lower back isn’t hurting anymore. I almost purchased a second mattress for my spare room but I rarely have guests and couldn’t justify that expense.

I saved so much on the new mattress I decided to reward myself and I purchased a Keurig coffee machine which was also on sale at Costco. I got it for $100. I will sell my old very nice Cuisinart coffee maker to a co worker to recoup some of the Keurig cost. It’s so convenient and the coffee tastes pretty good. I also purchased some new slacks for work, new pair of shoes, three hoodies, and a hat. All the clothes purchased were on a really good sale and total spent was $256 after tax. The regular price for everything without the sale would have been $475 not including tax. This is the most clothes I’ve purchased in a very long time. If you’re wondering why so many hoodies especially during late Spring early Summer is because of the excellent sale plus I like wearing hoodies to the gym to help hide my gut.

I threw my emergency fund money into the Vanguard Total Bond Fund Admiral Shares VBTLX because it was near it’s 52 week low and I just was tired of having all that money sitting in an online savings account.




Goals for May were:
-Buy the new bed from Costco DONE!!

Goals for June:
-Have another five figure net worth increase.

2Birds1Stone
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Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

Great month!!

You actually like the keurig coffee pod coffee? I try all different kinds of variations when I'm visiting customers for work frequently, and while I find it better than other brands (Flavia), there is nothing like a french pressed or cold brewed cup of coffee at home =D

Congrats on the net worth increase.

How is your asset allocation looking after the recent recoup in the stock market?

Star*Bucks
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Location: California

Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by Star*Bucks »

The very first time I tried Keurig coffee was in 2010 at Best Buy. A Keurig rep was demonstrating the machine and giving samples. I thought the coffee tasted like shit so I never gave it a second try. This January (8 years later) I was in a car accident and while at the repair shop getting an estimate they had a Keurig machine which I used and to my absolute amazement the coffee was really good! I decided to buy the Keurig because it was on sale and the convenience was a huge part. I generally like the dark roast k cups best. I’ve got to agree with you that a good cup of french press coffee is best but for example this week between both jobs I’m working 112 hours and my time is at a premium so grinding beans, boiling water, steeping the coffee 4 minutes to then have a great cup of coffee is too much work comparatively speaking. I had a french press that I loved and I made cold brew using it as well but my french press slipped out of my hands when I was washing dishes and shattered leaving me with small scratches and a bunch of tiny glass I had to clean up all over the sink and surrounding counter area. If I ever get another french press it’ll have to be non glass and when I’m down to working only 1 job.

As far as asset allocations I’m currently at 76% Stocks 24% Bonds. I’m really concerned with the stocks, I feel that the market is over valued and a big drop is in the works. My plan is to stand firm with all my stocks until I get my large dividend payouts at the end of the year at which point maybe in January some time I will sell and transfer everything into Vanguard more than likely into the Total Bond Admiral Fund. Of course this is assuming the big drop hasn’t happened before January and also assuming the price of the Bond fund is fair at that time as well. I know that timing the market doesn’t work but I’m 2-4 years away from really needing the money and I don’t want to deal with losing a lot of value. I will jump back into stocks not necessarily when I think they are at a low but when I feel they are more realistically/fairly valued.

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Viktor K
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Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by Viktor K »

Net worth increase > than 6 month's salary for me :lol:

For now :ugeek:

I enjoy looking at your journal its inspirational and gives me an idea of how good the end-game can look.

Star*Bucks
Posts: 288
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 10:27 am
Location: California

Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by Star*Bucks »

June 2018 Update:


Current Assets:
Cash $2,716
Former 401k $152,449
Current 401k $225
2nd Job 401k $1,933
IRA $28,238
Roth IRA $7,308
HSA $14,762
Non Retirement Investments $56,006
Home $70,000
Car $13,300

Current Debts:
Credit Card -$120

Prior Months Net Worth $339,429
Current Net Worth $346,817

Net Worth Increase of $7,388

Prior Months SWR 5.31%
Current SWR 5.2%

Alright so I bought more clothes! Couldn’t pass up the great deals! I have to wear slip resistant boots at work and for the life of me I can’t make a pair last too much more than a year. By the time it gets to the 13th-14th month the boots are just falling apart. So I found a really good quality boot which regularly retails for $134.99 plus tax on sale for less than $60; so I purchased 2! Hopefully I’ll be retired by the time these two boots wear out meaning these will be the last boots I ever buy (hopefully) I also purchased 4 high quality polos all different colors. These are light weight breathable fast drying moisture wicking polos very good for business casual or hanging out but especially for traveling through places like SE Asia where its really hot. Regular price for everything without tax would be $429.94 but I purchased everything for $260.70 and that includes the tax. With the clothes purchased in May & June I should be good for a very long time.

I paid $500 for annual home insurance and besides that nothing out of the ordinary.





Goals for June were:
-Have another five figure net worth increase. FAIL

Goals for July:
-Get a work out routine put together

Star*Bucks
Posts: 288
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 10:27 am
Location: California

Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by Star*Bucks »

Q2 2018 Review:



Q2 Progress

April - $2,281
May + $12,395
June + $7,388


Total Q2 Progress $17,502
Total Q1+Q2 Progress $33,655

Current SWR 5.2%

I can’t wait for the feeling when my SWR number has a 4 in front of it. Almost there! I’ve averaged 20k quarterly increases in the past but this year even with busting my ass working 2 jobs I’m not hitting that number due to stocks sliding down a bit whereas before stocks were helping with the increases. I am in desperate need for a vacation, feeling burnt out and uninspired but every month I get a small boost of motivation when I see the SWR number go lower. I may shoot for a 3.5% SWR to be safe since I know a market correction will come. Even when I do hit that number I’ve been considering selling everything I own except for my car and my backpack filled with my travel gear. Some clothes and tools I plan to keep at my parents home & that way I can go back to doing the traveling work I did with my company previously where they would send me all over the state assisting the other office locations with their work.

This would be great in many many ways. First off my expenses would drastically drop. No more property taxes, utilities, HOA fees, internet, repairs, or anything associated with home ownership costs. Also while traveling my company provides a per diem daily meal reimbursement at the government rate which means I won’t be spending out of pocket money for any food Monday through Friday. They also provide a hotel which I made sure to sign up for rewards when I use to do this full time and I got to Diamond member status with Best Western. They have rewards that can make travel more affordable plus freebees. I also get the IRS rate of reimbursement for mileage on my car and because I drive a Prius which is really good on gas and I save money by doing my own preventive maintenance I actually make money on this. Both the Per Diem meals and Mileage reimbursements are tax free since they are not earned income. On the weekends I may come back to spend those nights at my parents home or my brothers home, but if my company sends me to a location that I have interest in I may stay the weekend there and explore.

I like this idea because it would drastically reduce my tax rate. Right now I’m working tons of hours at 2 jobs. Both jobs do not allow me to put any of my money into a 401k to shelter it; whereas my last employer I was able to max it out. My income will be too much for a Traditional IRA so I will be forced to do a Roth. And finally my primary employer forced us into their healthcare plan which I don’t think is legal, but I ended up leaving my High Deductible Health Care Plan so I can’t contribute to a HSA any longer. My 2018 tax return will be scary!

While traveling for my company I rarely go over 40 hours per week so that leaves me plenty of time back at the hotel at the end of each work day to find ways to earn income online. Once I can make 1k-1.5k reliably online then I will quit and travel full time. Also while doing the traveling work it is much more easier to get vacation time approved. I’m hoping to take 1 month off at a time maybe twice a year.

DutchGirl
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Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by DutchGirl »

Your goal for April was to put in a request for vacation time. And you didn't. Seems like now is the time to do it? Even just a one week vacation could be a nice breather. If you like it a lot, you can decide to request another, longer vacation a bit later on.

You're doing great money-wise, closing in on having 20 years of expenses saved, it seems to me like you could reach your number in the next 2-3 years (markets willing). So perhaps you could indeed consider working less hours / a less stressful job, bring in less but more than enough to cover expenses and still contribute some to your assets, and wait for a year or 3-4 to let your assets grow to your desired number.

Star*Bucks
Posts: 288
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Location: California

Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by Star*Bucks »

July 2018 Update:


Current Assets:
Cash $8,376
Former 401k $157,608
Current 401k $324
2nd Job 401k $2,679
IRA $28,498
Roth IRA $7,454
HSA $15,074
Non Retirement Investments $55,899
Home $70,000
Car $13,300

Current Debts:
Credit Card -$237

Prior Months Net Worth $346,817
Current Net Worth $358,975

Net Worth Increase of $12,158

Prior Months SWR 5.2%
Current SWR 5.014%

Damn, I thought I was gonna see a 4 at the beginning of that SWR. My net worth increase was pretty good mainly due to increase in stock values.

Took a week off in July to get my mind right and help reset myself from being burned out. It helped to a certain extent. I really enjoyed going to sleep with no alarm being set. I also told my 2nd job that I will work weekends only. Previously I would work 3-5 days a week at my 2nd job and that was doing me in big time since my main job I work 52-72 hours per week already. This move will help balance out my time and give me more free time to hit the gym during the week. On that note the company I was working for at my 2nd job was subcontracting and the contract holder had rights to take over the contract with a 30 day notice and as of August 1 I am working for a new employer. Which means I’ll be able to roll over the 401k of $2,679 and I also want to roll over the large former 401k amount and combine them into a IRA CD short term and I can sleep better at night because a collapse is imminent in my opinion.

I’ve been shopping at Costco too much. I tend to buy stuff that’s on sale thus a good deal but I buy too much. I’m going to just try to pop in to Trader Joes before work and buy some healthy options for lunch instead of Fast Food and I’ll supplement that with all the food I have stocked up from prior Costco trips. I’ve been using a app called myfitnesspal to keep track mainly of my micronutrients intake as well as counting daily calories. It’s come to my attention that I need to focus on getting more Potassium, Calcium, Iron, and Fiber in my diet. Tweaking my food choices daily to find what works. I’ve also noticed eating a lot of fruit which I thought was healthy isn’t good because it’s throwing my daily sugar intake through the roof and I’ve got to watch my sodium intake as well as it is too easy to get a full days recommended amount in one meal.



Goals for July were:
-Get a work out routine put together Semi Achieved

Goals for August:
-Roll over large 401k into high interest IRA CD or Savings Account

Star*Bucks
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Location: California

Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by Star*Bucks »

DutchGirl wrote:
Mon Jul 02, 2018 12:25 am
Your goal for April was to put in a request for vacation time. And you didn't. Seems like now is the time to do it? Even just a one week vacation could be a nice breather. If you like it a lot, you can decide to request another, longer vacation a bit later on.

You're doing great money-wise, closing in on having 20 years of expenses saved, it seems to me like you could reach your number in the next 2-3 years (markets willing). So perhaps you could indeed consider working less hours / a less stressful job, bring in less but more than enough to cover expenses and still contribute some to your assets, and wait for a year or 3-4 to let your assets grow to your desired number.
Hey Dutchgirl sorry for the late reply. Yes I took a week off as I was in desperate need to recharge the batteries. I didn't go anywhere just took care of a bunch of errands and took some time to be lazy :)

thrifty++
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Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by thrifty++ »

Holy shit you have a lot of money now. You are doing so well.

I am glad you took a week off for a break. Sounds like you needed it. I love staycations.

It sounds like you need to relax a bit. There is no point racing to FI and stuffing your health and energy in the process. It would seem to make sense now that you have a lot of money to reduce your hours and focus on your health and diet and exercise and sleep etc.

I am taking a break myself , travelling overseas slowly and cheaply, so that I am only doing my part time job for a few months. Its nice to take a break.

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Viktor K
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Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by Viktor K »

I used MyFitnessPal off and on when I was living in the US. It’s very helpful for getting your nutrition on track and identifying problem areas. Especially, it has a barcode scanner which can pull up most packaged goods. Unfortunately, the US food industry is notorious for putting sugar in everything. Salt is another big additive.

I too had high salt and high sugar. You can get around sugar by staying hydrated and opting for salads over fresh fruit. You will still get a lot of micronutrients by eating salads, but will avoid a good amount of the sugar. I like to add balsamic vinegar for a touch of sweetness. Also, a lot of times I mistake my fruit cravings for hydration craving. Binge drinking a liter of water helps. As well, a serving or two of fruit is a good replacement for any other desert so there’s still room for it in a healthy diet. My girlfriend got me into using Stevia drops for my coffee, oatmeal, and whatever else as well. I wasn’t a huge fan of it at first, but once you get the amount to add dialed in and wean yourself off of sweets, it starts to grow on you and adds plenty enough sweetness with just a few drops.

Salt is a bit more tiresome to avoid. Typically my salt went up whenever I wasn’t cooking for myself. A frozen pizza would give me a few days worth of salt, whereas a homemade one wouldn’t have any besides from the crust. Nuts, homemade oat bars, and weekly meal prep helped me avoid reaching for something quick and dirty while not spending every night making food. You can find some meal prep ideas on YouTube. As well, I’m sure there’re a ton elsewhere on the internet.

Hopefully you can find some patterns that work for you, I’m only adding my own experiences as suggestions/idea fodder. Sugar and salt can make a big difference health-wise, with unspent sugar turning to fat as well as spiking insulin levels and contributing to diabetes. My girlfriend is always digging up new research about even more troubling side effects of sugar, but I just take the easy route and listen to what she says rather than look it up myself. And salt stuffs your arteries with water increasing blood pressure and putting you more at risk for heart attack and I believe stroke as well (could be wrong on that one).

Definitely an eye opening and super helpful app. I do get tired of plugging everything into it though over a long period of time, so I just used it in bursts and then went back to it when I felt my diet was slipping.

Star*Bucks
Posts: 288
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 10:27 am
Location: California

Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by Star*Bucks »

thrifty++ wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 6:22 am
Holy shit you have a lot of money now. You are doing so well.

I am glad you took a week off for a break. Sounds like you needed it. I love staycations.

It sounds like you need to relax a bit. There is no point racing to FI and stuffing your health and energy in the process. It would seem to make sense now that you have a lot of money to reduce your hours and focus on your health and diet and exercise and sleep etc.

I am taking a break myself , travelling overseas slowly and cheaply, so that I am only doing my part time job for a few months. Its nice to take a break.
Hey Thrifty, it was a great time to take that week off not only because I needed it but just found out my company is going to be assisting with the “Carr Fire” in Northern California. I think it’s currently the 6th largest wildfire in the states history. My boss called me and asked if I’d be willing to go up there and assist. I of course said yes and will be working 7 days a week 12 hours per day. Don’t know when we are heading out but hopefully it will be soon. I also get a per diem for meals as well. I hope this will last a few months so I can sand bag that O.T. money.

I can’t help but race to FI. I’m a very competitive person and I’m already behind my goal of wanting to retire by 40. I will try to take care of myself eat more healthy and exercise more. I’m jealous you’re out there traveling, hope to be backpacking around SE Asia is 2020 with no job! 😊

Star*Bucks
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Location: California

Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by Star*Bucks »

Viktor K wrote:
Thu Aug 02, 2018 6:55 am
I used MyFitnessPal off and on when I was living in the US. It’s very helpful for getting your nutrition on track and identifying problem areas.
Hey Viktor, I used MyFitnessPal many many years ago as well way before Under Armor purchased them and put out a premium version. Back then all I cared about was hitting my protein and calories for the day as I was bodybuilding and eating fairly clean and taking good multi vitamins. Now I’m using it to track my micronutrients more than anything just to ensure I’m getting enough of the vitamins and not too much of the sugar salt fat and carbs. Playing with the meals has been helpful everyday. Makes for a really interesting final meal of the day when you only have let’s say couple hundred calories but your already over your fat sodium and carbs for the day. In those circumstances I just have a glass of soy milk or if I’m lucky a scoop of protein powder in the milk. It’s been working out good my weight is holding steady and I’m feeling good.

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Viktor K
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Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by Viktor K »

Nice that’s awesome dude, sounds like you’re doing good :D

Star*Bucks
Posts: 288
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 10:27 am
Location: California

Re: Star*Bucks ERE Journal

Post by Star*Bucks »

August 2018 Update:


Current Assets:
Cash $13,275
Current 401k $396
2nd Job 401k $3,062
IRA $186,239
Roth IRA $7,225
HSA $15,849
Non Retirement Investments $56,325
Home $70,000
Car $13,300

Current Debts:
Credit Card -$308

Prior Months Net Worth $358,975
Current Net Worth $365,671

Net Worth Increase of $6,696

Prior Months SWR 5.014%
Current SWR 4.922%

Finance:

Finally got the 4 in front of my SWR number! :D Rolled over my Former 401k To Vanguard. I was 2k shy of the all time high when I rolled it over at the start of August but closer to the end of August the stocks shot up really high and I could have rolled over a good amount more maybe even beaten the previous high, but I’m still happy with how everything turned out. The account was actually 11k down from it’s high point for months and it rallied within 2k of it’s high when I rolled it over so I’m very happy with that.

I had to pay my 6 month auto insurance premium which was just under $700. I only worked 2 days at my 2nd job (the last weekend of the month) and I was still able to increase NW by over 6k. I got a free year of ad free Pandora music from a T-Mobile Tuesday freebie & I gotta say the littlest things bring me joy. The paid premium version is only $2.99 a month (if memory serves me right) but there is no way I’m paying for that service or any other subscription based service. Getting it for free on the other hand is Awesome! I also ended up not going to the Carr fire because they just didn’t need the help they initially thought they needed. It would have been great though to get 12 hours per day 7 days per week.

I dropped my withholdings from 6 to zero at both jobs. This was mainly because I no longer have the ability to invest in a 401k or a HSA and my annual pay will cross over the threshold for being able to invest in a Traditional IRA so I'll have to go Roth thus meaning I have zero tax advantaged accounts available to me for tax year 2018. There are rumors at work that our company after being given many many complaints will have better offerings during open enrollment to include a new 401k provider.

Fitness:

I’ve continued using the MyFitnessPal app and still figuring out foods to eat that are easy to make, tasty, and inexpensive but still supply me with the nutrients I need. It’s been a learning experience to say the least. I’m getting into a nice groove with my go to foods and every week it’s getting easier to hit all my macronutrients without going too far over. I failed to hit the gym even once this month but the app that tracks my food also keeps track of my steps. I aim to hit 10k steps per day and I usually go walking for the full duration of my meal break at work; which gets interesting because it's not in the best of areas and I work in the middle of the night. I may at some point in the future invest in a watch that tracks heart rate, steps, calories burned, amount of sleep, etc. At my heaviest I was 230 pounds (2 years ago) and in August I stayed in the range of 208-211. Maintaining that weight range is excellent because previously I'd stay pretty steady at 218 before I started tracking everything. I’m going to try to get under 205 in September and the ultimate goal will be to get to and maintain a weight of 180.

Fun:

Went to visit my family and finally saw my brothers new place. It was very nice to have a weekend to spend with family. Time went by very quick and now that I am back working weekends at the 2nd job I have no clue when the next time I’ll be able to go down and visit them again.

Goals:

Goals for August were:
-Roll over large 401k into high interest IRA CD or Savings Account; Accomplished half of this as I rolled it over but it’s not in any high earning interest account yet.

Goals for September:
-Roll over 2nd job 401k, there will still be a 2nd job 401k category because employers changed at my 2nd gig and I’ll be rolling over the prior employers plan to Vanguard

-Drop weight to below 205 pounds

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