ERE in Sweden

Where are you and where are you going?
Forskaren
Posts: 189
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:04 pm

June

Post by Forskaren »

Hi Cloudberry, good luck with your ERE.

June report:
I had a record high savings rate in June, which depends on a good income in June.
I got money back on the tax this month, mostly related to that I had a temporary tax break last year on my rent and some transportation costs.

When it come to expenses, only food costs were exceptional high. I have been drinking some beer in bars and at home, which adds to food costs.

Report in US$

Earned income and money back on taxes: 6521

Expenses
Rent :472
Transport: 78
Food: 396
Entertainment: 11
Other: 127
Total: 1084

Savings: 5437
Savings rate (%): 83

I also estimated that my SWR is around 3.3% now.

frihet
Posts: 217
Joined: Thu Jun 06, 2013 10:33 pm
Contact:

Re: ERE in Sweden

Post by frihet »

Bra jobbat forskaren!

3.3% SWR impressive!

How do you invest? How do you plan to draw down on your investments?

Forskaren
Posts: 189
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:04 pm

Re: ERE in Sweden

Post by Forskaren »

@frihet

Thanks!

I am 100% invested in stocks. Virtually no cash, bonds or debt. I have not included my retirement accounts in my SWR, but those include funds, traditional retirement insurance as well as the state retirement so I have some diversification there.

What do you mean by "draw down on your investments"?

frihet
Posts: 217
Joined: Thu Jun 06, 2013 10:33 pm
Contact:

Re: ERE in Sweden

Post by frihet »

I mean, do you plan to live of dividends or sell stocks? Maybe both?

Forskaren
Posts: 189
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:04 pm

Re: ERE in Sweden

Post by Forskaren »

Probably using dividends, borrowing with stocks as security and selling stocks to some extent. It depends on if, when and how I need to use my capital. If my capital is my only source of income, I probably need to decrease the risk some.

Forskaren
Posts: 189
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:04 pm

July

Post by Forskaren »

I had vacation in July, so it was some additional expenses for "entertainment". I went on two different trips, which cost money. One of the trips was a more traditional vacation with airplane travel and living in a hotel. The other trip was a long car trip to some relatives. I am getting more and more tired on traveling other countries as a tourist, so maybe I can save that expense next year.
I am considering to stop my initial attempts to make cheap tea wine at home. Even if it will be cheap, I am a bit worried about what impact that will have on my health. Cheap and almost unlimited wine can be an bad idea. I am still looking for something reasonable to do with my spare time, if I would cut down the time spent on watching TV and using the internet. Maybe I should spend more time on improving my physical fitness.
In total my savings rate was still more than 50%, which I have to consider reasonable a month like this.

Report US$
Earned income 3434

Expenses
Rent 463
Transport 0
Food 138
Entertainment 795
Other 208
Total 1603

Savings
1831
Savings rate (%)
53

Forskaren
Posts: 189
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:04 pm

Re: ERE in Sweden

Post by Forskaren »

The tea wine was pretty ok. First it was fermanted at room temperature for one week.It became really carbonated and clear after 3 weeks in the fridge. When I opened the screw cap, the yeast moved up with the carbon dioxide bubbles and it became less clear. Taste was ok, but it smelled of baking yeast.

Forskaren
Posts: 189
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:04 pm

Re: ERE in Sweden

Post by Forskaren »

In August, I had reasonable control over the expenses. A savings rate of 71% feels nice.
The annual tax on my car was the only transport cost this month. I did not need to refuel the car this month.
The food costs were not optimized and I bought some “TV-dinners” and pizza, which added some to the cost. I also spend some money on alcohol at the state monopoly shop.

My income was somewhat higher this month, since I got some extra salary for the vacation period. I have now been working a couple of weeks after my vacation period and it feels quite ok so far.
The company that I work for have some cash flow problems, so we expect some kind of action. Sometimes it feels good to be close to FI.

I have some problems to find good replacement activities to watching TV and playing games on my game console. I live in a rural area, so there is limitations to what activities that is available. Many alternative activities involves driving a car 160 kilometer round trip each time to the city. At least TV and games are virtually without additionally financial cost right now. I am a bit concerned about the time wasted…

Report us$

Earned income 3617

Expenses
Rent 478
Transport 181
Food 293
Entertainment 0
Other 106
Total 1058

Savings 2559
Saving rate (%) 71

oldbeyond
Posts: 338
Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2012 10:43 pm

Re: ERE in Sweden

Post by oldbeyond »

An obvious suggestion is outdoors-y stuff: hiking, cross-country skiing, hunting, fishing, survivalism etc. Perhaps growing stuff if land i relatively cheap and zoning is lenient?

If you're more drawn to more urban activities, perhaps a change of scenery is worth considering?

Forskaren
Posts: 189
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:04 pm

Re: ERE in Sweden

Post by Forskaren »

Yes, I should explore some of the local options. I think that I should start biking more.

Forskaren
Posts: 189
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:04 pm

Re: ERE in Sweden

Post by Forskaren »

September was a good month with a high savings rate. No exceptional expenses this month.

I decided to be TV-free the last 5 days of the month. That felt very strange.

Report US$

Earned income 3369

Expenses
Rent 468
Transport 67
Food 131
Entertainment 17
Other 215
Total 899

Savings 2470
Savings rate (%) 73

Image

Noedig
Posts: 191
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 10:15 pm

Re: ERE in Sweden

Post by Noedig »

Good steps my man. In these early days you have done already the most difficult part - a transition in the way you think. All follows from that.

If you get time, give us an window into your circumstances, origin and major experiences. Always good to know where people are coming from.

Forskaren
Posts: 189
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:04 pm

Re: ERE in Sweden

Post by Forskaren »

Noedig wrote:Good steps my man. In these early days you have done already the most difficult part - a transition in the way you think. All follows from that.

If you get time, give us an window into your circumstances, origin and major experiences. Always good to know where people are coming from.
Well, I finished my PhD about 4 years ago. Right now I am working for a company with research and development. A normal working year is about 50% work behind a computer screen, 30% work in the lab, 15% meetings, 3% work in the production and 2% travel.

I am 37 years old and still single. I live in a rural area, where I rent an apartment right now. I have considered buying a house, since house prices are extremely low here. I would probably get a higher standard of housing if I bought some, but I would probably only save about 30% compared to keep renting my apartment. That saving also only exist if I work for free a lot of hours taking care of the house. The most practical would be to find a woman already owning a house.

I checked my current net worth and my costs for the first 9 months of the year. If I extrapolate that I will have the same costs for the last three months of the year, I am now at a 2.8 SWR.

Forskaren
Posts: 189
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:04 pm

October

Post by Forskaren »

October was a decent month. Savings rate at 67% is a quite average month for me.

I will use a more detail expense report for next year. I think it is important to look closer at some expenses.

Report US$

Earned income 3006

Expenses
Rent 445
Transport 100
Food 168
Entertainment 99
Other 193
Total 1005

Savings 2001
Savings rate (%) 67

The economy of my employer is still shaky, it feels good to have some investments as backup:

US$
Stocks 550443
Car and stuff 6652
Gold 4113
Debt 33259
Net worth 527949

Retirement accounts not included.

Eureka
Posts: 340
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2016 11:03 am

Re: ERE in Sweden

Post by Eureka »

Forskaren wrote: The most practical would be to find a woman already owning a house.
Ha ha, yes, and even more practical if the woman is a billionaire!

Forskaren
Posts: 189
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:04 pm

Re: ERE in Sweden

Post by Forskaren »

Eureka wrote:
Ha ha, yes, and even more practical if the woman is a billionaire!
Well, most women I have meet generally got a strong opinion about what kind of house they want and where they want to live. If I would be buying a house myself, I would probably have to sell it if I meet someone special...

Eureka
Posts: 340
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2016 11:03 am

Re: ERE in Sweden

Post by Eureka »

Fair enough.

Another option could be to rent out your house when you move into the house of the woman of your dreams and thus create passive income from the rent. If so, you should keep this in mind when you buy your house and pick one that will do well on the rental market.

Forskaren
Posts: 189
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:04 pm

Re: ERE in Sweden

Post by Forskaren »

The economy of my employer is still shaky, I don’t know where this will end. It a bit frustrating when the main priority is cash flow, when there is a lot of things that needs to be done for the long run.


I had an outstanding buy order to buy stocks in an oil company if the stock would drop. I cancelled my buy order for stocks in the oil company and focus instead of reducing the debt I used to finance some of my other stocks.


The condition of my employer in combination with the weak Swedish currency postpone my purchase of a vacation trip for next summer. Otherwise I usually start to shop around at this time of the year. Maybe next year will be 100% vacation in Sweden.

Forskaren
Posts: 189
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:04 pm

Re: ERE in Sweden

Post by Forskaren »

November was one of the months with the lowest expenses. My financial needs seem to be a lot lower than a lot of other people. It is still shaky financially at my employer with cash flow problems. It is probably really bad since they put a lid on it now and no longer release figures about the situation.

I accepted that TV and digital entertainment will be a part of my life. I will get a good fiber connection in my apartment within the next few months. I will likely subscribe to some digital services for games and music on my Xbox at that time point. Microsoft will likely release a new Xbox for 4k gaming at Christmas 2017. I will likely buy a 4k TV and that new Xbox in early 2018.


Report US$
Earned income 3123

Expenses
Rent 445
Transport 1
Food 141
Entertainment 0
Other 160
Total 747

Savings 2375
Savings rate (%) 76

NickHalden
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Nov 04, 2015 3:48 am

Re: ERE in Sweden

Post by NickHalden »

Very impressive! Especially the Entertainment/food categories - they are the hardest to me.

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