Five Years, Lord Willing

Where are you and where are you going?
Jason

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Jason »

In a minor but significant move, we cancelled our last streaming service last night. This means we are back to DVD-from-library only television use.

The decision was based on quality of service/goods. HBO was costing us $200.00 per annum. I am not opposed to spending that amount of money if there is $200 of corresponding value provided. There was not. I think it's worth about $50-$100. So over the last few months we have cut spending down about $700 per year by eliminating all streaming services.

This was also partially inspired by the "too many options thread". Instead of putting ourselves in the vortex of 1,000 bad TV shows to choose from, we eliminated the matrix itself.

There is also an experimental angle to it. How will now fill the time previously dedicated to watching TV. If TV is the most telling indicator of consumerism, this should have ancillary benefits.

Also, emotionally and psychologically, it was a relief. So that is informative.

suomalainen
Posts: 979
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 12:49 pm

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by suomalainen »

The wife and I have done this on a couple of occasions. It was a nice break for a while, but then we got tired of not having the option, so it only lasted ~6 months each time. Be curious to see how long you guys go before you want to indulge in tv again.

Jason

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Jason »

That was part of the discussion. It's only a click away if we want to recommence. We also thought of strategic streaming - starting it up when a specific show is airing.

theanimal
Posts: 2628
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2013 10:05 pm
Location: AK
Contact:

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by theanimal »

I watch some but infrequently enough that I can time it right with free trials from places like Amazon Prime and Showtime. If people had stronger communities, it would make a whole lot of sense to pool together and get one account. My friends and I share a Spotify account and I know others who share Netflix, Prime etc with families or friends (I've only noticed it among the young). It at least solves the financial aspect by only paying a few bucks a month instead of paying for the equivalent of cable.

I find it much more interesting when someone talks about what they've done in their free time instead of what they have sat on their ass and watched. Maybe now you can get off your ass and start that FIRE gossip column.

daylen
Posts: 2528
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2015 4:17 am
Location: Lawrence, KS

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by daylen »

theanimal wrote:
Sun Dec 23, 2018 12:19 pm
I find it much more interesting when someone talks about what they've done in their free time instead of what they have sat on their ass and watched.
I can relate. It is as if people use these sources as conversation starters. Sharing perceptions of a movie is "safe". All too often it does not actually lead to more subjective and interesting conversation. Having a "radical" opinion just seems to scare people off, and very few people actually want to take the time to explore a topic in depth. The only way to bypass this is to talk about their area of expertise (or what they like to do in their free time).

Small talk is boring. At family events, my strategy is to ask people what their passion is; if they are too ambiguous I ask an odd hypothetical question; if this fails then I abort the conversation immediately.

Jason

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Jason »

There seem to be three type of people when it comes to gossip: those like JLF who truly don't want to hear it, those like (fill in the blank) who say they don't want to hear it but really do but will stop short of spreading it and talking about it in order to maintain the appearance that they don't want to hear it, and those people like myself who are just TMZ incarnate. For instance, that Toronto couple who never bought a house and takes selfies of themselves smiling and surfing in villages with starving people dying in the background? I just knew, I mean knew, not in a partial or guessing type of way but in a thoroughly epistemological exhaustive sense that she was pegging him with the speaker phone on while dominating a podcast they were doing, to the point that I could hear her temporarily removing the ball gag from his mouth just to give the impression he has a modicum of input into their rent vs. buy decision making process. I mean that is an obvious bring out the gimp type of relationship they have going on there. And what does this have to do with anything? Nothing, that's why it's gossip. And well, its what I tend to think about it.

And in the same way I know MMM went out of pocket. I mean the guy is Tom Cruise In Magnolia defcom level 5 at this point. I can smell the other woman on his stache just by reading his twitter feed.

With regard to giving up streaming, like the Animal who will supplant Animal like endeavors with other Animal like endeavors, I will merely substitute sitting on my ass type of things with other sitting on my ass other types of things. That's why I was Happy to get my Christmas gift today:

https://www.nyrb.com/products/anniversa ... 1442122951

I wish I could say I was going to learn metallurgy, start a non-profit or start giving a rat's ass about nature now that I am not watching mediocre television, but it's just not going to happen.

FBeyer
Posts: 1069
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 3:25 am

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by FBeyer »

Jason wrote:
Sun Dec 23, 2018 7:22 am
In a minor but significant move, we cancelled our last streaming service last night...
The decision was based on quality of service/goods. HBO was costing us $200.00 per annum. I am not opposed to spending that amount of money if there is $200 of corresponding value provided. There was not.

..There is also an experimental angle to it.
Significant indeed! Weighing price vs cost is how you get to the core of what you want out of life.
I freakin' love the willingness to experiment. We can all conjure up all sorts of shit as long as we make sure we sit on our asses and don't actually _do_ anything. Experimenting, even on a small scale, is how you make informed decisions.

Jason

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Jason »

I think there's synergy between Daylen's/Animal's "you are what you talk about and FB's "experiment/informed decision" making process.

We bought an entertainment package that included content that has risen to the level of cultural phenomenon without analyzing price. So anecdotally, it's consumerism every which way to Sunday, albeit on a smaller scale than buying a McMansion and wondering why I don't awake every morning to a choir of angels singing me choirs of acceptance. Once the voice of "Is this really worth it" entered the picture, I realized, no, I had monthly installment buyer's remorse.

The decision to remove all streaming television content has a quantitative/qualitative impact on time, which is really what this is about, as we all get a limited and unknown amount of it.

Now, with this release of new precious time in my life, let's see if anything new pops today when I google "MMM Divorce."

Frugalchicos
Posts: 658
Joined: Wed Apr 19, 2017 9:23 pm
Contact:

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Frugalchicos »

Jason,

There is always a way of watching everything on the internet...if you know what I mean. That is what I always do.

Jason

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Jason »

Comprende, mi amigo.

I have to say, it feels great not seeing those drippy, drabby monthly charges on the credit cards.

Jason

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Jason »

End of Year Numbers/Ruminations

Net Worth Progress
12/16 - $357,311
12/17- $447,638
12/18 - $490,291

Peak Net worth: $520 (9/18)

Extremely Disappointing to have crossed $500K and fallen under it. Progress is relative. There always could have been more. Obviously the stock market hurt, but there could have been a more committed attempt at frugality.

Debt
12/16 - 185K
12/17 - 190K
12/18- 163K

Debt reduction makes things more manageable. The first year I was focusing on investing, lately more eliminating debt. I'm not sure what simplicity is, but it doesn't exist with debt. Current debt is lowest ever.


2016 Books/Plays Read - 33
2017 Books/Plays Read - 48
2018 Books/Plays Read - 54

45 a year average.

Various and Sundry

My therapy costs me $120 a month in copay. The cost is offset by termination of streaming media. Very beneficial addition/subtraction.

Goals
- Finish Second Play.
- Financial goals are too hard to predict. Just hope shit works out. That being said, I would like to be over $550K this time next year.
- Cut back on internet use.
- Continue Pilates.
- Make concerted effort to be optimistic.

suomalainen
Posts: 979
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 12:49 pm

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by suomalainen »

Jason wrote:
Tue Jan 01, 2019 11:07 am
- Make concerted effort to be optimistic.
To my great shame, I LOL:ed at this. But, you know, good luck!

Jason

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Jason »

I have too much to look forward to be affected by such mockery. I now possess an unwavering confidence in the arrival of more delicate early evening breezes, new releases by favorite authors, tenders moments with my wife, and most of all, further accounts of you getting wailed on with a rolling pin while rearranging your junk when watching John Oliver.

Come hither, future, I beckon thee.

suomalainen
Posts: 979
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 12:49 pm

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by suomalainen »

Nah (and here's MY optimism), I think we've turned a corner. The re-entry burn into the first teenager's puberty has completed and such histrionics are but a sidenote in the history of our love.

Certainly unrelatedly, this was just posted: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2018/12/31/divorce/

prognastat
Posts: 991
Joined: Fri May 04, 2018 8:30 pm
Location: Texas
Contact:

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by prognastat »

Props to him on talking about it. It's not something he had any obligation to do, but since it does have the potential to affect finances it can be worthwhile information. Glad it sounds like for the most part the divorce was amicable and went through without too much trouble. Definitely shows that FIRE can help with life changes such as these.

I wonder if the other blogger he is referring to is financial samurai. I had to admit his articles relating to it came across as distasteful, opportunistic and slightly vindictive. He was a blogger I was aware of before but wasn't actively following and those posts didn't make me more likely to do so.

Jason

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Jason »

The way he covers himself, he should change his name to Mr. Money Beard.

Peanut
Posts: 551
Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2015 2:18 pm

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Peanut »

Jason wrote:
Wed Jan 02, 2019 5:45 am
The way he covers himself, he should change his name to Mr. Money Beard.
Nice one.
prognastat wrote:
Tue Jan 01, 2019 3:51 pm
Props to him on talking about it. It's not something he had any obligation to do, but since it does have the potential to affect finances it can be worthwhile information. Glad it sounds like for the most part the divorce was amicable and went through without too much trouble. Definitely shows that FIRE can help with life changes such as these.

I wonder if the other blogger he is referring to is financial samurai. I had to admit his articles relating to it came across as distasteful, opportunistic and slightly vindictive. He was a blogger I was aware of before but wasn't actively following and those posts didn't make me more likely to do so.
I only read one post but it was clear he was ticked that MMM backstabbed him in the past, which he has a right to be? I don't think he said anything out of line in his post although I suppose the tone was sort of annoyingly smug and humblebrag.

Personally I found MMM's post kind of sad and delusional, even as it revealed nothing of significance. I'm a fan of his in general but I think he knew that if he wants to continue his brand he had to make some kind of statement because the chatter would only grow.

I wonder, can FIRE make divorce more likely? By giving couples too much time together, lowering the financial stakes in staying together...?

Cheepnis
Posts: 303
Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2018 11:52 am

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Cheepnis »

Jason wrote:
Tue Jan 01, 2019 11:07 am
- Make concerted effort to be optimistic.
I do not respond to this to make light because this is something I also strive for. Nonetheless this Onion article really made me chuckle when I ran across it.

https://local.theonion.com/plan-to-be-m ... 1819580136

And best wishes on your second play, that's quite the undertaking!

prognastat
Posts: 991
Joined: Fri May 04, 2018 8:30 pm
Location: Texas
Contact:

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by prognastat »

Peanut wrote:
Wed Jan 02, 2019 10:10 pm
I only read one post but it was clear he was ticked that MMM backstabbed him in the past, which he has a right to be? I don't think he said anything out of line in his post although I suppose the tone was sort of annoyingly smug and humblebrag.

Personally I found MMM's post kind of sad and delusional, even as it revealed nothing of significance. I'm a fan of his in general but I think he knew that if he wants to continue his brand he had to make some kind of statement because the chatter would only grow.

I wonder, can FIRE make divorce more likely? By giving couples too much time together, lowering the financial stakes in staying together...?
I don't know what their exact history is beyond what FS thinks, but even if he was wronged he had the option of being the bigger person and he didn't take it.

As for making a statement, often not making a statement can be the best option to get something to just blow over as people's attention spans aren't that long.

I would say it depends on the relationship. In a lot of cases it probably can due to the reasons you mentioned if the relationship already has friction in it. I think if your relationship is good then the lower stresses due to no money issues could be a boon as the only reason for issues in your marriage would be internal to the marriage itself. The downside is if there are internal issues it probably makes things worse.

Jason

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Jason »

After a long, bitter, protracted battle, I had to give up the optimism goal at approximately 11:30AM on January 2. I gave it my best, left everything on the table, and have no regrets. Its just being given incontrovertible evidence that life is a futile, sadistic, inexorable march towards certain death, I had no choice. I am back to my original position that optimists should be marched through the streets and hanged in the public square. Or if justice is to be truly served, they should be forced to rent an Airbnb room in MMM's new divorce house.

Post Reply