journal of wood

[slowtraveler]

First no chew month is awesome.

I got over gardening when I felt the rewards were too small for all the labor involved and that a lot of the things I grew were probably cheaper to buy than grow if accounting for time being worth $5/hr. Cucumbers and tomatoes store bought simply aren't the same so those are worth growing since they taste divine while being mind-numbingly easy and low maintenance to grow once the system is set up. But if you want to grow a plant that involved hours of trimming or any type of bush that will attract all sorts of pests...good luck. Chamomiles, lettuces, broccolis, that type of crop hasn't been worth it. A My dad's chili's seem to kick ass too so peppers may be another high reward, low cost crop.

It's my understanding that whoever invites pays unless this is talked about beforehand like to do skydiving with a friend and figure out where the best price is. Masculinity, wealth, and age haven't impacted me much in who pays the bill with the exception of being the one who often leads plans with lovers which has me typically cover gas/car depreciation and maybe a meal.

[wood]

I have given some thought to the "who pays the bill?" dynamic in human behavior patterns. Exceptions abound, but I would say that rule of thumb would be that wealthy, male, ugly, grouchy and older is going to pay more often than poor, female, pretty, charming and younger.

I've also given this some thought. I believe (appearing) wealthy, male and older are the most important factors based on my own experience, and in some cases the only factors that matter. What could I have done differently? Simply suggesting something cheaper/free to do would have avoided the whole situation of paying a big bill. What I do need to change is my thought pattern in these situations where I tell myself "I'm having fun, I don't mind paying the bill this time and I can afford it" which is ok on the odd occasion but not the regular occasion. These are friends I see regularly.

I got over gardening when I felt the rewards were too small for all the labor involved and that a lot of the things I grew were probably cheaper to buy than grow if accounting for time being worth $5/hr

I see. Do you think it would help to focus on the act of doing gardening instead of the end reward? I'm pretty sure I will come out on the losing end if I include $ cost of time.

[slowtraveler]

If my friends couldn't afford something, I'd suggest something else like a free local event downtown, hiking, potluck. I've never gotten in the situation of having bills dropped on me randomly since I'm aware of costs upfront so we tend to not do expensive things. All of my friends know I don't like spending as I'm one of the few 20 something guys who doesn't do dinners out or bars much. Why have dinner in a crowded, stuffy, overpriced restaurant when you could have a private picnic during the sunset on the beach, meadow, mountain, rooftop...

Presence helps but it's hard to use consistently without the meditation background. I'd say to make it as simple to run as possible so it's not a pain when you're tired and want to rest or enjoy your lover(s).

ie-Plant tomatoes and cucumbers when season comes, along with a fruit tree containing your favorite fruit and use miracle gro with some perlite to make it all easier. Study where the most sun is around your growing space at different times of the day, plant there, set up a drip system, and make sure it all works periodically. Throw some mulch on top for extra credit.

I love peaches but harvesting 50 peaches from a ladder in 100 degree sun during a humid spell in between working hours is more of an obligation than a joy for me. Picking 2 peaches a day year round with no work beyond walking to tree is my ideal but I haven't found this.

[wood]

Time for an update to keep myself accountable.

Wife
We still talk regularly and have rekindled some of the good things that made us work in the first place, like being able to share jokes, laughs, meals and conversations. It feels like we have a friendship in place and both seem to understand where the other is coming from.

It seems to me that marriages break very easily these days, maybe because we marry for different reasons than before and divorce is no longer a taboo. But maybe we lost some of the ability to deal with obstacles along the way? I suppose one would prefer divorce over an unhappy marriage. At what point does one decide that the unhappy marriage cannot be fixed?

Human relations
I took a break from dating this summer, but one of my former lovers is now back from a 2-month holiday. I was recently made aware that she is married and in a similar situation as mine. I should consider the morals in this relationship now, I would hate to break someone else's marriage especially considering my own history.

I've kept in touch with friends and family, and have 2 family visits planned for the next month. One of my priorities was to cut down on alcohol consumption. I attended a local beer festival but only had a few beers. Apart from that I have avoided drinking despite some mild peer pressure from friends around me. Thumbs up!

Generally
I signed up for a half marathon on Sept 16th and currently preparing for that. After Sept 16th I will cut down on running and increase my strength exercise regime. A colleague donated a pound of free protein powder to me the other day. Will try and see how that works on me.

Last month I complained about having too many projects going on and not being able/motivated to finish them. I've finished one of the 4 books I'm reading and have made progress in the other 3. I've continued writing on my own book. Progress is being made, albeit slow.

Fishing became my new hobby this year. I believe the extra expenditure on equipment has equalled the savings from free dinners. Now that autumn is around the corner, my focus is likely to shift towards a more indoor lifestyle. Reading and doing stock analysis is on my agenda. For relaxing, Premier League soccer and computer games is on the menu.

I won't say I feel alot better than a month ago, but I don't feel worse. I take that as a positive and move on with life. Next month will be hectic and weekends are already filled with plans. It's at times like these I wish I was FI.

[Viktor K]

I feel like I can empathize a lot with your general feelings right now. I am making a lot of progress but feel like that little piece of serenity is evasive. Something about your writing seems to echo this sentiment. Most likely it is just a mild case of the blues for both of us, and things will change.

[wood]

There's definetely some sort of blues there. Just avoid self pity and at some point I tend to snap out of it or forget there ever was blues.

[wolf]

Last month I complained about having too many projects going on and not being able/motivated to finish them. I've finished one of the 4 books I'm reading and have made progress in the other 3. I've continued writing on my own book. Progress is being made, albeit slow.

What 4 books are you reading?

And about what do you write your own book?

[wood]

The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy (Strauss & Howe) - halfway done
Sapiens (Harari) - halfway done
Moonwalking with Einstein: (Foer) - halfway done
Gullstøv (Clarke) - done

I'm enjoying the Sapiens book.

My book is a series of articles on human judgement biases and the like, written for my own personal use. I don't plan to publish it:)

[wood]

Finances August 2017

Decent numbers this month, but again, I need to cut down on spending money on social events. That number should be cut in half - minimum!

Rent 4 500,00
Adjustment rent -1 301,00
Internet 200,00
Electricity 636,00
Food & household items 2 393,27
Mobile phone 298,00
Transport 0,00
Health (meds & doctors) 0,00
Clothes, hair & hygiene 300,00
Furniture, interior, insurance, maintenance 0,00
Needs total 7 026,27
Projects, hobbies, training, multimedia 1 774,84
Social & cultural events 2 548,90
Work cafeteria 161,00
Holidays, airplanes & boats 786,00
Other 20,00
Gifts 0,00
Wants total 5 290,74
Total spend 12 317,01

Salary before tax 38 841,70
Tax 10 438,00
Union, pension, work insurance 1 366,13
Paid salary 27 037,57
Odd jobs, yard sale etc. 1 201,68
Debt repayment 500,00
Investments and accrued interest 500,00
Gifts 0,00
Total income 29 239,25
Savings rate 58 %

[wolf]

Finances August 2017
Decent numbers this month, but again, I need to cut down on spending money on social events. That number should be cut in half - minimum!
...
Transport 0,00
...
Social & cultural events 2 548,90
...
Savings rate 58 %

Hi wood, great numbers, great SavingsRate. Is 58% an all-time high? If so, well done!

Funny, as you mentioned you want to cut down on spending money on social events, I am trying do the opposite currently. In my last month I have not spend any money on socializing. Somehow I feel the need to improve that area. What kind of social & cultural events do you visit? Is it bars, events, etc? I am interested, because maybe I can learn some good lessson from you.

Thirdly, how do you manage to have zero transportation costs? Do you comute by bike to work?

Take care and keep on!

[Jean]

How do you feel about the elections in kenya, regarding your investments!

[liberty]

Congrats with great saving rate!

I don't understand the point "Union, pension, work insurance 1 366,13 ".
- Union: Why not quit the union? It's obviously not helping you. Your salary is not great, and it seems like you even got decreased salary from last year 38 716 to 38 841 is a 1.7% decrease in real terms. Also, you have much savings and if you get unemployed you get around 2/3 of the salary from the government in social security
- Why save for pensions when you go for early retirement? The government pensions are also huge in Norway, so no need to lock more money up for retirement.
- What type of work insurance?

[wood]

Hi wood, great numbers, great SavingsRate. Is 58% an all-time high? If so, well done!

Funny, as you mentioned you want to cut down on spending money on social events, I am trying do the opposite currently. In my last month I have not spend any money on socializing. Somehow I feel the need to improve that area. What kind of social & cultural events do you visit? Is it bars, events, etc? I am interested, because maybe I can learn some good lessson from you.

Thirdly, how do you manage to have zero transportation costs? Do you comute by bike to work?

Take care and keep on!

Hey! Thanks, I can't recall having done better than 58% before in a normal month. Still aiming for 60%+ though!

I don't really "visit" any events per se, its just abit of an awkward name for a category that covers alot of different things.
80% of it is either dating or being with friends. The rest is work/family obligations. I have 5 friends that I meet regularly and 1 woman that I'm dating. So in any given week I'm in a social situation 2-3 times atleast, usually in a 1v1 situation. It's just a question of what we do together. Sometimes a friend will suggest a beer at a bar or a concert, or I will suggest going for a walk. I typically end up spending some money every week and enjoy the things we do. Examples:
- buying PPV for the Mayweather-Mcgregor fight
- taking my date for a soccer match
- friend getting married next week
- random coffee/beer meetups with 1 or 2 friends
- getting or going for out-of-town visits (my family and 2 friends live 1000 NOK away from me)

I realize that my social life is very much determined by my friends: how many friends and what type. I enjoy having a few good friends rather than many. This makes it difficult/slow to change friends. I can't advice on how to get friends because we are all so different. What works for me might not work for you. I don't have problems socializing at work and seeking out groups/hobbies/events if I'm looking for friends. I have no need for such when I already have enough friends though:) If I'm drained every week because too much social stuff is going on, I know I need to reduce my amount of close friendships. If I want to increase the amount, I simply reach out to people I've been in touch with previously in my life, or try find new ones. Dating is also a way to find friends.

Zero transportation costs
I simply follow the ERE mantra of having a golden triangle between home, work and grocery shop. All are max 200m from each other and my gym is at work. Rumour has it that we will change offices next year. If so happens, I'm likely to move closer to work again.
I take the bus occasionally (rarely), have a bike but no car. I live near downtown in a small city.

[wood]

How do you feel about the elections in kenya, regarding your investments!

As long as elections are peaceful and fair, I don't care much who wins. It seems many kenyans share that sentiment too.

Elections were funnily enough nullified in Kenya this time, and they have to do the election all over again. I havent checked the news in a couple of days but so far it has been fairly peaceful. It is nowhere near the bloodshed that followed the 2009 elections.

[wood]

Congrats with great saving rate!

I don't understand the point "Union, pension, work insurance 1 366,13 ".
- Union: Why not quit the union? It's obviously not helping you. Your salary is not great, and it seems like you even got decreased salary from last year 38 716 to 38 841 is a 1.7% decrease in real terms. Also, you have much savings and if you get unemployed you get around 2/3 of the salary from the government in social security

Thanks:) I'm not happy with my union. Salaries have stagnated/deflated and it seems like a waste of money (although I believe this is a bigger issue than just the union). My main reason for being part of the union is for the potential odd event that I might end up in some kind of disaagrement/conflict with my employer. Union membership gives me a small amount of power. I'm seriously considering to stop the contributions, especially now that you brought it up again:)

Why save for pensions when you go for early retirement? The government pensions are also huge in Norway, so no need to lock more money up for retirement.

The pension is automatically deducted from my salary and cannot be removed. It's the price you pay to get government pension and there is simply no way to avoid it if you work for the government.

- What type of work insurance?

Work insurance comes automatically just from being employed and is not deducted from salary. The insurance I do pay for is a cheap home+travel insurance that the union offers. I'd get these insurances anyway and save about 2000 NOK annually from using the union's version (at an annual price of 5000 NOK for being part of the union:/ )

The monthly 1366 NOK deduction from my payslip is distributed as follows:
777 pension
428 union (optional)
161 home+travel insurance (optional)

[liberty]

Thanks for the clarification. Remember to get the union fee deducted from the tax at least (it gets deducted up to a certain amount). Personally I don't have a travel insurance since I'm insured through my credit card when I have bought at least half of the trip with it.

You should maybe apply for some jobs in the private sector. There it's normally easier to increase the salary when you do a good job.

[wood]

Thanks for the clarification. Remember to get the union fee deducted from the tax at least (it gets deducted up to a certain amount). Personally I don't have a travel insurance since I'm insured through my credit card when I have bought at least half of the trip with it.

You should maybe apply for some jobs in the private sector. There it's normally easier to increase the salary when you do a good job.

Thanks for the tip. I have a credit card insurance like yours, but the union insurance covers all travel from my home except transport to/from work. So if I go for a walk in the sun my possessions are insured.

Private vs public sector work could be a discussion in itself. Currently I can get away with 2-4 hours of effective work everyday. I'm keeping a lookout for higher paid jobs. Its difficult to leave this one though. It has many perks: nice workmates, free gym at work, close to my home, no stress/pressure, 36 hour work week, easy to get a leave. I'm mostly enjoying life while waiting to REE.

[liberty]

Yeah, in the Norwegian government you can chill all day long

[wood]

Fell ill last week of August and went into a mild depressive state that continued after the virus. Feelings of apathy, loneliness and self-pity.
Feelings of self-pity gets accompanied by a feeling of shame because I know how privileged I generally am as a human being. This leads to a vicious circle in which I keep feeling worse. During this spell I did zero reading, zero work on my different projects/hobbies and felt careless at work. Eventually, 10 days following the virus outbreak, I got a burst of life energy and snapped out of the whole thing. Life is funny.

I have a desire to read books on human relationships (friends, lovers, family) and how to deal with them and police them. This is an education I never had and I'm pretty much self-taught. It seems most people are self-taught. I feel overwhelmed at times and have a hard time finding a balance between supporting someone and avoid getting drained in the process. I'm known to have a big heart which occasionally collides with my desire to have less obligations and more freedom. Suggestions on books apart from "Emotional Vampires" (Bernstein)?

In conjunction with quitting snus I also had thoughts on my coffee habit. It seems whatever I get addicted to I over-do it. I would easily drink 4-5 full cups of coffee every day of the week. I tried going cold turkey together with the snus but eventually failed. Coffee is such a social ritual in Norway, more so than using tobacco. I've cut the habit in half now. I drink 4-5 cups daily but they are half-cups at the most. So 2 cups daily, which effectively removes the negative side effects of over consumption. I doubt I'm capable of consistently doing the same with snus which is why I'm happy to have quit that entirely.

I tried doing some backtracking of my networth since 2012. To my surprise it seems my networth went slowly downhill in the years 2012-2014. I discovered ERE around 2013. It does take time to wash the brain.

Doing a 2 hour jog on Saturday with roadside DJ's, music, cheerleaders, free bananas and soda. They call it half marathon and when it's done I'll start bulking up some more muscle!

[wolf]

Suggestions on books apart from "Emotional Vampires" (Bernstein)?

"How To Win Friends And Influence People" by Dale Carnegie is about improving relationships generally (friendliness, avoiding conflicts...)
Recently I started to read more about spirituality, especially buddhism. I have read "A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life" by Jack Kornfield, which is about empathy, feeling the other person, having faith, finding balance, ...

What other books have you read so far or what are you planning to do? I am also interested in that topic.