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FI by 35, Fischers Journal

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 3:15 pm
by BMF1102
Edit- *The numbers here do not jive very well with my "2018 Review" entry down the page a bit. See that post for more info*

Hello again everyone.

With out further delay here are the numbers as best as I can figure for 2017. I have broken bills I pay bi-yearly down to monthly.

Gross Income - 62,991.15

Monthly Bills - These numbers I have hard data for.

164.83 Auto insurance
43.17 Cell phone, Verizon pre-paid
70.47 Property Tax
49.00 Electric
43.00 Natural Gas
59.00 H20/trash
64.00 Internet/ minimal TV.
97.5 Dog (food, insulin/needles)

Now some extrapolated numbers

389.84 Fuel- I have averaged about 30,000 miles a year driving
150-300? Eating out
250-400? Groceries/ household goods

1,680.77 Monthly Total

Approximately

3,000.00 Hotels/Airbnb/ Apartments while traveling for work
1,800.00 New, used vehicle for my mom
500.00 Repair work to my Jeep (head rebuild, new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, coil, battery, camshaft position sensor, throttle position sensor)

25469.24 Grand Total <- Edited 9/2/2018

Whew... not nearly as frugal as I'd like to think.

I currently have as of 2/10/2017

10,000 Robinhood Brokerage account
15,277 Checking/savings accounts
55,000 House value according to Zillow (12,000 cash purchase, about 13,000 cash rehab cost)

*These numbers are not all encompassing. My bank was merged with another so I have lost track of some bank statements from earlier last year, making figuring out exact numbers to everything difficult.

The things I believe need the most work are eating out/ groceries.
I'd love to find cheaper auto insurance (should get significantly cheaper at next renewal date, there will be 3 tickets coming off).
I love my dog but, since my ex girlfriend left last year, she is really a burden to me and my working schedule. I am trying to find her a good home, I will not give her up to a shelter though.
I'm looking to cancel the Comcast and up the data on my Cell plan.
I will try shutting off the spare bedroom for the next couple months see what effect it has on Natural Gas bill, also vigilance with the electricty.

Unfortunately fuel and hotel bills will be high while working. I can write both off on my taxes though.

So this is where I start my FI-RE journey from. I believe with some major lifestyle changes, I could be FI in about a year. Perhaps I will start a thread eslewhere to discuss specific options. As I said in my Intro post, my goal is FI by 35 though. Currently 32

Moving forward I will attempt to post weekly spending reports.

Any comments, questions or ideas about my specific numbers here please do not hesitate to ask.

Re: FI by 35, Fischers Journal

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 10:03 am
by Jason
Man, I'm sorry, but I can't help but feel for your dog. Usually in break-ups, the fight is over who gets to keep it. To think one day she's going to wake up and realize neither of you wanted her. Damn.

Re: FI by 35, Fischers Journal

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 12:21 pm
by Chris
Being an anti-consumerist DIYer puts you in a good position to reach FI. Welcome.

$2500/mo for temporary accommodation is a lot. Do you utilize hotel loyalty programs, travel credit cards, Priceline name-your-own-price, etc.?

Since you have a spare room, are you in a position to be an AirBNB host?

Re: FI by 35, Fischers Journal

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 4:09 pm
by SavingWithBabies
If you don't mind sharing, I'd love to hear the story of that house!

Re: FI by 35, Fischers Journal

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 4:12 pm
by BMF1102
@Jason, The ex would love to keep the dog, she also had 2 cats though, she can not afford all 3. Just think Xena(the dog) may also wake up one day in a home that has the time to take her for a walk everyday and interact with her more, seeing as she is blind as well, she does not do much here besides eat and sleep. I take her walking occasionaly. I feel she would be better off in a home with an older couple or individual that has a more consistent schedule and time to devote to her. As of tomorrow I will be spending about 4 hours a day commuting then work 12 for the next 6 weeks 7 days a week then 2 days break and off to Pensylvania for 4-5 weeks. This is what I feel guilty about but this time of the year I make the bulk of my income.

@Chris Thank you
Well I thought I had given that original post a good looking over... should have been 3,000 approximately for the year! I will edit that
I'm not sure Airbnb would be very lucrative in my location. I have asked friends in the area who have rented what I might be able to charge to rent out the spare room... they figure I could easily get 250-350 a month. Which would pretty well cover house expenses.

Re: FI by 35, Fischers Journal

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 4:36 pm
by BMF1102
@ SavingwithBabies, heres a litte more about the house. I had been keeping an eye on various websites and looking for a cheap fixer upper for about 6 months. Over that time I watched the price on this house steadily decline from 24,000 to 12,000 on the HUD website. So I got in touch with my Realtor made an offer same day and won (actual purchase price 12,578, I should edit that up top). After getting the keys I promptly gutted the entire house nothing left besides the origanal structural support wall and the furnace. The house had not been updated at all since being built in 1950<-I believe? Then proceeded to rehab new electric, plumbing, windows (even cut in a 6ft sliding door in the dining room), insulation, drywall, flooring and kitchen. Then after a couple years I re-sided it. Just put up a privacy fence last spring. It actually has really good soil and I can grow a pretty nice garden. Keep in mind I bought this in 2012 the housing market had no quite fully recovered. Actually there are still really cheap deals to be had if your willing to do the work they require, I looked at a couple over this last summer that were going for less than what I bought my house for. I kept track of the reciepts pretty religiously... I intended to sell quick so would need them for tax write offs.. now I've had it homesteaded long enough that's not a concern. I only bought materials on sale and actually still need to finish some trim work in the living room ha ha. That's pretty much it.

Re: FI by 35, Fischers Journal

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 5:07 pm
by Jason
Well, I guess being that the dog is blind, it won’t know the difference where it is. I do think dogs get the most attention from old people. I visited a friend in a care facility because she has dementia and they have a dog as therapy. Because they constantly forget there is a dog, every time they see It they scream “Look a dog!!!” and everyone including the dog eats it up.

Re: FI by 35, Fischers Journal

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 5:30 pm
by BMF1102
Ha! That's great!

Re: FI by 35, Fischers Journal

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 12:34 am
by SavingWithBabies
@BMF1102 Well I'm impressed! Nice job on the house. Thanks for sharing the details.

Re: FI by 35, Fischers Journal

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 7:53 am
by Jason
BMF1102 wrote:
Sun Feb 11, 2018 4:12 pm

@Chris Thank you
Well I thought I had given that original post a good looking over... should have been 3,000 approximately for the year!
I was looking at that and I thought "what kind of occupation involves spending over 50% of income on non-reimbursed hotel accommodations" and I thought it's probably better not to shit talk a possible hit man.

Re: FI by 35, Fischers Journal

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 1:01 pm
by Family father
I may not have understood everything, but unless I forgot something, your actual numbers are:

Last year expenses: 35k
Last year savings: 28k
NW: 80k included the house where you live -> 25k of producing assets

If you assume you could live on 1 Jacob (7k/year) and that you are FI with a WR of 4% you would need a producing NW of 175k.

If you started living in 1 Jacob right now, you'd save roughly 56k+earnings every year and you could be FI by 35, but it seems too fast a change: don't you think?

Did I miss something? Or is FI by 35 a wish and not yet a plan?

Re: FI by 35, Fischers Journal

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 1:02 pm
by Family father
Jason wrote:
Mon Feb 12, 2018 7:53 am
I thought it's probably better not to shit talk a possible hit man.
Well thought.. :lol:

Re: FI by 35, Fischers Journal

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 2:16 pm
by Jason
I profile before I road rage as well, which although decreasing the likelihood of retaliation, does leave me vulnerable to being Rodney Kinged by a group of non shit-taking old ladies car pooling to bingo.

Re: FI by 35, Fischers Journal

Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2018 12:55 pm
by BMF1102
@ Family Father & Jason- Not a hit man :lol:

Re: FI by 35, Fischers Journal

Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2018 1:15 pm
by BMF1102
@ Family Father - Thank you, perhaps yes FI by 35 is a wish. Yes it may be too much change too fast, if I follow Jacobs path I see the obstacles I face to make it by 35. Perhaps over the next couple years I pick up a couple of houses rent them out, put a decent chunk of change in the market. Work at reducing my expenses, I see no reason I could not be free. Of course this is all based on assumptions. I guess that's why I'm here to learn to discuss and to document.

I left a few things out/ did not specify in my initial post
I have no debt
I have no children

Most people probably assumed this but just clarifying.

Re: FI by 35, Fischers Journal

Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2018 1:41 pm
by BMF1102
Okay so for the last couple weeks I spent

-215.89 Utilities
-188.92 Fuel
-80.67 Groceries
-76.33 Restaurants
-290.53 Jeep (hit a deer; new radiator, water pump, antifreeze, used front clip/grill)
-85.71 Rental car 48hrs (till I could fix Jeep)
-100.00 Approximate miscelaneous cash purchases
-1018.30 Total
+831.09 1st week pay
-187.21 For last 2 weeks

So I have not done great these last couple weeks. For the next couple weeks I will focus on documenting what I spend better (cash purchases) and avoiding eating out. Which will prove to be a real struggle. I was given bad information, these first 2 weeks I only worked 5-8s. The first week I worked 1630-0030 the second week 0600-1430. This schedule was easy to live with. Come Monday, we go to 6-12s 0600-1800 which combing with the aproximately 4 hours I spend commuting will only leave me 8 hours to cook, eat, clean up, shower, and sleep. My plan is to cook 2 large meals on Sundays to have leftovers for lunches and dinners for the week. We'll see how it goes!

Please share any thoughts questions ideas or meal ideas

Re: FI by 35, Fischers Journal

Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2018 9:21 pm
by BMF1102
Hello Everyone

I have worked 917.2 hours since 2/12/18, in and out of state. I have not been very frugal but still managed to put away a good chunk of cash
As of tonight 6/18/18 I have

41,358.24 - Checking/Savings
9,973.54 - Robinhood account (earning about 9.6% in dividends, prices are beginning to bounce back nicely, still have a couple holding the total down)
Still have the house but it's not terribly important until I sell it.

All other montly bills are pretty much on par with what they were.
I have spent about 2,500.00 on hotels
Drove 7,141.8 miles for work so have spent atleast 1,200.00 in fuel
I will have to go through bank statements to see what I spent on everything else.

Eating out has become my largest discretionary drain. So focusing on cooking more meals at home.

Moving forward I will focus on reducing recurring expenses.
I am also keeping my eyes peeled for a good (location, price, amount of work needed) rental house

I continually wonder whether I should get a more fuel efficient vehicle or keep piling miles on my Jeep. With the new tax rules I will no longer be able to write off miles or travel/hotel expenses... thoughts?

As always any questions/comments are welcome.

P.S. I have also recieved a raise of $1.75/hour, while working in Michigan anyhow.

Re: FI by 35, Fischers Journal

Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2018 4:09 pm
by BMF1102
*Deleted*