journal of wood

Where are you and where are you going?
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wood
Posts: 355
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2015 5:53 am

Re: journal of wood

Post by 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
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Re: journal of wood

Post by wolf »

wood wrote:
Tue Aug 15, 2017 6:00 am
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
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Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2015 5:53 am

Re: journal of wood

Post by 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
Posts: 355
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2015 5:53 am

Re: journal of wood

Post by 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
Posts: 1102
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Location: Germany

Re: journal of wood

Post by wolf »

wood wrote:
Fri Sep 01, 2017 3:57 am
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!

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Jean
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Re: journal of wood

Post by Jean »

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

liberty
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Location: Norway

Re: journal of wood

Post by 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
Posts: 355
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2015 5:53 am

Re: journal of wood

Post by 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
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Re: journal of wood

Post by wood »

Jean wrote:
Sat Sep 02, 2017 2:51 am
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
Posts: 355
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Re: journal of wood

Post by wood »

liberty wrote:
Sat Sep 02, 2017 5:55 am
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
Posts: 180
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2016 2:01 pm
Location: Norway

Re: journal of wood

Post by 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
Posts: 355
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2015 5:53 am

Re: journal of wood

Post by wood »

liberty wrote:
Mon Sep 04, 2017 1:01 pm
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
Posts: 180
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Location: Norway

Re: journal of wood

Post by liberty »

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

wood
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Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2015 5:53 am

Re: journal of wood

Post by 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
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Re: journal of wood

Post by wolf »

wood wrote:
Thu Sep 14, 2017 2:07 am
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.

wood
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Re: journal of wood

Post by wood »

Dragline wrote:
Tue Feb 14, 2017 9:43 am
Honestly, based on your description, I think you married the wrong person. (...) Go see if you can find a copy of the book "Emotional Vampires" by Bernstein. You may find your spouse in there, specifically under "Histrionic Vampires":
Once again, thank you for pointing me to this book. I eventually did pick it up and started reading it this week.

She fits the description of Antisocial Vampires very well; need for stimulation, impulsiveness, charm. Sex, drugs and rock'n roll. No wonder I fell in love with her immediately.
I did a quick-score on the questionaire in the book, tried to be as objective as I could, and gave her 12/20. 5 is enough to qualify, 10 is enough to get your heart broken.

@MDFIRE2024: For now I want to finish the ones I'm currently reading and I just finished the Fourth Turning book. Immediately started reading Emotional Vampires. I don't know what book comes after that, but most likely a different topic as I put my new education to the test :lol:

wood
Posts: 355
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2015 5:53 am

Re: journal of wood

Post by wood »

Finances September

Rent 4 500,00
Adjustment rent -882,85
Internet 200,00
Electricity 636,00
Food & household items 3 195,38
Mobile phone 305,98
Transport 222,00
Clothes, hair & hygiene 1 379,43
Needs total 9 555,94
Projects, hobbies, training, multimedia 515,68
Social & cultural events 1 347,42
Work cafeteria 189,00
Snus 0,00
Holidays, airplanes & boats 541,00
Other 318,00
Gifts 766,00
Wants total 3 677,10
Total spend 13 233,04


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. 0,00
Debt repayment 500,00
Investments and accrued interest 500,00
Gifts 0,00
Total income 28 037,57
Savings rate 53 %

- Massive increase on food costs because changed to protein-heavy diet
- Bought 100 pair of socks
- Still too much spent on social/cultural events but on the plus side it went down from last month and I went for more events

wood
Posts: 355
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2015 5:53 am

New training, changed diet

Post by wood »

This month my focus is on training and diet.

Completed my annual half marathon (21km) and finished at 1:51, a new personal best in what was considered a difficult route with several tough uphills. I also discovered that post run blues is a thing. I'm happy with my performance, but I was again hit with a week long depressive state.

I've started fantasizing about doing a full marathon next year. Why not? Well, diabetes 1 is a huge obstacle for stuff like this. And my feet are a bit injury prone. But I'm going to train for it and give it a shot.

I started my new diet + training program 3 weeks ago. It consists of the following:

- Slight decrease (~20%) in carb/fat intake.
- Protein intake increased from ~50 to ~120 grams per day
- Total daily calorie intake increased from 2100 to 2400

- Full body strength training Monday + Thursday (5 main exercises, 6-10 reps x 3-4 sets)
- Recovery training Tuesday+Friday (easy jog, swim, ballgame etc)
- Other days: rest

Effects so far:
- Food costs have increased dramatically
- I'm constantly full because I have to eat all the time
- Weight increased from 67kg to 69.5kg
- Becoming noticably stronger
- More defined muscles than before
- Getting sick of tuna and chicken
- Learned more about diet and strength training

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Viktor K
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Re: journal of wood

Post by Viktor K »

That's tight. As someone who feels perpetually skinny, your commitment to diet and exercise leaves me envious.

wood
Posts: 355
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Re: journal of wood

Post by wood »

Viktor K wrote:
Mon Oct 16, 2017 11:11 am
That's tight. As someone who feels perpetually skinny, your commitment to diet and exercise leaves me envious.
Thanks. I have to say my main motivation comes from having diabetes type 1, and apart from that just creating a habit that is somewhat enjoyable. Take pleasure in pain kinda thing.

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