RoamingFrancis' Path to ERE

[mathiverse]

Can you change when/where you use certain clothes to limit the amount of times you have to wash things? A simple example is having a workout outfit and a manual labor/gardening outfit you wash less frequently since you don't need to have fresh clothes each time you work out or do gardening/physical labor/etc.

[RoamingFrancis]

Love the George Carlin protocol! Thanks for the input everyone.

Alchemy, Entrepreneurship, and Income Streams

Recently I've been thinking in broader terms about my ERE system and what the hell my next step forward should be. I've got my attic*, $10k in the bank, and basically 0 expenses. I've been hitting up more dumpsters with a car-owning friend, and holy hell, I've got food to last a long time.

Based on my rough calculations, I think I'd need around $100,000 to reach full FI. This is not an exact number, as I have been tracking expenses for less than a year and don't have data about long term fluctuations. The real question to ask now is through what alchemy can I most efficiently turn $10k into $100k? How can I do this with the least amount of stress and bullshit?

I'm about halfway through One Million in the Bank by Michael L.F. Slavin, with a guest chapter by Jacob. It's pretty down-to-earth, sensible advice. So far, the book can be summarized with just "Provide useful product or service. Have a solid business plan. Know your shit with regard to marketing, selling, management, etc. Don't be stupid."

The liberating insight of ERE is that it's not necessary to have anywhere near the titular $1 million in order to have financial independence and a kickass life, so I have changed the title of the book within the limits of my own imagination. It is now $100,000 in the Bank. The easiest way to score a touchdown is by moving the goalposts.

I'm considering the entrepreneurship route to FI more deeply, though I'm a bit wary of starting right now. The book says 3-10 years are necessary for most businesses to get off the ground, and I don't want to be bound to one place or job yet.

I've learned a ton at the sales gig, but I haven't made very much money. My end date is November 31; I might push that earlier or see if there's a different role I can take on so I can learn more.

In other news, a friend of mine makes a living selling recycled eco art and teaching university courses on the subject. They're coming to my area and we're going to try to make some money doing it. Best case scenario it's a profitable side gig, worst case scenario it's a fun hobby.

Systems Thinking, Wheaton Levels, and a Macro Perspective on ERE

I am starting to more intuitively grok some of the systems theory stuff, though I haven't been studying it formally. I would self-evaluate as somewhere between 4 and 6 on the Wheaton Scale, though I really don't know, and I'm not sure where to focus my energies in terms of reading/study. My cooking is near the top of the s-curve, and I really don't have any other expenses right now, so maybe I should look more into the entrepreneurship and systems theory stuff? Or permaculture? Not really sure...

*There is a chance, though improbable, that I won't have long-term access to the attic space. If this happens, some alternatives:

• Go back to living with parents (least desirable)

• Find a friend to crash with

• Buy a van, live inside

• Live in tent in forest preserve

[RoamingFrancis]

The Man Who Quit Money

Just finished reading Suelo's biography. Inspiring, but I doubt going 100% moneyless is for me. Each person has their own niche in the ecosystem, their own destiny to fulfill. I don't think that will be mine. Getting started on The Crash Course by Chris Martenson tonight.

I admire how Suelo so deeply and radically aligns his actions with his beliefs. It makes me question whether achieving full FI is even worth it, if I can instead build a system like Rob Greenfield's where he works for money once or twice a year, instead of managing passive income streams. I wonder how Jacob's numbers of hours managing investments per year compares with Rob Greenfield's giving a couple speeches.

I'd like to read more of Dacher Keltner, a psychologist who explores things related to wealth and power. Having the theoretical understanding of how to become financially independent in a short time is powerful, and I think it comes with a responsibility to help others. This guy's work may help.



Other

I think I'm going to quit the public adjuster job. I'm not learning anything anymore, am losing autonomy, and haven't made that much money. Time to leverage the FU Stash to say, well, FU.

I need to make some decisions about what to do next, mainly in terms of income generation. As I am rather fiercely anti-authoritarian, it has become clear to me that the only field in which I can likely work long-term is if I'm self-employed to some degree. Though I plan to keep doing the nonprofit stuff and getting the occasional stipend too.

It's been such a weird fucking year. I've got enough cash to support myself for two years, I'm sort of thinking I'll just be a full time dirtbag and work on weird projects, doing what I need to generate money when necessary. I'm taking my autodidactic education very seriously, reading as many books as possible and meditating regularly. This may look like a rash decision, but given the ERE understanding and good habits I've developed, I think it's actually quite responsible.

[Western Red Cedar]

@RF - There is no better time to dirtbag than in your 20's. Best of luck on whatever you decide.

[RoamingFrancis]

Book Reviews

Recently finished Being the Change by Peter Kalmus and The Man Who Quit Money. I enjoyed both of them, and have gotten a beginner's understanding of climate science which I look forward to deepening. I've been reading fairly voraciously, and also have been slowly digesting a bunch of reference books on cooking, bicycle repair, composting, and David Allen's GTD. @AxelHeyst has been helping me implement GTD stuff and it has lead to a noted increase in my quality of life. Thanks @AH!

I visited @jacob in his backyard the other day, and he gave me Crash Course, along with several other peak oil books and a copy of Paul Wheaton's new book. Haven't finished it yet, but here are my thoughts so far. Thank you Jacob for the gifts!

The author, Chris Martenson, presents his analysis of the "three E's" energy, economy, and environment. He starts with a lengthy explanation of exponential growth and moves on to an analysis of how money is produced. I learned that fiat currency is that which is supported by a governmental body, and a little bit more about how the Federal Reserve works. Namely, it's a private entity that is in charge of printing the entire US money supply, and that the US Treasury usually only has a couple months worth of funds at any given moment. It seems pretty bizarre and irresponsible to me to have a bunch of non-elected people with direct control over the money supply, but I guess that's just America.

He also talks about how basically all money is produced through one of two ways: a bank loaning it out or the Federal Reserve printing more. He illustrates a fascinating example of how a bank can take $1,000, loan out $900, have that client redeposit it in the bank, loan out $810, have that client redeposit, loan out $729, and so on. So in my summarized example the bank can put $2439 into circulation with just a $1000 deposit. Pretty mind-bending! The other way to produce more money is for the Fed to just print it and loan it out. I need to clarify who they usually loan it to, but yeah, that's the distinction the author makes.

He furthermore distinguishes between primary wealth, secondary wealth, and tertiary wealth. For example, primary wealth would be an iron mine, secondary wealth is a ton of steel made from the mine, and tertiary wealth is a million dollars used to buy the steel. It is important to remember that money is only useful insofar as it is connected to primary wealth. If the Fed prints more dollars but there is no increase in primary wealth, inflation happens, as there is no real increase in resources. Furthermore, since resources are limited, a growth-based economy is essentially fucked in the long run. He distinguishes growth and prosperity/quality of life, the former being more important than the latter.

So far very interesting, and I can see more clearly how ERE was born out of an understanding of peak oil. The environmental conversation has now mostly shifted to climate change, and I am curious to learn more about the relevancy of the peak oil argument in the larger context.

[RoamingFrancis]

October Spending

$297 - annual subscription to United Mindfulness private coaching
$69.18 - food
$19.93 - One Million in the Bank by Michael L.F. Slavin
$7.32 - Toothpaste and Floss
$2.24 - Knife and can opener
$1 - new washing machine

Total: $403.67

Analysis:

My highest spending was clearly for the meditation training. I had been mulling this over for a while, decided to try it out, and so far it seems 100% worth the $300. I've talked about my meditation experiences on here before, but this practice has significantly increased my day-to-day well-being and I think the expense is more than justified. I like the UM system because it's a pragmatic, no-bullshit, scientific take on contemplative practice.

I shouldn't have bought the book; they got it at my local library shortly after I finished Should have waited.

Did okay on food. I found a good dumpster route about halfway through the month, but for the first half I was still figuring out grocery stuff and spent too much because I was desperate and hungry. I think November food costs will be even lower because I now have a better system in place.

I built my own washing machine for $1. I got a plunger from the dollar store and a free leftover bucket from a bakery, and voila. I have a drying rack too, have been drying inside due to the cold, and there's been a weird smell and it takes a long time. I long for the springtime warmth and breeze.

As a minimalist exercise, I'm changing my bedroom to an even smaller closet in the unused building I'm occupying. All of my things should fit in the closet.

Frugality skills are going pretty well, and I'm starting to figure shit out.

[RoamingFrancis]

Career Shit

When visiting Jacob, we discussed the whole travel dirtbag thing a little bit. Though I disagree with Jacob on the value of travel done right (not as a commodified tourist experience), he did make a couple of good points. Firstly, it can suck to be 30 with no marketable skills and have trouble transitioning once you "age out" and don't want to hang out with the broke travel backpacker scene any more. Secondly, he emphasized that it was really nice to have money but not need it at a young age.

I've been in a bit of a predicament recently, as I've developed a couple income trickles, but no reliable long-term income source. This year's been hectic with COVID, and I've just grown increasingly disillusioned with the university system. I think dirtbagging is valuable, but if I dirtbag I want to be proactive about building valuable skills along the way. I've decided I'm going to try to do a career doing weird stuff instead of going the college route. To do this, I'll have to be proactive about getting skills and training I need. The good news is I have $10,000 in the bank, extremely low expenses, at least a little income, and a fuckton of social capital due to supportive family, friends, community organizations I've been a part of, etc. According to my projections, I should be able to sustain myself for 2 years with no income, so I'm going to use the chance to try some more unconventional stuff outside of the college track, which consists of five main parts:

1) Mindfulness Training. I feel really good about my decision to sign up for the United Mindfulness private coaching, and eventually plan to do the teaching program. Now that meditation is a thing in the West, there are starting to be careers in this shit. Just today I watched an hour-long video with Dr. Jay Sanguinetti in a meditation neuroscience research lab, which was fucking awesome. They're looking at using ultrasound to stimulate specific brain regions to accelerate development in mindfulness skills. It's breaking into the cultural mainstream.

2) Permaculture Design Course. Looking at the world from the perspective of a twenty year old just starting my life, it has become clear that previous generations have trashed the place, and I put very little faith in the existing institutions to do... really anything worth a damn. I'm going to make a wager now that these skills will become essential for anyone in my generation planning to be around until 2080 or so. And permaculture and ERE seem to have so many similarities that they make a natural complement. I've started looking at courses in my area and online. I want to get really good at this.

3) I have a friend arriving in my area soon who does is pretty incredible at making recycled art out of nothing. He's going to teach me some of what he knows, and we'll see if we can make some money with it. Should be a good opportunity to level up on entrepreneurial skills, even if we don't make that much money. We can get all the materials we need out of dumpsters, so there's very little overhead

4) Keep doing what I'm doing while building skills and alternative income streams. I have my nonprofit gig, which doesn't pay much but is fun. I also have the roofing, which pays if I get lucky, and with which I have been increasingly disillusioned. I think it's best not to quit either until I have a reliable income stream from another source. I'll continue keeping spending low, developing frugality skills, improving systems thinking, meditating, and making sure I don't get anybody pregnant or get addicted to heroin.

5) Some sort of language/anthropology related thing. I grew up obsessed with foreign languages and wanting to be an anthropologist. The bullshit of the university system, plus the mounting environmental problems, have effectively discouraged me from getting a career in academia, but I will still be on the lookout for opportunities to volunteer in endangered language preservation and stuff like that. I don't know how to effectively make money from it, but worst case scenario it's something I can do post-FI or during a semi-ERE period.

Those are the plans for now. Though I'll never be rid of the dirtbag adventure travel bug, I think it's best to focus on this stuff while riding out COVID. Maybe in a year or so I'll be able to do the Vancouver to the Amazon trip I've been dreaming about, but it all depends on the state of the world. Hope all is well.

Peaceably,
Roaming Francis

[RoamingFrancis]

Some updates:

Unfortunately I lost my rent-free arrangement in the unused building. There is no bad blood with the owner; it's just that there were some other (rather close-minded) people involved in the decision making process. I am moving into an apartment with a roommate. Rent should be around $500 a month, which means an unfortunate increase in expenses. I don't see any way to decrease this until I am capable of moving to a decreased cost of living area.

I am starting a small business selling recycled art with a friend, while still keeping a part time job to pay the rent. Am hoping to transition to the business as my main income stream as I increase ERE competency. Though even if it totally fails, I still will have won. This is because I will be gaining useful skills and having lots of fun and autonomy on the way.

[RoamingFrancis]

November expenses:

$46.85
$5.39
$0.99

I had to leave my building, which means I'm having to scramble to get an apartment. This is shoehorning me into a much higher cost of living, and and kind of sucks. Regardless, I am planning to transition to vanlife over the next 8 months so it shouldn't be too damaging.

My main limiting factor is still income. I am looking at several ideas to increase this - eco art shit, increasing effort a bit at my current jobs, and so forth. I also found an interesting online permaculture course which also explicitly covers FIRE and small business ownership. I am going to do an analysis of the ROI to determine whether I think it'll be worth it.

I do now have a cooler version of my "dream job," which is basically to be a contemplative ethnoecologist. That's a word that I made up because it's basically combining my three main areas of interest - meditation, anthropology, and ecology. I'll be working towards some version of this in the future in order to better develop income streams.

[Alphaville]

winter is a rough time to be sleeping al fresco

not to be a downer or anything, but not everyone is rob greenfield or whats his name and score free digs from strangers. let's face it: it's unusual enough to make him internet famous.

if you have references and are a clean-looking person with a good work ethic you could probably score a caretaker gig somewhere.

https://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/lab/ ... 94006.html

say hi to grandma

--

other things found in a hurry:
https://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/lab/ ... 58940.html (semi-exterminator)

aha! https://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/lab/ ... 11832.html

this looks like live-in? https://lasalle.craigslist.org/lab/d/ot ... 02091.html
etc, i gtg

[RoamingFrancis]

Not sleeping al fresco, luckily. I'm staying with an aunt for a couple days and found a roommate. I'll be all right, but this is a rather annoying setback in my plans. Thanks for the support though.

-RF

[RoamingFrancis]

2020 Recap

It's been a while since I've really written in this journal, which is a bit of a shame, as I always feel good after writing, and feel even better when I get supportive feedback about my life plans. So here goes! A recap of the whole year—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I started the year by deciding to try out nursing school. I was a pretty smart kid, but my fourth grade teacher used math and science to bully me, so I always avoided hard science, preferring instead to learn foreign languages, read books, and play instruments. A large part of my motivation for trying nursing was to prove to myself that I could do STEM if I wanted to. I dedicated myself to it, and I did well! I loved chemistry and statistics, and later this year even taught myself some calculus for fun! I made huge progress this year in undoing my phobia around math and science, and I am proud of myself for doing so. I've decided not to continue with the nursing, but I still consider this a valuable experience, and don't regret the time I spent there.

In addition to school, I spent valuable time improving my skills in cooking, bicycle repair, composting, and dumpster diving. I am not perfect in any of these areas, but I have made significant progress through self study!

COVID was pretty shitty and chaotic for me. I was just starting to get into a good groove at school—meeting good people, hanging out with professors after class with nerdy questions, etc—when all the classes were moved online and I had to try to teach myself anatomy with my siblings yelling in the background. Not fun. I began burning out as summer started, and had reserved a day in June to go into the woods with a friend and take LSD. I was very intentional and careful, and was mainly looking for insight about whether I should continue with the path I was on.

Now, I was sort of adopted into a Mexican community when I was young, and Latin American culture has been hugely important in my life. During the trip, a presence that I can only accurately describe as "the spirit of Latin America" appeared to me, and essentially told me that I should be working to preserve indigenous languages that are in danger of extinction. Very clear message. I decided to drop out of nursing school and figure out what the hell I was going to do next.

Soon after, I grew sick of home and moved into the attic of an unused building. I lived there for over a month and had a blast! The problem was, however, that even though it was okay with the manager, not the entire board was in agreement with my staying there. As such, I have had to leave, and will be renting an apartment to get me through the winter.

Having to get an apartment is a setback for me. I'm having to go from rent-free living to paying $500 a month. I am hoping to find a better long-term solution, but for now I need to just get through the winter. It's not all bad, though. I have friends close by, and will have a cool roommate that I am excited to get to know better. Also, another friend recently moved to Florida and gifted his car to me and my roommate! We'll be able to use it for some work stuff, which will be quite nice.

2021 Planning

As for 2021 planning, I am operating under the assumption that COVID will be mostly settled down by the summer. Only time will tell, but I think this is realistic. As some of you know, my main ERE dilemma is the dirtbag/career dichotomy. I lean heavily towards the dirtbag side, and as such have decided I will be transitioning to van life!

It's sort of a perfect time for me to get a van. If I spend the winter working and saving money, I will have ample time in the spring and summer for building and preparation. Then, before fall, I could get the hell out of the area! I have a strong dislike of cold winters, and suffer from mild seasonal depression, and I want this to be the last damn Chicago winter I ever experience! One of my anthropological heroes, Wade Davis, agreed to meet with me when I emailed him, so my plan would to be to drive out West to Vancouver, then South through California to meet some friends and go rock climbing. I could spend the winter in Latin America learning how to dance bachata!

I also have established contact with a nonprofit called WikiTongues, an organization that specializes in the preservation of endangered languages across the globe. I am learning more about them so that I can support indigenous language work when I get to Latin America. While I'm fantasizing about my epic journey, I might as well write down my top bucket list items, just to keep myself motivated.

Roaming Francis' Dreams

• Learn an indigenous Latin American language

• Learn an Asian language

• Do hardcore meditation practice, both in the West and in Asia

• Nature shit. Learn permaculture, ecology, and wilderness survival.

• Play keyboard and supporting vocals in a bachata or salsa band.

• Learn to dance to aforementioned music

But anywho, I'm getting ahead of myself. I will need to get a driver's license, van, and an increased FU stash before I can embark. I didn't make a lot of money from the roofing this year, but to be fair, I was just getting started with learning, and my dirt-cheap cost of living allowed me to work extremely little. I believe that if I increase my hours at my current gig, I could exponentially increase my income, so it seems worthwhile to give it a shot. I also have some possibilities for side income, including the recycled art and getting stipends from the nonprofit gig.

My departure date could be as early as May or as late as August; it'll depend on how well I do at the job and how quickly I can learn to do a van build. I'll have to play this by ear.

Reflections on Meeting Jacob

I believe I mentioned in another post that I met Jacob at his house in Chicago a little while ago. It was a real treat, though I also realized that Jacob and I are different people in terms of personality, temperament, and desired lifestyle. As such, I would like to make a note to myself that I must use ERE to unleash my own life, not just copy what Jacob has done. I need to apply the principles to a different context; ERE's flexibility in this sense, in my opinion, is what makes the entire philosophy so brilliant in the first place.

College

At least for now, I am deciding to tell the university system to fuck off. I may go back in the future, if I can find a cheap way to study something that interests me, but for now I'm headed down another path. I do love the social aspect of college, and I love being able to interact with professors that are way more skilled than me in all sorts of subjects, but I have an intuition that my own most realized life lies outside of traditional institutions.

[ertyu]

why not look into getting a degree in latin america? a lot of the "impractical" ethnomusicology and ethnolinguistics degrees aren't particularly oversubscribed but might dovetail with your language preservation efforts.

[RoamingFrancis]

That's not a bad idea, thanks. And at least preliminary Googling shows that Latin American universities are a hell of a lot more affordable. I already have the Spanish, so it's definitely worth considering.

- RF

[Alphaville]

. I already have the Spanish, so it's definitely worth considering.

- RF

pero no sólo hay que hablar; tienes que leer libros técnicos y teóricos, tomar exámenes, escribir trabajos de investigación, hacer presentaciones formales, debatir ideas, y todo eso. ¿puedes?

[RoamingFrancis]

Sí, hablo español casi como si fuera mi lengua materna.

[Alphaville]

en chicago supuestamente tienen un buen programa de antropología, pero tal vez podrías hacer el bachillerato en otra parte (¿monterrey?)

mira ésto:
https://worldscholarshipforum.com/es/pr ... og%C3%ADa/

[RoamingFrancis]

December had a HUGE increase in spending and consumption, by which I am rather embarrassed. Anywho, here's the breakdown:

$1,199 - Apartment deposit and paperwork fees
$270 - December rent
$110 - Lifetime subscription to a language learning platform
$90 - Car related shit
$30.59 - Groceries
$11.03 - Book
$5 - Cashier's check fee

Total - $1715.62

Holy moly, that's a lot of monthly spending. I'll provide a couple life updates. Since getting evicted from my semi-squat, I had to scramble to find shelter for the winter. As such, most of the costs are related to that. I should get a big chunk of money back at the end of the lease, provided we don't fuck the place up.

My roommate and I are borrowing a friend's car for a while, which is a pretty good solution for our current transportation needs. We have to get gas and pay for some sticker stuff, but don't have to actually buy a car. I'll need the car later in the year for roofing stuff, but am trying to use it as little as humanly possible and rely on the bike. Unfortunately, the new neighborhood isn't super bike friendly, so I have to pretty strategic just about every time I go out.

Despite having a temporary increase in my cost of living, I am determined to not let it rise any higher than absolutely necessary. Furthermore, since I have a longer-term place/headquarters, I can start strategizing on how to most effectively increase income and career capital. I've got a couple good opportunities on my plate. There'll be a lot of roofing shit available starting in March or so, and if I play the game right, I should be able to make good dough.

The other day I accompanied my roommate to the lawyer to help him translate greencard paperwork. The lawyer was rather impressed with my language skills and now I have a job there. Pretty damn cool! And lastly, my roommate and I are developing a small business making recycled art and giving courses on how to do it. Should be at least a decent side business - he already has everything developed and laid out; all I have to do is translate and find people that want eco art courses. Shouldn't be too hard, given my connections with Boy Scout groups and churches in the area.

Both of my boss/employer figures have now insinuated that they'd be willing to give money to support my college education, which is pretty damn cool as well. If I can get money, and already have some practical skills in roofing and legal translation to fall back on, I would LOVE to go to school for a "useless subject" like anthropology or ethnobotany.

For future months, I'll be mindful to find a place to buy groceries in bulk so I can reduce trips, money, and plastic consumption.

I've been enjoying the YouTube Channel ReWild University too - really informative and practical tips on wilderness skills!

In general, things are going really well for me and I'm pretty damn happy. The only source of friction in my life right now is that I've been having trouble getting up at a consistent time. Does anyone have tips on this? Or maybe herbal substitutes for melatonin? The melatonin works great for me, but is expensive.

Hope all is well.

Peaceably,
Roaming Francis

[Alphaville]

Holy moly, that's a lot of monthly spending.

no, tHe deposit is not an expense, it's still your money, which should be kept on escrow and accrue interest (lol) till you move out.

and congrats on the new gig!

[AxelHeyst]

The only source of friction in my life right now is that I've been having trouble getting up at a consistent time. Does anyone have tips on this?

This is some WL9 secret voodoo, but I'll tell it to you anyways:
1. Pick a time you want to consistently wake up at
2. Set your alarm to that time
3. When the alarm goes off in the morning, wake up.*
4. Repeat steps 1-3 every day.

*WL12 Tip: If you find yourself snoozing it, put your alarm across the room, forcing you to get out of bed to turn it off.

[insert emoji that means I say this lightheartedly and not in a mean way but also, yeah, there's an app for that.]