Lemur Journal!
Re: Lemur Journal!
@MI “The Paradox of Lemur”
@theanimal
Most definitely! Usman will take it again likely. I am really stoked for that whole card but Chandler vs Gaetjhe is fireworks. The Bobby Green fight should be a good one too.
@theanimal
Most definitely! Usman will take it again likely. I am really stoked for that whole card but Chandler vs Gaetjhe is fireworks. The Bobby Green fight should be a good one too.
Re: Lemur Journal!
Monthly Update Time
November 1, 2021
Net-worth:
$556k (Up $77k)
Spending at end of month was $2,445.52 which was ~$90 higher then last month. SWR is 5.278%.
Spouse added $30k to the brokerage. I put it all on General Mills. I'm still selling puts on Visa, AMD, and INTC. After a brutal month in October (including a $13k loss on a pair of options trades around Moderna), I was able to recover some of that with less riskier options plays. I switched over to some value picks and some no-brainer stocks like Walmart, Microsoft, and AMD and now I'm sitting on large unrealized gains. This was a single largest increase in net-worth for one month even if we don't count the $30k added...But I have simply forgotten sometimes how mind-blowing this all is. If you've $500k and everything increase just 5%, that is $25k. That can swing in one bull week or pull back.
Options trading has been less active overall, much reduced leverage, and I think I like it that way. I've always been a big proponent of using options trading for income purposes and still am to some extent (I'm averaging ~$300 extra a month YTD including the big L) but that loss I took shook my confidence on using this as some sort of ERE type income replacement.
Someone on the forum made a point that why in retirement one would want to spend time doing options trading rather then other things. I remember making the argument that it did not take much time and it was easy to do. In hindsight, this was easy to say when your strategy is write puts in a bull market.
One thing I did not consider was the mental space that is taken away from you when you've to keep checking stocks, researching, and watching the daily charts and you start getting worried about the next Fed meeting that may blow out your short positions. This has to count for something even if you're not physically doing any "work."
I only had this realization after understanding that despite my job only being in the 40-50 hour range a week, I'm still working via stress on other hours where I can't turn my mind off from my job. I don't want my retirement like that but with stocks/options. It looks like for me the golden rule of just doing the 3-4% SWR asset accumulation still holds as a first priority.
Physical Health / Diet: Not counting calories this month. Just checking the weight on the scale once a week to see if things are in check. If 180lb or above, I diet for a few days. If not, just eat reasonable. Trying to reduce the amount of neurotic activities...Oh and I gotta force myself to exercise. I've a swim pass...let us start using it again.
Mental Health: Speaking of which, I usually enjoy exercising but with the way my mental health has been, I've had trouble finding pleasure in anything. Except Halloween candy...
Usually when I have a shitty month, the next update I tend to bounce back. This too shall pass as they say. I have Thanksgiving vacation and PTO in that week to look forward to so just gotta hang in there and hope for better days.
Job: Sucks. Not much I can say. Holding out for getting on a new project. I'm hoping that can give me a spark to keep me going another year.
Gardening: I have a large piece of cardboard laid out on the side in our front yard. Next is building a bed (want to find free or cheap lumber somewhere), adding wood chips, and then compost and getting the land prepped for next year.
Reading / Other: Still reading this book. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Labyrinth_of_Spirits . Its interesting so far.
Totally fits other, but I discovered something called Aphantasia... https://www.bbc.com/news/health-34039054
This totally blew my mind lol. I thought a friend of mine was screwing with me when he was telling me he had this. Maybe that explains why he can't get into fiction books? idk. We talk about all sorts of random things between the MMA fights.
Goals: No, it is not going to be 'don't get fired.' lol - I need to stop catastrophizing and deal with the constant negative self-talk. Also...I need to find some intrinsic goals I think. Much of my life is after extrinsic rewards like networth increase or something. Or closing out an options position for a profit. Tough to do when work drains you but I'll figure something.
November 1, 2021
Net-worth:
$556k (Up $77k)
Spending at end of month was $2,445.52 which was ~$90 higher then last month. SWR is 5.278%.
Spouse added $30k to the brokerage. I put it all on General Mills. I'm still selling puts on Visa, AMD, and INTC. After a brutal month in October (including a $13k loss on a pair of options trades around Moderna), I was able to recover some of that with less riskier options plays. I switched over to some value picks and some no-brainer stocks like Walmart, Microsoft, and AMD and now I'm sitting on large unrealized gains. This was a single largest increase in net-worth for one month even if we don't count the $30k added...But I have simply forgotten sometimes how mind-blowing this all is. If you've $500k and everything increase just 5%, that is $25k. That can swing in one bull week or pull back.
Options trading has been less active overall, much reduced leverage, and I think I like it that way. I've always been a big proponent of using options trading for income purposes and still am to some extent (I'm averaging ~$300 extra a month YTD including the big L) but that loss I took shook my confidence on using this as some sort of ERE type income replacement.
Someone on the forum made a point that why in retirement one would want to spend time doing options trading rather then other things. I remember making the argument that it did not take much time and it was easy to do. In hindsight, this was easy to say when your strategy is write puts in a bull market.
One thing I did not consider was the mental space that is taken away from you when you've to keep checking stocks, researching, and watching the daily charts and you start getting worried about the next Fed meeting that may blow out your short positions. This has to count for something even if you're not physically doing any "work."
I only had this realization after understanding that despite my job only being in the 40-50 hour range a week, I'm still working via stress on other hours where I can't turn my mind off from my job. I don't want my retirement like that but with stocks/options. It looks like for me the golden rule of just doing the 3-4% SWR asset accumulation still holds as a first priority.
Physical Health / Diet: Not counting calories this month. Just checking the weight on the scale once a week to see if things are in check. If 180lb or above, I diet for a few days. If not, just eat reasonable. Trying to reduce the amount of neurotic activities...Oh and I gotta force myself to exercise. I've a swim pass...let us start using it again.
Mental Health: Speaking of which, I usually enjoy exercising but with the way my mental health has been, I've had trouble finding pleasure in anything. Except Halloween candy...
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
Job: Sucks. Not much I can say. Holding out for getting on a new project. I'm hoping that can give me a spark to keep me going another year.
Gardening: I have a large piece of cardboard laid out on the side in our front yard. Next is building a bed (want to find free or cheap lumber somewhere), adding wood chips, and then compost and getting the land prepped for next year.
Reading / Other: Still reading this book. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Labyrinth_of_Spirits . Its interesting so far.
Totally fits other, but I discovered something called Aphantasia... https://www.bbc.com/news/health-34039054
This totally blew my mind lol. I thought a friend of mine was screwing with me when he was telling me he had this. Maybe that explains why he can't get into fiction books? idk. We talk about all sorts of random things between the MMA fights.
Goals: No, it is not going to be 'don't get fired.' lol - I need to stop catastrophizing and deal with the constant negative self-talk. Also...I need to find some intrinsic goals I think. Much of my life is after extrinsic rewards like networth increase or something. Or closing out an options position for a profit. Tough to do when work drains you but I'll figure something.
Re: Lemur Journal!
Total cost of materials: $0.00
Total cost of tools: $0.00. I didn't even have nails lol but I did have a shovel.
Random food scraps, wood chips, cut down bushes, etc..anything that will compost. Tossed into this 50 gallon trashcan over the course of a year. Never turned it or watered it (well the rain got it). I think they call that a "cold compost." It will eventually breakdown regardless even if not taken care of. Some of it did at least.
![Image](https://i.postimg.cc/nV1Q5RNp/1a.jpg)
This is random pieces of scrap wood (minus the long piece that was already sitting there) that I gathered over the course of the year...I don't have any nails. So I just dug a trench to place the wood in.
![Image](https://i.postimg.cc/BbNLKb2X/2a.jpg)
I backefilled the pieces of wood with earth. Laid down cardboard that I also picked up from a neighbor who was just gonna toss it out. It probably was a cardboard to a TV or something. It has Samsung on it. Took a while to remove all the tape.
![Image](https://i.postimg.cc/ZKKyhPh3/3a.jpg)
Filled it up with all the compost and planted garlic.
![Image](https://i.postimg.cc/NfJ2Gygn/4a.jpg)
Time value of labor was extremely cheap but I was bored and had fun and free exercise...I like this kind of random art and building. Always liked t he idea of building things out of scrap.
Total cost of tools: $0.00. I didn't even have nails lol but I did have a shovel.
Random food scraps, wood chips, cut down bushes, etc..anything that will compost. Tossed into this 50 gallon trashcan over the course of a year. Never turned it or watered it (well the rain got it). I think they call that a "cold compost." It will eventually breakdown regardless even if not taken care of. Some of it did at least.
![Image](https://i.postimg.cc/nV1Q5RNp/1a.jpg)
This is random pieces of scrap wood (minus the long piece that was already sitting there) that I gathered over the course of the year...I don't have any nails. So I just dug a trench to place the wood in.
![Image](https://i.postimg.cc/BbNLKb2X/2a.jpg)
I backefilled the pieces of wood with earth. Laid down cardboard that I also picked up from a neighbor who was just gonna toss it out. It probably was a cardboard to a TV or something. It has Samsung on it. Took a while to remove all the tape.
![Image](https://i.postimg.cc/ZKKyhPh3/3a.jpg)
Filled it up with all the compost and planted garlic.
![Image](https://i.postimg.cc/NfJ2Gygn/4a.jpg)
Time value of labor was extremely cheap but I was bored and had fun and free exercise...I like this kind of random art and building. Always liked t he idea of building things out of scrap.
Re: Lemur Journal!
The soil is very tough and hardened with rocks. I’d like to prepare my next bed but I am out of random lumbar. Considering learning how to garden without it. I loaded up my trash cans with loads of dead grass and wood chips that piled up behind the house. Our neighbor just tosses it out there (behind our house is a wooded area and then another house).
My next adventure is replacing a rear axle on a vehicle from a Junkyard axle that I am having pulled. For my car, the retail price was $1400…used was about half that with shipping. I got salvaged part for $350 in the local area. A car is still essential for us so can’t get around this but this was the best route without costing a fortune.
Now …the ERE thing is to put the axle on myself but I am somewhat intimidated by this.
My next adventure is replacing a rear axle on a vehicle from a Junkyard axle that I am having pulled. For my car, the retail price was $1400…used was about half that with shipping. I got salvaged part for $350 in the local area. A car is still essential for us so can’t get around this but this was the best route without costing a fortune.
Now …the ERE thing is to put the axle on myself but I am somewhat intimidated by this.
Re: Lemur Journal!
Every car thing I’ve done was super intimidating for me… and then after I did it, every single time, my feeling was “well, hell, that wasn’t too hard at all…”
The main thing that can suck is if you don’t have the right weird tool. Like the right Pittman puller for pushing ball joints out of control arm. It was days of hammer bashing, torching, lubricant spraying, and more foul language than I thought I knew…. And then two and a half minutes once I got the right tool.
The main thing that can suck is if you don’t have the right weird tool. Like the right Pittman puller for pushing ball joints out of control arm. It was days of hammer bashing, torching, lubricant spraying, and more foul language than I thought I knew…. And then two and a half minutes once I got the right tool.
Re: Lemur Journal!
@AxelHeyst
I ended up opting against doing the repair myself after realizing there is a bracket on the brake lines that have to be grinded off...The rusted wheel bearing getting stuck.... The amount of nuts in odd / hard to get to places. Not entirely confident messing with brake lines. I was demotivated to say the least. I threw in the towel. The last time I recall dropping the F bomb so many times, I was in the military and that was years ago
. The good news is my Grandfather "has a guy" that he has known for decades that said he'll do it for a reasonable price that will beat any real auto mechanic. So the car is with him now
I gave it a shot at least.
Only other updates today...
1.) I am not working all next week. It is the first time I've had this kind of stretch since December last year. Geez....I really need to take more breaks. It is no wonder I'm burned out / feeling depressed / having existential crises every other day.
2.) Just realized my capital gains minus tax liability is greater than my expenses for the year so far by a long shot (134%). That is nice.
3.) I have been buying the dip and selling puts on Visa on the way down....Should recover eventually. I thought Visa was a good deal at $235 (my cost basis is $228) so I've had to put my long-term hat back on.
4.) Berserk is just a fantastic piece of art. https://readberserk.com/chapter/berserk-chapter-364-2/ I've loved this series and its themes/undertones of various philosophy (a lot of Nietzsche), causality, free will, the character growth of the main protagonist. The relation to how life is a struggle but one must press on and fight to the very end... or accept fate. Its unfortunate that Kentaro Miura died relatively young at 54. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentaro_Miura He never finished the series. Fans today debate whether the studio should continue the work and give it an official ending or leave it at chapter 364 which is the last one that Kentaro wrote. Which ironically left on a cliffhanger that could be a suitable ending.
5.) Speaking of which, Nietzsche is probably my favorite philosopher next to Marcus Aurelius. I find it comical that my younger brother hates them both but boasts of Epicureanism...from which I don't see the appeal. It is perhaps possible, people want to see in themselves what they've to gain from embedding certain philosophies in their personalities...leading to some bias. If that makes sense
.
I ended up opting against doing the repair myself after realizing there is a bracket on the brake lines that have to be grinded off...The rusted wheel bearing getting stuck.... The amount of nuts in odd / hard to get to places. Not entirely confident messing with brake lines. I was demotivated to say the least. I threw in the towel. The last time I recall dropping the F bomb so many times, I was in the military and that was years ago
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
Only other updates today...
1.) I am not working all next week. It is the first time I've had this kind of stretch since December last year. Geez....I really need to take more breaks. It is no wonder I'm burned out / feeling depressed / having existential crises every other day.
2.) Just realized my capital gains minus tax liability is greater than my expenses for the year so far by a long shot (134%). That is nice.
![Cool 8-)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
3.) I have been buying the dip and selling puts on Visa on the way down....Should recover eventually. I thought Visa was a good deal at $235 (my cost basis is $228) so I've had to put my long-term hat back on.
4.) Berserk is just a fantastic piece of art. https://readberserk.com/chapter/berserk-chapter-364-2/ I've loved this series and its themes/undertones of various philosophy (a lot of Nietzsche), causality, free will, the character growth of the main protagonist. The relation to how life is a struggle but one must press on and fight to the very end... or accept fate. Its unfortunate that Kentaro Miura died relatively young at 54. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentaro_Miura He never finished the series. Fans today debate whether the studio should continue the work and give it an official ending or leave it at chapter 364 which is the last one that Kentaro wrote. Which ironically left on a cliffhanger that could be a suitable ending.
5.) Speaking of which, Nietzsche is probably my favorite philosopher next to Marcus Aurelius. I find it comical that my younger brother hates them both but boasts of Epicureanism...from which I don't see the appeal. It is perhaps possible, people want to see in themselves what they've to gain from embedding certain philosophies in their personalities...leading to some bias. If that makes sense
![Geek :geek:](./images/smilies/icon_e_geek.gif)
Re: Lemur Journal!
Nice compost bed! I love making things out of scrap as well. We made 3 compost bins out of pallets and scrap wood this past summer. Just yesterday we were adding a door to one of the bins. Although, working on that particular project usually leads to a lot of F bombs for me, at least internally, due to lack of uniform features and trying to finagle parts to fit. ![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
Re: Lemur Journal!
Sold my investments in AMD & Nokia. The latter I want to get back in but right now I can't stand my capital sitting there and not growing for months on end. The former, I also want to see a pullback.
I found another chip company to ride the wave on. This time MU - which was mentioned in the Investments Trade Log a few months ago with a price tag of $90. This is my biggest trade to date - nearly $100k on MU. I wrote covered calls at the $95 strike so I'm doing a buy-write with a cost basis of $86.28.
Otherwise, I'm getting crushed on Fintech. Visa continues to fall and I'm likely going to have to free up capital to purchase SOFI once assigned. Though I am seeing tons of opportunities now - Paypal, Square, Visa, the whole industry is down. Maybe just a sector rotation - idk. I'm long Visa anyway.
I found another chip company to ride the wave on. This time MU - which was mentioned in the Investments Trade Log a few months ago with a price tag of $90. This is my biggest trade to date - nearly $100k on MU. I wrote covered calls at the $95 strike so I'm doing a buy-write with a cost basis of $86.28.
Otherwise, I'm getting crushed on Fintech. Visa continues to fall and I'm likely going to have to free up capital to purchase SOFI once assigned. Though I am seeing tons of opportunities now - Paypal, Square, Visa, the whole industry is down. Maybe just a sector rotation - idk. I'm long Visa anyway.
Re: Lemur Journal!
The raised bed looks good! I really enjoy your garden updates. Two ways I get free scrap wood are:
1. Get free pallets from businesses that have a lot of extras, such as Walmart or the ranch store. Anywhere that you see a bunch of them stacked up by the loading dock is a good candidate - just ask a manager or one of the guys at the loading dock if you can have some.
2. Post on Nextdoor asking for wood scraps. I'm most successful when I am very specific about what I want, for example, "a 2x6 that is at least 40 inches long, OK if it has nail holes or old paint". It's kind of strange but people can be very insecure about whether their particular wood scraps are what you need so the more info you can provide, the better. Usually people offer wood scraps to me for free but I also can trade fresh baked bread for all sorts of things on Nextdoor.
1. Get free pallets from businesses that have a lot of extras, such as Walmart or the ranch store. Anywhere that you see a bunch of them stacked up by the loading dock is a good candidate - just ask a manager or one of the guys at the loading dock if you can have some.
2. Post on Nextdoor asking for wood scraps. I'm most successful when I am very specific about what I want, for example, "a 2x6 that is at least 40 inches long, OK if it has nail holes or old paint". It's kind of strange but people can be very insecure about whether their particular wood scraps are what you need so the more info you can provide, the better. Usually people offer wood scraps to me for free but I also can trade fresh baked bread for all sorts of things on Nextdoor.
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Re: Lemur Journal!
Does it need to be in a wooden box? It seems like just mounding up the compost into a bed might work too.
Re: Lemur Journal!
@Gilberto
Nope it does not. You could just do a double dig and add the soil amendments / manure to make a mound. I have found though that beds help keep the garden soil together and has made it easier for weed control. But it is definitely not necessary.
Also I'm finding out that one of my cousins might be a stealth wealth / possible secret FIRE type of person...that would be interesting. I'll be on the lookout for the usual terms this Thanksgiving lol; otherwise, I usually don't partake in probing this topic anymore IRL. If one is new to the topic - they will tell everyone anyway. If they're seasoned, you've to be out for the code terms such "alternative lifestyles" or wish washy explanations for why they aren't going down the normal consumerist paths of everyone else when the NPCs start bringing up "what you do for work" and such...
I learned the hard way years ago being too upfront with my immediate family about what I was pursing.... not much is too be gained when everyone thinks you're a wealth hoarder + "lazy."
Nope it does not. You could just do a double dig and add the soil amendments / manure to make a mound. I have found though that beds help keep the garden soil together and has made it easier for weed control. But it is definitely not necessary.
Also I'm finding out that one of my cousins might be a stealth wealth / possible secret FIRE type of person...that would be interesting. I'll be on the lookout for the usual terms this Thanksgiving lol; otherwise, I usually don't partake in probing this topic anymore IRL. If one is new to the topic - they will tell everyone anyway. If they're seasoned, you've to be out for the code terms such "alternative lifestyles" or wish washy explanations for why they aren't going down the normal consumerist paths of everyone else when the NPCs start bringing up "what you do for work" and such...
I learned the hard way years ago being too upfront with my immediate family about what I was pursing.... not much is too be gained when everyone thinks you're a wealth hoarder + "lazy."
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- Posts: 265
- Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2021 7:45 pm
Re: Lemur Journal!
Always enjoy your journal! Wish I had the knowledge and interest for call / put trading as you seem to do pretty well with it.Lemur wrote: ↑Sun Nov 14, 2021 9:58 pm
Random food scraps, wood chips, cut down bushes, etc..anything that will compost. Tossed into this 50 gallon trashcan over the course of a year. Never turned it or watered it (well the rain got it). I think they call that a "cold compost." It will eventually breakdown regardless even if not taken care of. Some of it did at least.
The compost bed for garlic looks awesome. One thing you might want to avoid is putting wood chips in the compost. That is a no-no. They will take forever to decompose. Ashes are also not good. I used this guide when we had our small farm and got compost going (after a few false starts):
https://www.amazon.com/Let-Rot-Composti ... =ABIS_BOOK
Of course, at that time, we had the benefit of easy access to all sorts of the best manure: chicken, horse, bunny and especially bat guano! High nitrogen shit.
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
Re: Lemur Journal!
@M2AS
Thanks for the reference.
Also upon further study… Nietzscheanism is not an antithesis to Epicureanism. I made that statement before or found no use for the latter but that couldn’t be more wrong.
Needless to say - I am down a philosophy rabbit hole lately. My thinking has been challenged significantly.![Uber Geek :ugeek:](./images/smilies/icon_e_ugeek.gif)
Reading Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Beyond Good and Evil.
Edit: I have also never read Emerson.
Thanks for the reference.
Also upon further study… Nietzscheanism is not an antithesis to Epicureanism. I made that statement before or found no use for the latter but that couldn’t be more wrong.
Needless to say - I am down a philosophy rabbit hole lately. My thinking has been challenged significantly.
![Uber Geek :ugeek:](./images/smilies/icon_e_ugeek.gif)
Reading Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Beyond Good and Evil.
Edit: I have also never read Emerson.
Re: Lemur Journal!
Effort I've not spoke about is trying to transform from a hermit to a hermit that occasionally partakes in the community lol. Much boredom prompted me to do this finally.
1.) First time meeting some of my neighbors. For the couple we met, come to find we've a lot in common. (he also gardens, composts, and grows/smokes chili peppers). I too am involved in the art of raising my body temperature through this sort of painful pleasure
. His spouse is also from my wife's homeland. What are the odds.
2.) First time partaking in the community to get free food. Turns out there is a guy in our neighborhood that rounds up food/produce that is one day expired and gives it away at the local park occasionally. I was able to take away 30 or bananas (cut em up and froze them), a box of lettuce, and 20 loaves of Italian Bread. There is not homeless where I live (that I am aware of?) so it seems this guy's motive is an environmental one perhaps? Not sure. Or maybe he just works at one of these places idk. I only become aware of this when my Spouse found that our neighborhood has a facebook community page. I don't have FB.
3.) There is also an older lady in the neighborhood that walks a different street every day to pick up trash as part of a normal walking routine. I do this on my street only occasionally, I haven't ventured beyond much maybe I'll join her and take on different streets.
4.) Deleted my Reddit account finally. Something something messing with my dopamine feedback loops and I've used it as a crutch for too much passive entertainment. Epicurus would be displeased so I did what I did to please him.
These were fun and new experiences. I'll need to find a way to give back to community.
1.) First time meeting some of my neighbors. For the couple we met, come to find we've a lot in common. (he also gardens, composts, and grows/smokes chili peppers). I too am involved in the art of raising my body temperature through this sort of painful pleasure
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
2.) First time partaking in the community to get free food. Turns out there is a guy in our neighborhood that rounds up food/produce that is one day expired and gives it away at the local park occasionally. I was able to take away 30 or bananas (cut em up and froze them), a box of lettuce, and 20 loaves of Italian Bread. There is not homeless where I live (that I am aware of?) so it seems this guy's motive is an environmental one perhaps? Not sure. Or maybe he just works at one of these places idk. I only become aware of this when my Spouse found that our neighborhood has a facebook community page. I don't have FB.
3.) There is also an older lady in the neighborhood that walks a different street every day to pick up trash as part of a normal walking routine. I do this on my street only occasionally, I haven't ventured beyond much maybe I'll join her and take on different streets.
4.) Deleted my Reddit account finally. Something something messing with my dopamine feedback loops and I've used it as a crutch for too much passive entertainment. Epicurus would be displeased so I did what I did to please him.
These were fun and new experiences. I'll need to find a way to give back to community.
Re: Lemur Journal!
December 1, 2021
Net-worth:
$540k (Down $16k)
Spending was not tracked this month after my car parts and the Spouse Christmas shopping. Just threw my hands in the air and said okay lets just track next month. Holidays are always a killer. It was definitely one of the higher spending months in a long time.
I'm mostly concerned with getting these foods costs down. I made some headway. For one, fast food for me has been completely eradicated. If I want a junk food like fries, I make it myself. I've also come to really enjoy wheat pasta, finding ways to acquire free food or very cheap food (my grocery store has a closeout section that I was able to load up on Red Kidney Beans
) , oats, and also mix and matching staples. For instance, red kidney beans I typically eat with rice but they've also gone with spaghetti as a meat replacement. Leftovers can also be stir fried and mixed with veggies at any point.
Market is down due to COVID-19 Omicron variant. I keep catching a falling knife with Visa.
but I'm positive support will eventually build and it'll go back up but I've a lot of naked puts on these that I keep rolling. I am also sill tracking Nokia on an app, but sold in the interim to flow into Micron Technology - I have gotten impatient with the former and for the latter I feel the bullish sentiment here around growth rates for memory storage for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, etc. The risk here is DRAM prices taking a hit from competition with China & Samsung - that could hurt. So it is a leap of faith I'm taking that MU growth will outpace the bear case. We shall see. Surely I'll kick myself if Nokia finally starts waking up.
I really ought to reduce trading activity and keep my holds longer. For instance, I own Microsoft and Apple and I don't trade in and out of those or try covered calls or anything like that. Those have been very reliable.
Still it is good that I am 50% index funds. It allows me a comparison. I beat the market last year but I've lagged pretty bad this year. Overall a wash after taxes. My goal has never been to beat the market every year - more so to develop the skill necessary to learn what I need to do to keep returns >4% plus inflation - the required skill for financial independence in perpetuity. At one point I tried to develop an options trading system which actually worked out pretty well until I was bitten very hard in the tail.
But that old adage was true...no such thing as a free lunch and for the first time in a while I am once again questioning my methodologies.
Physical Health / Diet: Great. 2x a week of 100 pushups, 50 pull-ups, some planks, and lunges. Simple bodyweight work and I jog 1 hour every Sunday. It is getting cold though. No lower back pain for the first time in a long time....I've a chronic decade long injury here and for the past few weeks, I've felt no pain.
Mental Health: Great lately. I had a week off of work in November which was badly needed. I also only have to work about half of December before more PTO & Holidays
I've been exercising, losing weight, meditating, etc. I'm a happy hermit...I am in a philosophy rabbit hole at the moment as well. Specifically Friedrich Nietzsche, Epicurus, and now venturing into some of the transcendentalism beliefs such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Emerson.
One exercise I performed was actually journaling my beliefs and values and why I have those. I really wanted to dig into my own thinking. Like why do I value what I value? So I've this word document that is a solid 1400 words that outlines these values & beliefs. Sort of a personal code of values. I find when I'm troubled I can refer to this document or re-read it occasionally and make updates as I learn new things from the world.
Job: Okay as it is ever going to be
. There is a chance my replacement has been hired. It would take a novel for me to write out why I think that is and the political landscape of my project but there is a chance I could be off this project soon. The one that has given me existential crises since the start of this year. Looking forward to it but I'm still going to try my best to succeed - the grass is not always greener.
Gardening: None. Just keeping it up with the compost bin.
Reading / Other: Mentioned previously but I'm reading Beyond Good and Evil and Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Fredrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche is a bit of a tough read sometimes. I often times have to take his aphorisms and search philosophical commentary. I remember reading about Carl Jung's individuation process a few years ago - I may deep dive back into that one as well.
I'm also curious where the 21st century philosophy centers on? If the 1800s and early to mid 1900s have been defined by existentialism, what has post Freud produced since then?
Goals: None that I can think of. I'm just focused on living.
Net-worth:
$540k (Down $16k)
Spending was not tracked this month after my car parts and the Spouse Christmas shopping. Just threw my hands in the air and said okay lets just track next month. Holidays are always a killer. It was definitely one of the higher spending months in a long time.
I'm mostly concerned with getting these foods costs down. I made some headway. For one, fast food for me has been completely eradicated. If I want a junk food like fries, I make it myself. I've also come to really enjoy wheat pasta, finding ways to acquire free food or very cheap food (my grocery store has a closeout section that I was able to load up on Red Kidney Beans
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif)
Market is down due to COVID-19 Omicron variant. I keep catching a falling knife with Visa.
![Confused :?](./images/smilies/icon_e_confused.gif)
I really ought to reduce trading activity and keep my holds longer. For instance, I own Microsoft and Apple and I don't trade in and out of those or try covered calls or anything like that. Those have been very reliable.
Still it is good that I am 50% index funds. It allows me a comparison. I beat the market last year but I've lagged pretty bad this year. Overall a wash after taxes. My goal has never been to beat the market every year - more so to develop the skill necessary to learn what I need to do to keep returns >4% plus inflation - the required skill for financial independence in perpetuity. At one point I tried to develop an options trading system which actually worked out pretty well until I was bitten very hard in the tail.
But that old adage was true...no such thing as a free lunch and for the first time in a while I am once again questioning my methodologies.
Physical Health / Diet: Great. 2x a week of 100 pushups, 50 pull-ups, some planks, and lunges. Simple bodyweight work and I jog 1 hour every Sunday. It is getting cold though. No lower back pain for the first time in a long time....I've a chronic decade long injury here and for the past few weeks, I've felt no pain.
Mental Health: Great lately. I had a week off of work in November which was badly needed. I also only have to work about half of December before more PTO & Holidays
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
One exercise I performed was actually journaling my beliefs and values and why I have those. I really wanted to dig into my own thinking. Like why do I value what I value? So I've this word document that is a solid 1400 words that outlines these values & beliefs. Sort of a personal code of values. I find when I'm troubled I can refer to this document or re-read it occasionally and make updates as I learn new things from the world.
Job: Okay as it is ever going to be
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
Gardening: None. Just keeping it up with the compost bin.
Reading / Other: Mentioned previously but I'm reading Beyond Good and Evil and Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Fredrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche is a bit of a tough read sometimes. I often times have to take his aphorisms and search philosophical commentary. I remember reading about Carl Jung's individuation process a few years ago - I may deep dive back into that one as well.
I'm also curious where the 21st century philosophy centers on? If the 1800s and early to mid 1900s have been defined by existentialism, what has post Freud produced since then?
Goals: None that I can think of. I'm just focused on living.
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- Posts: 1457
- Joined: Sat May 21, 2011 12:15 am
Re: Lemur Journal!
Have you considered adapting your trading strategies to use tax-advantaged funds? I know you've mentioned that you are using margin accounts and some more complex options strategies, but all of the brokerages allow basic option techniques to include using spreads in IRA's. I feel like one of the big advantages of being a small retail investor is you don't need to worry about short or long term capital gains in an IRA. This might unlock trading strategies that are not profitable/feasible to the professional investor.Lemur wrote: ↑Wed Dec 01, 2021 6:23 pmMarket is down due to COVID-19 Omicron variant. I keep catching a falling knife with Visa.but I'm positive support will eventually build and it'll go back up but I've a lot of naked puts on these that I keep rolling. I am also sill tracking Nokia on an app, but sold in the interim to flow into Micron Technology - I have gotten impatient with the former and for the latter I feel the bullish sentiment here around growth rates for memory storage for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, etc. The risk here is DRAM prices taking a hit from competition with China & Samsung - that could hurt. So it is a leap of faith I'm taking that MU growth will outpace the bear case. We shall see. Surely I'll kick myself if Nokia finally starts waking up.
I really ought to reduce trading activity and keep my holds longer. For instance, I own Microsoft and Apple and I don't trade in and out of those or try covered calls or anything like that. Those have been very reliable.
Still it is good that I am 50% index funds. It allows me a comparison. I beat the market last year but I've lagged pretty bad this year. Overall a wash after taxes. My goal has never been to beat the market every year - more so to develop the skill necessary to learn what I need to do to keep returns >4% plus inflation - the required skill for financial independence in perpetuity. At one point I tried to develop an options trading system which actually worked out pretty well until I was bitten very hard in the tail.
But that old adage was true...no such thing as a free lunch and for the first time in a while I am once again questioning my methodologies.
Re: Lemur Journal!
@White Belt
Yes - Tax-advantaged accounts don't allow margin so my options (pun intended) are limited in those accounts. I do options trade in them occasionally. It just so happens I've a lot more money in my non-tax advantaged accounts then my taxable ones. For the retirement accounts, this is where I have half of my position in MU...I intend to hold under at least $180 a share. I'm hoping I can double my money here...MU is really starting to remind me of how AMD grew.
Taxes have never stopped me from profiting - it just something I've to account for when I check my realized gains on a monthly basis. Since I've begun options trading, I've not contributed to my brokerage from after-tax savings for a while now - that money instead has gone to my savings account to cover taxes and also works as my cash position if the market were to fall and I would want to take advantage of a dip.
Lately, I've been selling naked puts on falling positions due to the COVID market scare and using the premiums to add to my long-term positions mainly Visa. I've been opting out of covered calls lately...I have been cursed for months. The moment I put a CC, the stock rockets.
Yes - Tax-advantaged accounts don't allow margin so my options (pun intended) are limited in those accounts. I do options trade in them occasionally. It just so happens I've a lot more money in my non-tax advantaged accounts then my taxable ones. For the retirement accounts, this is where I have half of my position in MU...I intend to hold under at least $180 a share. I'm hoping I can double my money here...MU is really starting to remind me of how AMD grew.
Taxes have never stopped me from profiting - it just something I've to account for when I check my realized gains on a monthly basis. Since I've begun options trading, I've not contributed to my brokerage from after-tax savings for a while now - that money instead has gone to my savings account to cover taxes and also works as my cash position if the market were to fall and I would want to take advantage of a dip.
Lately, I've been selling naked puts on falling positions due to the COVID market scare and using the premiums to add to my long-term positions mainly Visa. I've been opting out of covered calls lately...I have been cursed for months. The moment I put a CC, the stock rockets.
Re: Lemur Journal!
It is a new month. So one of my goals every single month is to record a 4% SWR for the first time in Lemur recorded history.
![Image](https://i.postimg.cc/8zhWnM44/Goal4percent.png)
So this is the Excel math that occurs every month when I track spending. Off the bat, I record all the fixed expenses. Luckily, my Sister is the landlord and we give her a flat rate that includes rent and the utilities. It makes it easy to just write a check and be done with that one. That is $1200 a month. Car insurance premium is $49.57. The monthly phone bill is $58.54. I contribute to my son's 529 every month with $100. So that leaves spending at $1408.11.
To achieve a 4% SWR based off my current investments of $540,000, that means I need the rest of the month spending to fall at $391.89 or less. This includes food and car gas mainly. And avoiding spending anything else.
Christmas shopping was done in November so I'm going to exclude that lol...
But anyhow, Doable?
I want to give a special shout out to Kidney Beans. I've ignored them for years in favor of black beans but they're awesome.
Instant Pot at 1 hour (set to 45 minutes but warmup takes about 15 minutes)
Precursor - Soak kidney beans overnight but it is possible with an instant pot this step could be skipped but I always pre-soak anyway. I also drain the liquid and don't cook with the liquid.
1.) Sauté one whole onion and bell pepper in olive oil for about 10 minutes.
2.) Add kidney beans and stir for another minute or 2.
3.) Add enough water cover beans + an inch or so.
4.) Add spices of your choice - I always go with chili powder and cumin at least. Add Italian seasoning or Oregano if you've it on hand.
5.) Lemur method is to eat with rice or spaghetti.
For the past 2 weeks or so I've always had prepared beans or prepared spaghetti in my fridge...I swap between these meals and sometimes eat with the free bread I picked up last weekend. Its been an interesting week
.
January will be a fun month because my Spouse will be overseas visiting family so I've full control of the grocery shopping that month. One of my goals was an eat the cabinet challenge so my plan is to actually see how far we can survive on that.
![Image](https://i.postimg.cc/8zhWnM44/Goal4percent.png)
So this is the Excel math that occurs every month when I track spending. Off the bat, I record all the fixed expenses. Luckily, my Sister is the landlord and we give her a flat rate that includes rent and the utilities. It makes it easy to just write a check and be done with that one. That is $1200 a month. Car insurance premium is $49.57. The monthly phone bill is $58.54. I contribute to my son's 529 every month with $100. So that leaves spending at $1408.11.
To achieve a 4% SWR based off my current investments of $540,000, that means I need the rest of the month spending to fall at $391.89 or less. This includes food and car gas mainly. And avoiding spending anything else.
Christmas shopping was done in November so I'm going to exclude that lol...
But anyhow, Doable?
I want to give a special shout out to Kidney Beans. I've ignored them for years in favor of black beans but they're awesome.
Instant Pot at 1 hour (set to 45 minutes but warmup takes about 15 minutes)
Precursor - Soak kidney beans overnight but it is possible with an instant pot this step could be skipped but I always pre-soak anyway. I also drain the liquid and don't cook with the liquid.
1.) Sauté one whole onion and bell pepper in olive oil for about 10 minutes.
2.) Add kidney beans and stir for another minute or 2.
3.) Add enough water cover beans + an inch or so.
4.) Add spices of your choice - I always go with chili powder and cumin at least. Add Italian seasoning or Oregano if you've it on hand.
5.) Lemur method is to eat with rice or spaghetti.
For the past 2 weeks or so I've always had prepared beans or prepared spaghetti in my fridge...I swap between these meals and sometimes eat with the free bread I picked up last weekend. Its been an interesting week
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
January will be a fun month because my Spouse will be overseas visiting family so I've full control of the grocery shopping that month. One of my goals was an eat the cabinet challenge so my plan is to actually see how far we can survive on that.
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- Posts: 1268
- Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 2:15 pm
Re: Lemur Journal!
Emerson is one of my favorites. But, it has honestly been more than a decade since I've seriously read his work. I occasionally pick up his essential writings and read one of his essays or poems though. I'm assuming you'll probably dig into some of his most famous essays such as Self-Reliance, Nature, The Transcendentalist, and possibly The American Scholar. I'd add Experience and Circles to your list as well. Circles is short but I remember it hitting me pretty hard when I read it in College.Lemur wrote: ↑Wed Dec 01, 2021 6:23 pmI've been exercising, losing weight, meditating, etc. I'm a happy hermit...I am in a philosophy rabbit hole at the moment as well. Specifically Friedrich Nietzsche, Epicurus, and now venturing into some of the transcendentalism beliefs such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Emerson.
Reading / Other: Mentioned previously but I'm reading Beyond Good and Evil and Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Fredrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche is a bit of a tough read sometimes. I often times have to take his aphorisms and search philosophical commentary. I remember reading about Carl Jung's individuation process a few years ago - I may deep dive back into that one as well.
In terms of Thoreau, make sure you check out some of his essays in addition to Walden. They are fairly short but provide an interesting perspective into the man. Civil Disobedience has rippled throughout history, from Gandhi to MLK.
If you dig into Thoreau and Emerson, I'd also strongly recommend adding Walt Whitman to the list. He has some interesting prose, but Song of Myself is a must read. If possible, read it aloud. Even better if you do so somewhere outside.
In terms of Nietzsche, I've only read Beyond Good and Evil and Thus Spoke Zarathrustra myself. One of my old philosophy professors recommended The Gay Science, but I still haven't read it. It's probably worth checking out if you want to explore Nietzsche a bit further.
Kudos on all of this reading! It is a bit of inspiration to pick up some of the books that have been collecting dust on my bookshelves.
Re: Lemur Journal!
Thanks WRC - Added these to my reading list! I am actually halfway through Walden but need to pick it back up. I've this strange tendency to get halfway through many books and put it away lol. Then I usually end up picking back up down the road.
The market recovery has been nice. My Visa short puts at $175, $190, and $205 all triggered there limits and closed out at profits. The only one I've left for Visa is the $220 expiring December 23. Yesterday I wrote puts on AMD after it dropped 5% and used the proceeds to buy more Visa. Today I did a buy-write on SOFI and used the profits again for buying Visa.
I think I am in love with this CC buy-write strategy:
Purchased 1200 shares of SOFI at $16.36 for $19,632.
Wrote 12 weekly covered calls for the $16.50 Strike and obtained $444 premium.
Max Profit is $19,800 + $444 premium = $20,244
Percent Gain: 3.117%
Annualized: 162%
Cost Basis reduced to $15.99 should underlying fall.
If not triggered, the goal is to keep writing CCs at $16.50 until I'm out. Should the underlying fall too much to where premium is not worth it, then I just hold anyway. I also still have SOFI $20 short puts but that will keep rolling until eventual recovery. For traders out there - I think this is good advice for anyone in options trading is to only trade with stock you don't mind being stuck with. Those convictions have been the only thing that has made me hold when you get hit with the occasional sea of red. And it will happen - guaranteed.
The only time I took a big L was when I didn't have that conviction (Moderna) a few months ago. That is what I gathered from that lesson ultimately...I wondered into waters I was not familiar with. My methodology has been adapting to take on less risk, be more conservative, and use much less leverage. Instead of chasing for high premiums and big gains, I instead would be happy with something like 0.5% a week or 1-2% a month. Its boring but honest work. This I've to write down...I've noticed re-reading my journal I always have these realizations and then I slowly adapt to chasing as the market goes up and next thing you know I'm confident with being high risk and trading in a manic state
.
I did some crazy things this year such as having up to $200k-$300k in leverage at some points. I am much more familiar now with margin requirements and worst case scenarios. Now going forward, I decided that for options trading I only want to stick with cash-secured trades (cash secured puts or covered call writing) and if I am going to go naked on short puts then I need to use no more then 10% of my portfolio in leverage, have a margin of safety on the underlying strike price, and ultimately be okay with being assigned in worst case scenarios.
In fact, typically in these situations, I really like to avoid assignment and instead would roll the short put or worst case scenario which has happened recently was to sell a long (hopefully for a gain) to become cash secured.
The market recovery has been nice. My Visa short puts at $175, $190, and $205 all triggered there limits and closed out at profits. The only one I've left for Visa is the $220 expiring December 23. Yesterday I wrote puts on AMD after it dropped 5% and used the proceeds to buy more Visa. Today I did a buy-write on SOFI and used the profits again for buying Visa.
I think I am in love with this CC buy-write strategy:
Purchased 1200 shares of SOFI at $16.36 for $19,632.
Wrote 12 weekly covered calls for the $16.50 Strike and obtained $444 premium.
Max Profit is $19,800 + $444 premium = $20,244
Percent Gain: 3.117%
Annualized: 162%
Cost Basis reduced to $15.99 should underlying fall.
If not triggered, the goal is to keep writing CCs at $16.50 until I'm out. Should the underlying fall too much to where premium is not worth it, then I just hold anyway. I also still have SOFI $20 short puts but that will keep rolling until eventual recovery. For traders out there - I think this is good advice for anyone in options trading is to only trade with stock you don't mind being stuck with. Those convictions have been the only thing that has made me hold when you get hit with the occasional sea of red. And it will happen - guaranteed.
The only time I took a big L was when I didn't have that conviction (Moderna) a few months ago. That is what I gathered from that lesson ultimately...I wondered into waters I was not familiar with. My methodology has been adapting to take on less risk, be more conservative, and use much less leverage. Instead of chasing for high premiums and big gains, I instead would be happy with something like 0.5% a week or 1-2% a month. Its boring but honest work. This I've to write down...I've noticed re-reading my journal I always have these realizations and then I slowly adapt to chasing as the market goes up and next thing you know I'm confident with being high risk and trading in a manic state
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
I did some crazy things this year such as having up to $200k-$300k in leverage at some points. I am much more familiar now with margin requirements and worst case scenarios. Now going forward, I decided that for options trading I only want to stick with cash-secured trades (cash secured puts or covered call writing) and if I am going to go naked on short puts then I need to use no more then 10% of my portfolio in leverage, have a margin of safety on the underlying strike price, and ultimately be okay with being assigned in worst case scenarios.
In fact, typically in these situations, I really like to avoid assignment and instead would roll the short put or worst case scenario which has happened recently was to sell a long (hopefully for a gain) to become cash secured.