Ben2000s journal

Where are you and where are you going?
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ben2000s
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Ben2000s journal

Post by ben2000s »

I introduced myself here viewtopic.php?t=12575

I am now taking my job's free food back home to lower my grocery bills. I wish I did this earlier, but too many simultaneous habit changes are overwhelming. I also stopped buying packaged food because of the environmental impact. I will save money on trash bags because the majority of my garbage is from food packaging. Lastly, I started to track my income, estimated expenses and actual expenses on Google Sheets. I can track my progress towards buying an apartment in cash. When I try to justify splurging because of recent frugal behavior, I can use the sheet to see the potential regression from my goal, which dissuades me.

mathiverse
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Re: Ben2000s journal

Post by mathiverse »

Sounds like you're making a lot of good choices! I'm looking forward to following your journey!

jacob
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Re: Ben2000s journal

Post by jacob »

ben2000s wrote:
Wed Nov 30, 2022 11:31 pm
I wish I did this earlier, but too many simultaneous habit changes are overwhelming. I also stopped buying packaged food because of the environmental impact. I will save money on trash bags because the majority of my garbage is from food packaging.
But also effective?

Early inspiration for me came from Matthias Wackernagel's (the ecological footprint guy) experiment with keeping all his plastic/packaging/... trash in-house for a year and him realizing how much there was.

The Zero-waste movement is a modern incarnation that may inspire. It would have been more accurate to call it "Zero trash in/into my home", but that doesn't roll off the tongue as well.

ben2000s
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Re: Ben2000s journal

Post by ben2000s »

jacob wrote:
Thu Dec 01, 2022 8:12 am
But also effective?
Yes, know your limits to prevent quitting. My friend adopts ERE habits slowly because some trigger painful memories from her poor childhood. For instance, she couldn't afford to go to the movies with her friends, and to stop herself today from doing paid activities is painful. For some, therapy and introspection are prerequisites for ERE.

Smashter
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Re: Ben2000s journal

Post by Smashter »

ben2000s wrote:
Wed Nov 30, 2022 11:31 pm
I am now taking my job's free food back home to lower my grocery bills.
That's awesome. My wife used to work at a big fancy consulting firm that had free lunches every day, and often free dinners. There was also an endless array of cereal other snacks. We never computed the cost savings of all this, but it was substantial.

We both work remote now and generally love it, but I sometimes miss both the cost savings and the free goodies she used to bring home for me.

And not to sidetrack, but it was hilarious to hear stories from DW about how even all the food that was provided was not good enough for the employees. For instance, there was once a company wide meeting where employees could submit questions to the leadership team. The most upvoted question was why the company had stopped providing a specific type of yogurt at the office.

ben2000s
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Re: Ben2000s journal

Post by ben2000s »

I got 3 books from the library, including Living like a Possum. I prefer Barnes and Noble because of the superior book selection and pleasant interior. I am proud of this frugal behavior.

ben2000s
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Re: Ben2000s journal

Post by ben2000s »

I noticed my temptations to eat out and to eat poorly, are due to the lack of flavor in my dishes. I now consult the internet daily for new healthy dishes and cooking technique education. I want to find ways to improve my vegetarian cooking, besides random google searches.

ben2000s
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Re: Ben2000s journal

Post by ben2000s »

I pay a premium to live in NYC because of family. Living here is the biggest delay to financial independence. I'll be able to pay cash for a place in 2 years. I wish my family lived in a cheaper city, because then I'd be completely free in 2 years. Currently I rent an apartment for $2200. I'll buy an apartment for $400,000 when I get the cash because I refuse to get a mortgage.

The total cost of buying vs renting an apartment over 20 years:
Rent: $2,200 /month * 12 months/year * 20 years = $528,000
Purchase: $400,000 (home price) + $20,000 (5% closing costs) + [$12,000 * 20 years] (maintenance cost) = $660,000

So interestingly, it doesn't make sense over that time frame, unless I buy another home for less than or equal to the first's sales price.

Can I optimize NYC living more? I wish I could optimize this more, but I can pay less for less safety or further distance from the city (which doesn't work for my girlfriend.) House hacking is bad because NYC is landlord unfriendly.

Salathor
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Re: Ben2000s journal

Post by Salathor »

Don't forget about property taxes, which increase every year (unless you're including that in maintenance). But at the same time, rent will also increase along with inflation.

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Slevin
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Re: Ben2000s journal

Post by Slevin »

Yeah, buying property is more about locking in an inflation hedge. So 420k plus maintenance sounds bad now, but in 30 years is cost is likely closer to 840k. I bought in a very lucky time but my property has increased in value 25% in the past 2.5 years (and peaked around 30%). In 2020 house values around here went up on average around 200-300k. No normal salary can outpace that insanity.

Also, 12k/yr in maintenance sounds absurdly high. A new roof can end up being 12k, but I can’t think of another 12k repair on an apartment/ townhouse. New furnace can be around 3k, new siding might be 10k? But both of those should last decades.

macg
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Re: Ben2000s journal

Post by macg »

Salathor wrote:
Wed Dec 07, 2022 12:16 am
But at the same time, rent will also increase along with inflation.
Or the increase could be far higher than that, as it has the past year or so... My rent in S. FL jumped 50%, and from what I've read, similar increases were seen in NYC.

This is an anomaly in my renting experience up until now, but worth noting ... depending on the financial/real estate future, who knows, large fluctuations like this might be more common..

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