Divan dan journal

Where are you and where are you going?
Divandan
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Re: Divan dan journal

Post by Divandan »

Just finished "A Hacker's Teleogy". It was a good book and a quick read although Survival+ was more fleshed out with similar ideas. Some of the ideas were interesting and explained in a simple easy to understand way (the economy, inflation). I also enjoyed his ideas about what the system values. If profit and consumption/gdp growth are the only things valued than the system is in fact working exactly as we intended it to.

Which means there is little room for unprofitable projects/conservation/restoration on a big scale. The example he uses of shoving money through the front door to somehow fix the issues in the back of the house is obviously a nod to trickle down economics. Overall a really enjoyable book but I felt that I got way more out of Survival+.

Keeping with the theme my next book is The long Descent reccomended by Hristo. I am looking forward to that as it is probably keeping in line with similar themes that Charles Hugh Smith is writing about. I am looking forward to it!

Hristo Botev
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Re: Divan dan journal

Post by Hristo Botev »

Sound like I need to check out Survival+.

Divandan
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Re: Divan dan journal

Post by Divandan »

Sunday Scaries update

Reading

@Hristo, thank you for the reccomandation of The Long Descent. The book was pretty depressing but I think it ties a lot of Charles Hugh Smith's ideas out nicely. JMG also goes out quite into the future and predicts it won't be pretty. I suppose everyone loses over a long enough time period. I really liked the portions that tied religion to the myth of progress. When you connect the dots growth/progress seem to be intertwined on a personal level as well as a corporate/company level.

Every company needs to continue to increase revenue and profits indefinitely which is definitely opposed to anything we see in nature. I also really liked how he made some connections to the conspiracy theorists/(fake) spiritual gurus (couldn't find a better term for them) that are looking to blame someone. It is quite interesting how a lot of these figures pop up on instagram quite a bit. I have unfollowed most of them because they have all started to get quite political in their agendas. I don't have much interest in hearing what they have to say on those topics.

On the practical front he seems to drive to similar conclusions as Jacob and CHS. Invest in skills and the local community with a preference towards tools that are mechanical/older (slide rule as an example). Adjust your needs to conserving resources as that will make the descent easier not that it guarentees your success/survival.

Overall I enjoyed it but I have a long road ahead of me to become more handy/self reliant but it is good to look at it from the lens of needing to do it as opposed to doing it to save money.

I am looking for some reccomendations for what book to read next. The choices are:

The fifth discipline
Thinking in systems
A Taleb book (Antifragility, Skin in the game or procerus)

Food

One of my goals for the month was to spend less than 400 dollars on food/drink and eating out. It is neat as my GF has agreed to the challenge with me this month as well. I will most likely try to maintain spending in the 300-400 dollar range each month going forward. I know it seems like a lot but it is definitely an improvement and a step in the right direction. She is pescatarian so we have been cooking mostly vegetarian meals together and then I like getting something with meat when we go out. It has been a lot of fun. We have made ramen, stir fry, pickled some vegetables and just generally have enjoyed the process together.

Fitness

One of the themes that runs through my life (and why writing it out in this forum is great) is that I try to do too much at once. That is why I have decided to simplify my workout and not add anything to it at the moment.

The routine is now doing an Echelon workout (3/4 times a week) mostly Tabata type classes and then do some Tabata type bodyweight workout a few days a week. I will pick five exercises, do five sets and five cycles. It takes about 15 minutes and is quite fun. The exercises are pushups, bodyweight squats, kettlebell swings, kettlebell snatches, walking lunges, hip bridges, planks, v sits etc. I basically pick whatever five I am interested in. I can progress by adding more work time or cutting the rest time down. Overall I have been really looking forward to the exercises given the low time commitment.

My home gym now consists of:

-The Echelon bike
-Resistance bands
-3 different kettlebells
-This cheap suspension trainer (I can do rows and pushups on)

In addition to this I am still walking daily and going on hikes. I think before in my life I would just throw too many things in at the same time like running, hip mobility, stretching, yoga, meditation and then things would tend to fall apart. I want to stay consistent with this approach for a while and see how I progress.

Covid/General

PA recently threw in new restrictions to help allieviate the hospital surge. This includes banning indoor dining/closing the gyms again. The decisions do not affect me at all given my home gym set up and the fact that I will be working from home until April 1st (although it may get pushed back again). I really do feel for the small businesses and all that they have gone through but I also do not see a recovery until we get the virus under control. Even when restaurants were at 50% capacity I would walk by during busy times and there would be hardly any people inside (at least for my area which is all I can speak to with direct experience).

As far as my social interaction goes, I am seeing my GF (and her cat), my sister and her husband and then my immediate family (with masks on) because my mom is immune compromised and my grand mother lives with them. It has been quite hard on me because I am quite extroverted but its been good to develop myself in other regards (cooking, reading etc.). Not having to commute 45/55 min each way has been a blessing and I hope that WFH continues in some regard going forward.

With it getting cold and dark so early it has been nice to relax, work out, play guitar, play video games, cook and spend such quality time with my GF. I know when stuff starts to open up again there will be more things to do but also some of the simplicity will go away as well.

I do want to continue to try and solution items myself though as it pops up. Stuff that I would have thrown away I would like to fix. I haven't had the opportunity to do so recently as nothing has broken. I am looking forward to get the chance to do so though. Also learning how to cook better has been such a fun experience (especially when shared with someone else).

I would like to continue to update this journal sporadically as it relates to what I am feeling and thinking. I have never met such an online community that has taught me so many things over the years and had such civil and prodcutive conversations. It is really neat to be a part of this group and I hope to continue using this journal as a way to share my thoughts, get feedback and learn along the way.

Divandan
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Re: Divan dan journal

Post by Divandan »

I posted a message in another thread and thought it would be best to dust off this journal since I have been lurking but not interacting with the community.

Life Updates

Got married at the end of September which was incredible! We decided to do a smaller wedding of around 60 people and it was perfect

We are currently in a rather small one bedroom and have been unsuccessfully house hunting in this crazy market where we refuse to waive house inspections

I have been in a newish role for a year now that got me away from Corporate FInance into the realm of M&A/Strategy and Corp Development. This has been great as it lets me research and learn about a ton of new companies and has me interacting with various SME's internally in the business

Physical

Was in a great routine this summer where I was running outside 3/4 days a week in the morning and walking/hiking. This combo of getting morning sunlight, being outside, waking up at the same time and getting physical exercise was a great combo. It has been tough recently with the weather getting colder. I have been alternating riding the spin bike with the Simple & Sinister KB program. I would say on average I have been exercising 4ish times a week.

Working on losing some weight as well. Recently started to cut down on the snacking and alcohol based on the forum post and listening to the Huberman podcast. The one thing I have implemented again is starting the fasting at 7/8 PM and not consuming any calories until lunch time. Seems to be a win win so far and has helped with the snacking.

Hobbies

Finally hit my limit with Non Fiction and decided to get back into Fiction stories again. I read the Three Body Problem and am currently working my way through Blood Meridian which has been really entertaining but disturbing. I started doing this simple thing where I turn my phone timer on for 20 minutes and just read the whole way through. This has been part of a larger trend of being mindful of my phone use. Since I implemented this simple Pomodoro habit I am zipping through books at almost one book a week (not that everything has to become super productive)

I have kept up with Guitar and the weekly lessons and it is just another nice hobby to get away from a screen for a little bit

Finances

Looks like I will save somewhere in the range of 35% this year. Not bad considering that included an engagement ring, taxes from FY21, wedding and honeymoon

There were months where I bought a lot of stuff so this month and the next few months just need to get back to the basics (No Buy month, bit of a tighter combined food budget, etc.)

Need to get better about updating this journal on a regular basis but probably need to have it be more focused. Thanks for reading!

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Divan dan journal

Post by Western Red Cedar »

Divandan wrote:
Fri Dec 16, 2022 12:15 am
Life Updates

Got married at the end of September which was incredible! We decided to do a smaller wedding of around 60 people and it was perfect
Congratulations! Do you and DW have a shared vision for life after financial independence?

Divandan
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Re: Divan dan journal

Post by Divandan »

@Western Red Cedar, thanks!

I would say we are aligned for the most part. One of the items that has come up has been what price house we are comfortable purchasing, which has contemplated her being able to work part-time (if we have kids). This has been good as we are aligned on those values. I have also mentioned not wanting to work much past 50 which she is certainly behind as well.

Given our timing of marriage, we decided to not have joint finances until Jan 1, which means I get to do the tracking/managing of all that fun stuff in the new year!

Divandan
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Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2020 7:57 pm

Divandan journal

Post by Divandan »

End of Year Update

Want to get back into updating this on a regular basis again as it helps crystalize and reinforce some ideas. I also want to get more active replying to other posts and comments.

Goals

December goals were:

Combined food goal of $800- We went over by just a tad and it was because of me. There were a few social outings that included alcohol and eating out. This will be a goal that I need to hone in on going forward. Alex Heyst had a great post that I need to revisit again.

No buy December (except for any gifts)- Success and always a great challenge. I think I will probably have this as a goal to do every other month. I figure anything that I still want to buy the following month will bring value to me.

Continue with the Pomodoro technique- Success as I ended up finishing two books this month but then didn't start the third because I was travelling for the holidays.

Start fasting. Don't eat after 8 and before 12- Success until the holidays hit but I will continue this next month as well. Definitely helps on cutting down snacking and being more mindful.

January goals are:

Limit alcoholic drinks to 10 for the month of January- I will have to be strategic about limiting drinks in social outings. This was inspired by the Huberman podcast and the thread here. In reality I should do no alcohol for 2 months but this is a good start I think.

30 day Qigong challenge- I have a fair amount of experience with meditation but I am not sure my personality is wired to sit down. I found these quick Qigong videos on YouTube that I have enjoyed. Feels like a great way to be a bit more mindful and wake up a little bit in the morning.

Continue fasting with maybe throwing in an OMAD day every now and again.

Finances

Dec SR- 58% (Helped by the no buy month)
FY22 SR- 35% (Not bad considering this included some big purchases engagement ring, honeymoon, wedding etc.)

Health

I've been in a rut with getting a good exercise routine going since I stopped running outside. I was doing the kettlebells and stationary bike but I hate anything indoors on a treadmill or stationary bike. The bike is more bearable than a treadmill but only slightly so.

I may just start waking up early and getting in a nice 45 minute walk before the workday with the double win of getting that morning sunlight. Or maybe I just suck it up and start running outside again.

I do plan on continuing the Qigong in the morning as it does a nice job of getting the blood flowing and the mindfulness muscles being activated.


Other

Have recently become obsessed with 7 Wonders online and in person. Such a dynamic game and fun because you can do a round in 10-12 minutes which makes the games more interesting than Catan which takes longer. I still do love Catan.

On my list of books to read- Neuromancer, Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep, Moby Dick (MMG but was just able to snag a copy) and this Qigong book I am going to download to understand a bit more about it. I took a bit of a break around the holidays with reading but am now looking back to get into it.

House hunting will continue in the new year as well.

Divandan
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Re: Divan dan journal

Post by Divandan »

January Update

#Goals

I've had kind of an epiphany that came from reading Atomic Habits and Tiny Habits back to back around goals. I would kind of add disparate goals but it all starts really with identity.

Using the Atomic Habits prompt here are my two identity based prompts:

I’m the type of person who: Is a minimalist
The habit I’ll be focusing on is: Paring down the items I own and being super mindful of buying more stuff and accumulating junk

I’m the type of person who: Takes care of themselves and is healthy
The habit I’ll be focusing on is: Moves as much as I can, doesn’t drink too much alcohol, has healthy snacks instead of crappy ones and doesn’t over eat

Using the tiny habits model I have implemented a few habits that really work alongside the identity based prompts above:
-After I wake up, I will have a glass of water
-After I have a glass of water, I can have a snack if I want
-After I brush my teeth, I will floss one tooth
-After I use the bathroom in the morning, I will do my daily kettlebell exercises (starting low reps and building)

Kind of feels funny that I am going back to square one on exercise but I just haven't been able to get a consistent routine going since the fall when I was running regularly and I think I was beating myself up about it quite a bit. Now we are going back to square one and we will do the action after the prompt and then celebrate.

For the rest of my goals:
Do a no buy month again
Continue to pare down items and donate
Continue Qigong (I have done this almost everyday in January)

#Books

Read Atomic Habits, Tiny Habits and Goodbye Things. Tiny habits was kind of a revelation for me even though I know starting small is the key to build

#Life Updates

We are under contract for a house! This was the 9th offer we put in together and we were losing out because we were not O.K with waving inspections. The house we ended up buying is pretty much move in ready, super high walk score (88) and in the heart of the town we are living in now. It's a bit smaller than the other houses we were looking at but I am hoping that means we will be more mindful of accumulating junk and stuff. We would move in and settle in March so we are both super excited. The house hunting process has taken up a lot of mental space for me, so looking forward to unsubscribing from all of the emails and relaxing for a bit once we move in.

#Finances

This is the first month we combined finances since getting married. I am responsible for this aspect of it. Adding all of the accounts to Mint was overwhelming and looking to pare down some of the accounts we have. Unfortunately a lot of them are retirement related which is a bit harder. Feb/March will have a lot of cash outflows tied to the house so will probably not be much saved in H1.

Jan SR: 59% (Artificially high because of year end dividends from 2022 that hit in 2023)
YTD Jan SR: 59%

Really just overall looking forward to the move and getting into a good routine again with exercise and some eating habits.

ertyu
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Re: Divan dan journal

Post by ertyu »

where did you learn qigong? Is there youtube videos you'd recommend?

Divandan
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Re: Divan dan journal

Post by Divandan »

I have been following this channel:

https://youtube.com/@QigongMeditation

He has videos in varying length, but I have been enjoying it as a way to move around a bit while still getting some of the meditation benefits.

ertyu
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Re: Divan dan journal

Post by ertyu »

Thanks!

Divandan
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DIVAN DAN JOURNAL

Post by Divandan »

Feb / Quick Update

Feb Savings %: -2%
YTD Savings %: 34%

Well great news is we finally moved and are starting to feel settled in our new house. The reason savings was negative (which I can't remember it being negative in a long time) is because we had to buy appliances as well as had to pay for some expenses tied to the appraisal etc. March will be equally as bad from an expense perspective because of closing costs associated with the house.

The move went well and my FIL & MIL came to help us with the move. This resulted in tackling a lot of the little house projects with my FIL who is handy and resourceful. This is now a perfect time to start learning to be technically handy. I was going back and forth on this in the apartment and would usually put in a service request (to justify the high rent expense).

Most of February was taken up with house stuff, closing, organizing the move and packing up everything. Packing up and moving was a good reminder that I own too much crap, so I will continue to focus on decluttering and donating items. In regards to the house given it is 1,500 square feet we hope the temptation to buy a lot of junk will be limited. The problem is that we have ample space in the basement and attic for storage.

The three main focus areas for me going forward will be reeling in food expenses (starting to really track food expenses and cook stuff from scratch, no buy/low buy months (exception will be any tools I need to solve for around the house), and just getting more handy with house projects.

We are mostly just looking forward to getting settled into the new house and getting ready for nicer weather around the corner which means I will probably start jogging outside soon again.

I am also in the process of re reading ERE now as I picked it up a few times to glance over some chapters but want to re read it again. Most of my work will be really centered around application and less about knowledge but I do want to keep reading. Given I am somewhere between WL 4-5 what books in your mind would have the most ROI for me at this point? Radical Simplicity, Your money or your life, Antifragile or something else? Thanks for reading!

OutOfTheBlue
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Re: Divan dan journal

Post by OutOfTheBlue »

Radical Simplicity uses Your Money or Your Life as one of its main tools, so you can't escape it! I'd say both.

For YMOYL, look for the revised 2018 edition (with a intro by Mr Money Mustache) and/or the audiobook.

Antifragile, I haven't read yet, although I plan to, so can't say...

jacob
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Re: DIVAN DAN JOURNAL

Post by jacob »

Divandan wrote:
Tue Mar 14, 2023 12:54 pm
Given I am somewhere between WL 4-5 what books in your mind would have the most ROI for me at this point?
https://wiki.earlyretirementextreme.com ... ed_Sources

Divandan
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Re: Divan dan journal

Post by Divandan »

@OutoftheBlue and @Jacob thank you for responding!

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grundomatic
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Re: Divan dan journal

Post by grundomatic »

If your self assessment is correct, I recommend YMOYL. Antifragile was mostly gobbledygook to me. Radical Simplicity was like a punch to the gut--too advanced for WL5 me. Not hard to understand like antifragile, but the measures are going to seem austere. First you are sold on not scorching the planet/robbing others on the other side of said planet. Then you do the math and see that's indeed what you are doing. Then you look at an example lifestyle that's within your earth budget, and see that you can share a 400sqft place with your spouse as long as it is 100+ years old, can ride the bus 7 miles a week, enjoy one beer per month, and can send or receive a single 1oz envelope that same month. I'm exaggerating here because I'm on vacation and can't reference it directly, but it's only a very slight exaggeration. See the WL discussion about +2 levels being too extreme.

Divandan
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Re: Divan dan journal

Post by Divandan »

Thank you for the perspective @ grundomatic. It looks like after ERE I'll have to read YMOL. I know that there are exercises in the book as well so I will definitely go through them. I'll have to save Radical Simplicity for another day.

Will report back on ERE and YMOL after I finish them. Thanks all!

Divandan
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Re: Divan dan journal

Post by Divandan »

March Update

Mar Savings Rate: -28%
YTD Savings Rate: 11%

General Update

March negative savings rate is driven by buying a house and closing costs. This also resulted in several trips to Home Depot and some things here and there to furnish the house. With this big hit out of the way, April and May will look much better from a savings %. From a project perspective, we will have some basement work in April and some external landscaping done in May.

The biggest thing about the move and finally getting into a house is releasing some of the mental space this process has taken up for a year with house hunting, offers, tuning into the market, etc. It also feels nice to have an inflation hedge on one of our largest monthly expenses for the foreseeable future.

As mentioned before, this also allows me to level up my handyman skills with our projects around the house over time. It is great because my wife will dig into the projects with me and learn together.

With us both primarily working from home still, it is also great to have the space and not sit on top of each other. We were both working from home in our one-bedroom apartment, and it was a bit tight but we made it work.

Goals for April

In addition to the expense outlay for the house, we also spent A LOT on food this month. This was mainly a combination of laziness and taking the in-laws out to dinner while we hosted them.

We have a combined food challenge this month to stay within for the month of April.

I am also doing a no-buy for April unless I need to get something related to tools/around the house. I spent a lot in this category buying a desk and a chair to work from, so I need to reel this in.

The other goal relates to health and the benefits of sunlight. The goal for April is to wake up at the same time each day and go for a 30-45 minute walk before work, getting that exercise in as well as the sunlight (benefits for the circadian clock).

Last but not least, I will start my nightly brain dump for April before bed. This entails writing down ten things on your mind so you don't ruminate on them. I have no experience with this, but I will report to the group to see if I notice a difference at the end of April.

Books

I ended up finishing YMOL, and it was a great read, but I was retreading many things I was already doing. One of the items was thinking about money or purchases as life energy which was helpful. It was done by calculating your real wage and then figuring out how much life energy that cost to acquire. Super helpful, but I already had that moment when reading the ERE book and dividing the cost of something by the withdrawal rate. That felt like a more significant AHA moment to me at the time. Regardless, the book was great and helpful in working through the exercises laid out in the book.

Overall the focus of April will be around reeling in some of the spending from March, getting into a good morning routine with the weather getting warmer/better, and trying out a new habit I have no experience with.

The continued focus will be on health, discipline, systems, and the big-picture spend. Thanks for reading!

Divandan
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Re: Divan dan journal

Post by Divandan »

April Update

April Savings Rate: 39%
YTD Savings Rate: 18%

Goals

I missed almost every single goal I had for this month and then had an epiphany about mid-way through the month that kind of kicked up the motivation.

We pretty much blew up our spending goals. For food, we had a few things that took us out to eat outside, as well as a few get-togethers with friends. Combine that with the fact that we are hosting a housewarming party, and my wife spent quite a bit on that as well. The spending goal for shopping kind of blew up as well, with us buying a lot of home decor items as well as some knick knacks here and there. This kind of loosened the grip for me, and then I ended up buying some items like golf balls and a pickleball set as well.

We sat down towards the end of the month, looked at our Mint transactions, and had an earnest conversation about reeling both of these items in for May. I am glad I can have these open and honest conversations, and I think just showing the data hit the point home.

House projects

This was another category that required a decent amount of spending. We were getting some water in the basement, so we had to install a French drain and sump pump. Thankfully the seller is helping to chip in with this project, which softened the blow. In addition, we are getting some external work done to help with the grading of the house and installing window wells (not cheap).

We are hoping that after May, these necessary projects will be done. In other news, we were able to tackle and learn a bit about some house projects around the house. Really basic stuff, but removing old weather stripping from the door frame, sanding, and then repainting it. These projects are nice when you can go at your own pace to solve them and hopefully learn something in the process.

Discipline

Going back to the goals above, about midway through the month, I realized that discipline and constant application were what was missing from the equation. This was kicked off by reading Jocko and David Goggins's books, but the main realization was that the actions you do or don't do are the subconscious message you are sending to yourself.

If I sleep in late, eat crappy, don't clean my workstation, and procrastinate all the time, I am sending an internal message to myself of perhaps complacency, laziness, etc. I kicked this off midway through the month by making the goal of waking up between 6:30-6:45 each morning during the work week. What I have been doing is waking up and then tidying up the home a bit, and reading before the workday. This routine is much nicer than sleeping until 7:45 and messing around on my phone until I have to shower and start the workday. Starting in May, I will continue to wake up early but go for a run or do a quick kettlebell workout before the workday. I understand this is also a continual process you must continue to do, but I have been really enjoying it. I have noticed that it has also translated into the workday as well, where I have a bit more initiative and proactiveness present on projects.

Health

Currently reading the Longevity Diet to kick back into some form of a diet that makes losing weight a bit easier. I hope the foundation I set mid-month with the ideas around discipline will hopefully translate. I am looking at implementing some of the recipes in the book, eating between 8 AM and 8 PM, and then also doing some form of the Fasting Mimicking Diet that the book lays out. I am thinking that I will try and do it for three days vs. the five days the book has laid out.

What is Next?

The weather will continue to improve and get warmer in May. Looking forward to getting some pickleball games going for exercise as well as continuing to implement the discipline principles + exercise/healthy eating. We have a wedding planned in mid-May which will take us on a road trip to Pittsburgh which will be fun. Also looking forward to reeling in spending related to food & shopping. Last, but not least, I am looking forward to the new Zelda game coming out in mid-May. I haven't played the Switch in a while, but I really loved BOTW. This game should keep me preoccupied for a while. Thanks for reading!

Divandan
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Re: Divan dan journal

Post by Divandan »

May Update

May Savings Rate: -7%
YTD Savings Rate: 13%

Spending

Spending was high this month but we knew that would be the case. In May, we finished two big projects: the French drain + sump pump in the basement and the grading/water wells outside. After these two projects we effectively drained everything we had set aside in the house fund, so need some time to replenish. In addition, we booked our flight to Denver in June, and I had some dental work done (crown). Discretionary spending remained high for some house-related items as well.

With the house stuff out of the way, June should be better from a spending perspective. I will also be receiving my semi-annual bonus in the month of June. Spending needs to get reeled in though and we had a conversation again around it with some shared goals. Food continues to be high so we set a joint goal of only eating out a maximum of two times per week and getting a drink/treat once a week. With how high prices are now, just going to the coffee shop can be almost $20, which is insane. It will be good for this to be a shared goal because we will keep each other honest.

We also discussed discretionary spending, with me saying that many purchases were automatically justified because they were labeled home expenses. We will both have a strict discretionary spending budget for June that we will stick to. Once again, a shared goal will be helpful because we will keep each other honest.

Health

With the weather getting warmer, I have definitely been more active and have slimmed down a little bit. I am definitely getting a decent amount of steps in each day. I have not been super strict about this, but 3-4 times a week, I am doing a modified form of OMAD. This means I usually have Greek yogurt in the morning with some coffee, skip lunch and then have a normal dinner. With the protein and fat I get from the yogurt, I am not hungry by dinner time. The more I do this, the more my system knows that I am skipping lunch, and it is really not that bad. One of the other main benefits is that post-lunch I do not have that afternoon crash and seem to have more consistent energy throughout the day. I read the Glucose Method and have implemented some of the ideas in the book. The blood sugar spikes seem to have a ripple effect on health and are key for losing weight. I am looking to slim down about another 12 pounds.

I have a regular health checkup at the beginning of June and will be paying close attention to the numbers in the report. In addition to being more active with the weather turning, I also started playing tennis towards the end of the month. I was having a hard time finding a consistent pickleball game, but I was able to join a tennis group. I played in high school and was decent, so it was fun to get out there again. I have also been playing 9 rounds of golf most Friday mornings with my BIL and cousin. Golf isn't a very friendly ERE hobby, but this course is a municipal course that costs $11 to play. We will tee off at 6:45 AM and I will be home by 8:30 and signed on to work by 9.

All in all, I have found some activities to just get the heart pumping a little bit. I was feeling very uninspired by working out in my basement, but I seem to have found some activities that I actually enjoy and can better at.

Gaming

The new Zelda game came out in May and I have been consumed by that. I haven't had this much fun playing and exploring a game in a long time and this game reminded me why I got into video games in the first place. I am toying with the idea of completing most of this game with the side quests, shrines, etc. If you have a Switch you need to play this game!

June

June should be quiet on a spending front because the big house projects have been completed and we have already prepaid for our trip to Colorado. The goals will be to reel in discretionary spending and food spending. I am also looking forward to staying active and playing more tennis in the month. Last but not least I am looking forward to seeing and exploring Colorado as I have never been. Thanks for reading!

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