ERE is Path to Meaningful Life - MMM style FI year 4

[suomalainen]

You either edit each entry’s subject line. Or you can edit the first post’s subject line. If that still works.

[Henry]

If I'm ever asked what I want my Indian name to be I'm going with Eaglespreadingwingswithhardoninfrontofnailsalon.

[Stasher]

With all due respect that is the dorsal fin of Qul-lhanumutsun – ( Killer Whale (Orca) in Coast Salish Hulq'uminum dialect )

“Sea and Sky was carved in 1990 by Harold Alfred.
The pole was done more as a symbol of British Columbia, as the figures represent sky and sea and were done in a balanced relation to one another. The powerful Thunderbird being a symbol of the supernatural and of strength with lightning and thunder as signs of his flight. The Killer Whale is shown in its awesome form reflecting its natural presence.

The Thunderbird is a mythical creature that is common in First Nations stories on the Northwest Coast, and the Killer Whale is often shown on poles with the Thunderbird. John Ingraham, who taught the art of carving in the Kwakwaka’wakw territory assisted [Harold Alfred] with carving this pole.”

[Henry]

I guess people in British Columbia are more respectful of cultural totems because if that thing was in Ft. Lauderdale there'd be three drunken sorority chicks straddling Qul's dorsal fin in your photo.

[Stasher]

First Nations culture, history and title is engrained in all we do in BC and in fact it is now enshrined in provincial law in 2022. Indeed it is a much different place here in BC but we are also far from perfect. I imagine there have been some late night pub goers who may have messed around as you elude.

[Stasher]

Just posted my update in the Minimalist Game thread and sharing here as usual. Our spending, budgeting and investing is basically engrained into our habits and on auto-pilot so the forum challenges like decluttering and looking at our excessive ownership of items is a good challenge and goal to keep me motivated.

We didn't spend anything this past week outside of our usual restaurants and groceries, the buy nothing year challenge isn't realistic for me but I will keep trying for the "Buy Almost Nothing". I did have a larger expense though as we paid for our DD to have some dentistry work done, we help support her with anything we can as investing into our adult children's health and happiness is the type of spending that brings us joy. I keep reflecting on the book "Die With Zero" with respect to helping out our mid 20s adult children as much as possible, at the point in their lives that benefits them the most. Inheriting from us when we pass isn't going to help them but it sure helps now.


Below is my copy from the Minimalism Challenge thread in the ERE Community section;

Good Morning and Happy Monday on the start of a new week, let's look at last weeks efforts to reduce.

As mentioned last week, DW joined in and tackled the kitchen finding a bunch of things tucked away that were never used anymore, hanging onto for nostalgia or gifts that we never really needed. That gave me so many items that I completed last weeks 14 and gave me this weeks 15 items. Of course we were busy in the yard prepping the garden and then I took the initiative to clean up junk bits hiding around the yard that make it out of the house and end up not getting dealt with like old broken plant pots or garbage cans or scrap metal. I also cleaned up all the scrap wood and sorted my pile of salvaged bits, getting rid of wood that was rotten and/or I wouldn't use, this has my next weeks 16 list items already accounted for.

For Week 15 on April 14-20 I rounded up the following 15 items
1 - Whiskey Flask (thrift store)
1 - Vegetable Grater (thrift store)
2 - Ziploc Storage Containers (thrift store)
3 - Wine Glasses (thrift store)
1 - Charcuterie Board (thrift store)
2 - Brass Mule Mugs (thrift store)
5 - Unfinished bottles of supplements we don't use anymore (recycled)

We certainly have a whole lotta stuff, when I think we are doing good @Jacob reminds us what being minimal really is. "Week fourteen also means having passed the cumulative 100 item mark which is more than what hardcore minimalists own in the first place. Here I notice that some of my [book] shelves actually look a bit leaner now. Still, there's a long way to go."

[Stasher]

As always with every week I spend the majority of my time outside walking, trail running, gravelbike long distance riding and of course mountain biking. We are slowly shifting closer and closer to alpine season so of course my anticipation of backpacking and mountaineering is growing steadily.

Here is the last week as seen through nature and a love of being outdoors where I push myself hard, my recreation in beautiful places is my magic health elixir.

Fawn Lilies are blooming everywhere right now



The Gary Oak Trees are buddy and coming to life



Summit views from a MTB ride, views all the way from the tip of Vancouver Island across the strait to Washington State Olympic Mountains



Trees are blossoming everywhere in the valley currently, a view from my long effort gravelbike ride



Couldn't resist a black and white photo op with this weathered shed and my gravelbike



Beautiful valley view from mountain top on my trail run, the Salish Sea weaving along the coast



Dodged the rain on my trail run, of course it was a Zone3/4 effort at 160bpm on the climb so I was soaked with sweat anyhow lol



Spotted a small patch of Avalanche (Glacier) Lilies patch blooming off the trail

[chenda]

Lovely. One of my favourite vloggers is Canadian and she lives in a remote area an hour or so outside Toronto (although that's probably not that remote by Canadian distances) Spring has definitely arrived.

[Saltation]

We certainly have a whole lotta stuff, when I think we are doing good @Jacob reminds us what being minimal really is. "Week fourteen also means having passed the cumulative 100 item mark which is more than what hardcore minimalists own in the first place. Here I notice that some of my [book] shelves actually look a bit leaner now. Still, there's a long way to go."

The minimalists challenge has been very eye opening. I'm intrigued by people that own 100 items or less but the reality seems anything but farfetched. How do you repair your own bicycles with so few items? Our family hunts/fishes/hikes etc. My gear alone would tackle their entire inventory. I'm not saying it isn't practical because old school hunter/gatherer families could have arranged something like this (clearly modern people do too) but in the modern world unless my personal systems of living really tighten up and I'm willing to forego some activities that bring substantial life enjoyment it would seem impractical. Nonetheless, I'm in for the long-haul on the challenge.

Fantastic pictures and look forward to more updates.

[Stasher]

Lovely. One of my favourite vloggers is Canadian and she lives in a remote area an hour or so outside Toronto (although that's probably not that remote by Canadian distances) Spring has definitely arrived.

This is the opposite coast from us but this couple are so wonderfully Canadian and I love it. The wife and I watch all their episodes and really enjoy the simple ERE life they are creating here. So with that another vlog to add to your list Chenda.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... _B1-2sC5AO

[Stasher]

The minimalists challenge has been very eye opening. I'm intrigued by people that own 100 items or less but the reality seems anything but farfetched. How do you repair your own bicycles with so few items? Our family hunts/fishes/hikes etc. My gear alone would tackle their entire inventory.

How true. I am a prolific trail runner , mountain biker, road/gravel rider/racer and backpacker/mountaineer. These activities in a way define me and I do them across 4 seasons thus the amount of gear to do these things in any weather creates a pretty damn significant inventory. My only take away from this challenge is to hopefully find some redundancies in gear and also clear out items I may have been hoarding away in a tub or shelf somewhere.

As for this area of large ownership, it puts pressure on me to work hard at reducing elsewhere and I feel I need that accountability to reduce and reflect on adding items.

[chenda]

Thanks Stasher thats exactly the type of thing I like

[Henry]

Walker Evansish

[Stasher]

Kicking off the week as usual copying my minimalist game update over here to the journal. My focus for this year is to keep working with the wife to clear out the conspicuous consumption that builds up in our lives while at the same time being extremely mindful of what we are bringing back in the house via new purchases (new, used, thrifted, etc). So far so good and last week I bought two items, a replacement bike inner tube for my wife's bike and a Salomon stealth running storage belt (hydration/gear/fuel) for my running/hiking.

For Week 16 on April 21-27 I rounded up the following 16 items
1 - cable bike lock (thrift store)
1 - reusable squeeze bottle (thrift store)
1 - landscaping rake (set out for free on our curbside)
4 - outdoor plastic plant pots (set out for free on our curbside)
1 - rubbermaid storage tote (set out for free on our curbside)
2 - oil/vinegar bottle dispenser (thrift store)
1 - old damaged jeep skidplate (garbage depot)
2 - old plastic waste bins (garbage depot)
2 - buckets full of scrap wood from yard (recycled)
1 - bucket of asstd scrap metal pieces (recycled)

We finalized with our mortgage transfer to our current bank this past week and at a much better term/amortization that results in a much lower monthly payment. As mentioned earlier in the journal I did this to give us budget space on our monthly expenses so that in 2 yrs if I decide to end my part time community work I am able to go back to fully FIRE. Until then we will double up on payments to tackle the principle rather than putting the lower payment savings into our investments. If we were serious we could pay off the house in a couple of years but that isn't our current plan.

I did around 100kms of bike commutes and riding last week in my normal seasonal efforts to stay as car-free as possible. I also of course did trail running workouts logging about 46km and a couple of amazing MTB rides in the mix. I know there are a bunch of health focused members who post in their journals here. My numbers (age 51) are resting heart rate average is about 42bpm with a steady zone2 HR for a 10km run at about 145bpm. I don't have a Garmin anymore and for the last 9 months have been using an Apple Watch Ultra2 for the data. It shows my current VO2 Max is 45 and my average sleep for the last 6 months is almost 10hrs (I love my sleep as its my TOP priority).

I think ERE/MMM best outcome was helping me have time to fall in love with being in nature and from that built up a love for MTB, trail running and hiking/backpacking. That has led to the best health of my life if I were to guess. Oh and I also did a couple checks on the local pharmacy blood pressure machine the past week as I had no idea where I was at, current readings are 113/76.

Last but not least I think we have the majority of our garden done (well the wife does anyhow as she loves plants). The majority is potatoes as they do best in our yard (poor soil/poor light/slugs and snails). We have a couple tomato plants, zucchini, cucumber, peas, squash, carrots, kale, green onions.

[Stasher]

I wanted to put this quote from J&G journal of a podcast and writer that @7wannabe5 shared so I don't loose this and can keep coming back to it, also a thank-you for sharing the podcast with us all.

I listened to it and the basis of the discussion which is the book by Jean-Marc Jancovici "World Without End" really resonated with me and I gravitative towards the concept of "Sobriete". As mentioned earlier this year in my journal I have come back to ERE as I have felt that the MMM crowd has really started to enable excessive consumption and spending especially with using the book Die With Zero as justification. The Environment, Climate and the dark side of mega-corps on scoety just can't allow me to act that way anymore with a good conscience.
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/457628/ ... 0241661949

Podcast Link from Nate's website
https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/ ... -jancovici

I feel like I keep referencing guests on Nate Hagen's podcast, but ...his most recent guest, Jean-Marc Jancovici, offered what I thought was a good simplification of the motivations for consumption:

1) Comfort/(Sloth-Gluttony)
2) Accumulation/(Fear-Greed)
3) Status/(Lust-Envy)

His proposed(although granted highly unlikely) solution was that those who already in the upper echelons of society will need to model "sobriete" or "sufficiency" or "alternative means of signaling status" first. I found his breaking out of "accumulation" as a motivation somewhat interesting, because I think it speaks to what I saw as similar behavior pattern whether my old multi-millionaire friend watching CNBC or my young professional dancer niece flipping through fast fashion sites. Jancovici theorizes that the human tendency towards "accumulation' is a very early cultural development of the first early humans who had to survive through winter.

Anyways, I agree in the sense that I don't think that it is possible to transition to "post-consumerism" en masse without also transitioning to "post-capitalism." And what I mean by "post-capitalism" is something not-yet-emergent, but definitely not to be confused with communism or even garden variety socialism. My rough intuition is that although "post-consumerism" will eventually be a human sociology/psychology based movement, it will be dependent upon "post-capitalism" which will likely be dependent upon some form of innovation/technology that quite possibly wasn't even meant to bring about "post-capitalism." And "post-capitalism" will also be a development that still contains the seeds of the core human urges that currently underpin capitalism. Of course, it is also the case that "if everybody did" the "applied capitalism" of ERE, one possible form of "post-capitalism" would emerge. One problem is that "applied" implies "work" and unlikely everybody is going to be down with that, see (1) above.

In simplest terms, a situation in which it was not possible to buy more "comfort" or "status" with money would promote the purchase of "security." A situation in which it was not possible to buy more "status" or "security" would promote the purchase of "comfort." And a situation in which it was not possible to buy more "security" or "comfort" would promote the purchase of "status." And 'security" is likely the hardest nut to crack as an individual, because it requires giving up your fear of death. Although, any human who commits suicide almost certainly found one or both of the other nuts to be harder to crack.

[Stasher]

Posted up my ERE Minimalist Challenge List to start the week.
> The final easy week for me of listing items from our big roundup last month. Next week will be challenging as I get back to digging through drawers, closets and the shed clearing away more items.

For Week 17 on April 28-May4 I rounded up the following 17 items
4 - expired old bottles pet medication (garbage/recycled)
3 - reusable food storage grocery bags (thrift store)
1 - food tongs (thrift store)
1 - nutcracker (thrift store)
1 - wood reuseable stra (thrift store)
1 - wood honey scoop (thrift store)
4 - tea/kitchen storage containers (thrift store)
1 - xmas stencil kit (thrift store)
1 - strawberry stem remover (thrift store)

A pretty uneventful week in finances as I continue my efforts to optimize our budget, reduce costs and continue with budgets on auto-pilot. The stock market indexes we are in did well with a solid climb back up in value.

Otherwise it was a wonderful week outdoors and the weather really got nice and sunny with the start of much warmer weather hitting above 20c. I have a trail race this coming Saturday so last week was some hard efforts running and riding bikes with this week now leading up being more chill. Also had an awesome bike community meetup in Victoria for the monthly pancake breakfast potluck and then after that was a bike community un-official birthday party for the biggest protected bike lane in the city built 8 years ago. Since then the city has gone mach speed at building bike & roll safe infrastructure non stop every year, almost 50km of new bike lanes...LOVE IT.

[Mousse]

Also had an awesome bike community meetup in Victoria for the monthly pancake breakfast potluck and then after that was a bike community un-official birthday party for the biggest protected bike lane in the city built 8 years ago. Since then the city has gone mach speed at building bike & roll safe infrastructure non stop every year, almost 50km of new bike lanes...LOVE IT.

So cool! The event (and infrastructure improvements!) sound awesome, and amazing pictures as always!

[Stasher]

I had a journal on the MMM forums that I started in 2016 and updated continually until 2020 when I deleted it to reduce my personal information online due to the forums getting so popular in the mainstream and some high profile public activities I was involved with at the time. I'm glad I downloaded it as a reference for looking back from time to time.

As mentioned earlier in this journal I retired in Spring of 2017, walking away from a well compensated 6-figure salary. Considering I have only had modest income since then from random photography or tourism writing and now community work remuneration, I couldn't be happier knowing that living modestly and keeping expenses low will allow your investments/savings to grow without the big $$ additions anymore.

In May of 2016 I wrote "my investments now support a SWR of $22,000 or $1830/month." and I stated that "With current lifestyle I need to have $46,800 per year as a SWR".

Then in 2017 I pulled the pin and said screw it and took the leap of faith on FIRE

Post by: Stasher on March 13, 2017, 01:47:29 PM
I'm back on the Island after a week long trip to the Prairies to finish out my last week of work at the office. My Final work arrangement has been sent and signed off by management.
My 2016 commissions were paid (only partially but I'll take what I can get).
My Vacation leave form request was approved.
The funny thing is I sold two more big new pump installs that should make the company $100,000 in revenue on my last 2 days and here I am answering work emails on my supposed first day of holidays. I am on holidays from now until May 5th and then I will get 2 weeks lay off notice on May 19th. They wanted to terminate my position and open a sales position in Calgary so I took advantage of it so speed up FIRE and control the terms of my lay-off.

When I was back at my SK office last week I cleared up my desk and found some of my old budgeting notes I had taken as I was learning MMM and tracking my net-worth. I think it was roughly beginning of 2012 when I made a nice income and expense sheet.
2012 combined savings $118,000
2017 combined savings $696,600
Increase in savings over 5 years was $578,600 !

I just ran the numbers in FireCalc for what a SWR is for me here in the Spring of 2025 and that puts me at $42,000 or $3500/month.

My updated monthly expenses are as follows
Core Spending
$941 - Mortgage - just re-amortized my mortgage at 4.45% for 30yrs
$134 - Home Insurance - climate events are crushing the insurance industry, big jump since 2021
$312 - Property Taxes
$51 - Municipal Services
$71 - Power - $71/month equalized annual plan
$151 - Internet - expensive in Canada in know
$68 - Car Insurance
$1758

Variable Spending
$660 - Groceries
$275 - Food outside of home; restaurants,cafes,coffee,fastfood,bakeries
$200 - Auto, mostly fuel tokeep loving our 330,000km Hyundai SantaFe )
$500 - Miscellaneous catch all for travel, sports, health supplements like vitamins/protein, pet food, garden supplies
$1635

This works out to roughly $3393/month or $40716 annually so with my updated SWR we are perfectly ready for full FIRE at any time we like. That being said we are locked into our current pt & ft income scenarios for another 18 months and love what we do. This just means we can continue to build up investments improving the margin for budgeting ups and downs.

[delay]

Thanks for your journal update! How do you budget for long term costs like house maintenance and car replacement?

$151 for internet is something else. I pay €28.45. At $151 I'd be investigating cord cutting!

[Stasher]

Canada is beyond brutal, we have made repeated attempts via the public and government to break up the monopolies of our Telecom companies but zero progress. We simply don't have any options for home internet providers and don't even ask about our cellular options.
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-rele ... Rates.html

For irregular expenses I have a large cash savings buffer built up with a full year of spending to level out any unplanned spending. I also have a very large home equity line of credit sitting in the wings for if by example my house needed $10,000 new roof tomorrow or my car engine blew up. I would make the one time payment from there and then make a planned increase drawdown from my RRSP to clear up the credit line asap.

Also, we still have a massive safety cushion of future income thanks to the Canadian Government public CPP (pension plan) and OAS (old age security) all Canadians get of which we will start receiving at 65 which will easily cover over 50% of our current monthly budget. Our house has very little left owing which has over $500,000 equity.

Thanks to these extra margins of buffer for my SWR I can easily weather any significant one year costs over the next 15 years without worrying about long term viability.