Bib Bob's Journal

[BibblyBob]

Hello, updating for the beginning of December. It's rather long, apologies

I've been moved to a new team at work- same manufacturing engineering position but for a different plant and a different set of equipment. I'd been sitting in their meetings for about a month, and my official start date was about a week ago. I'm honestly very very relieved- on my old team I was alone in my role, but on this new team I'm working with 2 other engineers doing the same work, one of whom is my mentor and is instructing me how to do the job. This is a huge stress relief for me because in the old team I was the only one doing my role and I felt completely lost and completely alone. I made that worse by not following up with my coworkers or asking questions when I was confused, but now I really hope I can use all I've learned from therapy to have the courage to ask questions, speak up early and often, and not avoid issues/mistakes. I really hope that this change will be good- that I'll both do better at my job and feel less stressed- but I'm scared because I could crash and burn really easily. The equipment is more complex, I still don't know what I'm doing, and my mentor is planning on leaving the company in July. So I've got a time limit to get to a point where I can do this job alone again.

Coincidentally, there was a round of layoffs at work 3 weeks ago that was a shock to the whole company. My direct org group avoided the knife, but a few other groups we work closely with got butchered. It's a solid reminder that work shouldn't be my whole life because it can vanish in an instant. Even if I perform my best and become an asset, my job could still be cut at any time for corporate restructuring.

I've been reaching out to other people in my area to make friends and looking more into hobbies I enjoy like reading and sewing. I've been checking out earth sciences books from the library and they've been fascinating. Also shout out to my local libraries, they're amazing!! Over the past few years I've been to 3 different ones in my county and they all have an incredible amount of resources that go beyond books- the one closest to me has a massive graphic novel section, a seed pantry, and an entire 3D printing lab. They have exercise equipment, tools, puzzles, crafts, musical instruments, video games, and more for checkout, plus they host weekly social gatherings with things like lego building, origami, and sewing. All totally free, because libraries are amazing. Another library in my county has 2 floors packed with books, weekly bake sales, and free hygiene supplies for people who need them. They both have pamphlets on how to do taxes, rights of renters, how to register to vote, and a whole ton of other incredible info. Libraries are amazing; I love mine so much.

I've been slowly reading through Early Retirement Now's SWR series. While I was feeling really frustrated and stressed about work I saw his blog homepage read 'maybe 4% SWR is too conservative and you could retire earlier!' and thought 'oh maybe I can quit earlier than I thought!' Then I started reading and that is very much not the case. Based on ERN's methodology, my plan to have a SWR of 3.5% or less is what I need to stick to, so 3-4 more years of work at minimum for me. I'm going to read more into ERN's CAPE based withdrawal rules and stock/bond optimal glidepaths, both of which sound like good ways to alleviate sequence of return risk. ERN has solid data backing up investment analysis, but I'm not going to use his blog for much lifestyle advice as its not extreme enough- he throws around +60k/yr spending in most of his examples. I'll stick to ERE for that part of FIRE. Frankly I wish ERN would write a book with all his information in cohesive order, it's a tad annoying to sift through which posts reference which, but overall a really great financial blog.

Right now I'm working on planning my budget for 2025 and seeing what I can trim and I'd like your advice. Based on what I've spent in 2023 and 2024 this is what I have so far:

Monthly Expenses: $1,018 x12 = $12,212
Food - $ 80.00
Rent - $ 625.00 (it looks like I'll no longer be subleasing- because I've moved to a new team the work relocation program is no longer happening)
Utilities - $ 80.00
Cell phone - $ 17.16
Car gas - $ 60.00
Auto insurance - $ 70.00
Misc spending (snacks, outings, toiletries, laundry) - $ 40.00
Health insurance - $ 46.00

Non-monthly Expenses - $3,162
Travel for xmas - $480 ($240 for presents, $60 for food, $180 on car gas)
1 weekend trip to visit family - $250
1 trip for family to visit me - $230
Dentist Deductible - $50
Car maintenance - $265
Brake pad replacement - $370 (buying the parts myself then paying the shop for install labor)
google drive storage - $20
Car tag renewal - $72
1 trip to visit friend - $180
Therapy - $675 (five $135 sessions once my deductible resets)
Bday/mother's day presents - $120
Saving for new laptop and phone spread over 4 years - $350 (assumes buying used laptop and used phone will be $800 and $600 at that time, with inflation)
Misc expenses - $100 (phone repair, article of clothing needed, stuff like that)

Total: $15,373

This is a solid $1000 higher than what I budgeted for this year, which sucks, but it is more accurate. Last year I didn't account for birthday or mother's day presents, therapy, misc expenses like phone screen repair, or saving for laptop or phone. My long term goal is to get my expenses down under 13k, but for 2025 I'd like to get them to 14.3k or less. Right now I'm stumped because I feel I'm already pretty down to the bone here and I'm not sure what to cut.

The monthly expenses are pretty narrow, I don't think I can reduce those unless I move, which I can't do right now since I signed the 2025 lease. Not sure if that'd be worth jumping back into at this stage.

Non-monthly expense I know I've got more wiggle room- I could definitely save less for the phone/laptop, maybe by the time I need to replace them there will be cheaper models available. Both of the ones I have now are 4 years old. I don't want to cut the trips to visit family, xmas, or presents as I feel that would be cheap. I'm thinking I should actually increase the budget for gifts instead of decrease it- I want to save but not at the expense of my family. Car maintenance/brake pad replacement amounts I do want to keep. My car is critical for work and I'd rather pay extra for all the checks and servicing the manual calls out than get stuck with a blown engine. Oil changes and small part replacements I do myself, but anything needing to lift the car up or dealing with a critical system I take to the mechanic.

Therapy is the other big chunk that I'm evaluating. My therapist has been incredibly helpful and I definitely couldn't have gotten to where I am on my own. If my deductible weren't resetting I would 100% keep going to therapy weekly without question. But since it is resetting, I gotta evaluate if by the end of December I'll have learned enough to deal with my anxiety on my own, or if its worth continuing to pay for sessions into part of 2025. My thought was have sessions twice monthly through the beginning of March and stop there, but I don't know if that's not enough or more than I'll need.

So yep, that's the current take for 2025.I'm frustrated that it seems that my yearly expenses are going up not down. The last time I posted a budget for feedback it was on r/fire and I got torn to shreds for being too frugal- one poetic commentor said I was doing 'North Korea FIRE'- so I'm nervous to ask this but if you've got any feedback on what I can trim to lower this down to my 14.3k goal, I welcome it.

Thanks for reading!

[basuragomi]

I'm going to challenge you on changing your brake pads yourself. Pads are a small part that don't even require dealing with fluids and your mounting hardware will last longer without some jackass overtorquing everything with an impact driver. You have to change to/from winter tires anyways!

For the phone/laptop, you can leverage your net worth to offset costs by using bank account/credit card signup promos. I am apparently getting an IMac from a promotion to move an account over to a new brokerage.

I'd look more into utilities - maybe you can save on internet or switch your electric billing to a cheaper rate plan.

I think therapy is going to be more necessary than you are anticipating, from what I've seen of others with anxiety.

ETA: The most dramatic way to affect your expenses would probably involve buying a house - maybe this is feasible in Michigan?

[BibblyBob]

Thanks Basuragomi! That's great advice, I appreciate it. My two big worries on the brake pads are not being able to lift my car up and not being able to torque the wheel back on tight enough- but after googling a bit I think if I get a good jack and torque wrench I could do it, you're right. Promos are a great idea for the laptop/phone, I'll lower the budget on those keeping that in mind. You're most likely right on the therapy as well.

I'll have to look up what our options are on internet and electric bills; my roommate is the one who originally set them up before I moved in. The internet has stayed consistent for the past few years, but I've noticed an uptick in the electricity cost this year even though we use the same amount we always have. I'll check up on if there are some habits/practices we can be using to lower the rate too.

Buying a house is feasible in theory in Michigan, there's lots of cheapish real estate, but I'm not willing right now because I'm not sure I want to stay in MI once I reach my FIRE number. All of my family is in Atlanta; I've been considering moving out of Michigan in a few years to Georgia, Alabama, or Tennessee to be closer to them. Alabama has some cheap living areas and TN has zero state income tax which would be nice. I've still got to think about it a lot more. But overall I'm pretty wary of home ownership in general- property taxes could easily become more than my current monthly rent even before the cost of household repairs, and that's if I was able to buy outright without a mortgage (even a small one). What I'd love to do short term is find a house in MI that's got a few rooms and rent with 2+ roommates so we could really lower the rent. That's what I did through most of college and I loved it. Some people like living alone but I'm not one of them- I feel so much better when I'm living with roommates than when I'm alone.

[BibblyBob]

It's been six months, so I wanted to post in a Pro/Cons format of what things have been good and bad since December.

Cons:

• I had a bit of a breakdown in December due to me putting a lot of pressure on myself to not ‘fail’ at work or at home, which resulted in me lapsing in working out and eating healthy, and almost quitting therapy.
• To save money, I tried driving from Michigan to Atlanta for the holidays instead of flying. It did not work: I had an anxiety attack driving through the snow and my car made some weird noises that freaked me out. The total drive time due to weather was 16 hours one way, and I ended up having to stop at a hotel for the night which cost $150. In the future it’d be better for me to just focus on ways to fly cheaper.
• Got absolutely walloped in the beginning of the year with some unexpected car expenses- paint chipping, battery replacement, tow truck when my brakes stopped working, and recommended updates after a scheduled maintenance appointment. A lot of the surprise could have been avoided if I’d paid more attention to my maintenance schedule. It pretty much blew out my car maintenance budget for the year.
• I chickened out of changing my own car battery myself. Even though it was something I could have done fairly easily, I was afraid I’d start an electrical fire so I paid $50 for a mechanic to do it.
• Since my healthcare deductible reset in January I’ve spent $1300 on therapy, which sucks
• With my current rate of spending, I’m going to end up having spent $17,000 by the year’s end. My goal previously was $14,300.
• My roommate isn’t willing to change our internet plan, so we’re paying $80/month
• I tried to fix the chipping paint on my car’s hood by myself. I did a pretty bad job and it looks crap- there’s built up paint stains and scratch marks from where I tried to sand the surface down, but hey it’s got an extra coating to prevent rust now.
• My boss, who’s been a fantastic manager for the past 2 years, is getting involuntarily moved to another team. We don’t know who will be replacing him yet, but based on other managers at this company, it won’t be someone as good.
• I still spend a whole lot on snack foods, and in the past couple weeks especially I’ve been buying food outside my normal grocery runs with the excuse that if its paid for with gift cards, it doesn’t count.
• I want to move to a cheaper location as my current apartment’s rent keeps going up
• I still feel I’m too money focused, obsessing over every dollar- I check the SP500 twice a day to see if my investments are growing
• I spend a lot of time on Youtube videos and shorts that don’t benefit me. I’d like to spend more time reading or being outside

Pros:

• In therapy I've made a couple of breakthroughs and have had significant improvements. I’ve been in sessions for 10 months now and we’re working on a therapy exit strategy so that I can keep working on myself completely independently.
• I did start on some anti-anxiety meds in February and they’ve done wonders
• I’ve gotten on my feet at work. Things are still difficult to work through at times but way better than they were
• I’ve implemented a couple new behaviors to eat healthier- ask myself what feelings are driving me to eat right now, take a picture of every meal to record it, and add some amount of protein and fiber to every meal - and so far they’ve been working great. I binge eat way less.
• I’ve been cooking different meals based on what’s on sale at Aldis, buying more frozen instead of fresh veggies and eating less packaged food- results in less money spent and less waste, and I’m having fun trying new things and improving my cooking skills
• I switched to buying groceries every 2 weeks instead of every week, which has helped me buy more food while (mostly) sticking to my $80/month food budget
• I’m steadily working out once a day, usually small things for now like 20 wall push-ups, 30 crunches, or 20 squats each day.
• I set a goal for myself in March that I’ll bike instead of drive for any outing that’s under 10 miles away. I want to do a better job tracking that, but so far it’s resulted in quite a few ‘no-car’ weekends
• I’ve gotten all the equipment to rotate my tires by myself and am gonna do it this week
• I dropped our electricity bill by $20 each month by implementing some internet tips for energy saving
• I switched from progressive to USAA car insurance and my 6 month premium decreased by over $300 while I was actually INCREASING my coverage
• I switched from my HYSA to a credit union savings account with a higher interest rate- 4% to 4.5%- and added on a checking account that also has a 4% interest rate
• Hit 400k net worth
• My company’s 401k plan recently opened up a new selection of in-plan brokerage fund options, including some low-fee index funds I haven’t been exposed to before. I haven’t looked deeply at the options, but it could be very beneficial
• I’ve changed the way I look at getting things: instead of ‘oh I need x, I should go grab it now’, I’m keeping a list of all things that would be nice to have- clothes, appliances, tools- and checking Freecycle and Buy Nothing groups twice a week. If I see any of my list items posted, I bike over and grab them, but otherwise I just wait until one shows up. So my mindset has switched from ‘I need this so I should buy it NOW’ to ‘Reuse is my priority, so I’ll make due until the thing becomes available’ and then I don’t mind if that takes 4 weeks. The only things I’m still buying new right now are car parts, car tools, and food.
• I found a new Freecycle facebook group with over 13k members and they’re super friendly. They had a big event in May with over 200 houses in the neighborhood setting up tables and tarps of things they wanted to give away. I had a field day- got a new suitcase, a toaster oven, a dish drying rack, fun summer clothes, car cleaning supplies, placemats, towels, and a whole bunch of other great stuff.
• One of the freecycle things I got was a kid’s InStep bike trailer, which is an absolute game changer for groceries- I can carry 2 weeks worth of food and barely notice, and it’s so much easier than stuffing it all into a bike basket and my backpack.
• I’ve made 2 new friends that are super supportive of my biking and reusing things goals and they've started doing some reusing of their own.
• I reconnected with a friend who’s a bit of a health and fitness nerd. He's been super encouraging of my food and work-out goals, and gives me lots of great tips.
• Finally finished reading Random Walk On Wallstreet. I’m going to read it again, this time taking more detailed notes, and then after that I plan to read some ERE literature.
• After thinking a lot about all the things I dislike about my current job, I’ve made a hesitant plan. I’ll complete my current project through 2027, then quit my current role and look for spots as a lower level contract programmer for lower pay. Near the end of 2027 I’ll be super close to my FIRE number, so I’ll be comfortable taking that pay cut. I know for sure I don’t want to be in any management/decision making roles in this field anymore. I’ll have to do a lot of work on my own to improve my programming skills in the next couple years to make this happen, and even then there’s some risk that no one will be hiring.

Based on that, these are the things I want to work on in the next couple months:

• Less time on youtube shorts, more time reading, improving skills, or being outside
• Keeping and steadily increasing exercise routine- maybe track goal reps/week
• Keep track of how many car trips I made that are <10 miles, and what the reasons for them were
• Grow knowledge: financial knowledge, programming, ERE literature especially - ways to be less money obsessed
• Spend more time on cheap hobbies I like that are intellectually stimulating: like math, origami, or excel challenges
• Stop checking investment growth outside of monthly rebalancing
• Be aware of when I’m exhausted and take breaks so I don’t burn myself out - at work and at home
• Eat less snack foods and add more protein to meals while still keeping with $80/month food budget
• Research and plan timing on when I could move to a new place, where would be cheaper, and what costs would be required to move
• Successfully end therapy with a strong exit plan, so that I won’t have to continue into the next year
• Work past my fear of damaging my car so I can do my own car upkeep.
• Use friends to give me rides to the airport so I don’t have to pay for parking or Uber
• Plan my car maintenance expenses with greater honesty and stricter adherence to the maintenance schedule

[Stasher]

That's one heck of a list, all the best on your journey as you have some healthy goals. Absolutely stick to those car maintenance schedules, your future self and your car will thank-you.

[basuragomi]

The Unhook browser extension can disable a lot of Youtube's algorithmic junk and save you a lot of distraction that way.

Checking stocks and some other obsessive behaviours might merely be a sign of being bored at work.

[BibblyBob]

The Unhook browser extension can disable a lot of Youtube's algorithmic junk and save you a lot of distraction that way.

Thanks for the tip, I had no idea that was a thing but it sounds perfect

[Bytore]

...
[*]Spend more time on cheap hobbies I like that are intellectually stimulating: like math, origami, or excel challenges
...

I just found your journal and will catch up on it.

I love spreadsheets and am sort of ok with them, so it immediately struck me how you mentioned excel challenges. I am now very curious what these might be, if you don't mind sharing.