Early Retirement Extreme Forums

I have a few upcoming services due for my 2010 Hyundai SantaFe that I am trying to keep running for as long as possible. It is now at 332,000km and hope to hit at least 350,000km with it. (I love having no car payments and have had this vehicle for over 10 years now)
One of the services it needs is was a rear differential gear oil replacement, for some reason in my head I had it being that it was tougher than doing on my old domestic branded vehicles.

Well it was super easy and only needed to remove a simple drain plug and fill plug as well as buy a $12 quart jug hand pump and the $30 bottle of gear oil. WAYYYYY better than the $163 I was quoted from our local shop as I just wanted to get a price reference. So with the extra savings I decided to replace my rolling floor jack that was on sale for $65 dollars off and got it for $89 (I have the jack stands but one of my brothers took my jack years ago). A trip to the parts store, 30 minutes under the vehicle and 2 new tools added for future use all for $50 less than going to the shop.

https://youtu.be/G8wwmFidYWk?si=on65Jl-aKzZp52Jn





I then took a crack at my front transfer case but it is very tight quarters and the fill plug is really in there. Going to give it another try with a different breaker bar socket wrench when I can grab it from my son. That service from the dealer costs $163 as well and now that I have the hand pump would like to do it for the $30 in oil and save $133 in the process. Hope my second crack at it is successful.

https://youtu.be/Bzt77hE4S3E?si=ktmkaaN1knh3yBns

For Week 22 on June 02 - 08 the following following 22 items were collected
1 - T-shirt (sold consignment)
1 - cotton facemask (thrift store)
1 - handful of disposable masks (recycled)
3 - garden hose quick connect attachments (thrift store)
1 - soap dispensing pot scrubber with (thrift store)
1 - unopened package of pot scrubber replacement pads (thrift store)
1 - USB-C charging cord (thrift store)
2 - unused hot pockets hand warmers (thrift store)
2 - safety glasses (thrift store)
2 - combination wrenches (thrift store)
2 - D Cell batteries (thrift store)
1 - box asstd nail polish (thrift store)
1 - cardboard shelf organizer box (thrift store)
1 - usb charger (thrift store)
1 - unopened/used organic bin under sink hang bracket (thrift store)
1 - headphone case for previously donated headphones (garbage)

Still feeling good that we have lots more things to keep purging out of the house. The problem with only having 2 people in a larger home now that our kids have moved out is that there is extra space for things to get forgotten or put out of the way leading to accumulation. The ERE Minimalist Game Challenge continues with success.

As mentioned our cost of living is pretty locked in at a low level with very little room to go down outside of selling our home to drop those recurring costs out of our control. That being said I still think some efficiencies can be found on items like bargaining to reduce out home internet bill and maybe cancel some digital subscriptions.

I have been doing good with maintaining a no new "stuff" purchases streak this year and can count the items on one hand. I did make one purchase last week using the money I have saved up from the items I have sold and not given away to thrift in the minimalist challenge noted above. I bought an expensice pair of Rapha cycling bib shorts. As I ride a very large amount these are a much needed investment with my last pair wearing out.

I had a big day of meetings last Wednesday and is a type of day where my investment in my everyday urban trip car replacement e-bike pays off. I rode nearly 85km between 3 trips and is so much better for the environment, helps me save money and of course is so good for my mental and pyhsical health.

I did loads of running and cycling training to keep having fun but also prep for my big mountain trail race coming up June 21st.

I then rounded out the week with a big day trip from the island to the mainland to attend a trade show for our business. What I love is that I was able to leave the car behind as I normally do and utilize public transport options. I rode the ferry across the sea, then took the express transit bus to the Vancouver downtown train station and then the last portion was via an e-scooter ride share in the district of my destination.


Sunshine Coast


Downtown Vancouver with Mt Baker in the distance


Headed North back to Vancouver from the event, North Shore mountains in distance


Coming back into downtown Vancouver on Skytrain


Saling back home across Salish Sea at sunset as Canadian Coast Guard hovercraft passed us

As part of operation "Review Recurring Service Fees" I finally took the time to sit on hold for an hour with our internet provider. I changed the high speed internet plan I was on to a slightly lower speed to see how it performs and I also negotiated a lower fee for that plan as well as they threw in $100 credit onto my bill.

Internet and Cell Phone plans are terribly high due to very few providers in Canada and we get hosed on the cost. That being said I was able to drop from $151 to $98 per month which is a $636 savings per year. That works out to needing $16,000 less in savings for my investments being able to cover the SWR for my cost of living.

Nice work! I've found negotiating for better deals with the internet/cell companies to be less painful in reality than I anticipate it'll be, and quite high ROI. Yet I still find myself avoiding it something to unpack there.

I also recently downgraded my internet and can't notice any difference whatsoever - seems easy to overestimate the speeds one actually needs. Plus gigabit internet makes it easy for me to stay inside watching TV and videos more than I should, so a little extra friction (buffering) can be nice.

Enjoying all your photos too!

Yes I agree, I think we over estimate the speeds we need with just 2 devices at most in the home streaming data and for us no gaming. I will know better tonight when the wife and I end up watching our shows at the same time. As mentioned we probably won't even notice the difference.

Thanks for the kudos on the photos, things so get a lot more interesting in July when i get more active in the mountains with my alpine runs and backpacking trips.

Congrats, that's a big reduction! Still very high prices, I pay 30 euro a month for a fixed connection and 9 euro for a mobile plan with 3GB data.

AFAIK download speed hardly matters. I have the lowest speed, it can still do 10 times HD TV. That's 9 more than I can watch. The only use I see for faster speeds is downloading games or OS patches quickly.

Stasher wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 09, 2025 12:05 pm

I bought an expensice pair of Rapha cycling bib shorts. As I ride a very large amount these are a much needed investment with my last pair wearing out.

A good bib is worth it! I don't feel much difference between a $2000 bike or a $1000 bike, but better shorts makes a big difference.

How does the sky train treat cyclists?

delay wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 10, 2025 4:41 pm

How does the sky train treat cyclists?

Exceptionally well, lots of room on the Skytrain and Seabus for bikes (only exception is no bikes at rush hour) I will be sure to take some photos next trip. Here is a video I just searched on Youtube that shows all the transit options downtown.
https://youtu.be/U27jaBxqBtQ?si=dm_3zmtkcm1zCWZ-

I do love riding my bike on the big BC Ferries though as we get first on and first off treatment. This past trip I walked on as my route didn't have time to ride the portions where I took the bus as I was time limited, when I have time I always try to bring my bike.




Then if I am coming across at the south end of the island and to connect from the lower route ferry I would then use the "Bike Bus" that BC Transit created 2 years ago.
https://youtu.be/wgnSDXXiK68?si=cMcGV1YPFlrAeBS6

Stasher wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 10, 2025 8:04 pm

Then if I am coming across at the south end of the island and to connect from the lower route ferry I would then use the "Bike Bus" that BC Transit created 2 years ago.
https://youtu.be/wgnSDXXiK68?si=cMcGV1YPFlrAeBS6

Looks awesome, thanks for sharing! We're spoiled here with separate bike paths, so just a separate lane (like this in the linked video) looks unsafe to me

They created the bike bus specifically to address the issues of the shoulder of that highway you linked in the video above, it is a long causeway extended far out into the ocean built up just to reach the ferry terminal. It sucks and is why I go across from the island to the North as it is all protected separate bike lanes.



Vancouver and Victoria are amazing for bikes and continue to progress far ahead of most North American cities but nothing like your region and most of the EU. I am well versed on your area as I dream of reaching that level of active transportation here thanks to Canadians that moved there and do an incredible job of documenting it to planners and advocates here. They would be Not Just Bikes https://www.youtube.com/c/notjustbikes and then ModaCityLife https://www.modacitylife.com

With the recent efforts to lower my monthly home internet costs I took advantage of that freed up cash flow and used it towards adding a 20% max allowable mortgage payment top-up my bank permits. The extra 20% goes straight to the principle so I might as well put that money I was already comfortable spending and keep it working for me.

My updated Core Monthly Living Expenses are as follows and these are optimized as low as possible
$1139 - Mortgage
$134 - Home Insurance
$312 - Property Taxes
$52 - Municipal Services (water/sewer/garbage/recycling/yard organics)
$71 - Hydro Power (100% electric home)
$98 - Home Internet
$68 - Car Insurance
$1874 or $22,488/yr

When one looks at the median cost of living data for our region we are doing exceptionally well, below was the 2024 research data update. Annually data is collected through the Living Wage BC project. https://www.livingwagebc.ca

I am very fortunate to have bought our home 12 years ago as our region has seen home prices more than double since then.

This week's update copied over from the Minimalists Challenge Game

For Week 23 on June 09 - 15 the following 23 items were collected
3 - sweaters (thrift store)
1 - utility rope (gave back to son)
3 - nylon ropes (thrift store)
1 - box of tools/parts (gave back to son)
5 - jugs of oil (gave back to son)
2 - tubes of axle grease (gave back to son)
1 - old car stereo head unit (recycled)
1 - dirtbike clutch master cylinder (donated to local racer)
5 - dirtbike plastic body parts (donated to local racer)
1 - dirtbike airbox wash cover (donated to local racer)

Our backyard shed has been a spot I boxed away a lot of parts and tools over the years. I've kept it very clean but haven't really purged out a bunch and my son also had lots of his tools, parts and supplies etc left there since he moved away. He just moved back to the region so I went through a bunch of things that were his and took over to him. I didn't count the majority of his stuff as I'm technically not decluttering my own things so I just called it one box of parts/tools as it would feel like cheating the challenge to list them all out.

I tried to sell the bike parts but nobody was biting on 2013 components. Messaged a friend who connected me with another local racer who has a specialty hill climb race bike that uses the part. Happy to donate it all to him for his summer race season in the PNW. He's a good mechanic so might be some moto karma seeds planted if I need to call in a favor.

I'll tackle a few more things around the house and yard next week as I feel I can still accomplish the challenge for a couple more rounds purging various excess items.

Still working my way through our work shed and basement storage cupboards. It's easy to get complacent and just leave things hidden out of sight, and out of mind as they say. This ERE Minimalist Game challenge continues to be a fun one and has inspired me to do a lot of extra re-organizing and improvements around the house.

For Week 24 on June 16 - 22 the following 24 items were collected
1 - tote bag (thrift store)
2 - diesel 20L fuel jugs (gave back to son)
2 - empty spray cans (recycled)
1 - indoor extension cord (thrift store)
3 - scrap metal parts (recycled)
1 - old truck headlight (gave to friend who owns an auto shop)
2 - bleacher cushions (thrift store)
9 - assorted halogen bulbs (thrift store)
1 - Dewalt cordless drill (thrift store)
1 - hardened tub of caulking (recycled)
1 - pedal bike seat (thrift store)


I personally think in the first six months of 2025 I have been exceptionally good at not buying new things and being mindful of my spending. When buying 5 concrete patio stones to improve the front of my work shed and 2 picture frames for family photos for my kids is the extent of my weekly spending I think I'm doing pretty damn good.

Both of my adult children are in the process of moving from their current rentals to new places, my son just finished the move and my daughter moves this coming weekend. It has been a great way for me to chat with them about owning too much stuff as it becomes very visual when you box things up to move. They both are clearing out clutter and donating, selling or recycling as much as possible. I'm especially proud of my daughter who hates seeing anything go into the garbage from a waste/environment perspective.

My daughter also makes me proud on how frugal and thrifty she is, a real pro at bartering and trading in local community facebook groups etc. She can really stretch a budget and also find good deals she can flip to upgrade to better items or sell for a small profit. I gave my son and his girlfriend a challenge for the next month of only acquiring things if they are free, if they barter for them or if they sell something to pay for any new items. Always trying to think of fun ways for them to flex their budgeting and money mindfulness. It also makes me have to stay sharp and keep my money game tight as an example to them.

Looking forward, this week is my big property tax bill due date as it comes due at the end of the month. I slowly built up my savings account the last couple months to easily cover the cost and no cashing in any investments to pay the bill. I'm also still hoping to do some car maintenance and expect a bit of spending there required which might entail buying one or two tools, of which are a much much lower dollar value than paying a shop to do the work.

Some biking, some running, some walking, some yard work, some gardening and then a bunch of time enjoying being around my wife and kids filled up the last week. Nothing deep or therapeutic or research or thought experiments in my ERE world to report on otherwise this week nor do I expect their to ever be.

My whole effort to get to ERE/MMM status and FIRE was to have simple days and not over think anything. Let days unfold as they may and basically set out to be content, get outdoors, stay healthy/fit, have some fun whenever I can and stick to a sound budget that entails keeping spending/consumption low and savings high. (also a great deal of considering environment/climate/societal impact in how you conduct yourself)

I don't have an intellectual, academic or technology based background that I feel many have on the ERE forums and I come from a worker/trade perspective background with some entrepreneurship in the mix. I think this makes me gravitate towards just getting things done and not making them complicated or overthinking things. We ( I ) don't need to add complexity to my life

Stasher wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 23, 2025 9:40 am

My whole effort to get to ERE/MMM status and FIRE was to have simple days and not over think anything. Let days unfold as they may and basically set out to be content, get outdoors, stay healthy/fit, have some fun whenever I can and stick to a sound budget that entails keeping spending/consumption low and savings high. (also a great deal of considering environment/climate/societal impact in how you conduct yourself)

All my emphasis but basically my dream days as well.

I'm loving each update! I aspire to get to your level of fitness and am constantly inspired by the stunning photos AND the beautiful bike in each shot.

Hope this isn't a strange ask but do you follow a strict / routine diet and if so, would you mind sharing?

Cheers man!!

Stasher wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 23, 2025 9:40 am

I don't have an intellectual, academic or technology based background that I feel many have on the ERE forums and I come from a worker/trade perspective background with some entrepreneurship in the mix. I think this makes me gravitate towards just getting things done and not making them complicated or overthinking things. We ( I ) don't need to add complexity to my life

I am grateful for your log entries because of this. This place is a richer place because of your contributions.

Stasher wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 09, 2025 12:05 pm

Saling back home across Salish Sea at sunset as Canadian Coast Guard hovercraft passed us

Some of your photos, especially this one, look like mixed media creations with the top part a painting and the bottom part a photograph.

I don't really do anything too crazy for diet @thefOx, my secret weapon is just being super active and pushing myself. That being said a typical day looks like this;
bowl of oatmeal in the morning with a banana
lots of coffee
mid morning peanut butter & honey toast if I have a run planned otherwise I'll scramble some eggs
lunch time deli meat sandwich and an oat milk & protein powder shake , my other go-to is a fresh cut veggies added to instant ramen
mid afternoon bakery stop for a treat and/or cottage cheese with blueberries
supper will usually be a big salad with protein or a big homemade meal (last night was spaghetti with tomatoe meat sauce)
I keep granola bars, fruit snack bars and seasoned nut mixes around for snacks

I don't smoke and I don't drink. I don't drink milk and we do oat milk instead (dairy at cafes in lattes or in recipes is fine plus I eat cheese). I use hydration mix in my water before/after/during hard runs and rides. I take energy bars and energy gels on these as well to keep fuelling. Also after a hard bike or run effort I will have a blended protein smoothie with greek yogurt, frozen fruit and oat milk. I don't track calories at all and just have a feel for what is enough, I'm sure if I dug into my macros I would have some gaps that need to be addressed but hey I'm not a professional athlete right. (this is also part of my don't overthink things mindset)

Through MMM geo-arbitrage we purposely moved to a community that I can walk (or bike) everywhere for everything so I am non-stop active even on rest days. I maintain a rock solid consistent step count of well over 10,000 steps a day no matter what just through daily life.

I like endurance Z2 activities but they also to happen to be ones where I get some great threshold and tempo efforts in the mix. Here are three examples of my recreational outdoor fun that are also killer workouts. I do have a small workout area in our basement with kettle bells where I do maybe one quick workout a week. Sleeping heart rate is around 40-42 and my resting heart rate is around 46-49 with my peak workout spikes hitting 176-182bpm.

This was a single track mountain moto ride from this weekend.



This was a chill zone 2 focused trail run around town



This was from a wicked fun mountain bike ride earlier this month

Thanks for the kind words @Loutfard

@henry that image was edited off my iPhone and I zoomed in I think 5x when I took it. I tweaked the contrast and highlights as well the definition to sharpen the image lines. Not really edited that much but it is all one original image.

Motivated today to do update an old excel spreadsheet that I had not touched since 2022 (for the earlier graphs I created in this journal). I had some written down notes for monthly investment value as well as monthly spending. I entered them all into the spreadsheet right up to the point where I wasn't able to collect any more data from my paper notes. The reason the good data stops mid way through 2023 was because the website MINT shut down and that is where I had access to create tracking data on all my investment accounts and bank accounts for spending/saving.

To make my life easier and to make future collection of data easier I then changed my spreadsheet entries to quarterly to finish off 2024 and now into 2024. I started this graph in 2018 and it is crazy to see the return on the stock market even with that tiny visible Covid market dip. I have been in broad market index funds this whole time with a 90/10 stock bond split up until this January when I changed to a 70/30 and increased my bonds with all the projected volatility and also noting I plan to go back to full time FIRE in 14 months.

So here is my updated graph and will post the next one at the end of Q3 in October. The drop at the end of this graph isn't an actual drop but rather just the way excel is completing the axis. (I don't do excel and a friend made me this graph lol) This graph represents investments as well as cash in savings account and chequing accounts. I do not track my home equity in my asset allocations.

Stasher wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 24, 2025 12:18 pm

I started this graph in 2018 and it is crazy to see the return on the stock market even with that tiny visible Covid market dip.

Thanks for sharing! My graph is not unlike yours, and I suppose there are gazillions of people with similar graphs. I sometimes think it is too good to be true. How could real wealth double like that?

Right !
Just keep investing what you can and let compounding as well as the market do the rest. I could maybe tweak this graph to include the start of the investing for me that really didn't begin until late in my 30s around 2011. That's when I clued in that 5% a cheque to an employer group retirement account wasn't enough.