I don't disagree with any of you. All that I'm saying is that I DON'T have the skills to garden efficiently; and the only way I'm going to get that skill is by doing, which means spending a LOT of hobby money (because it will be years before I am replacing store-bought calories with backyard calories to any significant degree). That's all fine; I'm doing it, cuz as I said, it beats golfing.
But, you've got to take a decades-long view of things if a primary objective is to save money with gardening, backyard chickens and/or rabbits and/or quail, etc.
And, realistically, I don't think I buy the dream of a truly closed-loop permaculture fantasy on a standard suburban sub-acre plot of land where you're not dependent on any (increasingly expensive) inputs, any one of which is subject to external forces and even direct centralized control measures that could largely if not entirely shut down your backyard safety net. Some perennial trees are great, as are a handful of reliable calorie-dense vegetables like potatoes, etc.; but, figuring out whether it is all "worth it" requires doing some defining of terms that brings in some concepts that are outside of ERE.
The folks I lived with while in the Peace Corps in a village in the Balkans were about as self reliant as you could be, by necessity; BUT, the multi-generational knowledge and infrastructure that went into that self reliance (family cherry and grape orchards that were generations old, village shepherds who rounded up everyone's ruminant animals every day to take out to pasture, an entire cultural calendar built around harvest, preparing for winter, etc. etc. etc.) was something that I could never pretend to think I can play catch up on. We just don't have anything close to approaching that level of system here, and I don't even think that's a "what we lost from our grandparents" thing; I think that is more an American thing--we're just not a culture that stays put in one place with a multi-generational outlook.
Also, I haven't been back to the Balkans since I left 25 years ago or so, but I wouldn't be surprised if all or much of that self-reliance is now gone, with village homes and orchards, etc. sold off to wealthy northern and western Europeans as vacation homes or "remote working" locales following EU admission.
I'm just saying the "potato pill" may not be all it's sometimes cracked up to be.
Hristo's FI Journal
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SouthernAlchemy
- Posts: 57
- Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2021 8:11 pm
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
I'll admit I am just playing in the garden. I have no illusions of being able to extract myself from the global food system. There are a lot of lessons and value to be had, though, and one day I suppose S might HTF, play time will be over and I won't have a choice. Until then I'll just try to create a little Eden in my suburban hellscape.
When I was a kid, we had a staple 'garden' of mostly beans, potatoes and sweet potatoes. It seemed huge to little me, but might have been half an acre. We ate a lot of beans, potatoes and sweet potatoes. This was in the rural South and everyone grew, hunted, fished or gathered something, though. Everything was shared around, along with labor, in some kind of huge mandala of reciprocity that I never understood. It was the kind of community sharing that market forces have tended to suppress in the last few decades. I've come to believe that self-sufficiency is largely a myth (unless you are @theanimal) but community sufficiency might be possible with some sustained effort and is preferable for many reasons.
To your point @HB, this was at the tail end of many generations of a few families living in the same area which evolved over a very long time into many connections, much knowledge and complex networks that have now crumbled as us kids have fled for 'greener pastures'. Sharing some beans doesn't go far to rebuild what was lost.
When I was a kid, we had a staple 'garden' of mostly beans, potatoes and sweet potatoes. It seemed huge to little me, but might have been half an acre. We ate a lot of beans, potatoes and sweet potatoes. This was in the rural South and everyone grew, hunted, fished or gathered something, though. Everything was shared around, along with labor, in some kind of huge mandala of reciprocity that I never understood. It was the kind of community sharing that market forces have tended to suppress in the last few decades. I've come to believe that self-sufficiency is largely a myth (unless you are @theanimal) but community sufficiency might be possible with some sustained effort and is preferable for many reasons.
To your point @HB, this was at the tail end of many generations of a few families living in the same area which evolved over a very long time into many connections, much knowledge and complex networks that have now crumbled as us kids have fled for 'greener pastures'. Sharing some beans doesn't go far to rebuild what was lost.
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
Much of it depends on how you set up your system (ie where you are getting your inputs from). In many parts of the country, people can just dig into their soil, use some local amendments/compost and begin gardening. Unfortunately for me it is not so easy. Swampy ground with some parts underlain by permafrost and others that have an active frozen layer that persists into late August. So it required above ground hugelkultr beds. All the same, it wasn't much to setup and our only real cost was the composted horse manure we got from some local stables for a few hundred. Plus some heirloom seeds, which we can use for multiple years in some instances. We got some seedling potatoes from another friend the past two years and this past summer harvested a couple hundred pounds, making that endeavor a positive return by the end of season 2 and the rest of the beds likely to yield a positive return next season.
I see the victory garden as a luxury good only if one chooses to pursue it as a consumer (I'm not saying that is what you're doing). Those who built gardens before, during and after the war weren't going to Home Depot for soil, fertilizer etc. Same goes for maintaining pigs, chickens, rabbits etc. It will be much, much, much more difficult to do find a positive return from a financial standpoint if you are buying your inputs each year.
I would agree that perennials are indeed a long term effort.
What can you integrate into your setup from your land, your community, your waste to close the loops?
I see the victory garden as a luxury good only if one chooses to pursue it as a consumer (I'm not saying that is what you're doing). Those who built gardens before, during and after the war weren't going to Home Depot for soil, fertilizer etc. Same goes for maintaining pigs, chickens, rabbits etc. It will be much, much, much more difficult to do find a positive return from a financial standpoint if you are buying your inputs each year.
I would agree that perennials are indeed a long term effort.
What can you integrate into your setup from your land, your community, your waste to close the loops?
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Hristo Botev
- Posts: 1796
- Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2018 3:42 am
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
Just unplugged the TV and hid the power cord. I’m sure there was never a time when tv was “safe,” but even watching The Chosen and old Last Man Standing episodes we are inundated with subversive TV ads; not to mention that the content selections on any streaming platform is now 99% degenerate trash.
Also, DW and I have realized that our latest
“binge” show, Yellowstone, is just controlled opposition like everything else that presents itself as wholesome.
Will tell the kids this morning when they wake up.
Pray for us.
Also, DW and I have realized that our latest
“binge” show, Yellowstone, is just controlled opposition like everything else that presents itself as wholesome.
Will tell the kids this morning when they wake up.
Pray for us.
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
Wow, big step, good luck. In this vein, do you already have a plan set up around social media and phone use in general for your kids? I assume that’s an even bigger threat than TV
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Hristo Botev
- Posts: 1796
- Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2018 3:42 am
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
Kids have Gabb Wireless phones, which don’t have social media or otherwise connect to the internet. Daughter texts a lot, but w the knowledge that DW reviews her texts a couple times a week.
Some lines are pretty easy to draw; social media is one. Its downsides with teens and tweens are much more well known among the general public now than they were probably just a couple years ago. We first did a flip phone through consumer cellular w our daughter, when she started walking to/from school/church herself and generally had more independence. CC is targeted at the nursing home population (I posted about that in this journal extensively, iirc—confirmed: viewtopic.php?p=246478&hilit=Consumer+cellular#p246478); and it amused me (and frustrated me to no end) that the only “dumb” phone option that was really out there was targeted at the plus 80 yo crowd. Was very happy when gabb wireless finally came along and filled that consumer need for a “smart” phone that didn’t have social media or internet access, for parents that don’t want their kids on TikTok etc and also don’t want to manage what is a full time job of handling the parental controls on iPhone, etc. Pretty sure it’s a Mormon owned company; the Mormons are allies in these sorts of areas.
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
Ahhh! Not Yellowstone! We haven't watched the latest season, but sounds like it may end up on the list of TV shows that get abandoned when they take a turn. Like the meme with Netflix ruining everything. So many shows with a great season 1 (produced without Netflix and then bought by them) followed by a gross and worthless season 2 (when Netflix "helps").
Our general practice is that we don't watch shows until they are completely done. We made a mistake here, and started watching season before last because we THOUGHT it was the final season.
Our general practice is that we don't watch shows until they are completely done. We made a mistake here, and started watching season before last because we THOUGHT it was the final season.
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Hristo Botev
- Posts: 1796
- Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2018 3:42 am
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
Seem like an update is in order, being the new year and all, and seeing as today is one of those low-motivation-to-get-work-done days.
Books
Finished Thucydides, which was more enjoyable than I thought it would be--the speeches in particular are wonderful. Really appreciated reading Thucydides shortly after having read Herodotus, and while simultaneously reading Foote's Civil War (Foote said somewhere that Thucydides' Peloponnesian War was a model for his Civil War trilogy, which I can definitely see). Much discussion and thoughts as to "what is history; what is a history?".
Started Volume II of Foote's Civil War and am about 1/3 of the way through a re-read of Moby Dick. I'm getting a lot more out of Moby Dick this time around than I did when I read it about a decade ago, as Adler and my great books seminars have made me a MUCH better reader. Join us here (viewtopic.php?t=12620) if you want to read along with us with Moby Dick.
My great books seminar is consolidating with another, which means I get a couple months off on the reading schedule, which I am using to re-read Plato's Republic and also will use to read a couple of the Plato dialogues that aren't part of the assigned readings. I re-read Book V of the Republic this morning, and I can already tell that my reading of Plato will now be much richer having read Thucydides and having a better understanding of the time period that Plato was writing in, not to mention Socrates' own history as an Athenian Hoplite at the beginning of the war.
Teetotaling
DW and I got back on the sauce in the week between Christmas and New Years, but we're back off again. The goal is not to become 100% teetotalers, it's just to get to a place where imbibing is indeed a special and rare occurrence, and not a nightly or even weekly thing. Sooooo, I guess I can say I haven't had any alcohol since last year.
Work
I ended the year fine, and I'm seriously debating taking on a more aggressive and ambitious mindset wrt my career. I've allowed the ERE/FIRE/MRM mindset to act as a sort of poison to excuse what is really just laziness over the past handful of years. Lots of half-formed thoughts bouncing around my head about the nature of work and of career and of profession and it's connection to man's existence and reason for existence. Not sure where I'll come out, but I am becoming convinced that there is an underbelly (perhaps even the main feature) of the FIRE universe generally, including ERE principles, that takes too negative and utilitarian/means-to-an-end view of work and labor, to the detriment of the soul of the individual. Half-formed thoughts indeed. But, I am currently very well positioned to make a run at making a real name for myself in my profession--transitioning from being the reliable worker bee who consistently puts out good work for others, hitching a ride on others stars, to being the star to whom others hitch their ride. Doing so and doing so in a manner consistent with my Catholic faith would not only put some more dollars in the bank in the name of multi-generational wealth, but also serve posterity's sake. I struggle to think of a reason why I shouldn't take the career off of the backburner and transition to the next phase.
Relatedly, as my small little law firm grows to become not quite as small, the gap between the health insurance premium cost as between my firm's plan and DW's hospital job plan has now become small enough that DW is ready to give up the hospital job. As it currently stands (and as I mentioned previously), she only needs to work about 1 day a week to keep her health insurance. BUT, in order to make the premium payments and max out the HSA contributions from her paycheck, and not be in the red on her own paycheck, she has to work about 1.5 to 2 days/week. And, well, turns out 1.5 to 2 days a week is the bridge too far, when combined with her 1099 side gig doing outpatient counseling, which she is loving and which is really taking off. So, DS and I will get to see more of DW at home during the work/school week, and more of DW is a gift from God.
Cooking
Throwing this one in here rather randomly to just say that DW got me a Dutch Oven for Christmas and I've been having a blast cooking chili, cassoulet, stews, bread, sausage and sauerkraut. I currently enjoy cooking with the Dutch Oven more than I enjoy grilling or skillet cooking.
Budgeting
Our DIY YNAB budget has worked out really well so far; we set it up an app-based Excel worksheet type thing, so as soon as we spend $$$ we enter it into the DIY app on our phones, with every dollar accounted for using a zero-based budgeting type system. It's a different way of thinking about money and budgeting (than what I'm used to), but at the end of the month I will try and dissect out the numbers to get a sense of a "savings rate," like I used to do on this journal (where even things like principal payments against the mortgage were counted as "savings"). This new YNAB approach basically treats every dollar as spending in some sort, just short term (e.g., food) v. medium term (savings for a car for DD, e.g.,) v. long term (529 plans, retirement funds) spending. I'm glad DW convinced me not to purchase the YNAB app, as it has been a good exercise to come up with our own version that utilizes this budgeting philosophy.
Home
We're continuing to work towards making our little ranch house on a 1/3 of an acre our very own hobbit-hole in the Shire. It is in many ways becoming a place where we just don't want to leave and only ever do to go to church, or to visit friends/family at their homes close by, or to go to one of the kids' sport ball games, and a place where we and our kids are always inviting friends and family over. It's plenty cozy with something good always cooking, something good always on the stereo, and always a fun card/board/backyard game or happening going on.
Currently I'm working on installing a good exterior security camera system; so far Swann looks to be the front runner for what I'm looking for: NVR, no cloud storage, hard-wired PoE, decent app, 4K, double duty as exterior motion sensor lighting. Lots and lots of other projects still on the list, however; a lifetime's worth of projects in fact.
OK, that's enough, back to work.
ETA: I should add that we're still good with our decision to abandon the parish we thought would be "our" parish in favor of a smaller one closer to my dad's house. Lots of positives and the negatives are turning out to not quite be so negative. I've joined up with the KofC council there, DS has started RE and really likes it, and DW is beginning to get involved with parish activities of her own. It seems to be a good parish community.
Books
Finished Thucydides, which was more enjoyable than I thought it would be--the speeches in particular are wonderful. Really appreciated reading Thucydides shortly after having read Herodotus, and while simultaneously reading Foote's Civil War (Foote said somewhere that Thucydides' Peloponnesian War was a model for his Civil War trilogy, which I can definitely see). Much discussion and thoughts as to "what is history; what is a history?".
Started Volume II of Foote's Civil War and am about 1/3 of the way through a re-read of Moby Dick. I'm getting a lot more out of Moby Dick this time around than I did when I read it about a decade ago, as Adler and my great books seminars have made me a MUCH better reader. Join us here (viewtopic.php?t=12620) if you want to read along with us with Moby Dick.
My great books seminar is consolidating with another, which means I get a couple months off on the reading schedule, which I am using to re-read Plato's Republic and also will use to read a couple of the Plato dialogues that aren't part of the assigned readings. I re-read Book V of the Republic this morning, and I can already tell that my reading of Plato will now be much richer having read Thucydides and having a better understanding of the time period that Plato was writing in, not to mention Socrates' own history as an Athenian Hoplite at the beginning of the war.
Teetotaling
DW and I got back on the sauce in the week between Christmas and New Years, but we're back off again. The goal is not to become 100% teetotalers, it's just to get to a place where imbibing is indeed a special and rare occurrence, and not a nightly or even weekly thing. Sooooo, I guess I can say I haven't had any alcohol since last year.
Work
I ended the year fine, and I'm seriously debating taking on a more aggressive and ambitious mindset wrt my career. I've allowed the ERE/FIRE/MRM mindset to act as a sort of poison to excuse what is really just laziness over the past handful of years. Lots of half-formed thoughts bouncing around my head about the nature of work and of career and of profession and it's connection to man's existence and reason for existence. Not sure where I'll come out, but I am becoming convinced that there is an underbelly (perhaps even the main feature) of the FIRE universe generally, including ERE principles, that takes too negative and utilitarian/means-to-an-end view of work and labor, to the detriment of the soul of the individual. Half-formed thoughts indeed. But, I am currently very well positioned to make a run at making a real name for myself in my profession--transitioning from being the reliable worker bee who consistently puts out good work for others, hitching a ride on others stars, to being the star to whom others hitch their ride. Doing so and doing so in a manner consistent with my Catholic faith would not only put some more dollars in the bank in the name of multi-generational wealth, but also serve posterity's sake. I struggle to think of a reason why I shouldn't take the career off of the backburner and transition to the next phase.
Relatedly, as my small little law firm grows to become not quite as small, the gap between the health insurance premium cost as between my firm's plan and DW's hospital job plan has now become small enough that DW is ready to give up the hospital job. As it currently stands (and as I mentioned previously), she only needs to work about 1 day a week to keep her health insurance. BUT, in order to make the premium payments and max out the HSA contributions from her paycheck, and not be in the red on her own paycheck, she has to work about 1.5 to 2 days/week. And, well, turns out 1.5 to 2 days a week is the bridge too far, when combined with her 1099 side gig doing outpatient counseling, which she is loving and which is really taking off. So, DS and I will get to see more of DW at home during the work/school week, and more of DW is a gift from God.
Cooking
Throwing this one in here rather randomly to just say that DW got me a Dutch Oven for Christmas and I've been having a blast cooking chili, cassoulet, stews, bread, sausage and sauerkraut. I currently enjoy cooking with the Dutch Oven more than I enjoy grilling or skillet cooking.
Budgeting
Our DIY YNAB budget has worked out really well so far; we set it up an app-based Excel worksheet type thing, so as soon as we spend $$$ we enter it into the DIY app on our phones, with every dollar accounted for using a zero-based budgeting type system. It's a different way of thinking about money and budgeting (than what I'm used to), but at the end of the month I will try and dissect out the numbers to get a sense of a "savings rate," like I used to do on this journal (where even things like principal payments against the mortgage were counted as "savings"). This new YNAB approach basically treats every dollar as spending in some sort, just short term (e.g., food) v. medium term (savings for a car for DD, e.g.,) v. long term (529 plans, retirement funds) spending. I'm glad DW convinced me not to purchase the YNAB app, as it has been a good exercise to come up with our own version that utilizes this budgeting philosophy.
Home
We're continuing to work towards making our little ranch house on a 1/3 of an acre our very own hobbit-hole in the Shire. It is in many ways becoming a place where we just don't want to leave and only ever do to go to church, or to visit friends/family at their homes close by, or to go to one of the kids' sport ball games, and a place where we and our kids are always inviting friends and family over. It's plenty cozy with something good always cooking, something good always on the stereo, and always a fun card/board/backyard game or happening going on.
Currently I'm working on installing a good exterior security camera system; so far Swann looks to be the front runner for what I'm looking for: NVR, no cloud storage, hard-wired PoE, decent app, 4K, double duty as exterior motion sensor lighting. Lots and lots of other projects still on the list, however; a lifetime's worth of projects in fact.
OK, that's enough, back to work.
ETA: I should add that we're still good with our decision to abandon the parish we thought would be "our" parish in favor of a smaller one closer to my dad's house. Lots of positives and the negatives are turning out to not quite be so negative. I've joined up with the KofC council there, DS has started RE and really likes it, and DW is beginning to get involved with parish activities of her own. It seems to be a good parish community.
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
Your update on work seems like something I could have written, if I hadn't retired already. One of the reasons I'm getting excited about the prospect of job searching/returning and trying it with a new attitude. I've been reading a lot of Paul, and it's been motivating.
Congrats on your wife's transition to retiree. Sounds like it will be great!
Congrats on your wife's transition to retiree. Sounds like it will be great!
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white belt
- Posts: 1462
- Joined: Sat May 21, 2011 12:15 am
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
Glad to hear things are going well!Hristo Botev wrote: ↑Tue Jan 10, 2023 3:49 pmI ended the year fine, and I'm seriously debating taking on a more aggressive and ambitious mindset wrt my career. I've allowed the ERE/FIRE/MRM mindset to act as a sort of poison to excuse what is really just laziness over the past handful of years. Lots of half-formed thoughts bouncing around my head about the nature of work and of career and of profession and it's connection to man's existence and reason for existence. Not sure where I'll come out, but I am becoming convinced that there is an underbelly (perhaps even the main feature) of the FIRE universe generally, including ERE principles, that takes too negative and utilitarian/means-to-an-end view of work and labor, to the detriment of the soul of the individual. Half-formed thoughts indeed. But, I am currently very well positioned to make a run at making a real name for myself in my profession--transitioning from being the reliable worker bee who consistently puts out good work for others, hitching a ride on others stars, to being the star to whom others hitch their ride. Doing so and doing so in a manner consistent with my Catholic faith would not only put some more dollars in the bank in the name of multi-generational wealth, but also serve posterity's sake. I struggle to think of a reason why I shouldn't take the career off of the backburner and transition to the next phase.
To me it sounds like you came around to your perspective regarding your occupation as a direct result of getting your "house" in order (both literally and figuratively). If I compare your perspective in earlier journal posts when you were mostly burnt out with your career to now, it sounds like the past few years of transition has refreshed your motivation for your career. You had to dedicate your energy towards areas of your life outside of your career, but now that your new lifestyle is in more of a steady state you have the bandwidth to excel at work again. I think that’s fortunate that your profession provides the flexibility to “take a knee” while continuing to work full time because there are many careers where that isn’t feasible.
If you’re enjoying your profession and lifestyle, then of course why not continue? The money is merely a side effect; some are so engaged and fulfilled with their work that they would even do it for free! I see that attitude a lot from those in the military who stay past 20 years on Active Duty or who decide to continue to serve in the Reserves well past the time needed to accumulate a pension.
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Hristo Botev
- Posts: 1796
- Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2018 3:42 am
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
It's Monday of what will be a very busy week at work, so I'm procrastinating before a fire-drill email pops up that finally requires me to get into the zone; so, how 'bout an update?
Books
Not much to update since last time: I finished re-reading Plato's Republic' and am now re-reading Thucydides; Vol. II of Foote's Civil War has me in tears almost every sitting (God help me when I get to Gettysburg!); 2/3s through Moby Dick and am still waiting for the Great White Leviathan to make his/her/its appearance; finished Kunstler's World Made By Hand which kept me up until about 3:30am in the morning last week, I wasn't expecting it to be such a page turner--it had a lot of holes and head-scratching non-sequiturs, but who am I to judge as it was certainly written well enough to have me turning pages and losing sleep, and also some good tips/takeaways for the coming simplification; just started Heinlein' Stranger in a Strange Land as my evening reading, so far it is intriguing; and am reading through Matthew's Gospel, which has been colored by our family's watching of The Chosen TV show.
Health
I've finally picked the barbell back up and am VERY MUCH enjoying the 4-day split over the 3-day NLP or the 3-day intermediate plan I'd been working from. Always a good reminder that in my mid-40s I'm an old man from a strength-training perspective, and couple that with the fact that I have no interest in doubling my caloric intake or even monitoring my "macros" in order to chase strength gains that I don't really give a shit about, the 4-day split is where it's at for me. The 4-day split also allows me the opportunity to add in some vanity-type accessory lifts, which are of interest not because I want to look a certain way at the beach but because my daughter is now at a dating age and I need whatever help I can get in the boyfriend-intimidation category; so some bigger shoulders and arms could come in handy, even if the resulting overall strength gains are relatively minimal.
I think I've posted this elsewhere here, but for me currently the 4-day split is M (press 1x5; bench press 5x5 at 80%); T (DL 1x5; squat 5X5 at 80%); R (bench press 1x5; press 5X5 at 80%); F (squat 1x5; DL 3x5 at 80%)--with accessory lifts worked in.
And I'm "rucking" on Wednesday and then a longer ruck on Saturday or Sunday, with after-dinner walks with my wife as the other piece of my old-man exercise routine.
As for the teetotaling, I'm currently having a drink or two a night on the weekends, and nothing during the week. This has been good but I think I might eliminate the alcohol completely for Lent.
Work
Work is OK, as part of my efforts to ratchet things up a bit this year I just finished a draft on an article that I will be presenting on at one of our big conferences this summer, and I'm working on putting together some systems that will allow me to streamline and delegate some things that tend to be big time sucks for me, so that I can pursue additional opportunities and start to make a real name for myself.
Food
I'm still enjoying the Dutch Oven, and have gotten in the habit of stopping by the Winn-Dixie on my way home from seeing my dad on Sundays to pick up whatever deep discount, about to expire freezer meat they've got. This has been fun because it's forced me to up my cooking knowledge as I have to look up ways to cook a roast, or a London Broil, or some other cut that, in the past, I just wouldn't have bought. The savings are quite remarkable when you've got a chest freezer and learn how to cook based on what you got as opposed to working from a specific recipe when you hit up the grocery store. Throw in a few months supply of dry goods and seasonings, and the only piece we are missing is fresh veggies from the garden and some eggs from backyard hens. We are getting there, very slowly but surely.
Budgeting
Our DIY YNAB style spreadsheet is working well, and perhaps I'll do a January post mortem at the end of the month. I don't know that we are spending less, but we are certainly spending more intentionally, which is the goal from our end. E.g., I'm more interested in spending well than I am in simply not spending for the sake of not spending.
Home
Speaking of spending well, I bought a 6-camera CCTV system and have been working on getting it installed, which has me in the attic and under soffits and thinking about stuff about my house that I normally wouldn't think about, which has me becoming more acquainted with our home and more knowledgeable as to its inner-workings. Also, my daughter's friends are at the age where they love to ding-dong ditch one another, and I'm really looking forward to being able to scare the Justin Bieber out of them by kicking on the strobe lights and hitting the outdoor siren as they approach the house (and having it all on videotape that my daughter can then share with her friends).
We also (finally) finished setting up our family room, with a very nice sectional couch and two la-z-boy brand armchairs that my sister-in-law gave us when they upgraded, along with a nice upholstered footstool/coffee table my father/mother in law gave us when they upgraded, to which we added a large rug ($$$) and a way-too-big TV and a 3.1 home theater system. It's become a very comfortable room. Now, on to the rest of the house!
Other
I don't know if I previously mentioned this, but a couple months ago we got another dog (it's been a little over a year since our first dog died after 13 years with us). She's probably a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, and she may not even have anything else in her; we certainly can't see anything else (maybe lab, but it doesn't really look like it). We got her at probably about 4 months old, and she's fit in very nicely with the family. She should be a good running companion for my wife and daughter, and a nice break-in deterrent as she should get up to about 70-80 pounds.
And I've agreed to buy my neighbor's truck for my daughter, which is a 30-year old Chevy S-10 manual that (incredibly) only has about 60K miles on it (original engine). Honestly, it's still about 3 years until my daughter will be driving and, by that time, she may have to fight me for the truck, because I love it almost as much as she does. I am pulling the trigger now because I realize that the truck I was looking for for my daughter is a bit of a unicorn anymore: small, stick shift, 2-door. Even the wonderful Taco-trucks of old have turned into something unrecognizable (I think to get a stick shift on a new Tacoma now you have to upgrade to a TRO or equivalent). So when my neighbor told me he was selling his truck I jumped at it. Will also be nice to have a truck that we can actually do some of the maintenance on ourselves. Also, my neighbor is wonderful and he has babied that truck for three decades, so he will be a great resource for us. The reason I knew he was selling the truck was because I saw that he had someone over looking at it, and when I asked him about it he said he told the guy no because he just wanted it as a collectible, and my neighbor is selling the truck because he wants someone to actually drive it. We will definitely drive that truck; it's a throwback to a much better time as far as trucks are concerned.
Books
Not much to update since last time: I finished re-reading Plato's Republic' and am now re-reading Thucydides; Vol. II of Foote's Civil War has me in tears almost every sitting (God help me when I get to Gettysburg!); 2/3s through Moby Dick and am still waiting for the Great White Leviathan to make his/her/its appearance; finished Kunstler's World Made By Hand which kept me up until about 3:30am in the morning last week, I wasn't expecting it to be such a page turner--it had a lot of holes and head-scratching non-sequiturs, but who am I to judge as it was certainly written well enough to have me turning pages and losing sleep, and also some good tips/takeaways for the coming simplification; just started Heinlein' Stranger in a Strange Land as my evening reading, so far it is intriguing; and am reading through Matthew's Gospel, which has been colored by our family's watching of The Chosen TV show.
Health
I've finally picked the barbell back up and am VERY MUCH enjoying the 4-day split over the 3-day NLP or the 3-day intermediate plan I'd been working from. Always a good reminder that in my mid-40s I'm an old man from a strength-training perspective, and couple that with the fact that I have no interest in doubling my caloric intake or even monitoring my "macros" in order to chase strength gains that I don't really give a shit about, the 4-day split is where it's at for me. The 4-day split also allows me the opportunity to add in some vanity-type accessory lifts, which are of interest not because I want to look a certain way at the beach but because my daughter is now at a dating age and I need whatever help I can get in the boyfriend-intimidation category; so some bigger shoulders and arms could come in handy, even if the resulting overall strength gains are relatively minimal.
I think I've posted this elsewhere here, but for me currently the 4-day split is M (press 1x5; bench press 5x5 at 80%); T (DL 1x5; squat 5X5 at 80%); R (bench press 1x5; press 5X5 at 80%); F (squat 1x5; DL 3x5 at 80%)--with accessory lifts worked in.
And I'm "rucking" on Wednesday and then a longer ruck on Saturday or Sunday, with after-dinner walks with my wife as the other piece of my old-man exercise routine.
As for the teetotaling, I'm currently having a drink or two a night on the weekends, and nothing during the week. This has been good but I think I might eliminate the alcohol completely for Lent.
Work
Work is OK, as part of my efforts to ratchet things up a bit this year I just finished a draft on an article that I will be presenting on at one of our big conferences this summer, and I'm working on putting together some systems that will allow me to streamline and delegate some things that tend to be big time sucks for me, so that I can pursue additional opportunities and start to make a real name for myself.
Food
I'm still enjoying the Dutch Oven, and have gotten in the habit of stopping by the Winn-Dixie on my way home from seeing my dad on Sundays to pick up whatever deep discount, about to expire freezer meat they've got. This has been fun because it's forced me to up my cooking knowledge as I have to look up ways to cook a roast, or a London Broil, or some other cut that, in the past, I just wouldn't have bought. The savings are quite remarkable when you've got a chest freezer and learn how to cook based on what you got as opposed to working from a specific recipe when you hit up the grocery store. Throw in a few months supply of dry goods and seasonings, and the only piece we are missing is fresh veggies from the garden and some eggs from backyard hens. We are getting there, very slowly but surely.
Budgeting
Our DIY YNAB style spreadsheet is working well, and perhaps I'll do a January post mortem at the end of the month. I don't know that we are spending less, but we are certainly spending more intentionally, which is the goal from our end. E.g., I'm more interested in spending well than I am in simply not spending for the sake of not spending.
Home
Speaking of spending well, I bought a 6-camera CCTV system and have been working on getting it installed, which has me in the attic and under soffits and thinking about stuff about my house that I normally wouldn't think about, which has me becoming more acquainted with our home and more knowledgeable as to its inner-workings. Also, my daughter's friends are at the age where they love to ding-dong ditch one another, and I'm really looking forward to being able to scare the Justin Bieber out of them by kicking on the strobe lights and hitting the outdoor siren as they approach the house (and having it all on videotape that my daughter can then share with her friends).
We also (finally) finished setting up our family room, with a very nice sectional couch and two la-z-boy brand armchairs that my sister-in-law gave us when they upgraded, along with a nice upholstered footstool/coffee table my father/mother in law gave us when they upgraded, to which we added a large rug ($$$) and a way-too-big TV and a 3.1 home theater system. It's become a very comfortable room. Now, on to the rest of the house!
Other
I don't know if I previously mentioned this, but a couple months ago we got another dog (it's been a little over a year since our first dog died after 13 years with us). She's probably a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, and she may not even have anything else in her; we certainly can't see anything else (maybe lab, but it doesn't really look like it). We got her at probably about 4 months old, and she's fit in very nicely with the family. She should be a good running companion for my wife and daughter, and a nice break-in deterrent as she should get up to about 70-80 pounds.
And I've agreed to buy my neighbor's truck for my daughter, which is a 30-year old Chevy S-10 manual that (incredibly) only has about 60K miles on it (original engine). Honestly, it's still about 3 years until my daughter will be driving and, by that time, she may have to fight me for the truck, because I love it almost as much as she does. I am pulling the trigger now because I realize that the truck I was looking for for my daughter is a bit of a unicorn anymore: small, stick shift, 2-door. Even the wonderful Taco-trucks of old have turned into something unrecognizable (I think to get a stick shift on a new Tacoma now you have to upgrade to a TRO or equivalent). So when my neighbor told me he was selling his truck I jumped at it. Will also be nice to have a truck that we can actually do some of the maintenance on ourselves. Also, my neighbor is wonderful and he has babied that truck for three decades, so he will be a great resource for us. The reason I knew he was selling the truck was because I saw that he had someone over looking at it, and when I asked him about it he said he told the guy no because he just wanted it as a collectible, and my neighbor is selling the truck because he wants someone to actually drive it. We will definitely drive that truck; it's a throwback to a much better time as far as trucks are concerned.
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SouthernAlchemy
- Posts: 57
- Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2021 8:11 pm
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
Nice score on the truck! My older neighbor has an early 90's era Ford Ranger that I have had my eye on. He is 82 but shows no sign of wanting/having to give up the keys, though.
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Hristo Botev
- Posts: 1796
- Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2018 3:42 am
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
Thanks. I would certainly have jumped at a Ranger as well; I'm not a brand snob when it comes to trucks (I personally drive a Ram). My neighbor has two newer vehicles that he and his wife drive, and so the truck just sits there idly most of the time unless he remembers to take it for a spin to keep it in running order--so he is looking to off load it so that it gets used rather than just aging idle in his driveway.SouthernAlchemy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 6:48 amNice score on the truck! My older neighbor has an early 90's era Ford Ranger that I have had my eye on. He is 82 but shows no sign of wanting/having to give up the keys, though.
I believe I posted this previously, but my "unicorn" of a truck for my daughter is that it not have a back seat (at most jump seats only) and be a stick. The stick is because I want my daughter to learn to drive one (my wife never did), and because I know almost none of her friends will know how to drive it. The limited seating capacity and the lack of competence with respect to driving stick shift will, hopefully, cut down on the truck being used as a tool to further high school shenanigans. I too was once a 16-year old in this very town, and was someone for whom a driver's license represented freedom and everything that is good in this world, such that almost every high school and college-age job I had was car related in some way: car wash, valet (x2), pizza delivery (x3), and seafood/ice delivery. I guess I should include golf cart attendant as well, as that job involved driving golf cars around, as well as being the guy in the range cart cage that everyone uses for target practice.
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
Tbh me and my best friend got up to insanely more shenanigans in his 1990ish T100 than we ever did in my normal car. The back of the truck can easily be used to sketchily haul around 8+ teens, and you now have the ability to haul around anything cool you find around town. I think we at one point moved a whole traffic cone scheme from one road to a different road to slow down some of our other friends on the way to school. We also built a 10+ foot tall snowman in the back of the truck and lugged it around town for the better part of a week. I also still have some scars from jumping out of the truck bed while it was going like 15 or something to see if I could land and keep running. We would also collect pallets in the back of the truck from furniture stores and stuff we had buddies that worked at, so we could light huge bonfires.Hristo Botev wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 9:29 amThe limited seating capacity and the lack of competence with respect to driving stick shift will, hopefully, cut down on the truck being used as a tool to further high school shenanigans. I too was once a 16-year old in this very town, and was someone for whom a driver's license represented freedom and everything that is good in this world, such that almost every high school and college-age job I had was car related in some way: car wash, valet (x2), pizza delivery (x3), and seafood/ice delivery. I guess I should include golf cart attendant as well, as that job involved driving golf cars around, as well as being the guy in the range cart cage that everyone uses for target practice.
Not that I have a huge point here, I still love the old small stick shift trucks and would still have one today if I needed a truck. Just that I found it to be way more enabling of teen shenanigans than a normal car. Luckily I think teenage girls tend to do way less outwardly stupid and destructive things than teenage boys.
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
Maybe consider a smart car, which has no back seat for shenanigans. +1 on making her learn on a manual.Hristo Botev wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 9:29 amI believe I posted this previously, but my "unicorn" of a truck for my daughter is that it not have a back seat (at most jump seats only) and be a stick.
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Hristo Botev
- Posts: 1796
- Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2018 3:42 am
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
I also don't want her to get made fun of; and a 90s-era S-10 is sort of the smart car equivalent of a truck.
Yes, I have a son also, my thinking wrt his vehicle will be different; boys and girls being different and all.
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
What you really are going to have to look out for is what kind of vehicle the 19 year old guy she is sneaking out of her bedroom window to meet is driving. Also, I still get up to plenty shenanigans driving a Smart Car.
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
"I also still have some scars from jumping out of the truck bed while it was going like 15 or something to see if I could land and keep running"
Haha, classic dumb-ass teenager stuff. Made me chuckle at the remembrance of the dumb stuff we used to do.
@Hristo
I admire your optimism. My wife has an aunt who would always compliment us on our kids on how great they were. I would always reply that they aren't as angelic as you think they are, but thank you for the compliments. If she only knew how many times I wanted to end their lives during their teenage years.
Everybody should be able to drive a manual though. Although it was hopeless with my daughter as it took forever just to teach her how to parallel park. Apparently I am an asshole when I try to teach something according to her.
Haha, classic dumb-ass teenager stuff. Made me chuckle at the remembrance of the dumb stuff we used to do.
@Hristo
I admire your optimism. My wife has an aunt who would always compliment us on our kids on how great they were. I would always reply that they aren't as angelic as you think they are, but thank you for the compliments. If she only knew how many times I wanted to end their lives during their teenage years.
Everybody should be able to drive a manual though. Although it was hopeless with my daughter as it took forever just to teach her how to parallel park. Apparently I am an asshole when I try to teach something according to her.
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Hristo Botev
- Posts: 1796
- Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2018 3:42 am
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
The DIY YNAB budget didn't really work for us, though the exercise did get us to track our income and spending in real time, which is good. For this month we've dropped the "zero based budgeting" approach and are returning to a more straightforward anticipated money in v. anticipated money out at the beginning of the month, followed by a post-mortem at the end of the month.Hristo Botev wrote: ↑Tue Jan 10, 2023 3:49 pmIt's a different way of thinking about money and budgeting (than what I'm used to), but at the end of the month I will try and dissect out the numbers to get a sense of a "savings rate," like I used to do on this journal (where even things like principal payments against the mortgage were counted as "savings"). This new YNAB approach basically treats every dollar as spending in some sort, just short term (e.g., food) v. medium term (savings for a car for DD, e.g.,) v. long term (529 plans, retirement funds) spending. I'm glad DW convinced me not to purchase the YNAB app, as it has been a good exercise to come up with our own version that utilizes this budgeting philosophy.
But I did the savings rate math on the month, after a year + of not really tracking that number, and I was happy to see that the number is still above 60% (63% exactly). I anticipate that number to average out at about 65% for the year, which is fine. Kids continue to be expensive, something that I have also come to terms with; they are a joy. For now we are just trying to stockpile cash as we try and figure out what we want our post-kids years to look like.
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Hristo Botev
- Posts: 1796
- Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2018 3:42 am
Re: Hristo's FI Journal
Not a full update, just a quick thing as I procrastinate getting started on what will be a full day at work.
First, I turn 45 this year and am going to try and hit a 1RM of the 1-2-3-4 "club" on my birthday (that's finishing a clean one rep of press at 135, bench at 225, squat at 315, and deadlift at 405). It's not a particularly impressive achievement, but for me being an old, relatively short guy who is not naturally strong in any particular way, it'll be an achievement for me. If I get there, the next goal will be to hit those numbers at 5 reps each. I suspect I'm now too far over the hill to ever hit the 2-3-4-5 club, especially since even trying for those numbers at my age would mean drastically increasing my caloric intake, which I'm not going to do (for one, it's a pain in the ass to keep getting too big for your britches, like some 10-year old kid that grows out of his shorts every few months). Realistically speaking, I'm now an "old" lifter, and so my "goal" after hitting 1-2-3-4 at a 5RM will be to see how long I can maintain those numbers as I get older, without putting on extra weight.
Second, I've been going down a geopolitical rabbit hole of sorts lately--primarily Tim Marshall's books and Peter Zeihan's books and daily YouTube posts--and it's been an ultimately helpful change in perspective for me. Thinking in a much more macro and historical context seems to make it much easier for me to focus on the more hyper-micro of my life (i.e., the stuff I can actually do and affect and influence), as it seems to render all that stuff that is kind of in the middle between the uber macro and the uber micro--e.g., politics, red v. blue and left v. right, the daily news feed, culture wars, etc.--as rather trivial at least when viewed at the individual level.
Zeihan is an interesting one. The more conspiratorial, tin foil hat, right wing side of me immediately suspects he is some sort of propaganda type "controlled op"--I mean, why is his audiobook 1/5 of the price of any other audiobook in that tier, and to what end do the daily, YouTube algorithm friendly, video posts serve (could it just be marketing for his book sales and consulting, coupled with some narcistic tendencies)? But, I also think that my reading of Plato et al. has strengthened my BS detector enough that I can be a discerning consumer of all sorts of media, including Zeihan. Anyway, I've not really spent anytime in the macro geopolitical space since college (and I wasn't really paying attention then), and I've already found myself making note of everything cited in the bibliographies of the Marshall and Zeihan's books for future readings (apparently I need to read that Guns, Germs, and Steel book).
First, I turn 45 this year and am going to try and hit a 1RM of the 1-2-3-4 "club" on my birthday (that's finishing a clean one rep of press at 135, bench at 225, squat at 315, and deadlift at 405). It's not a particularly impressive achievement, but for me being an old, relatively short guy who is not naturally strong in any particular way, it'll be an achievement for me. If I get there, the next goal will be to hit those numbers at 5 reps each. I suspect I'm now too far over the hill to ever hit the 2-3-4-5 club, especially since even trying for those numbers at my age would mean drastically increasing my caloric intake, which I'm not going to do (for one, it's a pain in the ass to keep getting too big for your britches, like some 10-year old kid that grows out of his shorts every few months). Realistically speaking, I'm now an "old" lifter, and so my "goal" after hitting 1-2-3-4 at a 5RM will be to see how long I can maintain those numbers as I get older, without putting on extra weight.
Second, I've been going down a geopolitical rabbit hole of sorts lately--primarily Tim Marshall's books and Peter Zeihan's books and daily YouTube posts--and it's been an ultimately helpful change in perspective for me. Thinking in a much more macro and historical context seems to make it much easier for me to focus on the more hyper-micro of my life (i.e., the stuff I can actually do and affect and influence), as it seems to render all that stuff that is kind of in the middle between the uber macro and the uber micro--e.g., politics, red v. blue and left v. right, the daily news feed, culture wars, etc.--as rather trivial at least when viewed at the individual level.
Zeihan is an interesting one. The more conspiratorial, tin foil hat, right wing side of me immediately suspects he is some sort of propaganda type "controlled op"--I mean, why is his audiobook 1/5 of the price of any other audiobook in that tier, and to what end do the daily, YouTube algorithm friendly, video posts serve (could it just be marketing for his book sales and consulting, coupled with some narcistic tendencies)? But, I also think that my reading of Plato et al. has strengthened my BS detector enough that I can be a discerning consumer of all sorts of media, including Zeihan. Anyway, I've not really spent anytime in the macro geopolitical space since college (and I wasn't really paying attention then), and I've already found myself making note of everything cited in the bibliographies of the Marshall and Zeihan's books for future readings (apparently I need to read that Guns, Germs, and Steel book).