RunnerGirl's journal

Where are you and where are you going?
ertyu
Posts: 2893
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2016 2:31 am

Re: RunnerGirl's journal

Post by ertyu »

Paying off the mortgage first isn't necessarily a suboptimal choice. Picture the following scenario: you invest in the stock market, and the downturn we're waiting for finally happens. Will it happen next year? Who knows, but it will almost certainly happen in the next 10. And if you're invested in the market with a mortgage, now you have both a mortgage and less savings than before. For this reason, many prominent FIRE bloggers (at least the ones who aren't committed to renting) usually don't pull the plug before their house is paid off. If it will give you satisfaction to accomplish that goal, I say go for it.

Cheepnis
Posts: 303
Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2018 11:52 am

Re: RunnerGirl's journal

Post by Cheepnis »

I've yet to have a mortgage myself so I have not learned all the relevant details of this topic, but having witnessed many arguments on various FI forums I think that often times the ER crowd is taking too heavy a maximizing mindset in this decision. Everyone agrees on the mantra: "the stash exists to serve you; you don't serve the stash" and then turns around to flamewar over whether or not to put money on the mortgage or in the market. Is there an absolutely optimal way to day it in any given situation? Probably. Is saving thousands of $/m regardless of the where great compared to making minimum payments and spending every other cent on your 2020 F150? Absolutely.

I REALLY like being debt free so I think I'm in the aggressively-pay-the-mortgage camp. I think do what makes you feel good. Either way is an optimal choice compared to the general populace.

5ts
Posts: 99
Joined: Sat Nov 30, 2019 2:43 pm

Re: RunnerGirl's journal

Post by 5ts »

runnergirl wrote:
Sat Feb 08, 2020 11:24 am

Second, I am very stubborn. I don't like to do what someone tells me to do even if that someone is myself. I'm at serious risk of overspending just because I'm told (by me) that I should save.
Probably worth figuring that out since you have to live with yourself.

runnergirl
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 10:01 am

Re: RunnerGirl's journal

Post by runnergirl »

I haven't been updating my journal because:

1) Running girl wasn't running :shock: First, Tokyo marathon got canceled back in March and I didn't get to go to Japan. Then my 100-mile race that I have been training for many months for got canceled. Then I watched too much news and got depressed. I went from running 50-60 miles/week to 0. Like many ultra runners, I'm pretty extreme - I'm either on or off.

2) I continue to invest/save like before but haven't had the courage to log in and look at the numbers in my portfolio. lol. Thus, I haven't been doing my monthly net worth update.

3) My company lost 1/3 of employees. The rest of us got 20% pay cut. The pay cut didn't hurt me at all but it scared me since losing my job became a real possibility. My talented coworkers are now out of job.

I am not as hard core as people who hang out here but I'm glad that I've been working toward FI. If I lose my job, I can live on my cash savings for a while. Most of my budget went to races/traveling anyways so I'm not spending much on myself at the moment. I've been aggressively donating for local food pantry and buying masks and sending them to the hospitals in New York. Because I don't have energy to run (emotionally drained), giving money away to people who need it is the only way to make me feel better. I did stop watching news 3 days ago and I already feel better and have more energy.

Hang in there everyone. I'm old enough to know all bad things come to an end.

runnergirl
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 10:01 am

Re: RunnerGirl's journal

Post by runnergirl »

FY2022 Projects

Adventure
  • Raising Chickens - I ordered 6 chicks online. They will be mailed this spring! These chickens will be mostly free ranged in my small city yard. I'll need to make sure my dog/Head of Security won't eat these babies
  • Beekeeping - My garden can use more bees. I'm taking beekeeping classes from my local beekeeper's association. Surprisingly, the class is full (about 30 people). The more I learn about bees, more confused I get :?
Personal growth
  • Running - Slowly increasing weekly millage. It's challenging now because of snow/ice/cold but I'll need to increase weekly millage close to 50-60 miles by late summer. Right now I'm at 30miles/week. I'd love to compete in ultra races again for fun.
  • Gardening - There is still so much to learn. I've been focusing on composting/making soil and I hope to make more healthy organic veggies this year. I'm also increasing habitat for predators by introducing more native plants, rocks, and logs. Hopefully my baby chickens will eat some garden pests!
Community
  • Increase access to organic food - I planted 20 community fruit trees last year in my city. They are planted mostly in parks and greenways. I couldn't accommodate everyone who wanted free fruit trees so I might get buy more trees and distribute. I'm also thinking about distributing free seeds and seedlings in spring.
  • Homelessness - It breaks my heart to see people in tents in this cold. I'm sure most people in my community feels the same. My friend's sister experienced homelessness last year and I tried to help her by calling places. I'm surprised that these non-profit orgs that I have been donating couldn't give her immediate help. I ended up paying for a hotel room until she found a place (her old friend's house). I've been looking at tiny homes communities online and I think that seems like a good idea to give these people immediate relief from sleeping outside.
Finance
  • My #1 goal - Pay off my mortgage. $58k+ left. Grrr.
  • Learn how to live cheaply without suffering (or minimum suffering :) ) - installed solar panels last year and this helps a lot to cut down on utilities. I'm going to attack my food budget this year. The goal is to grow good portion of what I eat during the growing season.

Autotroph
Posts: 45
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2020 5:33 pm

Re: RunnerGirl's journal

Post by Autotroph »

Wow, that is a lot of running! Nice work.
Have you seen the documentary 'running on the sun' on youtube?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl3laLh ... uchpotatoe

runnergirl
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 10:01 am

Re: RunnerGirl's journal

Post by runnergirl »

Thanks @autotroph! I watched the documentary long time ago but I forgot the details and I need to watch it again. I learned so much about the race through various documentaries and books but I’m sure I have to experience it to know how it’s really like. I will probably need to run 100+ miles/week and do some runs in sauna for a race like this one.

mooretrees
Posts: 762
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2019 1:21 pm

Re: RunnerGirl's journal

Post by mooretrees »

I'm getting started with beekeeping too! I joined a Master Beekeeping group through my State Extension office. I move between excitement and totally being overwhelmed. I think we're part of a large group of people who are discovering bees.

I'm curious about the fruit trees you planted. It seems like you provided the trees? Are you interested in learning how to graft? My state, Oregon, has a home orchard society that has an annual event where folks will bring scions of mostly commercially unavailable varieties. Maybe there's something similar in your neck of the woods? Not sure you're interested in that at all, but buying fruit trees seems like it could add up quickly.

I am lightly thinking of trying to run some longer distance on my birthday this year, not sure how long I'm willing to go after many years away from trail running. When you've come back to running after a long hiatus how long do you give yourself to do long distances? I did a 50k many years ago and have fallen off the running habit.

Are you good with food preservation? Growing the food is just the first (hugely important of course!) step in providing your own food. I've found my best success with bush beans, kale, and mixed greens. If I were only going for quantity of food I'd grow potatoes, beans, carrots and kale. But that would be pretty boring! Looking forward to reading more!

runnergirl
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 10:01 am

Re: RunnerGirl's journal

Post by runnergirl »

@mooretrees, how exciting! I completely agree, I'm bit overwhelmed about this new beekeeping adventure. I learned about beehive pests last week and I'm already scare of mites, viruses, and bacteria way more than bee sting. I joined beekeeping group at my local extension office as well. Have you ordered your bees already? I placed an order last week and there is no backing out now!

Last year, I got connected with a non-profit organization that was providing free fruit trees for communities in need. My application got selected and that's how I got bunch of fruit trees to plant in public places in my community. My community consistently gets listed as one of top cities for food insecurity in the U.S. Something I'm not very proud of. You are right that fruit trees are not cheap especially if I order online. Last year I got some trees from my local 4-H program with very reasonable prices (most are around $15). I've never tried grafting but am interested because I have very limited space in my backyard and I cannot seem to stop buying apple trees.

I'm surprised by how the body remembers how to run even after a long break. I'm sure you'll able to get back to running long distances sooner than you think! I started with maybe 10ish miles per week (super easy) then increased weekly mileage by 10% each week until I hit around 30ish mile. After that, I still increase weekly mileage by 10% but every 4 weeks I cut weekly mileage by 30-40% and have a rest week. Is this the type of approach you take? Last birthday I ran my age in miles (44!). Something that is getting super difficult as I age :D

Food preservation is something I'm looking forward to learning this year. I have such a hard time growing kales here. I have so much pest pressure in my garden. I tried to put chicken wire around to prevent moths to land on my veggies but not sure if that worked. My community garden bed is little better. I love kales so maybe I need to look into variety of kales that grow well in my local area. I'm planning on carrots, greens, beans, and potatoes this year!

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