The Final (?) Countdown

Where are you and where are you going?
Salathor
Posts: 394
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:49 am
Location: California, USA

Re: The Final (?) Countdown

Post by Salathor »

We are closing on a used travel trailer today--spending $10k for a 27' one that is pretty old but appears to be in quite good shape. I'm sure it isn't perfect since it's 18 years old, but it looks significantly better than anything we've seen under $17,000.

@2Birds--we could move now, but we're stuck in our lease here until the end of november so we figure we'll take advantage of the last month to pack and sell things, let our girls play with their friends, etc. Also, my brother, who lives in the area, is about to have his second baby so we want to be here for that.

The site we're at will have plenty of water. Sewer is available but will be hard to access. We'll likely be going the compost toilet route. Power is the one that's most up in the air. I think with a heavy-duty extension cord we'll be able to run the fridge/lights/etc. We may do that for a bit until we can get an electrician out to put more power nearby so we can run the microwave/instapot too (if they won't work with the power that's currently available).

Salathor
Posts: 394
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:49 am
Location: California, USA

Re: The Final (?) Countdown

Post by Salathor »

Tomorrow is my one-month anniversary of being job-free. So far I'm enjoying it! Only a few moments of occasional panic when I hope I'm doing the right thing.

Spending wise we've been doing good even though I have not been doing any extra budgeting/being frugal. Here were our expenses from October:

Monthly Bills
Rent: 2,200
Phone: 51 (signed my wife up for 3 months of Mint Mobile)
Internet: 35
Power: 69
Water: 82
Total: 2,437

Everyday Expenses
Groceries: 75
Fuel: 212
Restaurants: 50
Household Goods: -70 (repayment for something we bought for someone else last month)
Fun Money: 10 (Out of the Park Baseball 22 on Steam)
Alcohol: 51
Total: 328

Irregular Expenses
Medical: 10
Clothing: 3
Home Maintenance: 2
Business Expenses: 4
RV Costs: 10,940
Total: 10,956

Grand Total: 13,721

A spendy month, but subtracting out the 10,956 for the trailer and the 2,200 for rent, we spent just $565 last month, even though we drove 1,100 miles on a weeklong vacation to visit family and are making no particular effort to budget. If things keep up like this I expect our finances to be more secure than I had even hoped.

Groceries were obviously quite low, but I've talked about that before and I think we got some lucky breaks this month in that we were gone for a week so were fed by family and then did shopping before and after the end of the month. We will usually come in around the 200-275 mark I believe.

We have now given notice officially, so our last day in this house will be the end of this month. My dad and I are going to try to do a little bit of work to fix up a leak in the trailer and then we'll hopefully we'll be able to haul it down south along with the rest of the stuff we're keeping. Everything else is going to need to be sold over the next few weeks. Got some work ahead of us!

Salathor
Posts: 394
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:49 am
Location: California, USA

Re: The Final (?) Countdown

Post by Salathor »

Tomorrow is my second month of being job free. So far I'm enjoying it, although I definitely still feel occasional pangs of panic.

We have now (with my dad's help) moved our trailer down to my in-laws' property and are in the midst of fixing what parts of the trailer need repair. We hope to be moved in within a week, although if my wife does all the painting and stuff that she's hoping for I think it may be more like two.

I was happy to learn, though, that the big 10 gauge, 100' extension cord we bought will be sufficient to power the fridge, interior lights, and either a space heater, microwave, or electric tea kettle. That's a huge load off my mind. Gonna be livable!

Spending for the month was pretty decent. There were HUGE moving expenses for taking 3 12-hour long road trips this month (once down with the trailer, back with the truck, and then back down).

Monthly Bills
Rent: 0 (finally done with that!)
Phone: 0 (prepay a few months at a time with mint)
Internet: 35
Power: 82
Water: 89
Total: 206

Everyday Expenses
Groceries: 91
Fuel: 456
Restaurants: 143 (high because we took friends out several times for helping us while we moved)
Household Goods: 123
Fun Money: 0
Alcohol: 61
Total: 873

Irregular Expenses
Home Maintenance: 16
Insurance: 130
Business Expenses: 28
Gift buying: 30
RV Costs: 292 (caulking stuff for trailer and big extension cord)
Total: 496

Grand Total: 1,575

This is higher than I'm hoping for long term, but I'm expecting higher costs for this and another month or two as we get settled before everything finally eases into a more steady rhythm. Fuel was obviously incredibly high this month, but I did drive 1/3 of my total annual miles in two weeks. If I don't sit in a car again for a month it will be too soon (not going to happen, though--the beach is calling!).

I would attach some photos here but I'm still not sure how to do it. We're going to have some beautiful views!

Jiimmy
Posts: 137
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2021 12:28 pm
Location: Nevada

Re: The Final (?) Countdown

Post by Jiimmy »

Congrats on being done with the rent! I bet that feels good, and is relatable because I just have a few months left myself.

I’m impressed with the grocery spend.

Salathor
Posts: 394
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:49 am
Location: California, USA

Re: The Final (?) Countdown

Post by Salathor »

We finally got the wall of the trailer where the leak was. Unfortunately, it shows significantly more water damage than we feared, so we've now been living in my in laws house while trying to fix it up for ~10 days, with another couple of weeks probably necessary to make all the necessary repairs.

This is good skill building work because I feel significantly out of my depth. I'll be happy to get this finished and move on to other, less anxiety- producing tasks, like building the sun and rain shelter over our living area, etc.

Salathor
Posts: 394
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:49 am
Location: California, USA

Re: The Final (?) Countdown

Post by Salathor »

Another wall opened; another leak. I am reminded of Hebrews 12:11: No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

I have long known that my weakness was my inability to focus on anything for very long. I've started many novels but only finished one. I've spent hundreds of hours programming video games, only to abandon them. I've produced prototypes of board games, only to decide they worth pursuing. This idea that I have to work to have a place to live might well be the discipline I need.

I've learned the difference between an impact driver (never heard of before) and a hammer drill (already owned), and I've learned the use of an oscillating multi-tool over the last few days. I'm grateful to my brother-in-law for the lending. It's certainly been an educational experience. I've spent hours over the last few days crouched into odd positions, using a multi-tool to saw through rotten wood to clean up my future house.

In pure monetary news, I just applied for Covered CA insurance for the first time since I applied for my wife and daughter a few years ago when my employer did not cover them and I had to spend $1000+ a month to insure them. Different this time. I've now been officially 'unemployed' since the fifteenth. Oddly, I'm less nervous now that it's happened than before, when it was just a possibility.

Salathor
Posts: 394
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:49 am
Location: California, USA

Re: The Final (?) Countdown

Post by Salathor »

It's been a month and a half since my last update. Moneywise, things are fine. We have been running an ~$1000 surplus every month that I'm investing. My dividend heavy portfolio (mostly VYM, VYMI, VEA, and now SCHD) have been outperforming handily, which is a nice change of pace. Still down, like everybody else, but not as bad as it could have been. Looking forward to getting another back of dividends in six weeks.

On the home front, we've finally gotten the RV mostly waterproofed and as repaired as we're going to be able to do. Close enough for (ex) government work!

I built a bucket toilet ala the Humanure Handbook, and we've been using it about 50% of the time for the last week or so. Just using dried leaves as the carbon material since we don't have access to anything better that's free. Seems to mostly work, so today I'm going to take the time to actually remove the old toilet and install this new one. We're trying to site a permanent home for the compost pile for the coming years.

It was more than time to get out of the in-law's house, so I'm happy that we were able to move in to the trailer. We still have some work to do to get it finished out (need to install a new shelf, get the toilet in so we can actually use the bathroom, etc.), but we're close! Unfortunately this corresponded to the first day of near-freezing weather and rain since early December, so our plan to do breakfast outside and let the girls run off their energy is currently being delayed.

MBBboy
Posts: 212
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2022 12:11 pm

Re: The Final (?) Countdown

Post by MBBboy »

Nothing to give you confidence in your long-term plan than going through a market downturn AND "house" issues shortly after retiring. "Normal" will feel great after that!

Salathor
Posts: 394
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:49 am
Location: California, USA

Re: The Final (?) Countdown

Post by Salathor »

MBBboy wrote:
Fri Feb 18, 2022 5:36 pm
Nothing to give you confidence in your long-term plan than going through a market downturn AND "house" issues shortly after retiring. "Normal" will feel great after that!
You said it. Not only that, I've been busier doing all this stuff than I ever was at the office. I'm ready for vacation! :lol:

Salathor
Posts: 394
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:49 am
Location: California, USA

Re: The Final (?) Countdown

Post by Salathor »

Inspired by Rob Greenfield, I've been working on buying only whole foods at the grocery store and trying to avoid factory-farmed meat. We have chickens here that yield eggs, and I'm very interested in learning to butcher some later this year.

Avoiding buying pre-mixed foods means that I have been doing a ton more baking lately. I've made tortillas (not so good), hamburger buns (tasted great but did not keep long and were a weird shape), drop biscuits (ala Bisqwik) that were absolutely incredible (but I've been making them for years), and flatbread/naan (baking now). It's a lot of work to remember to whip up the carbohydrate in the morning for consumption later. This will probably be easier when it becomes a habit and we learn that we will just need to make bread in the morning if we want to eat it later.

Western Red Cedar
Posts: 1205
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 2:15 pm

Re: The Final (?) Countdown

Post by Western Red Cedar »

Salathor wrote:
Sun Feb 20, 2022 2:20 pm
It's a lot of work to remember to whip up the carbohydrate in the morning for consumption later. This will probably be easier when it becomes a habit and we learn that we will just need to make bread in the morning if we want to eat it later.
I'm not sure if you have access to a freezer with your current setup. We often freeze our homemade pita bread and sourdough bread for use later. They taste great after a little time in the oven or toaster. This allows us to bake on the weekend and eat homemade carbs throughout the week without worry about them going off.

Salathor
Posts: 394
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:49 am
Location: California, USA

Re: The Final (?) Countdown

Post by Salathor »

Western Red Cedar wrote:
Sun Feb 20, 2022 2:31 pm
I'm not sure if you have access to a freezer with your current setup. We often freeze our homemade pita bread and sourdough bread for use later. They taste great after a little time in the oven or toaster. This allows us to bake on the weekend and eat homemade carbs throughout the week without worry about them going off.
We do have a freezer. This time I thought ahead and stored some uncooked dough in the fridge but I hadn't thought about freezing the already baked stuff. It doesn't get chewy/dry in the freezer? How do you reheat it?

Western Red Cedar
Posts: 1205
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 2:15 pm

Re: The Final (?) Countdown

Post by Western Red Cedar »

I pre slice our sourdough bread before freezing it so it will fit in the toaster. It tastes great, but have to eat it as toast. It's not great if you just let it thaw in the fridge. We'll usually bake two small loaves - freeze one and keep one for immediate consumption. I usually reheat whole wheat pita bread in the microwave, but have used the oven before. Not quite as good as fresh baked, but still very tasty and better than commercial pita bread.

I don't ever freeze our homemade biscuits though. I don't like the consistency and texture unless they are fresh or recently baked.

take2
Posts: 317
Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2019 8:32 am

Re: The Final (?) Countdown

Post by take2 »

We also freeze sliced homemade sourdough. It needs to be toasted in the oven, or sometimes I grill it on a hot cast iron pan with some olive oil. Toaster should work too, but I don’t have one so haven’t tried it.

WRC is being a bit generous though. It’s definitely good toasted post freezer, but the reality is fresh baked is so much better its not really comparable. DW usually bakes on Sat or Sun, and we eat most of it fresh as it just tastes so good.

Another favourite of ours is broa de milho (Portuguese corn bread). That freezes well too, and my favourite way to eat it (even fresh) is grilled/toasted in olive oil. If you already make sourdough making broa is a cakewalk as there’s really no folding or forming necessary - I like to joke that it shows how lazy Portuguese are :)

Salathor
Posts: 394
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:49 am
Location: California, USA

Re: The Final (?) Countdown

Post by Salathor »

take2 wrote:
Mon Feb 21, 2022 10:26 am
Another favourite of ours is broa de milho (Portuguese corn bread). That freezes well too, and my favourite way to eat it (even fresh) is grilled/toasted in olive oil. If you already make sourdough making broa is a cakewalk as there’s really no folding or forming necessary - I like to joke that it shows how lazy Portuguese are :)
I don't make sourdough but my wife has been for years. We'll look into it. Never heard of it!

SouthernAlchemy
Posts: 47
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2021 8:11 pm

Re: The Final (?) Countdown

Post by SouthernAlchemy »

I just like to make extra dough and freeze that. Takes up less space in the freezer and you have hot, fresh bread every day! Of course, it takes a little planning ahead, but it's not such a big deal if you get in the habit. Basically make 2,3,4x etc. the recipe, let it rise once, portion (scale as the bakers say!) as desired, continue with second rise or bake one loaf/batch, freeze the others. If I want to bake a frozen dough, I try to pull it out the night before and put it the fridge to slack out. The next day, shape, let rise, if needed, and bake. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

Salathor
Posts: 394
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:49 am
Location: California, USA

February Spending

Post by Salathor »

Monthly Bills
Internet: 0 (this will be 40, but the bill hit a few days early in January)
Total: 0

Everyday Expenses
Groceries: 471
Fuel: 102
Restaurants: 57
Household Goods: 210 (water filter for trailer)
Fun Money: 0
Alcohol: 0
Total: 840

Irregular Expenses
Car Expenses: 208 (registration)
Home Maintenance: 29
RV Costs: 129 (compost toilet materials and misc caulking and tape)
Total: 366

Grand Total: 1,206

Happy with spending this month.

Easily covered by passive income, especially given that several of the expenses were one-time only (compost toilet build materials, water filter) and others are annual expenses (car registration). Groceries were very high this month because we bought a bunch of staples and because we're working on buying more organic/earth-friendly stuff since watching a lot of documentaries about stuff like that. I don't THINK groceries will be this high going forward, but I'm comfortable increasing our usual spend to ~400 or so given that several things we're buying now simply cost more than the non-organic versions.

Fuel costs were up, just like I expected, but we also didn't buy any alcohol, so it kind of balanced out. I think I'll be increasing our budgeted amounts to 125 for fuel and 75 for restaurants, since it seems like spending might go that way. I dislike that the fuel spend is going up, but we're 15 miles from the nearest town, so I don't see many other options until we find our next home to buy (looking for 1/3 acre within walking/biking distance of town center somewhere out of CA).

Salathor
Posts: 394
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:49 am
Location: California, USA

Re: The Final (?) Countdown

Post by Salathor »

SouthernAlchemy wrote:
Fri Feb 25, 2022 7:49 am
We did this with the naan/flatbread and it worked great! I need to find a good loaf-style bread to do this with now.

Salathor
Posts: 394
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:49 am
Location: California, USA

Re: The Final (?) Countdown

Post by Salathor »

Edit: never mind. Sorry. Would delete but it's too late.

Salathor
Posts: 394
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:49 am
Location: California, USA

March Spending

Post by Salathor »

Monthly Bills
Internet: 40
Total: 40

Everyday Expenses
Groceries: 281
Fuel: 77
Restaurants: 52
Household Goods: 56
Fun Money: 27 (I bought a sudoku book and an NYT crossword puzzle omnibus)
Alcohol: 33
Total: 526

Irregular:
Car Expenses: 493 (insurance)
RV Maintenance: 12 (new propane hose)
Total: 505

Grand Total: 1,071

Not bad for our family of four--$268 per person for a month. My wife's writing work just about covered it, so that leaves basically out entire month's investment income to continue growing.

During this month we took a 3-day camping trip to death valley with my parents. This was very fun, and great for the girls. I traveled extensively by RV with my grandparents when I was a kid and I'm hopeful it can be a multi-generation thing for my girls as well.

On a work note--I've begun practicing programming again. I'm just a day or two away from getting my first Javascript certification from FreeCodeCamp.org. Seems to be a great program. Moves very quickly, which is mostly good in that it requires you to do a lot of research on your own. So far everything has been pretty easy. I taught myself python and PHP years ago, so this isn't too different except for syntax. Having some trouble with wrapping my head around recursion, but I'm hopeful it will be more intuitive soon. Not really looking for full time work, although I'd take it if offered for a resume builder, but looking for the option for contract remote work going forward so I can fund things like six months in Hawaii or Florida, etc.

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