There were 2 primary objectives:
1. Increase knowledge and familiarity with spending, primarily for wife (Achieved)
2. Reduce expenses (not achieved)
The con to going back to the previous method is that we would have the same results as before - which were pretty good in my opinion. A bit of a theme I've struggled with since I've gotten started with ERE / this journal is that I'm not sure there's a problem.
We've done very well financially, but there's an open question of whether we are spending too much - not relative to our income, but relative to others. The obvious problem is one of setting a reference point - we are spending way too much according to anyone here, we aren't spending enough according to most of our peers, and of course if we compare ourselves to people struggling to get by in developing countries our lives are completely absurd.
We are on track for our goals, which put us on a trajectory very few can reach. We will be FI in our mid-30s. But if we spent differently (less) then we would already be done. It's a perverse version of the "more" problem, but instead of "more" being wanting more wealth and never having enough, "more" means being even further ahead. There's a lingering sense of dissatisfaction with our expenses that I experience when reading other people's journeys here. I don't experience that same sense on my other primary forum - in fact, one of the reasons I spend time here is to intentionally seek some discomfort.
MBB_Boy's journal
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bostonimproper
- Posts: 581
- Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2018 11:45 am
Re: MBB_Boy's journal
Separating goal and process for a bit:
Process. Zero based budgeting doesn’t seem to be getting you closer to your stated goal (reduced expenses). IMO, ZBB is not that useful a process to make real headway on that goal, especially at your spending level— at least based on your earlier posts. It may get you a ~10% change in spending if you’re very strict with it, but if you’re looking for a step function change in spending a la ERErs, you should probably be focusing on systemic/lifestyle changes. So re the process (not that you asked my opinion) but since the process doesn’t fit the goal, ditch the process. It seems like mostly a distraction.
If you want to reduce your spend/improve your NW position, pretty much anything you can do to expedite the sale of your current home will be much more impactful than anything else I would think (to the tune of $4.5K/month holding costs + gradual home value decline potentially depending on your market. So being on top of your new build project management is probably more important than, say, forcing yourself to eat the brand name yogurt at the grocery store. Also reducing your vehicle costs, if you can bear to part with your Model 3. Everything else is kind of small potatoes in comparison.
Goal. A book recommendation: Uneasy Street: The Anxieties of Affluence by Rachel Sherman. It speaks to the anxiety high-earners feel about their earning/spending based on their point of comparison (upward/peers, downward/average level earners) that reminds me a lot of your discussion here. It may help you a little to unpack some of the feelings you’re sharing here in the context of general societal trends and may bring up some ways you might think about reframing the “problem” in different ways, if so you choose.
Process. Zero based budgeting doesn’t seem to be getting you closer to your stated goal (reduced expenses). IMO, ZBB is not that useful a process to make real headway on that goal, especially at your spending level— at least based on your earlier posts. It may get you a ~10% change in spending if you’re very strict with it, but if you’re looking for a step function change in spending a la ERErs, you should probably be focusing on systemic/lifestyle changes. So re the process (not that you asked my opinion) but since the process doesn’t fit the goal, ditch the process. It seems like mostly a distraction.
If you want to reduce your spend/improve your NW position, pretty much anything you can do to expedite the sale of your current home will be much more impactful than anything else I would think (to the tune of $4.5K/month holding costs + gradual home value decline potentially depending on your market. So being on top of your new build project management is probably more important than, say, forcing yourself to eat the brand name yogurt at the grocery store. Also reducing your vehicle costs, if you can bear to part with your Model 3. Everything else is kind of small potatoes in comparison.
Goal. A book recommendation: Uneasy Street: The Anxieties of Affluence by Rachel Sherman. It speaks to the anxiety high-earners feel about their earning/spending based on their point of comparison (upward/peers, downward/average level earners) that reminds me a lot of your discussion here. It may help you a little to unpack some of the feelings you’re sharing here in the context of general societal trends and may bring up some ways you might think about reframing the “problem” in different ways, if so you choose.
Re: MBB_Boy's journal
Given that you find the weekly conversations unpleasant, I wouldn't cut the conversation entirely. You are uncovering unstated assumptions about life, before they become bigger problems. That's maybe more valuable than controlling costs. Once they are sorted, the conversation can be very chill. Monthly might be frequent enough though.
Our annual spend is about 1/3 of yours. I find the monthly check-in is sufficient. I'll monitor things more casually on a weekly basis, mostly to stay ahead of problems, like an unexpected charge. We talk for 15-30 minutes, mostly to confirm charges and look at the next 3 months of expected spending.
I found taking corrective action in the moment didn't sit well with my wife. She'd much prefer to plan in advance. So once we commit the money for a month, it doesn't typically change. Doing otherwise feels like I am taking something from her or trying to micro-manage her life.
In hindsight, I would have started the budget conversations when I was a high earner. Adjusting to them upon retirement was rough. Up until then, we'd had so much money that it didn't matter. So we never practiced communicating about money. That carried a learning curve. It was much more emotionally charged, because we were also learning to work with constrained finances.
Our annual spend is about 1/3 of yours. I find the monthly check-in is sufficient. I'll monitor things more casually on a weekly basis, mostly to stay ahead of problems, like an unexpected charge. We talk for 15-30 minutes, mostly to confirm charges and look at the next 3 months of expected spending.
I found taking corrective action in the moment didn't sit well with my wife. She'd much prefer to plan in advance. So once we commit the money for a month, it doesn't typically change. Doing otherwise feels like I am taking something from her or trying to micro-manage her life.
In hindsight, I would have started the budget conversations when I was a high earner. Adjusting to them upon retirement was rough. Up until then, we'd had so much money that it didn't matter. So we never practiced communicating about money. That carried a learning curve. It was much more emotionally charged, because we were also learning to work with constrained finances.
Re: MBB_Boy's journal
Thanks Bostimproper. I agree with you on the process piece - its become clear that this process is both ineffective and isn't even enjoyable. We will abandon it after the end of the year for completeness. I suppose if nothing else that's a good learning for us. We will reflect on what we want to do in 2023 - go back to "normal", or trying something else. Leading contender would be old process, more frequent check ins (monthly vs 6 months).
Re reducing expenses : Yup, this is the "Big 3" / Pareto approach. Of the 3 (Housing, Transportation, Food), we have focused primarily on the last one, as it is the most in our control. Our cars are both paid off (decided to pay off the Model 3 early) so there isn't much to cut there. Ranked highest to lowest, vehicle insurance costs are near the bottom of the stack. Regardless, I shop it around every 6 months when renewals pop up.
Housing is the big one. We are definitely not house poor, so the burning platform is also missing here. We are centrally located, 10 minutes or so from our most common destinations (daycare, grocery, church). But we are both remote, so there is the potential to do something much cheaper by moving. I would need to find the motivation. The Barriers to Change chapter in Jacob's book comes to mind. I'm not dissatisfied with our current house, so that's a barrier. I'm not put off by any practicality aspects - I'm ex-military, we know how to move.
Vision is the one that's in flux. The second property we are working on could end up being the thing that results in selling this house, cashing in the equity, and dramatically lowering housing cost. So we will keep working to make that a place we enjoy spending time in, which will increase the odds of a permanent move. So you're right, being on top of developing the ranch is probably the most important thing I can do right now outside of being a great father and husband.
Thanks for the book recommendation - I'll check it out. Finished the book I was on over the weekend so this is timely
Re: MBB_Boy's journal
Scott 2: I wish the conversation was unpleasant because we were grappling with unstated assumptions! Unfortunately it's unpleasant because tactically we would just rather be doing something else. Thanks for the insights about the difference in communication before / after retirement. That's something to consider
But we are aligned on spend. We don't make purchases that aren't deliberate, or where one of us doesn't feel it is justified. Since we are always in agreement, it sort of makes us question why we sitting down and talking about every little thing. It seems silly to have conversations about things that are BAU (business as usual). The old method we only talked about things that are out of the norm. So adjusting frequency is probably the right move for us
Re: MBB_Boy's journal
As a couple then, you're in a great place financially. The conversations were effective. You already did the work. Congrats.
Re: MBB_Boy's journal
Hit a nice financial milestone from my second job recently. I work as a career coach with business students at a local university.
Started it last year and was really able to amp up the hours worked this year. It's enjoyable and completely based on my time / willingness. I'm getting great feedback (as evidenced by the increase in clients, spread via word of mouth, and repeat action), and my clients are having some pretty good outcomes.
The amount of money is a pittance compared to my job salary, but it's one of those things where if you told me as a younger man that I would make $55 an hour doing for a job I would have been ecstatic. There's a career path here if I want it - it's theoretically a downshift in stress and pay. What's funny is that I'm not sure it would result in time savings.
One of the things my wife and I have talked about is that there's a trap in work that people would consider less stressful / easier than our actual professions where you take less money.....but work just as long or more because the people and systems at these jobs are inferior.
Working at a grocery store is an easy example. Yeah, it's way easier than management consulting or ibanking. But you would have to work a schedule that someone else assigns, and you can't work faster / better and end your shift early. You probably have to attend a bunch of stupid team meetings and huddles.....and in our case, eat some ego listening to some manager who is nowhere near as accomplished as we are.
Same with working full time at the the school's career center. It would be "easier". But I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be primarily WFH. If I traveled, the hotels and restaurants I would be allowed to choose would suck. And of course, I would have to sit in an office somewhere for a set number of hours.......because. We would rather just make a boatload of money until we have enough that we could stop completely
Started it last year and was really able to amp up the hours worked this year. It's enjoyable and completely based on my time / willingness. I'm getting great feedback (as evidenced by the increase in clients, spread via word of mouth, and repeat action), and my clients are having some pretty good outcomes.
The amount of money is a pittance compared to my job salary, but it's one of those things where if you told me as a younger man that I would make $55 an hour doing for a job I would have been ecstatic. There's a career path here if I want it - it's theoretically a downshift in stress and pay. What's funny is that I'm not sure it would result in time savings.
One of the things my wife and I have talked about is that there's a trap in work that people would consider less stressful / easier than our actual professions where you take less money.....but work just as long or more because the people and systems at these jobs are inferior.
Working at a grocery store is an easy example. Yeah, it's way easier than management consulting or ibanking. But you would have to work a schedule that someone else assigns, and you can't work faster / better and end your shift early. You probably have to attend a bunch of stupid team meetings and huddles.....and in our case, eat some ego listening to some manager who is nowhere near as accomplished as we are.
Same with working full time at the the school's career center. It would be "easier". But I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be primarily WFH. If I traveled, the hotels and restaurants I would be allowed to choose would suck. And of course, I would have to sit in an office somewhere for a set number of hours.......because. We would rather just make a boatload of money until we have enough that we could stop completely
Re: MBB_Boy's journal
Me: "Did you know that in Russia, beer was classified as a soft drink until like 10 years ago?"
Wife: "Beer is probably better for you than soft drinks"
Me: :O
Edit: Left out that this was about Russia
Wife: "Beer is probably better for you than soft drinks"
Me: :O
Edit: Left out that this was about Russia
Re: MBB_Boy's journal
Now that we are getting near EOY, figured I would do a reflection of performance on the expense categories I laid out in the beginning of the year. This is a qualitative review prior to checking where all the numbers landed - I decided it might be instructive to separate performance on process from the final results. Perhaps I'll be surprised by the end results as opposed to how I think we performed.
Also - I tried a few times to get this to render as a table using BBCode, but failed. Is this a me problem or is that capability not active?
1. Housing
Motivation: Low
Grade: B
Notes: Not much to say for things like paying a mortgage. The expectation (C grade) is that I simply make my payments. I moved myself up a grade because I successfully contested my property tax increase.
2. Home improvement
Motivation: Low
Grade: A
Notes: I knew that last year's expenses were an aberration, and I was proven right. Barely spent anything this year - biggest thing was a refresh of our outdoor Christmas decorations
3. Student loan
Motivation: Low
Grade: A
Notes: Despite the low motivation and my initial views around investing vs debt, we ended up paying this off this year. Some combination of reading Taleb and feedback I received here (@HristoBotev especially) helped influence this change in view. The increase in our student loan rate didn't hurt either - was up 3.58% when we wrapped it up (vs 0.07% at its low point). Variable payments, but this is ~$25K+ in annual payments we won't have to pay from 2023-2025
4. Charity
Motivation: N/A
Grade: B+
Notes: Our charitable giving increased this year, as it should. Also made sure to maximize the corporate match at my new employer
5. Car payments
Motivation: Low
Grade: A
Notes: Very similar story to the student loan - we ended up paying off our second car completely. About 2.5 years ahead of schedule and despite the 2.79% fixed interest rate. Part of me still wishes I had invested the money instead of paying this down since the market has been down so much - but I realize that additional contributions to my portfolio aren't what wins the day at this point. Instead, I've eliminated a 10,778 expense in 2023-2024
6. Groceries
Motivation: Medium
Grade: B-
Notes: I'll be curious to see where the actual annual numbers land, but I know for sure it will be higher than the goal. There are things mixed in that I wasn't anticipating and I'm not going to be able to break them out. For example, we started putting our dog's food expenses in the grocery order (instead of buying it at a pet shop), and my wife surprised me by choosing to make all of our baby's food instead of buying high-quality premade food like I assumed (which I was going to track on his own line item). I gave us higher than a C because we continue to have no food waste, stocked up on our usual stuff when there were sales, and my wife made lots of batch stuff that we were able to pull out of the chest freezer when energy was low and this prevented us from cheating with takeout
7. Pet
Motivation: Low
Grade: C
Notes: Vet expenses feel non-discretionary, but I held down the fort arguing with my wife about when to take him to the vet when there was an issue. We didn't run off just because of a day of food refusal or diarrhea - but he still got a leg injury and a run in with marijuana when a visiting cousin snuck drugs into our house without our permission or knowledge and exposed our dog. Minimal toys and other unnecessary stuff, but still some. So behaved as expected, therefore a C grade. Submitted claims whenever possible
8. General merchandise
Motivation: High
Grade: A
Notes: Have totally crushed this one. Don't know the number, but from a systems and process perspective we did everything we could. A quick glance shows a new pair of running shoes, a few loose leaf tea orders, and a bunch of small Wal-Mart / Amazon purchases that we agonized and deliberated over. We are definitely going to come in way under goal here. Thanks to everyone for the tips here, especially @mountainFrugal, @Slevin, @mathiverse
9. Wine club
Motivation: Medium
Grade: D
Notes: I don't know if the number is going to be off or not, but we've definitely violated the spirit of the goal here. We've gotten MORE entangled with our local wine club by attending some high-priced (but fun!) winemaker's dinners, and got on the allocation list for the better of their two wineries that doesn't have a club (will hit next year). These events will technically hit the entertainment budget so the wine club number may end up ok, but we've gotten more entangled instead of disengaging.
10. Vacation
Motivation: N/A
Grade: Incomplete
Notes: Welp, this one is depressing. We didn't actually take a vacation this year - perils of a spring baby. We did some travel / trips, but not a "vacation".
11. Travel
Motivation: Low
Grade: B
Notes: Had some trips this year (weddings, MBA buddies) but did some extra legwork to keep the expenses down. Biggest one was booking one-ways on separate airlines for one of the trips in order to use some points we otherwise couldn't have used, working with friends to use THEIR old baby gear on arrival instead of paying to check ours and having to rent a car, and convincing some family to visit us instead of the other way around. These latter two required some expenditure in the form of thank you gifts and dinners, but way cheaper than what would have happened if we had just done things our normal way
12. Insurance
Motivation: Low
Grade: C
Notes: No story here. Expected the renewals, made the payments, shopped around
13. Restaurants
Motivation: Low
Grade: D
Notes: No change in process / frequency of eating out, but we definitely spent more when we did go out. Partially revenge spending for my wife finally being able to drink and eat what she wants at dinner post-pregnancy, partially getting "full value" when we go out because we also have the extra expense from a sitter for some of the meals. "Funny" story - one of our past vacations took us to Dubai and we had dinner at the Burj Al Arab. It was absolutely amazing, but I darn near had a heart attack when the bill came. I was convinced that this would be the most expensive 2-person meal I would ever pay for. Well, we have a new record holder after our anniversary dinner this year.
14. Grab Bag
Motivation: N/A
Grade: C
Notes: Won't really know how this shakes out until I total up everything for the year and see if the sub 2K expenses grew vs last year or not, but nothing changed in our approach. We intentionally didn't focus on all these little cuts.
Also - I tried a few times to get this to render as a table using BBCode, but failed. Is this a me problem or is that capability not active?
1. Housing
Motivation: Low
Grade: B
Notes: Not much to say for things like paying a mortgage. The expectation (C grade) is that I simply make my payments. I moved myself up a grade because I successfully contested my property tax increase.
2. Home improvement
Motivation: Low
Grade: A
Notes: I knew that last year's expenses were an aberration, and I was proven right. Barely spent anything this year - biggest thing was a refresh of our outdoor Christmas decorations
3. Student loan
Motivation: Low
Grade: A
Notes: Despite the low motivation and my initial views around investing vs debt, we ended up paying this off this year. Some combination of reading Taleb and feedback I received here (@HristoBotev especially) helped influence this change in view. The increase in our student loan rate didn't hurt either - was up 3.58% when we wrapped it up (vs 0.07% at its low point). Variable payments, but this is ~$25K+ in annual payments we won't have to pay from 2023-2025
4. Charity
Motivation: N/A
Grade: B+
Notes: Our charitable giving increased this year, as it should. Also made sure to maximize the corporate match at my new employer
5. Car payments
Motivation: Low
Grade: A
Notes: Very similar story to the student loan - we ended up paying off our second car completely. About 2.5 years ahead of schedule and despite the 2.79% fixed interest rate. Part of me still wishes I had invested the money instead of paying this down since the market has been down so much - but I realize that additional contributions to my portfolio aren't what wins the day at this point. Instead, I've eliminated a 10,778 expense in 2023-2024
6. Groceries
Motivation: Medium
Grade: B-
Notes: I'll be curious to see where the actual annual numbers land, but I know for sure it will be higher than the goal. There are things mixed in that I wasn't anticipating and I'm not going to be able to break them out. For example, we started putting our dog's food expenses in the grocery order (instead of buying it at a pet shop), and my wife surprised me by choosing to make all of our baby's food instead of buying high-quality premade food like I assumed (which I was going to track on his own line item). I gave us higher than a C because we continue to have no food waste, stocked up on our usual stuff when there were sales, and my wife made lots of batch stuff that we were able to pull out of the chest freezer when energy was low and this prevented us from cheating with takeout
7. Pet
Motivation: Low
Grade: C
Notes: Vet expenses feel non-discretionary, but I held down the fort arguing with my wife about when to take him to the vet when there was an issue. We didn't run off just because of a day of food refusal or diarrhea - but he still got a leg injury and a run in with marijuana when a visiting cousin snuck drugs into our house without our permission or knowledge and exposed our dog. Minimal toys and other unnecessary stuff, but still some. So behaved as expected, therefore a C grade. Submitted claims whenever possible
8. General merchandise
Motivation: High
Grade: A
Notes: Have totally crushed this one. Don't know the number, but from a systems and process perspective we did everything we could. A quick glance shows a new pair of running shoes, a few loose leaf tea orders, and a bunch of small Wal-Mart / Amazon purchases that we agonized and deliberated over. We are definitely going to come in way under goal here. Thanks to everyone for the tips here, especially @mountainFrugal, @Slevin, @mathiverse
9. Wine club
Motivation: Medium
Grade: D
Notes: I don't know if the number is going to be off or not, but we've definitely violated the spirit of the goal here. We've gotten MORE entangled with our local wine club by attending some high-priced (but fun!) winemaker's dinners, and got on the allocation list for the better of their two wineries that doesn't have a club (will hit next year). These events will technically hit the entertainment budget so the wine club number may end up ok, but we've gotten more entangled instead of disengaging.
10. Vacation
Motivation: N/A
Grade: Incomplete
Notes: Welp, this one is depressing. We didn't actually take a vacation this year - perils of a spring baby. We did some travel / trips, but not a "vacation".
11. Travel
Motivation: Low
Grade: B
Notes: Had some trips this year (weddings, MBA buddies) but did some extra legwork to keep the expenses down. Biggest one was booking one-ways on separate airlines for one of the trips in order to use some points we otherwise couldn't have used, working with friends to use THEIR old baby gear on arrival instead of paying to check ours and having to rent a car, and convincing some family to visit us instead of the other way around. These latter two required some expenditure in the form of thank you gifts and dinners, but way cheaper than what would have happened if we had just done things our normal way
12. Insurance
Motivation: Low
Grade: C
Notes: No story here. Expected the renewals, made the payments, shopped around
13. Restaurants
Motivation: Low
Grade: D
Notes: No change in process / frequency of eating out, but we definitely spent more when we did go out. Partially revenge spending for my wife finally being able to drink and eat what she wants at dinner post-pregnancy, partially getting "full value" when we go out because we also have the extra expense from a sitter for some of the meals. "Funny" story - one of our past vacations took us to Dubai and we had dinner at the Burj Al Arab. It was absolutely amazing, but I darn near had a heart attack when the bill came. I was convinced that this would be the most expensive 2-person meal I would ever pay for. Well, we have a new record holder after our anniversary dinner this year.
14. Grab Bag
Motivation: N/A
Grade: C
Notes: Won't really know how this shakes out until I total up everything for the year and see if the sub 2K expenses grew vs last year or not, but nothing changed in our approach. We intentionally didn't focus on all these little cuts.
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bostonimproper
- Posts: 581
- Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2018 11:45 am
Re: MBB_Boy's journal
Lol. Honestly, depending on the beer and soft drink in question, I can definitely see this being true.
Re: MBB_Boy's journal
The ranch now has power! Our actual house doesn't, but the property does. Next step is to get an electrician to pick up where the utility left off - may also be renting a trencher to give them somewhere to bury the cable if they don't do it themselves.
Furnishing continues to go well - taken a few trips out there to meet with various workers and dropped of things like our mattress, bed frame, vacuum cleaner and other cleaning supplies, and some outdoor camping furniture (for temporary use inside). Think we will be up and running shortly after the New Year.
Next big project will be getting hooked up to the well, and then building some sort of dog run. But we will be comfortable and happy to spend the night out there as soon as power is up and running.
One thing I've been slacking on is getting insurance - I don't really know what I need since it's owned through an LLC and isn't a primary residence. I know an insurance broker will know, but I've never had to work with one before and want to be educated before I start talking to any. Anyone have suggestions or experience in this type of thing?
Furnishing continues to go well - taken a few trips out there to meet with various workers and dropped of things like our mattress, bed frame, vacuum cleaner and other cleaning supplies, and some outdoor camping furniture (for temporary use inside). Think we will be up and running shortly after the New Year.
Next big project will be getting hooked up to the well, and then building some sort of dog run. But we will be comfortable and happy to spend the night out there as soon as power is up and running.
One thing I've been slacking on is getting insurance - I don't really know what I need since it's owned through an LLC and isn't a primary residence. I know an insurance broker will know, but I've never had to work with one before and want to be educated before I start talking to any. Anyone have suggestions or experience in this type of thing?
Re: MBB_Boy's journal
Code: Select all
2021 2022 % change
Housing $38,404 $46,401 19.9%
Home Improvement $29,705 $222 -99.3%
Student loan $23,870 $21,900 -8.3%
Charity $0.00 $0.00 22.4%
Car payments $10,791 $8,093 -25.0%
Groceries $7,757 $8,741 12.7%
Pet $7,398 $4,204 -43.2%
General merchandise $6,454 $2,457 -61.9%
Wine club $5,075 $4,554 -10.3%
Vacation $4,034 $0 -100%
Travel $3,822 $406 -89.4%
Insurance $3,537 $3,531 -0.2%
Restaurants $3,229 $5,073 57.1%
Grab bag $15,896 $9,108 -42.7%
================================================================================
GRAND TOTAL $159,974 $115,385 -29%
Re: MBB_Boy's journal
I just did a super long post laying out thoughts and such on the results above and lost it all when I hit submit.....
Re: MBB_Boy's journal
I posted above the final results for the categories I outlined at the beginning of this journal. It omits a few things, including charity spend, ranch house / development, and costs related to MBB_Baby. I did a process overview previously before seeing this numbers, and frankly I was surprised. Most things aligned with my expectations - for example, I gave a D for restaurants and the final results showed that. But I was pleasantly surprised on a number of fronts as well. Below are my thoughts on some categories, broken into Good / Neutral / Bad:
Good
-Home Improvement: Massive drop off, just like expected. Last year was an aberration because we had a big house project
-Student loan: Pretty pleased with this, although interesting to note the amount paid was only 8% less despite how early we paid it off. Rapidly rising interest rates + variable loans are a pain. Thanks again to @HristoBotev for helping cause a change in perspective here
-Charity: Up 22%, and we will keep increasing it over time
-Car payments: Similar to student loan, except this was a fixed rate loan so the 25% savings matches with how many months into the year we paid it off (unlike the student loans)
-Pet: Went down a lot as we expected since we didn't have purchase and start-up costs. The cousin who drugged our dog isn't allowed to stay with us anymore, so that should save us a grand this year...
-General merchandise: This was the signature victory this year. Can't believe we got this down by 61%. Thanks again to @MountainFrugal, @Slevin, @mathiverse, and others who chimed in with tips
-Wine club: I'm shocked this still clocked in as a decline. Guess we got a lot more out of the money we did spend. Will still be a focus area in 2023
-Travel: Achieved mostly by declining a few trips. The one we kept we definitely spent less on, but not really going to pat ourselves on the back for this one
-Grab bag: Another pleasant surprise. There was no process or energy put into reducing all the minor categories that make this up, and yet they still got caught up in the momentum. Excellent
Neutral
-Vacation: This is really an incomplete
-Insurance: Flat. Working with an insurance broker for the first time right now because I'm looking to consolidate so I can give umbrella insurance, and need to figure out what type of insurance is needed for our second property. The results so far show that I've done a good job self-brokering, and the savings bundle concept is really just marketing hype. Don't be afraid to split your insurances
Bad
-Housing: There's no day to day control on this one....but I thought owning was supposed to stabilize your housing cost?! I'll need to look into this one further, doesn't seem like homeowner's insurance and property taxes should bring my total up THIS much in just one year
-Groceries: Given a new human in the house, the eventual decision to include dog food here, and the well documented inflation I suppose I shouldn't be so disheartened. But we've struggled with this category on / off for the past two years and it really feels like there isn't anything to show for it. I'm getting close to the point of giving up on this one - we just like to eat expensive stuff and that's that.
-Restaurants: Woof. I knew this one was going to be bad and it was. I know what 2023's top target is
Good
-Home Improvement: Massive drop off, just like expected. Last year was an aberration because we had a big house project
-Student loan: Pretty pleased with this, although interesting to note the amount paid was only 8% less despite how early we paid it off. Rapidly rising interest rates + variable loans are a pain. Thanks again to @HristoBotev for helping cause a change in perspective here
-Charity: Up 22%, and we will keep increasing it over time
-Car payments: Similar to student loan, except this was a fixed rate loan so the 25% savings matches with how many months into the year we paid it off (unlike the student loans)
-Pet: Went down a lot as we expected since we didn't have purchase and start-up costs. The cousin who drugged our dog isn't allowed to stay with us anymore, so that should save us a grand this year...
-General merchandise: This was the signature victory this year. Can't believe we got this down by 61%. Thanks again to @MountainFrugal, @Slevin, @mathiverse, and others who chimed in with tips
-Wine club: I'm shocked this still clocked in as a decline. Guess we got a lot more out of the money we did spend. Will still be a focus area in 2023
-Travel: Achieved mostly by declining a few trips. The one we kept we definitely spent less on, but not really going to pat ourselves on the back for this one
-Grab bag: Another pleasant surprise. There was no process or energy put into reducing all the minor categories that make this up, and yet they still got caught up in the momentum. Excellent
Neutral
-Vacation: This is really an incomplete
-Insurance: Flat. Working with an insurance broker for the first time right now because I'm looking to consolidate so I can give umbrella insurance, and need to figure out what type of insurance is needed for our second property. The results so far show that I've done a good job self-brokering, and the savings bundle concept is really just marketing hype. Don't be afraid to split your insurances
Bad
-Housing: There's no day to day control on this one....but I thought owning was supposed to stabilize your housing cost?! I'll need to look into this one further, doesn't seem like homeowner's insurance and property taxes should bring my total up THIS much in just one year
-Groceries: Given a new human in the house, the eventual decision to include dog food here, and the well documented inflation I suppose I shouldn't be so disheartened. But we've struggled with this category on / off for the past two years and it really feels like there isn't anything to show for it. I'm getting close to the point of giving up on this one - we just like to eat expensive stuff and that's that.
-Restaurants: Woof. I knew this one was going to be bad and it was. I know what 2023's top target is
Re: MBB_Boy's journal
Figured out the housing cost issue - forgot we did a cash-out refinance in 2021. We have a lower rate but higher balance, and I switched to a 20 year mortgage instead of a 30
Re: MBB_Boy's journal
Today marks the 1 year anniversary of my journal. It's been an interesting year getting involved on the forum and committing to a new habit of sharing details and thoughts.
This past year has brought a lot positive changes (fatherhood!), but from an ERE perspective the most notable are:
1. More intentional spending, which resulted in a 29% decrease in marked categories (including -62% in general merchandise and -43% in grab bag)
2. Increased focus on robustness and resiliency, vs optimization
3. Shift in attitude toward debt, resulting in the elimination of all non-mortgage debt
4. Increased awareness of secondhand market, which saved us a boatload of money in baby prep because I bought or got things from friends instead of asking what they did and then buying the same things
5. Increased propensity to fix broken items instead of buying new things
6. Reading a lot more books (vs articles and blogs). In hindsight, it's insane that I've never been a member of a library
7. Increased focus on career coaching side-gig
This 1 year anniversary also marks the end of my journal. When I started, I decided from the outset that I would do it for a year and move on. I expected it to have to force myself to persevere for a year, but it wasn't as much of a drag as I thought it would be.
Going forward, my focus will be on leading and growing my family, continued development on our land (and exploring the homesteading concept more fully), and starting a few more tendrils that can be fulfilling time sinks once we eventually FIRE, which will be achievable in the next couple of years.
Thanks everyone and good luck!
This past year has brought a lot positive changes (fatherhood!), but from an ERE perspective the most notable are:
1. More intentional spending, which resulted in a 29% decrease in marked categories (including -62% in general merchandise and -43% in grab bag)
2. Increased focus on robustness and resiliency, vs optimization
3. Shift in attitude toward debt, resulting in the elimination of all non-mortgage debt
4. Increased awareness of secondhand market, which saved us a boatload of money in baby prep because I bought or got things from friends instead of asking what they did and then buying the same things
5. Increased propensity to fix broken items instead of buying new things
6. Reading a lot more books (vs articles and blogs). In hindsight, it's insane that I've never been a member of a library
7. Increased focus on career coaching side-gig
This 1 year anniversary also marks the end of my journal. When I started, I decided from the outset that I would do it for a year and move on. I expected it to have to force myself to persevere for a year, but it wasn't as much of a drag as I thought it would be.
Going forward, my focus will be on leading and growing my family, continued development on our land (and exploring the homesteading concept more fully), and starting a few more tendrils that can be fulfilling time sinks once we eventually FIRE, which will be achievable in the next couple of years.
Thanks everyone and good luck!
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bostonimproper
- Posts: 581
- Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2018 11:45 am
Re: MBB_Boy's journal
Good luck with the family and homestead!
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Western Red Cedar
- Posts: 1227
- Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 2:15 pm
Re: MBB_Boy's journal
It sounds like you made great progress this year! If you feel inclined, don't hesitate to pop in once or twice a year with an update. I always enjoy seeing the infrequent updates from old posters who have moved on to other interesting pursuits beyond FI.MBBboy wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 9:18 amThis 1 year anniversary also marks the end of my journal. When I started, I decided from the outset that I would do it for a year and move on. I expected it to have to force myself to persevere for a year, but it wasn't as much of a drag as I thought it would be.
Going forward, my focus will be on leading and growing my family, continued development on our land (and exploring the homesteading concept more fully), and starting a few more tendrils that can be fulfilling time sinks once we eventually FIRE, which will be achievable in the next couple of years.
Thanks everyone and good luck!
