Brainstorming

[brainstorm]

Hey folks!

Starting a journal to record my progress, get to know similar-minded people, learn new things, and in general talk about an area that feels largely inaccessible to most people I know. Journaling also just helps me better understand my internal states and notice correlations, like how I feel anxious a couple hours after eating a bunch of lemon bars. Weird, right? Despite lurking, I have gotten value out of reading quite a few of the journals here; thank you to those who have the courage to share! The longer ones are a bit overwhelming, lol, but those are also good in the sense that they document a long-term transition. There will be plenty to catch up on in the coming years.

About me: I live in the city in the midwest (see intro if that's too vague) and like to read, cook, and exercise (bike/climb/walk/stretch/be outside in general). That takes up most of my time! I’m also learning bike repair (like many others here) at a local co-op, and been meditating every day for a few to several months now. My full-time job is programming.

Motivations: Besides not spending my time on silly corporate projects, my motivations are a blend of skill development, efficiency, and eco/sustainable living (aka efficiency). I actually really like the skills perspective, since I feel that breaking down <x> into a collection of smaller, learnable steps is really empowering and way less intimidating = less anxiety. Nice!

Finances: Where am I at now? I'm sure I'll get more into this later. I have a good income, but need to work on reducing expenses. Savings rate is about 50% – not too bad but I can certainly improve – and have saved about 6x expenses. I pay way too much in rent, and will find a roommate when my lease expires in a cheaper, quieter part of town. Walk or bike to get around, and sometimes take public transit. I like to cook meals at home, and eat out maybe once or twice a month.

Reading: MMM got me to sell my car, and Ministry for the Future got the environmental ball rolling (followed by The Deluge, The Displacements, and Being the Change, with varying degrees of optimism/pessimism). I recently finished Survival+, and although I didn't enjoy reading "simulacrum" so many times, I did appreciate his bits about how one person can't go it alone (resilience through social capital), opting out to starve the beast, and prioritizing virtue and experiential knowledge (as opposed to permanent adolescence). I'm now reading Thinking in Systems and Overcoming Gravity (got that rec from one of Axel's old entries, thanks!).

That's probably enough for tonight. I'll plan on doing a little August recap soon!

[brainstorm]

August Update

A good month in the books!

Financial: I switched to using my debit card for easier spending awareness (after a spendy July) and was able to save extra on top of my recurring investments! I had a savings rate of about 67% and, with the help of some market recovery, have now saved 7.7x expenses. I was slightly low on some categories like eating out, but also higher than normal in travel and bike parts (typically none), so it doesn’t feel particularly unsustainable. Right now my savings are going into a bond money market fund to balance out a lot of US stocks.

Physical: Got back into a good biking and climbing routine after an inconsistent July (travel, illness). I can tell I’ve been getting stronger, although I need to keep up with mobility/prehab work. My only concrete plans are to climb twice per week and hangboard once per week, but I’ve also been trying some bodyweight/calisthenics exercises on my “off” days – eventually I’d like to do muscle-ups, one-arm chinups, and front and back levers. Plus maybe some of the variations of planche, handstand, and L-sit/V-sit/manna.

Mental: Been in a great morning routine of short walks, meditation, and morning pages. I’ll keep it going in September! Also been off Instagram for the month and don’t miss it – I’ve thought about deleting it but I’m not sure yet, so I’ll just keep avoiding it until I can make up my mind. My weakness in this area was probably dealing with traffic – I can get frustrated and impatient with drivers when I’m walking or biking, so I need to practice more patience and be okay with simply stopping and waiting for them to pass. No confrontations will lead to any personal reform, so there's not much point in getting worked up.

Environmental: I made a few changes to the daily lifestyle that were impactful (I think), sustainable, and enjoyable:

• I got a drying rack from the local buy nothing group and enjoy air-drying my clothes on the porch. It’s nice to see them fluttering in the wind.
• I have A/C but set the temp to 82 and just used a fan most of the time. After about 2-3 days at a higher temp, I don’t notice it much. We had a few heat waves roll through, but overall the energy usage is noticeably lower. The lows are getting lower again, so I can let in the cool air in the mornings.
• And I started doing Navy showers after reading one of the old blog posts. I actually prefer turning off the water in the middle since I get a way more satisfying lather. Not bad!

[ertyu]

Around here, for a layer of safety, folks who want to spend on debit not credit keep 2 debit cards -- one is their "main card" which they do not touch except to regularly transfer small sums to their "spending card." This limits the amount vulnerable to fraud. It only works because there's no overdraft or overdraft fees, however. If you're spending mostly on debit, how do you keep yourself safe?

Re: road rage: can you bring any of your meditation experience to bear?

[brainstorm]

Thanks, ertyu, for the thoughtful suggestions. You raise some good points!

I haven't heard of the separate spending card approach before, but it certainly makes sense. I think what I like is the immediate feedback of it, that I can just log in and see my balance without doing any mental gymnastics – it acts as a good ledger for me. The approach you describe would preserve this while still creating separation from my "main" card/account, which seems great. I wouldn't like to lose those funds by fraud or theft! But I've also been wondering what exactly I need that feedback for. It helps with identifying surplus funds, which either get invested on top of my recurring transfers (majority) or perhaps also for getting a pizza when I might not normally have (minority). So, net positive? It's not a large sum that gets spent, but I still need to reflect more on why having $X "left over" means go ahead with buying something. How am I feeling when I am most inclined to spend frivolously?

About cars, I certainly can! I've realized that a good part of it is my own impatience, not theirs, despite what my internal narrative said. Observation without judgment and loving-kindness are very common practices, but it feels like I've largely left them out of my daily life. So lots of room to improve in this area, but since realizing this my rides have been much more positive.

I picked up a pamphlet at the Buddhist temple and of their six Right Livelihood guidelines, several stuck out to me:

Pause before buying and see if breathing is enough.
Be equally grateful for opportunities and challenges.
Work for peace at many levels.
Find connections between Buddhist teachings and your life.

There's a lot more good stuff in there, which I'll try to sit on in the coming weeks.

On another note, I enjoy baking and this weekend made my first whole wheat loaf. It turned out great! It had a moist crumb with a subtle flavor and fairly soft crust. I'd definitely like to make it again.

[brainstorm]

September Update

It was a very full month! A lot of exercise and cooking/baking; the oven heat will be much more welcome when it’s cold out. I picked up a sewing machine off Freecycle, and am now ready to spend tons of time learning (anything) about how to use it – my first project will be a DIY stuff sack (simple, cheap, and fairly useful).

My short term goals are:

• Decluttering my apartment of stuff I don’t use/need anymore (more $, more free space, less maintenance/cleaning, easier moving)
• Low-buy month (informal): I’m looking for some bike fenders, and maybe a front rack, to make my life easier/cleaner this winter, but I have pretty much everything I need to be happy already. For incoming items, I’ll try to work up a ladder of: do without or repurpose an existing item > DIY > buy used > buy new.
• Reduce housing expenses: My biggest expense that has lots of leverage over how much I can save and therefore how much I need to work. I’m hoping to get into a nearby intentional community (from the waitlist), which would work very homeotelically (is that a word?) w.r.t. building community, social connection, minimalism, eco-friendly living, my commute, and reducing expenses. It sounds like a very enriching experience, so fingers crossed!

And eventually, I’d like to:

• Downshift to no- or part-time work, so that I can pursue other interests freely
• Find a partner
• Buy a house/land in cash. Not very eager to pay 3x the price by way of a 30-year mortgage, and anyways I’m interested in small & simple living. But I’m really not sure where, and a partner might inform this decision too.

A lot to figure out to make those happen! But I’ll be aiming to align my weekly/monthly steps with those long-term goals in mind.

Finances

Opened a new bank account to try out the spending card approach (thanks, ertyu!); so far, so good. My savings rate was at 65% this month, which I’m glad to see despite some more-than-usual eating out (including one on the more expensive side for my friend’s engagement, but hey a rare occurrence!). Up to ~8x expenses now!

Health & Fitness

I definitely enjoy exercising, and getting to do it more is a big attraction for early retirement or part-time work. A mix of: I’ve always done it, I enjoy seeing the progress from hard work, I meet people through it, I get to learn about different modalities of movement, I get to see new places. My family also has its share of health issues (a lot of it seems to come down to alcohol and exercise), so kind of an act of rebellion too.

Not much calisthenics this month, but some yoga and hangboarding was nice (I need stronger fingers and more flexible hips!). Got a few more V6s under my belt, even some in 1-2 attempts, which is great for me – trying to get more consistency at this level. Also had a nice 120 mile bike ride! I didn’t train quite enough for it lol, but I still finished in around 7-8 hours without drafting and with some wider tires (it’s pretty flat here). I think it’s around my 18th century? I did all the other ones several years ago, when I went across the country mostly along the TransAmerica trail. So it was nice to spend a long day on the bike again!

Brain-wise, I’m trying to be more mindful of the content/media I consume, particularly the quantity. It’s easy for me to feel overwhelmed! I’ve noticed since I’ve left more empty space that those feelings, and anxiety too, have dropped down. It had become such automatic behavior to reach for a podcast, or an email newsletter, or a book or Youtube video, that I was basically switching from shallow distraction to distraction. I’m able to focus a lot better too, so it seems to be a step in the right direction! Kind of crazy to think about how many more bits are flowing into our brains now compared to when they evolved. dustBowl, if you’re out there, it was nice reading your posts about this most of my friends either don't feel the same way or just don't mention it (or they just have a higher threshold for it, lower sensitivity to it, ...)

Food

Notably, some jam and cinnamon raisin bread. I like to cook and bake a lot, and especially to share what I bake with others (also, the recipes make way more than I want to eat!). I’d be happy to cook meals for others too, but my network isn’t particularly full of vegans/vegetarians and I haven’t made much of a point to host dinner parties. But I think a few folks here have talked about hosting Epicurean nights, and that sounds interesting to try out some time. My grocery spending is still a little high for one person though, around $400/month.



---

This month’s reading list:

• Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television (partial)
• ERE: I felt like I followed it much, much better than the last time (a couple years ago). Back then, I was mostly looking for a list of quick hacks to apply to get a cheap apartment (clearly it didn’t stick, given my current rent). But there are some pretty good principles to work from, so maybe it just took some more time and maturity to get it? I’m sure it wouldn’t be the first time it took a couple reads to really grok it.
• The Story of Stuff: Overall solid – I found it very valuable to consider Stuff’s entire lifecycle rather than it just materializing at the store/website. But I don’t reserve a lot of mental space for keeping track of the specific minerals or plastics, and a lot of the “reasons to hope” I found…not very inspirational (they mostly felt like, oh a couple hundred corporations have signed this voluntary agreement to do better!)
• Voluntary Simplicity: Really resonated! I skipped the chapter on the environment cuz I’m already reading too much about that. But it was a great read and I’d definitely recommend it to others
• Poking around Low- and No-Tech Magazines – pretty cool stuff! Will continue digging through them this month, along with probably Nonviolent Communication and/or my first Plotkin. Recs always welcome

[delay]

Thanks for your journal update! If you like a "spending card" perhaps cash is also worth a try. A few years ago I switched to cash to experience it while it still exists. It stuck! Cash is simpler and I'm much more conscious of what I spend. It turns out I spend less when I'm not tempted by digital points or offers.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up has an alternative approach to decluttering. It says to lay out everything of the same type (say clothes), then hold every item and keep it if it sparks joy, and discard it if it does not. I threw out more than 10 trash bags of stuff and I haven't missed any of it.

The ideas from non-violent communication are excellent. For me the video was better than the book. Here's a forum thread on NVC.

[AxelHeyst]

In my experience meat-eaters don't grumble too much when you provide tasty delicious food that happens not to have animals in it. Sometimes they don't even notice. Regarding low/no-tech reading, you might like John Michael Greer's Green Wizardry, and/or Paul Wheaton's Building a Better World In Your Backyard, Instead of Being Mad at the Bad Guys. And also, I've lost track of how many times I've reread ERE but every time I do I get new insights.

Cool journal! Come visit QH sometime, we'll ride bikes and climb and stuff.

[brainstorm]

Thanks for your journal update! If you like a "spending card" perhaps cash is also worth a try. A few years ago I switched to cash to experience it while it still exists. It stuck! Cash is simpler and I'm much more conscious of what I spend. It turns out I spend less when I'm not tempted by digital points or offers.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up has an alternative approach to decluttering. It says to lay out everything of the same type (say clothes), then hold every item and keep it if it sparks joy, and discard it if it does not. I threw out more than 10 trash bags of stuff and I haven't missed any of it.

The ideas from non-violent communication are excellent. For me the video was better than the book. Here's a forum thread on NVC.

Thanks, delay! I'm definitely curious to try out a cash period in the future. I recently sold a bike and got paid in cash, and having a couple hundred dollars in my hand felt way more...substantial? or real? than a digital bank balance. And nowadays I see more businesses offer a cash discount because they don't want to deal with the card vendor fees, so it might even actively save me money.

Woah, 10 bags is a lot of stuff! Haha I bet that felt incredible. What was your driving motivation (if any)? I've certainly heard of the book/author before, but never really took a detailed look at the method. On the one hand, I do like the idea of not putting more stuff in the landfill and of recouping a bit of money from the nicer things. But on the other hand, if I spend my entire lease decluttering one or two things per week, then I have it in the back of my mind the entire duration and never get to really enjoy the free space at the end of it (or I might just stop doing it). Crowbar vs incremental approach. My typical failure mode isn't that I *can't* accomplish some project, but that I get distracted and simply move on to something else. So once I'm back in town, I'll strike while the iron's hot and sell this round of nicer things at a steep discount to move the items quickly, and then give KonMari a proper go.

Appreciate the video and forum links – there's lots of gold to be found on the forum. I'm happier with a limited amount of screen time though, so it's helpful to have a more surgical approach

[brainstorm]

In my experience meat-eaters don't grumble too much when you provide tasty delicious food that happens not to have animals in it. Sometimes they don't even notice. Regarding low/no-tech reading, you might like John Michael Greer's Green Wizardry, and/or Paul Wheaton's Building a Better World In Your Backyard, Instead of Being Mad at the Bad Guys. And also, I've lost track of how many times I've reread ERE but every time I do I get new insights.

Cool journal! Come visit QH sometime, we'll ride bikes and climb and stuff.

Appreciate the offer, that sounds like fun! I've only climbed outdoors once (PNW) – even though the grade was "easy," I was totally wiped by the end from being out in the sun, keeping all the safety protocols in my head, being extra alert(/scared) while climbing and belaying, etc. But it was hugely rewarding, so I need to do it some more

Thanks for the recs! I've read Building a Better World a few months back, and definitely enjoyed it. Only a tad frustrating, since I have limited freedom in my current apartment but want to try out those projects. Looks like Green Wizardry will be similar and a nice intro to JMG's books – a few others (Long Descent, Collapse Now and Avoid the Rush) caught my eye but haven't bubbled up to the top of the reading list yet. Cheers!

[delay]

What was your driving motivation (if any)?

• My apartment takes less time to maintain if I own fewer things
• I'd like to be prepared to move to a smaller place, if I can find one
• Each object deserves to be used. If I own something and don't use it, I should help the object reach an owner who does use it
• If I walk around and see only items that spark joy, my mood is lighter

[brainstorm]

• My apartment takes less time to maintain if I own fewer things
• I'd like to be prepared to move to a smaller place, if I can find one
• Each object deserves to be used. If I own something and don't use it, I should help the object reach an owner who does use it
• If I walk around and see only items that spark joy, my mood is lighter

Well that's good to hear, it's pretty much how I'm feeling too! Especially #2 - since housing is far and away my biggest expense, I can and should be prepared to live in a tiny place and/or with roommates (fortunately I think tiny homes etc are pretty cool) (that's my main goal for 2025). Anyways, I'm glad to hear of others on the same path

[brainstorm]

October Update

This got pretty long! Might need to start splitting up posts in time or space recent forum time has mostly just been lurking to catch up on old journals

---

I went to my first meditation retreat, which was *very* challenging but rewarding. I wanted to study meditation more seriously, and also do something challenging, and…that’s exactly what I got there was another level of stillness and peace beneath what I previously thought was my “relaxed” state. Simple living, lots of hard work, time in nature, introspection, and yet zero stress - actually a great lifestyle in my book. The adjustment coming back was (still is) tough: noise, cars, distractions, etc.

So cutting back on things feels important, but OTOH my extracurricular time is super easy to fill up with reading, exercising, cooking, meditating, seeing friends, etc. That's the challenge I guess. It's certainly a big motivator for accumulation phase => scale back to no- or part-time work and have the time for plenty more of these things. That'll help with my stock of free time, but probably my outflow would probably continue to be high unless I get better at pruning/vetting ideas. "Should" can often feel like "must" (raise your hand if you're a perfectionistic people-pleaser), but “shoulds” are a lot of times just conditioned or normative actions from a kinda fucked up society. Soooo part of this journey for me means: identifying what’s important or not and urgent or not; paying attention to what I actually enjoy instead of what I’m used to or what’s around me; and learning to be okay with disappointing others (not flippantly, but ya know).

Finances

It was a very lean month (for me)! ~3 jafi, and most of that is rent.

• Rent: Working on a move to make this <1/3 of current (!)
• Groceries: Hard to compare apples to apples since food was included at the retreat, but some pretty cheap meals using my stash of black beans, lentils, brown rice, etc. Splurged a bit on fresh fruit – I’ve been having variations on the daily drinker from Smoothie Shred – but I can improve this by just buying the whole fruit and cutting it myself and/or buying frozen. Pleasantly surprised that it tastes good with water! I love soy milk, but man is it expensive at the store ($10/gal!).
• Climbing gym: A rather large AND recurring expense ($90/mo). I don’t live in an area where there’s any outdoor (aka free-ish) climbing, so if I want to do this I pretty much require a gym. Alternatives: set up a hang/kilter board at home, or don’t climb (nah). One solution is: get a part-time gig at the front desk and get my membership comped – yeah! but I’d prefer to not add it on top of a full-time job, so maybe something for later. Double-part-timing at the gym and bike shop sounds pretty rad.
• Entertainment: Used hoopla to watch some movies from the library for the first time – Chemerical (great! a Wheaton rec). Even though I already lean a bit too much on the consuming vs making/producing spectrum, it felt like a good trade and I was surprised hoopla had so many good options.

Health & Fitness

Meditation showed me that I need to work on my posture lol – working on periodic awareness of how I’m stacked, but also my new working/desk setup should help. The hardest part is obviously to establish the habit and get those weak postural muscles stronger, but would probably pay dividends the rest of my life.

Climbing: I stopped looking at beta vids on my phone, and my route-reading ability has definitely improved. It feels easier to come up with sequences that might work and experiment with it (and to think about moves *while I’m up there*). I can still look up something when I get home, but the key part seems to be not having that instant access – it just becomes a crutch that prevents moving beyond copying/comparing. (If any of you are on kaya, DM me if you want to be friends)

Eco

Decluttering: Took some ideas from KonMari and made some strides. All my clothes fit in my dresser now, except for shoes and jackets. Household/furniture items have been the most work to sell but also the most noticeable improvement afterwards (tell me why I bought and filled out a bar cart when I never drink at home?). I mean, I know how it got there – I got my first Big Boy paycheck and was excited to have a Trendy apartment. Well, turns out my place can look just as nice with a quarter of the stuff. Selling is slower than donating, but I also recouped a solid $400 this month! (More than) all my food for a month, in exchange for stuff I don’t use or need anymore – not a bad deal.

I’ve consumed minimalist content before without actually changing much, so it’s nice to be walking the walk once. Not quite at “use 2 forks and a rubber band in place of a whisk” level, but still good progress.

I guess what I’m trying for at this point are:

• Helping to internalize a non-financial penalty for buying too much stuff. Dang, this is a lot of work and energy to offload stuff. I don’t know when I might want or need to move again, and a lot of this stuff turns out to have been purchased pretty specifically for this apartment. Also, environment, but this penalty is experiential in nature.
• Creating more mental and physical space for other interests/activities (or not! just empty space is cool too)
• Attempting to live more in alignment with some philosophy that I’ve been interested in – see how it feels in practice
• Problem solve more by reusing what I already have. Ex: I was looking at small standing desks on Facebook Marketplace (≤$50), but then I realized that my dresser’s folding tray and the top of the dresser are pretty much spot on height-wise for sitting and standing. One less thing to buy/maintain/move.

Reading

Not much lately due to other projects; read Radical Simplicity and started NVC. I thought RS was only fine, but probably because I only half-assed one of the simple questionnaires about footprint rather than doing a more thorough consumption analysis. You get out what you put into it I suppose. Nice to have in my pocket for recommending to environmentalists, since it touches on finances too.

---

Goals for Nov:

• Finish downsizing and prep for move
• Learn to hand-sew (need to mend some underwear – I already have the supplies, I've just been putting it off)
• Retake Meyers-Briggs since it's popular here – in the past I'm IN(T/F)J, but I feel like things have developed/clarified in the past year so I'm interested to see how it might have changed
• Go marching and meet some folks here!

[NewBlood]

Hi brainstorm,

Great update!

Meditation showed me that I need to work on my posture lol – working on periodic awareness of how I’m stacked, but also my new working/desk setup should help. The hardest part is obviously to establish the habit and get those weak postural muscles stronger, but would probably pay dividends the rest of my life.

Climbing [...]

Since you're a climber, you might be interested in this if you haven't seen it yet, I just happened upon it the other day.
https://www.hoopersbeta.com/library/let ... ad-posture

I was actually surprised, as a new climber who knows nothing, I'd assumed climbing would strengthen my back and improve my posture. But looking at my cousin who's been climbing for over ten years (and plays a lot of video games), I definitely see it.

Hope that's helpful.

[brainstorm]

Since you're a climber, you might be interested in this if you haven't seen it yet, I just happened upon it the other day.
https://www.hoopersbeta.com/library/let ... ad-posture

I was actually surprised, as a new climber who knows nothing, I'd assumed climbing would strengthen my back and improve my posture. But looking at my cousin who's been climbing for over ten years (and plays a lot of video games), I definitely see it.

Hope that's helpful.

Hi NewBlood! No, I hadn't seen that before - thanks for sharing! It looks like a pretty good routine, very helpful. I feel the doorway / squat rack stretches a ton in my rotator cuff, which would probably be good to keep healthy. Have you tried it out? Or other prehab for climbing?

I kind of figured that climbing would help my posture too. I think it has, actually, but mostly by strengthening my back/core and not bench pressing anymore. I thinking gaming a lot as a kid/teenager got the ball rolling, and my anatomy (long torso) didn't help when sitting at tables or desks. I haven't really had any issues from it so far, but I don't want to take that for granted.

[NewBlood]

I feel the doorway / squat rack stretches a ton in my rotator cuff, which would probably be good to keep healthy. Have you tried it out? Or other prehab for climbing?

No, I haven't tried it yet, but will start making it a portion of my warmup I think. I feel the doorway stretch mostly in my pecs, which I guess means they're pretty tight. I also have poor posture from many years working on a computer, so I also want to be as proactive as I can.

[brainstorm]

No, I haven't tried it yet, but will start making it a portion of my warmup I think. I feel the doorway stretch mostly in my pecs, which I guess means they're pretty tight. I also have poor posture from many years working on a computer, so I also want to be as proactive as I can.

I guess one way to improve posture is to retire from a full-time computer gig, no? at least, that's the goal for me

I've been doing the doorway stretch most days, and really liking how it feels. So cheers again for the rec – nice to have something good and quick and easy. I want to try out ITYWs this month too (I think they can help with a lot of the same stuff)

[brainstorm]

Wow! I didn’t feel like it was a crazy busy month, but as I write this I’m realizing that there were a lot of big things that happened. These macro (>daily) check-ins are nice; I ought to do more of them.

+ I’m moving! It’s a community setup so I’ll get to meet my new roommates, explore a new part of the city, and generally adapt to a different lifestyle. It’s a big change, which I think is a really good thing. Also cheaper, more eco-friendly, yada yada. This took a lot of my attention last month, and it will probably be the same way in December as I move and adjust to things.

+ First ERE meetup. I had a really great time at my first march with @Scott 2, @Dave, and @jacob! The trail was beautiful, and I’m eager to (1) visit it again, and (2) go on another march! My first time meeting internet strangers, and they had a lot of cool experience to hear about. Shoutout to them for being so welcoming, and I love exercise/outdoor activities so it was a great combo.

+ Gave up coffee for green tea instead. I do really miss coffee at times…but with tea my energy is higher and much smoother. Not sure what's in this stuff!! Anxiety seems down too (although it’s tough to tell where the baseline is right now with the moving stressors). In general I’d like to build and maintain habits that help me feel better and do more things that I want to (reasonable, I think), and on that criteria this passes. So I don’t have any plans to go back. Decaf coffee is an easy option for cravings anyways.

+ Learned to sew by hand. Mended some undergarments, and it was nice to extend their life with only some thread, a needle, and a few minutes on Youtube. In the past I would have simply trashed them and gone to Target for some new ones (even though the holes were pretty small and easily repairable). Next goal: darn some of my socks that are wearing out.

+ First self-supported bikepacking trip: got a cabin with some buddies in the nearby forest preserves. I was glad to not have the “optimal” setup (i.e. I had a backpack) and instead just went for it. First time riding some single track too (and on a fixie – got a nice rush and glad I didn’t crash)

There were some downsides too:

- I’m moving…which I find to be stressful. The first wave was finding someone to take over my lease, which has fortunately been sorted out. Next up is packing up and executing on the move.

- Stayed home for Thanksgiving and dog-sat for a friend. I thought staying in would be a nice reprieve from a busy week, but it was boring and lame. Lesson learned: journal more and bring a balaclava for the really cold days. Even "rest" days should have more outdoors/active time and less passive screen time if I want to feel refreshed

Read: Collapse Now and Avoid the Rush, NVC, Muddling Towards Frugality*
Watched: The Game Changers

* Unfinished. I've read way too much stuff like this recently, so I’m cooling it for a while. I’m currently reading The China Study and looking at the LOTR trilogy next (a classic). It will be nice to focus on other areas and praxis vs content

[brainstorm]

Happy new year everybody!

Really enjoying the new place so far. I’m still getting used to the flow of things, but my roommates are all wonderful people and I’ve enjoyed getting to know them (including some quite late nights just talking with some of the folks around my age). The novelty of it all is really engaging; each day brings something new. No big conflicts yet

There’s also a meal plan here! Cheap(er than what I have been paying on my own), vegetarian-friendly, and plenty of fresh produce. Pros: Good food prepped and ready to eat when I need it. Cons: Not gonna get as much “specialty” whole foods like groats, bulgur, etc. Not practicing the skill of cooking, but I’ve been cooking for myself the past several years anyways so I’ll pick it back up quickly and just occasionally cook special dinners in the meantime. I think the extra free time will be nice; I just want to be sure to put it to good use.

This month was a bit crazy with double rent, holiday travel, etc. but the big ticket items will now be much lower:

• Housing: 2400 -> 700
• Groceries: 400 -> ~250 (assuming I supplement a bit – just guessing here, will see how Jan goes)
• Transportation: Still around 20. Less in summer, more in winter.

Oh, I also got a promotion with a raise

Net worth: I’m now at 22x expenses. That's kinda crazy. I guess that’s the magic of reducing expenses, huh?

Back of the envelope math suggests I hit my number in the next 2 years or so if all goes well. But to be honest I feel like I’m still figuring out so much that I’m not super attached to that date. Maybe I want to try out a different job (or I get laid off) or do some more travel (majority local-ish, ideally) and it takes a bit longer. I think it will be worth it. Anyways, the takeaway is I’m much closer now than I was before and that's exciting. A big goal I have for 2025 is more active entertainment and adventures – nothing extravagant, for instance camping/bikepacking, picnics and outdoor grilling, or train trips to nearby suburbs/cities. And I look forward to them!

Reading this month:

• The China Study
• The Permanent Portfolio (really dig the combination of simplicity, robustness, and growth – but my impatience got to me and I bought the kindle version rather than waiting a month for the library)
• Deep Response

For the MBTI fanclub: INFJ but I’m pretty close on some of the categories (NF). Enneagram 1 (close 9)

Your perfectionist tendencies drive you to constantly improve yourself and the world around you. This relentless pursuit of growth and meaning can be both exhilarating and exhausting. You have a knack for seeing potential and possibilities where others might not, but you may struggle to bring your visionary ideas into reality due to self-doubt or fear of criticism.

You possess a rare combination of creativity and analytical ability. Your intuitive understanding of complex systems and human nature allows you to devise innovative solutions to challenging problems. However, your sensitivity to criticism and tendency to internalize stress can sometimes hold you back from fully expressing your unique gifts. Learning to balance your idealism with practicality and self-care is a key part of your personal journey.

Sounds about right.

Here's to a good 2025!

[brainstorm]

I’m looking to be more intentional about journaling this year, particularly on a weekly cadence (more macro/holistic perspective than day-to-day stuff). It’s therapeutic, helps me organize and clarify my thoughts and feelings, and simply helps me remember stuff that I’ve accomplished or worked on that may otherwise drift away (there’s a lot flyin around up there sometimes).

So, I would love to hear any journaling prompts that you have found particularly useful.

On the list:

• What does a “perfect” day look like?
• What would a typical week look like for me if all my desired outcomes were realized? (courtesy: @mountainFrugal)
• Not strictly journaling per se, but something like a values clarification exercise – valuescardsort.com + reflection
• Generic gratitude practice – what am I grateful for? what do I have going for me right now?
• Reflect on past week/month/year/decade/life – where have I succeeded? where have I struggled? what have I learned?
• What am I spending my time on lately? does it feel important, and if so, why?

[AxelHeyst]

- What have I been procrastinating on lately? Why? (e.g. the point of the question is not to beat yourself up about it but to get curious about root issues. It may just be because you haven't clarified what it really is, could be because its not in alignment with values, because it implies facing a conflict you haven't acknowledged...)

- Any thoughts or emotions I've been repressing or not fully embracing? Any opinions/feels that I half-consciously think are 'inappropriate' and haven't owned up to?

- What would make today/this week / this month really, really great? (Careful with this one... not all days/weeks/months need/out to be omg-totally-awesome!! but it's good to check if you trend kaffic at all.)

- Any relationships I've been neglecting? Why? Should I boost them, cruise them, or ice them?

(I have these prompts in my weekly review template...)


I just caught up on your recent updates - exciting stuff! An autumn/winter fixie bikepacking trip on singletrack! Whoa! Keep up the good work.