Reflections for 28 years

Thirty years is creeping up on me, but I'm not there yet!! I recently turned twenty-eight, and while it's not thirty yet, I definitely feel like a Real Proper Adult(tm) now. Turning eighteen was an entire decade ago. I've been living out of home for five years, and I've been working in a #ProperJob for seven.

In honour of my 28 spins around the sun, it's time to reflect on the good, the bad, and the future.

Financial Gratitude

Starting early

From my first paycheck I've been careful with my money. I have charts going back years tracking my growing net worth. It may have started slowly, but those early years set me up really well.

Brown bagged lunches

It might not be exciting, but brown bagging lunches is such a big thing. It flows over into how I cook at nights as well, meaning that I save time and money by cooking big cheap meals at home. And I'm constantly learning new things because there is only so many times I can eat pasta bake.

This blog

I started this blog over a Christmas break when I was feeling sorry for myself that Fiery Millenials was doing better than me. I think she still is, but having this blog has let me set goals, hold myself (mostly) to them, and let me met lots of wonderful people.

Buying a bike and selling my car

When I moved out of my parents home I dusted off my unused $600 mountain bike and rode it everywhere. A few short months later I sold my car. Over four years I estimate that I've saved almost $15,000 on car expenses, as well as being super fit from my daily rides. No gym membership required!

The house I bought

After four years we're moving out, but I am so very grateful for the house I bought. It was $60k under where I'd been looking, and a completely different build. It was (and still is) decorated in grandma pastels. It wasn't a flashy new construction, but it's solid. In four years it has grown 20% in value, and while we've outgrown it, my little 90 square metre house was a perfect place to start my adult life.

Financial Regrets

Skipping that trip to Japan

My number one regret in the last decade that would have cost me money is not going to Japan. My roller derby league was invited to a tournament where they played two teams from Japan, and a team from Copenhagen, and I didn't go because of money. I had the money, I was just being 'frugal'. 
No. I wasn't frugal. I was a straight up idiot.
If you're reading this, wondering if you should do that thing that will ruin your savings goal but will literally never happen again do it!! In the words of the young people of the day, yeet that goal right out the window. Go. Be free. Do the exciting thing. Experience life.

Starting early

Yes, I said I'm grateful that I started early, but I also regret it. I've never taken a spontaneous trip. I've never gone out drinking at a karaoke bar and woken up broke but smiling from having the best night. I've never impulse bought a cool toy, or started a stupid hobby on a whim. Maybe if I had, those things would be on this list instead. But I never had a wild phase (ignoring the teenage years when I had no money anyway) and I feel like I missed out on that.
Maybe I'll be that crazy granny going wild on the cruise ships one day...

Not choosing my career

I work in IT. It pays great. It's generally pretty interesting. But I didn't choose this. If I had chose my career, I'd be a vet. Or a surgeon. However I just fell sideways into IT because a friend helped my get a job with her... true story. I climbed the ladder from there, but it's pure chance that I work where I do.
My long-long term plans post-FIRE include studying again. I don't think I'll ever become a surgeon, or a vet, but I am interested in testing the waters of those careers later in life.

Purchasing a house

While I love my house, I do have some regret for purchasing a house at all. When Mr. FIRE and I first moved in, we said we'd move to Canada in three years. That would have been the end of 2017. Here it is, in 2019, and I haven't moved. In fact, we just bought another house 10 minutes down the road.
We still talk about moving overseas, or interstate. Part of me doesn't want to go because we're tied down to property, but if I'm honest, a bigger part of me is scared to leave this life I've built.

Side-Hustling my way out of free time

My biggest financial regret is the crappy little side hustles I've done over the years. in 2015 I had a second job as an online admin / writer that paid terribly and ate up all my free time. In 2016 I was writing 500word articles for $5 a piece. During that time I was writing two articles a week for this blog. I was tired and my relationship with my partner suffered. In 2017 and 2018 I was on so many committees for my roller derby league I was barely home. In 2019 I'm trying to ease back, but I've become so used to being busy all the time, it's been difficult. 

Really great memories

Camper vanning around Tasmania

The first thing that sprang to mind as a great memory was our camper van trip around Tasmania. I was just a few short months out of knee surgery and hobbling a lot. I also got ridiculously sick at one point and struggling to breathe through the snot. It was still the best trip ever. Being able to pull up anywhere, cook dinner and sleep in the back of the van was amazing. Not having a toilet wasn't so great... but I've definitely caught the bug. As far as I'm concerned, it's the best way to travel.

The birth of Baby Tempest

No, I'm not a parent. Well, not a human parent. One of my chickens was hatched in my own backyard. There is something pretty wonderful about watching an animal grow from a teeny tiny handful of fluff to a bossy knee high monster. It's even more amazing that one day she was just an egg, and a month later she was an entire creature. Tempest is still with me five years later, and the healthiest, coolest bird I've ever had.

Roller Derby Successes

So many things to go here. My very first tournament I played for the C-Team. My team came second and we got piled on by the A and B teams shouting 'we're number 2'. We were happier than the winners. My home team has won four seasons. I scored the winning points in a game once. I 'married' my best friend in Roller Derby style, and we renewed our vows this year. I've travelled to every state in the country (except WA... soon!) and I represent my state at the top level for my sport. It's pretty great.

In jokes with my gaming friends

If you ever come to our house there are two things you need to know. Mr. FIRE cheats, and he takes too long to make a decision. You'll also learn there are many games Mr. FIRE and I can't play together because we fight. My gamer group has seen (and can quote) every episode of Red Dwarf, knows every piece of Monty Python, and still shouts 'Too Soon!' if you make jokes about Reavers putting their spears through the Wash.
We are a group of tragic nerds. It's pretty great.

Lunch on the top of a tiny rock spire in Alligator Gorge

This is a small specific time. But one of my happy memories from the last decade is hiking an 18km trail with Mr. FIRE, and stopping at lunch on top of a tiny rock spire where I could barely move to have lunch. Why did we sit there? Dunno. But it was pretty, the sun was shining, and the sandwiches - while very basic - were delicious because we were so hungry. It was a small thing, but it was lovely.

Future Happiness Goals

Lift more weights

As I mentioned back in my spiel on maintaining motivation, I once did strength training every day and I felt great for it. But I struggled to maintain it, and fell out of the habit. I want to get back into the habit of lifting weights at least 2-3 times a week. Not only will I feel better, but heading towards my thirties I want to keep my body as healthy as I can.

Spend more time with friends and family

Long term I want to retire, but I don't want to be alone and boring when that happens. Which means I need to start cultivating friendships outside of roller derby. I plan to set up a regular family dinner (e.g. the third Thursday of the month.. or something) and well as making semi-regular friend plans.

Inspired by All About Balance and The Joyful Frugalista I've invited everyone over for a $5 potluck dinner. Fingers crossed it works! My friends are dubious.

Create more

Things I enjoy creating include blog posts (like this one!), let's play YouTube videos, food, beer, rough woodwork (think planter boxes) and the occasional bit of knitting. One day I want to make soap. I don't have a specific goal, but I know that making things makes me feel fulfilled, so I'm just reminding myself to keep creating.

Be a better partner

When Mr. FIRE and I moved in together we promised not to be those people who live together, and grunt at each other when we pass in hallways. We have become those people. We always eat breakfast and dinner together, but we also glue our eyes to screens while doing so (Kindles for breakfast, TV for dinner). 

While we aren't in a bad place yet, I don't want to let things slide. We also drink coffee together every weekend morning, and we're planning to ban screens during that hour.

Dog!

It's time. It's time to start plotting and scheming what life looks like with a dog. I hope to bring home a dog over the 2019 Christmas break (when I can take a couple of weeks at home to settle them in) - or maybe 2020 Easter - again, when I can take some leave and settle our pupper in. Between now and then we need to set a budget for our doggo, and check our housing a lifestyle situation.

Personally, I want a huge dog. A Great Dane with paws as big as my face.

January 2019 Update - All those houses

Happy New Year!! and guess what? Happy New House!! 2019 is going to be a weird new year with so many changes.

January was a whirlwind of a month, I can't believe it's over and it's almost mid-February. This post is much later than I wanted it to be. In fact, this is the second time I've written this post because blogger decided to lose the whole thing, thanks Blogger.

On top of that, January was a crazy month because roller derby started again and I trained 24 hours between the 9th and the 29th, then headed of to a 3 day camp. On top of that work ramped up for the start of the year, and oh, did I mention Mr. FIRE and I bought a house!

My initial set of goals for 2019 included investing a lot of money, saving even more, and getting my current house ready to rent out while we looked for a new place. Then in January we saw a property we'd already looked at and passed over for being too expensive was back on the market 8% lower than the original asking price. We then put in a lowball offer another 6% under that (a crazy 14% under the original asking price) and they accepted it!!

Suddenly, we have houses to deal with. We have settlement on the 1st of March, and want to have our current home up for rent by the 1st of April. There isn't a massive amount of pre-move work to do at the new place besides painting. There is a massive amount of work to do at our current place. To compound this issue, it's the start of the derby season and I. am. busy.

With that in mind, my goals for this year are still a bit up in the air, but I have got two locked in.

Investing Goal: $110,000 in Vanguard

I'm starting the year with just under $80,000 and aiming for $110,000 by the end of the year. This isn't a huge goal, and $30,000 in a year would normally be easy (in the Year of Investing I put aside $36,000) however I'm not sure what kind of money I'm going to end up spending on the properties, or how long it will take to find a tenant. So I'm sticking to a goal that I know I can achieve.

Spending Goal: Under Control!

This is a simple request, from me to me. Simple to ask, hard to do. I want all my non-house expenses under budget. That's not much to ask right?

I'm not asking for the house expenses to be under budget because, A. not even sure what budget is just yet. I have a ball park idea, but not confirmed numbers. and B. with the renovation works, we're going to be spending more in the next 3 months than we would normally spend in a year. Okay maybe not that bad, but it's going to be expensive. Mostly the painting.

Bonus Goal, if we can: $10,000 worth of an Asia focused ETF

If things go my way, and if my finances play along, I'd like to purchase a chunk of the Asian markets. I have been watching, and while I don't have any concrete evidence, I'm starting to feel like the superpower that is the US of A might not be the biggest economic power in the next decade. I currently own a mix of Vanguard International Shares (which is mostly US, then Japan) and a lot of Australia. I feel like this missing piece is the rest of the Asian markets. While I don't need it, I'll feel a lot more comfortable if I diversify across the globe some more.

However, given everything else going on, this is a bonus goal. We'll see what happens across the year.

January Results

These goals took most of the month to pin down, so my spending is... a bit out of control. I admit I spent too much on video games. Firstly though, savings and investing...

Investments

January

Vanguard

Opening Balance: $78,424.57

Deposit: $1,900
Dividends: $1,214.86
Market Gains: $1,289.12
Current Balance: $82,828.55

Woah! The markets bounced back with a vengeance and I am so crazy far ahead of where I need to be!

Expenses

For the sake of curiosity, here's what I spent in January, which includes the save-to-spend amounts.

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$1,415.55	$1,318	$1,343.19 (up $36.09)
The bills arrived! But also I've started putting aside money to do all the pre-rental works I want to get done. Prepare to watch this number skyrocket! Also, this will be getting labelled Investment Property #2 soon. I should find fun names for them...
Investment Property	$1,622.84	$1,190.83	$1,356.92 (up $41.92)
I said there had been no bills for two months, well now they're here. Half of them, I have another big bill coming up in February.
Personal Bills	$126.60	$126.67	$140.04 (down $1.70)
The stock standard usual.. nothing to see here. Then my health insurance will go up in a month or two - Happy New Year *eyeroll*
Groceries	$113.08	$190	$202.61 (down $6.95)
Most of the reason this is low is because I was using the gift card I paid for back in December. Without it the cost would have come in around $170, still under budget.
Pets	$23.20	$50	$63.12 (up $1.02)
After Decembers vet emergency it was nice to have a quiet month - all I paid for was food. I need to sell more eggs though.
Roller Derby	$76.70	$175	$219.67 (down $11.26)
The year has started, but my first set of fees don't come out till February. Still I paid for a trip to camp, put some money aside for a new helmet, and forked out for new knee-pads. Because safety gear is much cheaper than surgery.
Travelling	$110	$122.50	$57.50 (up $9.17)
Next year I'm hoping to go to Canada! With the house purchase, Mr. FIRE and I have wisely postponed any Canada plans. However we are considering another trip to Tasmania, maybe New Zealand. We'll see :)
Comfort Food	$8.90	$40	$50.64 (down $0.51)
I split this out in November and it's amazing how much measuring something changes it. From spending an average of $50 per month, I just spent $8.90 - which was one beer. Go me.
Other	$430.00	$187.00	$269 (up $6.83)
Unfortunately my video card in my computer went up in smoke - literally. It was a hand-me-down card and one of the components burned out. It was a very small bit of fire, followed by some smoke and a $275 replacement. Outside of that I bought a couple more games (Kingdom Hearts 3!!!) and did some necessary underwear shopping (exciting).
Total	$3,962.87	$3,400	$3,703.04 (up $74.58)
Ouch. Not a good time. $3,000 of this spend was from the houses, but I was over on a lot of the other categories too. Not a good start considering my goal for the year of bringing my expenses back down under the budget lines...