Adult Goals: December 2018

2018 is done and dusted. The last six months of setting adult goals and trying to make better habits
was, well it was interesting.

The second half of December was a great recharge with Christmas holidays. I fell off the adulting goals bandwagon, but I kept my finances in line and I caught up on my sleep for the first time all year.

Adulting

The December goal was body maintenance, specifically yoga. I did not do yoga. At all. For the first half of December I was on the ball with my physio exercises, then I went on annual leave. I don't think I left my house for the first week. At first resting was wonderful, but then I found myself awake at 2am because I had so much energy and my legs wouldnt stop twitching.

Lesson learned, I spent the rest of the month taking gentle walkies, and going for a ride every couple of days. Sleep was easy to find again.

December Adulting: Fail-ish

For 2019 - I need to start up a whole new set of goals. The share market is doing strange things, I honestly don't know if we're lining up for a bear market, or if the current drop is just shenanigans. I'm well versed in emotional survival for market crashes, but it makes it hard to set goals - if the value is going to drop, then I can't set goals for a huge growth. If it does grow, then I don't want to set my goals to low. If you have any ideas, drop them in the comments, because I'm stumped at the moment.

Savings

Six months done and dusted, goals not met. Oh well. We set ambitious goals for a target to chase.

Let's look at the goal numbers, then the overall pictures. I wanted to add $1,000 to my cash cushion each month. Instead I only managed to put aside $613 per month.

For fun numbers, next to that, I also invested $14,600. For the last half of 2018 I successfully squirrelled away $18,280 per month, which works out to 43% of my income.

I might not have met my goals here, but I'm going to take a moment to step back and look at that. I read articles every day encouraging people to save 10% of their income. Articles praising people for saving $50 a month. Stories of people who are greatful they have saved $5,000 in a year.

I am not going to shame those people and tell them they should do better, or work harder. In the last few months it's becoming clearer and clearer how strange, and how privileged I am to be chasing FIRE. There are many people out there who struggle. I am not going to complain that I only saved and invested $3,000 a month. Instead, I'm grateful for all the pieces in my life that have come together to make it possible.

Expenses

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

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$961.78	$1,318	$1,307.10 (down $20.67)
No bills! Booyah.
Investment Property	$767.60	$1,190.83	$1,315.00 (up $7.46)
Two months in a row of no bills, this is lovely, and spooky. I checked, I didn't miss anything
Personal Bills	$126.60	$126.67	$142.10 (down $1.69)
The stock standard usual.. nothing to see here
Groceries	$192.14	$190	$209.56 (up $3.76)
So last month I spent $100 on a gift card for groceries, and I completely forgot to take it to the store. For a whole month. Shame on me, so much shame.
Pets	$210.43	$50	$62.10 (up $14.62)
My poor FIREcat had an upset stomach. For three days. My little fat fluffball didn't eat for three days, so off to the vet we went. I paid $210 for some antibiotics, an anti-nausea shot, and for the vet to tell me that yes, she is fat. It was worth being reassured that she was okay, and with some gentle coaxing I got her eating again. She's yelling at me for dinner as I type this, so she's a-okay.
Roller Derby	$35	$175	$230.93 (up $2.89)
Basically Nothing! I spent a little money for a shared picnic dinner party, and put money aside for safety gear that I'll buy in January, using Afterpay to get the most bang for my buck.
Travelling	$110	$122.50	$48.33 (up $9.16)
Next year I'm hoping to go to Canada! I figured I better start putting money aside.
Comfort Food	$29.50	$40	$51.15 (down $15.13)
I split this out in November and having this category visible helped a lot. Even with Christmas, I kept this spending where I wanted it. Mostly by buying ingredients and making my own snacks
Other	$242.53	$187.00	$262.17 (up $2)
What can I say, it was Christmas! I bought all the Kingdom Hearts games for myself, and a headset so that I can play games with the volume up and chat to friends without annoying Mr. FIRE. I also spent a bit on presents, but my friends and family have long agreed that presence is a present, so we only give small things - like homemade pickled eggs.
Total	$2,675.58	$3,400	$3,628.46 (up $2.44)
Look at that magic number!! Surely i's a trick? After all, I gifted myself a higher budget for Christmas. The numbers are mostly low because I didn't pay any bills this month, that's always nice.

Adult Goals: November 2018

After the financial whirlwind of October, it was nice to settle down to some more balanced spending in November. The sun came out and we caught a brief glimpse of summer before being hit with some yo-yo storms and heavy rains.

Thankfully the sun triggered a 'spring cleaning' reflex in me, and for a time I felt like a proper adult, kicking goals and cleaning dust.

Adulting

The November goal was to organise things. While I can confirm that absolutely nothing was alphabetised, so many things were tidied and thrown out. A hoard of moths moved into my pantry which inspired a clean out and a rearrange where I found three different packages of cocoa powder, as well as multiple packets of sugars and flours. While the moths were infuriating, my cupboard is much more streamlined now.

Not only that but I pulled every, single, damn, tupperware container out of the cupboard and matched lids with bases. It's tidy and beautiful. It was not a fun time, but the results are amazing.

November Adulting: Success

For December, I planned to do yoga. And I think I'll stick to yoga. I've been taking better care of my body for the last few weeks, and getting some regular yoga in will be the real icing on the cake.

Savings

Five months down, one month to go, and I can absolutely guarantee I won't meet this goal.

A few days in November sat above the goal line, which was great. Unfortunately it didn't last, those big drops show my mortgage and credit card payments.

Thankfully November was back to normal spending levels after the craziness that was October. A couple of bills were due, and I bought a couple of things I'd been saving for, but nothing overwhelming happened.

This experiment has shown that I'm not great at saving money. I find 'don't spend' to be a very unexciting goal. It doesn't give me a thrill or a challenge, and as such falls quickly to a brainless auto-pilot mode. Contrast that with the Year of Investing where I increased my investment accounts by almost $40,000 in a year. Each week I was investing a bit more into my accounts to take advantage of Dollar Value Averaging. It kept me on track, and engaged. It was fun. Saving cash is... not fun.

My projected total at the end of 2019 will be a cash saving of just under $4,000 in six months, which is only two-thirds of my goal of saving $6,000 in six months. While it's disappointing, it's not a show stopper. I may only end up saving $4,000 in cash in this time, I'm on track to have collectively saved, invested and paid down mortgage debt by over $20,000 (wow!!).

Expenses

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

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$1,310.25	$1,312.50	$1,327.77 (down $25.95)
So technically the water and electricity bill were due, but since I paid a big amount towards the household bills a few months ago to meet the minimum spend on a card, Mr. FIRE has been paying the bills since then to balance out how much we've each put in. Therefore my average is coming down quite nicely.
Investment Property	$792.16	$1,166.67	1,307.54 (up 7.66)
A mortgage only month. Very nice after last months massive bills.
Personal Bills	$126.60	$126.67	$143.79 (down $1.69)
New lower phone bill! Woo!
Groceries	$284.29	$180.00	$205.80 (up $5.32)
This number is actually a lie. At the start of the month I bought a $100 Coles gift card for $95. It's valid for three years and seemed like an easy way to save 5%. The very next day I got an offer saying I would receive 5% cashback on all spends on my Coles credit card for a month. So I packed the gift card away for later. Unfortunately it blew up how much I spent this month.
Pets	$93.08	$35.00	$47.48 (up $5.71)
I made a lot of sales this month - $20 worth of Chicken eggs, and $6 worth of quail eggs. I then turned around and spent all that plus more on Black Friday to buy my cat a much needed (and very awesome) cat tree. And then I fed everyone - who knew food was so expensive!
Roller Derby	$171.49	$185.00	$228.04 (down $4.59)
Most of this cost was for camp, and then some money put aside for safety gear. All reasonable spending :)
Travelling	$110	$108.33	$39.17 (up $9.17)
Next year I'm hoping to go to Canada! I figured I better start putting money aside.
Comfort Food	$66.20	$40	$66.28
Hello, and welcome to a new category called "how much money do you waste on tasty food?". The answer is too damn much.
Other	$410.20	$180.00	$260.17 (down $50.91)
Well, despite spending a lot more than budgeted, I spent a lot less than last November and brought my average way down! I also moved comfort food out of this category and into it's own for better control. Apart from buying a Playstation 4 (which I had been saving for, and got during a Black Friday sale), this month spend was reasonably controlled - I restocked the wine rack at a significant discount and went to the dentist. Otherwise, not much was spent.
Total	$3,364.27	$3,300.83	$3,626.02 (up $10.99)
It is so nice to be back at normal spends after October. Still sitting above the desired spend, and above the desired average, but on a whole we're doing pretty okay. Buckle up for the festive season! I already have 5 events to attend, and even with my no gifts policy I still have a couple of gifts that will sneak in.

Adult Goals: October2018

Ya'll... October was expensive. What just happened...

Adulting

The October plan was to make my bed regularly, and to start doing some serious body maintenance. I made my bed a few days in a row, but honestly I didn't get any value out of it, so I gave up on that pretty quickly. It just became one more thing to do before leaving the house in the morning, and I didn't get any of the rumoured buzz of feeling like a #AccomplishedAdult.

I did pay more attention to my body though. I did yoga roughly twice a week, started stretching daily, and got my foam roller out again. I went to see the physio to make sure the knee I banged into the ground multiple times was a-okay, and it is. But all the muscles attached are knotted up and mad at me, so I need to devote more time to the foam roller, my absolute favourite...

October Adulting: Success

For November, it's time to organise things! Which is great, because I've been feeling the spring cleaning itch. I want to pull all the knock off tupperware containers out of my cupboard and match lids with bases (and throw out the ones that don't have any). I'm really excited for the warmer weather, because I can stop wearing layers of clothes, and pack away a lot of things I won't see for six months. I probably won't buy anymore shelving, so I might part company with some of my books to make space. Maybe. I'm very attached to my books.

Savings

So how did the fourth month of saving and rebuilding my cash reserves go? It was the worst so far!! I'm really not good at saving... I'm great at investing. Just plain terrible at saving boring cash in a boring savings account.

Hello flatline!! Actually, technically there is a tiny bit less in my account this month than last month. It was a big bills month, and one of those bills can't be paid on credit card. I also finally replaced my toilet. We're talking 4 years in the making. I paid in cash for a 10% discount off the price. That does meant that this money came out this month, instead of pushing it back another month via credit card magic. Which is great, because I also had a lot of bills that went on the credit card, so that hurts too.

To add to my money misery in October, my rental property is processing the payments a day late, which means I won't see my October rent until November. October was a '5 week month' so I'll get a big payment, but it's disappointing not seeing it till later than usual. My property managers are normally on the ball, so I'm not hugely concerned about it being a little late this one time.

Lastly, I'm still put some money aside for future spending. I'm putting $110 a month into my trip to Canada, saving for a blueberry hedge, a new helmet and (super exciting) a new toilet since I finally replaced the toilet, I've started saving to buy myself some video games for Christmas. 

Expenses

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

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$1,429.89	$1,312.50	$1,353.72 (up $16.74)
I got bills! They're terrifying... not really, they're pretty standard. That doesn't mean I enjoy paying them.
Investment Property	$2,576.51	$1,166.67	$1,299.88 (up $3.70)
Big bills! Very terrifying! Again, not really terrifying, all the bills fell in the same month, including the big bill I get every four months for the Body Corporate. The average barely shifted though, so that's nice.
Personal Bills	$126.61	$126.67	$145.48 (down $1.69)
New lower phone bill! Woo!
Groceries	$141.75	$200.00	$200.48 (down $1.32)
I scored a free box of Hello Fresh meals at the start of the month. I wouldn't recommend the service, because none of the meals produce leftovers, I find the methods they use create a lot of dishes and a lot of plastic waste, and it's expensive to boot. But a free box of food is not something I'm going to turn down.
Pets	$32.21	$35.00	$41.77 (down $3.09)
I made more sales this month - $10 worth of Chicken eggs, and $15 worth of quail eggs. I put the $15 aside to build or buy an incubator, and restocked cat and quail food.
Roller Derby	$161.62	$185.00	$232.63 (down $16.02)
The off season has begun! I paid the last of my season dues, put money aside for new safety gear, and saw the physio to make sure I was doing all the right things for my off season recovery.
Travelling	$110	$108.33	$30 (up $9.17)
Next year I'm going to Canada! I figured I better start putting money aside.
Other	$497.17	$157.25	$311.08 (up $28.06)
It's not as bad as it looks I swear!! Mr FIRE runs his own business, and I invest in a lot of different things, so we pay an accountant to make sure we get the most out of our tax returns. I paid for both our returns this year, and they aren't super cheap. Outside of that, I saw a doctor, ate some ice cream, had about 4 beers and put money aside to buy Christmas gifts.
Total	$5,075.75	$3,300.83	$3,615.03 (up $35.53)
October was expensive.  With all the bills I was over budget before the month even started, no fun. Outside of that, there was very little unplanned spending, so the numbers on paper suck, but I still pat myself on the back for good behaviour. This is typical for October, it's a big bills month.

Adult Goals: September 2018

You guys, it's spring!! Flowers are blooming, bee's are humming and life is warm and sunshiney and great.

And I stepped down from my volunteer treasurer position last night. I'm freeeee!

Oh, and some money stuff happened in September, I can talk about that too.

Adulting

The plan in September was to get rid of my floordrobe... I did not. However! I did get better at using it. Things are folded a little more often for the floordrobe. It was kept at a manageable level. Clothes for the floordrobe were worn before new clean ones. Which is the point of a floordrobe... right?

September Adulting: A little success

For October I'm going to make the bed. Yepp, that was the goal I set myself. But I'm also stepping ahead to the body maintenance goal of December as well, because my body hurts. I feel twice in 2 weeks at derby and smashed the same knee into the ground (with safety gear on). At first I thought it was just swollen, but it still hurts :( I'm going to start with stretching before moving on to 'save me physiotherapist!'

Savings

So how did the third month of saving and rebuilding my cash reserves go? Well.. it happened...

That weird blip in the middle isn't a hefty paycheck or anything exciting like that. Some of the bonds that I owned were redeemed, and it took me a couple of days to redeploy the cash. I had a few options lined up (MEZ and ETHI if anyone is curious) and I needed those days to double check. In terms of savings... really not much. I'm having a bit of a struggle with life at the moment - feeling stressed out all the time for no real reason. I'm glad I've stepped down from being a treasurer, I hope it helps.

My spending in September was nice - we stayed just under $3,000. Which is actually impressive since I spent four days out of the state for a derby trip, and dropped $160 to see Tim Minchin in concert. A month of no bills makes me look good even when I didn't do great on my own merits.

Lastly, I still put some money aside for future spending. I'm still putting $100 a month into my trip to Canada, saving for a blueberry hedge, a new helmet and (super exciting) a new toilet.

Expenses

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

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$1,038.01	$1,312.50	$1,336.98 (down $35.39)
Just like in August, most of this 'spend' is actually putting money aside for new things. Cash towards a toilet, a blueberry hedge and some new camping chairs.
Investment Property	$769.66	$1,166.67	$1,296.18 (up $5.58)
No bills, next month will be a big one though..
Personal Bills	$126.61	$126.67	$147.17 (down $1.69)
New lower phone bill! Woo!
Groceries	$210.31	$200.00	$201.80 (up $1.73)
Well, this was almost $160 month, but on the last day I did a restock on junkfood... It's a long weekend! Snacks are need!
Pets	$16.06	$35.00	$44.86 (down $2.25)
I finally made a sale! I sold $10 worth of eggs, and sold my temporary quail cage for $50. Considering I bought the cage for $15 - I definitely won that transaction. However I had to restock kitty litter this month, which ate up most of the income. And then everyone wanted feeding, as they do.
Roller Derby	$438.26	$185.00	$248.65 (up $21.85)
I was interstate for four days. And our travel schedule didn't allow any kind of relaxing and DIY food prep.
Travelling	$100	$108.33	$20.83 (up $8.33)
Next year I'm going to Canada! I figured I better start putting money aside.
Other	$293.97	$157.25	$283.02 (up $19.06)
I spent $160 on concert tickets less than a week into the month, this was never going to end well... but for the rest of the month there was only one other big spend. I donated $40 to Beyond Blue for Fathers Day. Take care of your dad, you only get one.
Total	$2,992.88	$3,300.83	$3,579.50 (up $19.20)
September was thankfully low spend, but most of that is due to no bills, rather than good behaviour on my part.

Adult Goals: August 2018

August was a great month, wanna know why? I got a new job! With a big fat payrise, a way cooler boss and much more interesting work.

Plus, the daylight hours ticked over to we see more than 10 hours sunlight each day. Super important, and super great.

Adulting

August was dubbed the month of Actually Cleaning My Kitchen, I think maybe it was clean once or twice. Right now there aren't enough clean dishes for breakfast. I've got guests coming over tomorrow so I actually need to get all the dishes done tonight. So excited *cough*

Normally this is where I'd put in a good excuse why I didn't get it done. I don't have one. I got grumpy for the first half of the month, and I played Pokemon Go for the second half...

August Adulting: Abysmal failure...

For September I'm going to work on my floordrobe. I've always had a floordrobe, and it's not so much that I think that's a bad thing, but 99% of my clothes are black. And trying to find the right black jacket in the mound of black shirts and pants is really difficult.

Plus, I'd actually like to be able to put my washing away. This isn't just a 'stop being lazy' goal, but also I need to invest in a set of drawers and come up with a system to actually be able to put all my clothes away. I could have a wardrobe clean out, but I wear everything till it falls apart. Even the things I don't wear often are pulled out semi-regularly for dress ups. I've owned the same Hawaiian shirt for almost 20 years (no, that's not an exaggeration) and it still comes out once or twice a year.

Savings

So how did the second month of saving and rebuilding my cash reserves go? Better than July, still not great though...

So the good news is we're trending upwards (unlike July). The bad news is we're not going up anywhere near fast enough. I didn't realise how aggressively I am investing - I saved over $4,000 in August, but I barely made a blip on this chart because that money goes straight into investments, it's not being held as cash. Obviously this is a good thing, and I'm not going to cut back on my investing to grow my cash reserves faster, but it is making this goal look a bit tenuous.

My spending in August wasn't ideal either. All my pets wanted feeding, and while I buy ahead in bulk, I managed to spend $60 on food this month. Plus I bought four more quail.. because apparently I don't get enough eggs (I get way too many eggs). On top of this I booked more flights for derby, one of which I paid full price for because I've used up my frequent flyer rewards, and I spent money on video games. Plus I had a lot of bills this month (not the ones I prepaid back in June) so it wasn't the cheapest month on record. Thankfully not the most expensive one either.

Lastly, I still put some money aside for future spending. I'm putting $100 a month into my trip to Canada, which will be roughly this time next year. I know it isn't enough but it's a commitment and a start. I'm still saving for a blueberry hedge that I hope to put up in September, a new helmet and (super exciting) a new toilet.

Expenses

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

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$1,286.83	$1,312.50	$1,372.37 (down $1.32)
Most of this 'spend' is actually putting money aside for new things. Cash towards a toilet, a quail pen and a blueberry hedge.
Investment Property	$1,204.31	$1,166.67	$1,290.60 (up $41.76)
Paid the water bill and the mortgage.
Personal Bills	$151.60	$126.67	$148.86 (up $0.39)
My phone contract finally ended, so my bill drops from $59.99 to $35 starting in September. I've dropped the budget to match the new spend. Hopefully this phone holds together for a while, because $25 a month back in my pocket is lovely.
Groceries	$204.95	$200.00	$200.07 (up $0.62)
You would think with all the eggs I've been eating I'd have spent less. But I got a bit excited making fancy new things. I'm going to watch this like a hawk in September. With about 15 rounds of leftovers in my fridge, surely I can bring this back down.
Pets	$82.55	$35.00	$47.11 (up $5.39)
Yeah, so umm... everyone likes to eat! I restocked the chicken and cat food for $60.55 and then went and spent $22 on new quail. Unfortunately the first batch was 3 boys and a girl - gotta fix that gender ratio. I didn't manage to sell any eggs this month, but I did get a refund on a dodgy waterer I bought off eBay. Oh, and FYI, quail is delicious. In September I'm hoping to sell the temporary quail cage to recoup some costs, and going to push a bit more marketing for egg sales.
Roller Derby	$381.87	$185.00	$226.80 (up $14.95)
Oh, so this is what it feels like to pay full price for flights... I ran out of rewards points, and need to use actual cash. I don't like this feeling.
Travelling	$100	$108.33	$12.50 (up $8.33)
Next year I'm going to Canada! I figured I better start putting money aside.
Other	$189.50	$157.25	$264.02 (up $9.62)
So, at the end of July I said I was going to cut back on the nightly wines, and I'm happy to say that I did. The big spends for this months 'other' category was a going away lunch from my old job, a trip to Bunnings, and a trip to the Op Shop. There was also a little spend where I picked up 3 games for $20 - which I have already sunk 50+ hours into, money well spent!
Total	$3,741.61	$3,300.83	$3,562.33 (up $79.75)
The spending crept up this month and I'm not pleased. The major costs were bills, but there was still a couple of luxury shops in there, including the quail (that I swear I will write about soon). I don't think there will be any bills in September (although with some on quarterly cycles, and some on 4-monthly I lose track) so hopefully it will be a nice low spend.

Adult Goals: July 2018

July is done and dusted, and I got to pretend to be a 'real adult' that has my life together - beyond my finances. Writing this blog for almost two years may have given the misguided impression that I'm organised, but beyond the dollars in my bank account I still act like a teenager whose just gotten out of home. Hence, this six months of building good habits while building dollars.

Adulting

July was originally supposed to be a month of Actually Cleaning My Kitchen, however early in the month I attended a seminar where they told me the secret to not being horribly tired all the time is to stop snoozing the alarm in the morning.

While I got in about a week of clean kitchen, the idea of not being horrendously tired was far more appealing. For the first week it was great, but I think it was a trick. The second week wasn't as great, but I must confess that my new routine of snoozing once (to allow time for a morning cuddle) feels much better than snoozing for over an hour.

I think what is missing from getting up when the alarm goes off is the qualifier that you actually need to go to bed at a decent hour. When I was younger I thought that sleeping was a waste of time. As an adult I love sleep, yet somehow I seem to be getting less of it.

July Adulting: Success mostly

For August I'll be going back to the Actually Cleaning My Kitchen. However, because I'm not a real adult, I'm just pretending, I'll be aiming to have a clean kitchen three nights a week. This way I can have lazy nights as well as achieving things.

But, because I know what I'm like, I need to set what nights those are. If I just said 'three nights' then I could just keep saying 'tomorrow night'. Therefore, Sunday, Monday and Thursday will be clean nights.

Savings

So how did the first month of saving and rebuilding my cash reserves go? Prepare to be underwhelming.

I've said a few times that I love using credit cards, and getting rewards points to get cheap flights. However in June I prepaid my bills so that I could meet a minimum spend. Which means that despite having a relatively low spend month, I had to pay the massive credit card bill. Next month should look much nicer.

The interesting part is that I started Saving to Spend back in April, and it's going well. This month I put aside another $250 to spend on big things I want. Most of the money put aside this month was towards getting a new toilet (so exciting) but I also set some money aside for a PlayStation 4, a blueberry hedge, some new safety gear and started saving for a trip to Canada. 

I listed this money as an expense, so when I finally do spend it, I won't need to record it as an expense. This will help my brain, which refuses to accept spending lots in one go, as well as spreading the spending out and keeping my average spending from spiking based on a single expense.

Expenses

For the sake of curiosity, here's what I spent in July.

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$1,006.07	$1,312.50	$1,373.69 (down $2.22)
Most of this 'spend' is actually putting money aside for new things. Cash towards a toilet, a quail pen and a blueberry hedge.
Investment Property	$1,557.03	$1,166.67	$1,248.84 (down $45.02)
Paid the water bill and the mortgage.
Personal Bills	$151.60	$151.60	$148.47 (up $0.39)
Nothing exciting, just trucking along.
Groceries	$234.94	$200.00	$199.45 (down $0.15)
$25 was put towards my quail cage and blueberry hedge. The rest of this spend is just me enjoying chocolate and sweets. With all the eggs I get from my egg-mpire now, my lunches have gotten both cheaper, and more interesting. Did you know you can fry an egg on a sandwich toaster...
Pets	$36.32	$29.00	$41.72 (up $1.75)
I build a double decker quail pen! Well, I bought the material for it. I've been slowly putting it together for most of the month and it's nearly done. I need to spend a little more money on painting it, and putting together a good feeding and watering system. I also brought in $5 with egg sales - which is a good start considering it's still technically winter.
Roller Derby	$101.45	$150.00	$211.85 (down $5.48)
I paid for my accommodations for my last trip and started putting aside money for new safety gear.
Travelling	$50	$100.00	$4.17 (up $4.17)
Next year I'm going to Canada! I figured I better start putting money aside.
Other	$259.01	$157.25	$254.40 (up $21.58)
Most of this is spending while I was in Darwin at the end of June / start of July. I also bought a few books and put some money aside for a Playstation. Definitely time to cut back on drinking though, I found myself with a glass of wine in hand more nights than not.
Total	$3,013.32	$3,267.02	$3,482.58 (down $24.98)
Somehow, despite putting aside $250 for future spending and spending a few days interstate, this is a nice low spend month. Fingers crossed to keeping costs low and bringing FIRE closer.

Life updates and new goals: Eggs, AI and being a Proper Adult

Life has been wonderfully hectic for the last few of months, and everything has been coming together in July. It's time to set some new goals, and give an update on how life has been.

The best news? I FINALLY signed the paperwork on a new role. Which not only means a payrise, but means a massive career jump and a huge improvement in my day-to-day live.

New Goals

The Year of Investing was great idea, my finances really spiked and it was great to see my investments running up and up.

The Year of Investing showed a very sharp spike in my funds invested

However to do so I dipped into my emergency / opportunity fund to do so, and I would like to rebuild that fund.

Not only that, but I have lived in my house for 4 years now. When I moved in I noticed that the toilet seat was damaged, and the toilet itself had a very slight leak that splashes two or three drops of clean water when you flush. That was four years ago. I still have a very damaged toilet. I haven't fixed it.

The main reason that I haven't fixed this is because I struggle with big expenses. I don't like spending huge amounts, even when it makes sense to do so. In the next six months I will be saving to spend i.e. putting bits of money aside to pay for the jobs that need doing. And to buy a Playstation 4 so I can play Kingdom Hearts 3 - it's six months of mostly adulting.

And finally, taking inspiration from The Three Year Experiment, I want to fix up some habits. I'm 27 and I'm tired of struggling to cook because my eggflip is dirty again. Or spending 10 minutes digging through my cupboards to find the right pair of pants. So each month I'll be tackling one habit, which will include thrilling things like 'stop leaving clothes lying around the house' and 'wash the dirty dishes while you cook, instead of scrolling Facebook'. It's some pretty monumentally exciting stuff happening here.

Throughout this all I'll continue adding to my Raiz, RateSetter and Vanguard investment accounts as in the Year of Investing, but I won't actively report on these. Each month $2,200 will be added to these accounts. I mention this so that it makes sense why my savings targets seem so low - it's because I'm still investing in the background.

Each month I will aim to add $1,000 to my emergency/opportunity fund and record $250 of planned spending. I'm also going to target these 'adult' behaviours:

July: Stop pressing snooze
I've been working on this for a couple of weeks and it's amazing. I have so much more energy in the morning.
August: Have a clean kitchen 3 nights a week. 
I don't have a dishwasher, and having the dishes pile up is a pain.
September:  Get rid of the floor-drobe! 
There will always be clothes that have been worn once and aren't ready for the wash yet, but a knee deep pile is ridiculous.
October:  Make the bed every day. 
I've heard good things about this. Apparently it makes you feel accomplished and starts the day right.
November:  Alphabetise Everything!
I need more storage. Mr. FIRE and I moved in with 3 mismatching bookshelves that aren't big enough for all our books, DVDs and board games. Time to get something properly organised.
December:  Pre-Bed Yoga (or other body maintenance)
In December roller derby takes a break. Which means it's time to get into the habit of taking care of my body.

Life Update

For the last nine months I've had a new boss - I guess that means he's not new anymore. In this time I've learned how very important it is to have mutual respect with your boss, and the have similar ideas about how the team should achieve their goals. Unfortunately I haven't learned this because we've been working in a wonderful utopia - I've learned this because I've been without this respect and shared goals.

As of a couple of days ago I've signed the paperwork for a new role. I have a start date, a new title and all the agreements in place. I feel like the weight of a planet has been taken off my shoulders. I'm not going to rant about my current situation anymore, because I have a light at the end of the tunnel and I'm excited to start.

Another weight off my shoulders has happened in Roller Derby. Every year new people join the team, and there is a teething phase of working out how we fit together. It's my sixth year and it's the first time I've solidly butted heads with someone. It was draining on me to have my hobby become a place I didn't enjoy going.

Thankfully, the person in question decided that derby wasn't for them and hung up their skates. It's not an ideal outcome, but it's meant a huge reduction in my stress levels. While I know it's unfair, I made the choice to lay all of my derby-related stress at their feet and told myself it was all over when they left. I may not be perfect, but doing this has meant I have the patience for all the other niggles now, and I can work through them as they deserve.

And lastly, I've mentioned a few times that my long-term life goal is to have a homestead. Mr. FIRE and I are looking into new houses with a bit more space so we can have a doggo, and a workshop but we keep finding that nothing meets our wants right now. Either the price isn't right, or the location is no good, or property has too much house and not enough backyard. Plus with all the uncertainty around the Royal Commission into Banking in Australia, there is far too much speculation about price drops for me to be comfortable buying.

Cute little birds, with cute TINY eggs

So with this in mind it looks like we aren't moving any time soon, but I still want to take a step towards my homesteading dreams. In March last year I posted about my eggscellent pet chickens. In October I mentioned that I'd been dreaming of quail, but instead I started growing mealworms as a high protein poultry snack. After sitting on my hands for almost a full year I finally pulled the trigger and got quail back at the end of May. Oh, and I doubled my number of chickens at the same time... because reasons.

I need to write a detailed post about the entire experience, but it has been interesting. I reached out to a local cafe and arranged to take away a bag full of food scraps each day so that I can offset the feed costs. I've found a regular buyer for chicken eggs. I thought I bought 4 female quail, but have ended up with three stinky squabbling boys, and one lovely egg laying lady. I initially bought a small $30 cage and have since spent $150 to build a large split level enclosure. And, because this is a finance blog, I've crunched the numbers and determined that (if I can find a market) I should be able to bring in $40-$50 a month selling eggs and birds, as well as offsetting my own grocery costs. All of which requires much more space to talk about than one paragraph! 

So that's a quick wrap up of where I've been, and my next six months financial goals. There's been some good, and a fair bit of bad. It very much looks like there is plenty of good things on the horizon. And hopefully I'll have the time to write about all of it.

How money in the bank got me a Great performance review

source

A couple of weeks ago I got to sit through the joyous quarterly occasion that is a performance review. Of course, we don't call them that because a positive outlook is everything so we call them Inspiration Sessions!! Well, not quite, but it's a similarly pompous name.

I'm not one of the FIRE bloggers who loves their job and says they'd keep working even with money in the bank. I'm one of those FIRE bloggers who checks their numbers every Monday and sighs before opening the job pages and seeing if something else has come up before eventually getting down to work for the day.

But, despite all this, I still got a Great outcome in my performance review thanks to my FIREy pursuits.

John Goodman in the Gambler.
Go watch this scene, if you haven't already.

This scene from The Gambler might be the entire FIRE manifesto wrapped up in a short one minute speech. Get Money, Stash it away where it gives you a big fat warm safety blanket, then if your boss or anyone else asks you to do something you don't want you can calmly and confidently say F-U.

While I'm far from FIRE'd (seven and a half years at last check) I could go a few months without a job without having to tap into my investments. And if I did tap them, I could easily last a couple of years. It gives me a sense of comfort and confidence to know that I could weather (almost) any financial storm.

Okay yeah, but what's your point?

How does money in the bank lead to a good performance review? We have five metrics that we are graded on, and they're all behaviourl based. They call out ethics, teamwork, striving for excellence, courage and mindset. Take a guess which one I got a Great result on.

Courage

In my self assessment I gave myself full marks for Courage and my boss agreed. Having money in the bank means I don't give a damn if I get muscled out of this job I've grown to dislike. Six months ago we had a different team and while I didn't love my job, I came to work everyday, got some stuff done and felt alright about myself.

Now, with my new team structure I feel undervalued, ignored, and underworked. A month ago I recommended a method to dealing with an issue that was overruled by my manager. The issue persisted and we recently had an hour long team meeting about it. The outcome? 100% agreement from the team that my initial solution was the way to go.

This might sound like a bizarre combination of complaining and bragging, but the focus here is that Money in the Bank gives me the courage and power to stand up and say no. My boss can still overrule me because that's his role, but I have no hesitation in telling him that I believe his decision is incorrect, and the potential impact it can have.

There is no way I could conduct myself like this if I was living paycheck-to-paycheck. If that was my scenario I'd need to keep my head down and my mouth shut while working frantically on ever changing goals and tasks I disagreed with. The peril of being fired (the bad kind) would rule all my actions. 

For some people, FIRE is an unattainable goal. For others, they love their job and see no reason to squirrel away large amounts of money. As someone who used to like their job and is now in a pretty unpleasant situation I can whole heartedly endorse the value of F-U money - even if you never plan to quit. Things can change and that job you love can quickly become a daily struggle.

F-U Money isn't enough to retire on, but it's enough to give breathing room. And apparently it will get you a great rating in your quarterly reviews.

Why do you think $40k isn't enough?

One of my Australian FIRE blogger friends Pat the Shuffler was recently featured on ABCnews.

Not only was it a good read, but the bottom half of the internet (i.e. the comments section) was highly entertaining.

But one ongoing comment that I want to address has been a bane of the FIRE community for years. "Hope he likes eating two minute noodles, because no one can live on $40k a year."

What is it with everyone outside the FIRE community trying to tell us we don't know what our own budgets are?

Negative whingers

First of all, let's tackle the obvious theory - maybe they are all just negative whingers? I've been reading FIRE blogs for years, and not only do I think that $40k a year per person is an affordable lifestyle, I think it's downright decadent. So many FIRE bloggers out there are living on $40k or less per year for a family. Pat the Shuffler and I are aiming for $40k a year in retirement funds for ourselves alone.

It's hard not to see people as negative whingers when surrounded by like-minded FIRE folks. But it's not just the FIRE folks living on very little - minimum wage in Australia is only $36k  per annum, NewStart payments are a measly $14k per year, the maximum disability pension for a simgle person is $23k. One person living on $40k has plenty of money. 

Money buys happiness

Let's tackle this theory. Most of the people complaining - if they bother to give a reason why $40k isn't enough - say that the reason $40k is insufficient is because you have to live a miserly, poverty fueled lifestyle.

Here's some things I can't do on $40k a year:

• Learn to fly a plane - a one hour lesson can cost over $200, and you need 25 flight hours for a Recreational Pilots license. 
• Join a golf club - at $660 joining fee, plus $405 annual clubs fees, PLUS playing rights / greens fees... no thanks.
• Have new car every year - the 2018 model of Mr FIREs car would cost us $36k... he's been driving his old one for almost 8 years, and it was old when he bought it. 
• Hire a Maid - for $70 a week for a two hour clean, I'd be out $3,640.. I'll scrub my own toilet, thanks.
• Pub dinners and shows every week - Going out for dinner is anywhere from $20 - $50. Going to a gig, theatre show, or event can cost $50 - $80. If this was the only time I socialised, I'd be $5,200 out of pocket.
• 4 bedroom mega mansion - buying a bigger house than I need could cost me $40k a year in interest payments alone. Mr. FIRE and I don't have kids, so why would we need a big house? We barely use all of our 2 bedroom place.

However, here's things I can and do enjoy on $40k a year:

• Sports! I train 8hours a week for Roller Derby.
• Interstate sports! I travel 2-3 times a year, for Roller Derby
• Holidays! Admittedly, I don't travel often outside of derby - more because I'm lazy than because of my finances - but I still do it and keep my expenses down.
• Picnics and Dinner Parties - why would I go to a pub and pay too much for average food, when I can have friends come to my place, play board games and cook them dinner? I can feed 3-4 visitors for less than I would spend on my own meal going out.
• Hiking, Biking, Fishing and Slacklining - need to head outdoors? That's free after the initial equipment outlay
• Rock-climbing - for a little more adrenline and a little more expense, I climb indoors at a gym. But I could buy a stack of gear and climb outdoors.
• Crafting - I craft a LOT for costume parties, joke prizes and things I actually want. I've made necklaces, beanies and slippers, as well as a chicken coop and planter box.
• Video games - let's be fair, I enjoy a lot of fancy nice things, but I also play video games. A lot.
• Coffee and great food - whenever I have food cravings, I just learn to make it. I can make yoghurt from scratch, I'm decent at sushi rolls, and I have a pretty amazing salad selection.

I need this little dude in my life

Anything I'm missing? Actually, I know exactly what I'm missing - a dog. Mr. FIRE and I have started plotting moving to a house with a bigger yard so we can have a dog :D And a workshop, and a bigger veggie garden, and maybe build a skateramp in the backyard. But mostly get a dog.

Medical bills and maintenance

This is where I think people might have a good point. $40,000 a year, as a young person is a pretty cushy lifestyle. My health insurance at the moment is only $85 a month for hospital and extras - I make a point to use as much of the extras as possible, and having hospital cover will be a big deal when I hit 30 and tax rules come into play. Right now I just keep it because I play a high speed contact sport with wheels on my feet. I've already had one knee reconstruction...

But, that's me being youthful. As I get old insurance companies will start charging me more as my body breaks down due to old age. I'll be doing my best to take care of it, but time defeats us all everntually, and I have a choice of paying an insurance company for the privelege, or paying for the health care when things happen.

Of course, this doesn't actually mean I suddenly need thousands more. It just means being aware of the upcoming costs and planning for it.

Someone who plans to spend $40k a year for the rest of their life probably isn't planning to spend exactly $40k every year. For starters, we plan for inflation. But personally, I'll be planning in some wiggle room - it's easier than you'd think! 

Ready, here we go...

Plan to spend an average of $40k a year? 

Option One: Don't retire when your portfolio is generating $40k a year

If you plan to spend $40k a year to have the equivalent life that you have now, but recognise that your expenses will change in the future, just work a little longer. If you have a million dollar portfolio, working one extra year will give you a $1.07million portfolio (assuming a 7% return) plus any contributions you made.

It has only costs you a year, and now your safe withdrawal has boosted up to $42,800. If you then retire and live on $40k, you will have an extra $2,800 per year to deal with unexpected crises and rising costs. Of course, you won't need to spend that every year, so it will just build up for when you do need it.

Option Two: Earning money in retirement

Gasp working in retirement? Then you aren't really retired! Well, to be fair, I said 'earn money' not 'work'. Many early retirees like to create things, you can earn money from blogging, from writing books, from selling arts and crafts. I have earned money in the past by pet-sitting - getting paid to hang out with cool dogs! Lately I've been watching video games streams, did you know some of the top ranked gamers on Twitch pull in six figures.

Option Three: Start small

If you plan on spending an average of $40k per year in retirement, you can start smaller and work your way up. In your first decade of retirement, maybe you could live on only $35k. This frees up a lot of money for later years, and lets your portfolio grow.

Option Four: Leave the country

If you're living in a High Cost of Living area (looking at you Sydney) then consider spending a year or two somewhere else! According to The Earth Awaits, I could spend $4,600 a month in Sydney for a modest lifestyle, or a mere $415 for the same lifestyle in Madurai, India. Don't want to travel so far? Staying in Australia, Hobart is only $2,550, or if you want to stay on the mainland Adelaide is a mere $3,000. Much cheaper than living in Sydney.

If things really don't work, move somewhere smaller!

While travelling can be expensive the biggest cost factor is the flights, and fancy hotels. If you are going for a long trip then the cost of the flights becomes a smaller portion of the overall cost, and you can rent long-stay accomodation, rather than paying night by night.

FIREy wrap-up 

While I like to think the best of people, and I'd love to believe the naysayers have our best interest at heart - when you think it through $40k per person is plenty of money for a good life. And that's without even going into extreme ideas like living in an RV, or going off the grid.

There are plenty of 'Plan B's that you can take up to make your retirement foolproof.

Now I just need to get there!

Can you retire yet?

Financial independence is a wonderful dream. At the start it's overwhelmingly exciting to realise that you don't have to work until you're old and grey. You start cutting costs left right and centre and see your bank balance sky rocket. You dabble in investing and start to understand annual returns, dividend reinvestments and rental statements. You automate your finances and confirm you're on track to freedom! 

And then the waiting begins...

I discovered this concept of early retirement in 2014. In that year I opened a RateSetter account and started investing in peer-to-peer lending, as well as buying my first home. In 2015 I opened a Vanguard account. In 2016 I opened an Acorns account. In 2017 I'm trying to buy another investment property.

In the last 3 years my net worth has more than tripled. My RatesSetter account alone pays almost $100 a month. My Vanguard account is returning the expected 7% per annum. Last year I pulled in more than $10,000 in passive income (not counting the rent Mr. FIRE pays to live here). 

Despite all this, the road to financial independence feels like watching paint dry.

Thankfully, I'm not the only one on this journey. Turns out a lot of people have gotten bored on the path to financial independence, and built a variety of tools to answer the question - Are we there yet?

Networthify

Let's start with the classics. One of the most widely shared calculators is Networthify's "When can I retire?" calculator. It super simple and super friendly to use. Simply plug in how much you earn, how much you spend and how much you save. You can actually get away with only plugging in two values and it will work the other one out for you - neat.

Then add in your portfolio value. This is your net worth, but don't include the equity in your own home. You can't eat the equity in your home (which is why I recommend investing instead of paying down your mortgage) so don't include it in these calculations.

If you earn $40,000 a year and spend $20,000 your chart will look like this:

This tool focuses on the power of increasing your savings rate. If you earn $100,000 and still only save 50% of your income, your time to retirement will be exactly the same. But if you can earn $100,000 a year, while maintaining a frugal $20,000 a year lifestyle, you can retire so much sooner.

Check it out. Start by plugging in your own numbers to see how far away your retirement is. Then tweak your spending and saving to see how much a little change can have a big impact. 

Mad Fientist Laboratory

A much fancier one to play with is the MadFientist Laboratory. You can plug in you spending, saving and net worth each month and the FiLab will spit out a wonderful chart, plus some key dates.

Unfortunately the Lab doesn't play well with investment properties. For example, my property makes a bit over $15,000 a year in rent, but has almost the same amount of expenses. I have equity in the property which contributes to my networth, but that doesn't directly lead to income. 

I could update the lab with my only my stocks and peer to peer lending, but that wouldn't be the full picture either, so I take the 12 years to FI with a grain of salt.

If you didn't have investment properties, I think the FI Lab would be super accurate. Either way it's great fun to play around with - I've been keeping mine updated for almost three years! You do need to sign up, but that's just so your information can be saved so you can come back to it. I've never paid a cent, or received any dodgy marketing emails - this one is safe.

Bayalis calendar

Bayalis Is The Answer supplies us with a calendar on the countdown to financial independence. When the fireworks start exploding on new years eve you're free! You can tell your boss where to stick it, spend lazy Mondays at the beach and hang out with your pets.

The FIRE Calendar isn't complicated, but it does give you the opportunity to triumphantly shout "Winter is Coming!". Simply plug in your current portfolio value, and your target number and bask in the results.

Simple! You can also plug in some rewards for yourself. Once you pass a certain day on the FIRE calendar, pat yourself on the back.

The Earth Awaits

This isn't technically a retirement calculator, but it's great fun on a Friday when you're just praying for the weekend to start. Take your current portfolio and divide it by 25. This is how much you get per annum if you quit working right now. Imagine you had a terrible day at work, so you sell everything, take your 4% returns on your investments and vow to never work again. According to the Trinity Study that 4% withdrawal rate will last almost indefinitely in most cases (but not all!).

Head over to The Earth Awaits with your new passive income and see where you could live. Plug in your monthly budget, family size and lifestyle, and see what you can afford.

If you're willing to live a 'lean' lifestyle in a one bedroom apartment there are 93 places you could live for under $1,000AUD a month. If you're interested in living in Madurai, you could do it for only $406.09. That's only $122,000 invested.

What can you afford if you quit right now

How long could you live if you retired right now? I built a nice basic calculator to tell you just that. Assuming a consistent return, and a consistent spend with just a couple of numbers you can see how long your portfolio would last. Check it out here - LadyFIRE's Quit Tomorrow Calculator. You'll need to hit the 'File' button and save a copy before you can start playing with the numbers.

Of course, you might not use this number to quit tomorrow and retire early. Maybe this is what you need to start that business you've always dreamed of. While I'm chasing Early Retirement, knowing that I could easily go ten years without working is overwhelmingly comforting.

This calculator maxes out after 125 years of calculations - medical science is great but I doubt I'm going to make it past 150!

Have a poke around at the calculators above and see how you're doing. Is Winter Coming? Will your portfolio get you through the next decade? Are you moving to Brazil?