Beating Brown Bag Boredom

One of the biggest costs of working in an office can be lunches - a 'low cost' takeaway can be $10 a day, whereas a fancier lunch can run up to $30.. plus drinks. For office workers going out to lunch every day can cost up to $100 a week.

Bringing lunch from home (Brown Bagging) is an easy way to bring the costs down, but after a while ham and cheese sandwiches get really boring. While it can be tempting to go out for some variety, it's easy to change up the basics to keep things interesting, and on budget.

Satisfying sandwiches

In summer my sandwiches are ham, cheese, tomato and cucumber. In winter it's ham, cheese and tomato on the grill. While the staples are delicious the same thing week in and week out can get dull. 

Whenever I ask google for some new ideas the suggestions are extremely costly and elaborate. Instead, there are some super simple options to make it interesting.

• Salad dressing and sauces - Thousand Island Dressing, Mayonaisse and Pesto are delicious on a sandwich. A dollar worth of dressing or sauces can last an entire week and turn a same-same sandwich into something new.
• Herbs and spices - salt and pepper are an obvious choice, but a sprinkle of Oregano turns a ham, cheese tomato sandwich into a pizza sandwich. 
• Change up to protein - swap ham for turkey, chicken or roast beef. Each protein has a different flavour and opens the door for different cheese, veg, or sauce options.

Pasta playground

Pasta is a winter favourite, but it's easy to fall into the trap of minced beef, garlic, tomatoes and cheese.

• Change your colour - red sauce pasta is the easy choice, but what about white sauces, that can be creamy, or cheesy, or garlicky. A green sauce can be made with a pesto base, or if you're feeling like something light, a simple lemon juice or olive oil dressing can make a great variety.  
• Protein options - mince beef is the staple for spaghetti, but meatballs can give the same flavour and a new texture. Chicken pairs beautifully with bacon and potato. Turkey tastes wonderful with pesto. Chorizo can add a smokey flavour. 
• Leveraging Keto for comfort - a favourite trick of mine is to take a 'keto' casserole and add pasta. Keto recipes alone can be heavy and expensive, with an abundance or cream and butter. Adding pasta to a keto casserole reduces the cost per serve, and creates a delicious comfort food that warms any winter.

Salads made special

When summer rolls around, pastas are heavy and warm. Leafy greens by themselves might not seem exciting, but there are so many flavours that can be added.

• Sauce it up - sauce is the trick to any tasty salad. There are the obvious ones like thousand island or ceaser dressing, but you can make your own with a little effort. Olive oil, mustard and lemon juice is cheap, tasty, and the oil will help keep you full. Mayonnaise can be flavoured with ketchup, or garlic, or pepper. For an even easier one, mix hummus with a bit of olive oil.
• Meat and Dairy (or tofu and beans) - salads can be boring when it's just vegetables. they have a reputation for being paired with flavourless poached chicken. Instead try different cheeses like feta or haloumi. Try crumbed chicken tenders, or salmon. And don't skimp on the nuts - cashews are both flavour and texture!
• Sweetness - lastly, try sweet additions. strawberries in a salad are divine (mix with feta, cashews, balsamic vinegar and honey). Apples and walnuts go together. Pomegranate seeds add a crunchy texture and a rich taste.

Vegetarian Variety

We have a high dependence on meat to be the stand out star of our meals. Yet, more than two million people are vegetarians. While for many this is a moral or ethical choice, it can also be a benefit to the budget. While it's easy to see a vegetarian diet as a boring one, it forces creativity, especially for those of us who are not so reliant on meat.

When meat is removed from the dish, we're forced to think harder about how to add flavour. Mushrooms and beans are the obvious alternatives, but other stand outs include roast pumpkin, zucchini and eggplant.

You can also draw inspiration from other cultures - lots of Indian and Japanese cuisines are light on meat. Both cultures use large amounts of rice, however the two approaches are markedly different.


If you're struggling to stay inspired, small changes can be some of the better ones - keeping you on an easy routine without letting boredom set in. Once you've tried something new for a while, the old classics will still be waiting for you.

Lifestyle Level-up! New house

Guess what, we bought a house! A real, full sized house. After four and a half years in our 90m2 two-bedroom courtyard home we've decided to stretch out into a three-bedroom, two bathroom monster.

The shitty state of housing options, and the joy of deceased estates

On one hand, the new place is bigger than we really wanted or needed. On the other hand, we'd been looking for over a year and we'd come to the conclusion that there were two options out there: nice, new shoeboxes with no backyard and tiny rooms or places built in the 1960s that needed thousands of dollars work... or a bulldozer. After a year of looking we were starting to think that the perfect place didn't exist. We were even thinking that a 'tolerable not great' place wouldn't be happening. It seemed an impossible dream to find something we liked, and were willing to pay for.

Enter our flashy new place. Built in 2007 it wasn't an off-the-plan home. The original owners had tweaked and pushed, and built a beautiful three bedroom home with space. So much space - the smallest bedroom is 3m x 4m.

However, they also neglected the property for 12 years. They didn't damage the property, but they also didn't upgrade or maintain anything. The front room was painted a horrible plum colour - but lazily badly done with splashes of paint across the power points and window frames. The skirting boards were cracked and the walls were all scratched.

Then the owner passed away and the estate was being managed by relatives out of state. They didn't polish up the property for sale, and didn't maintain it for the three months it was on market.

The end results of this laziness? We purchased the property for $67,000 less than the original asking price. After a coat of paint we both agreed that the property now looks like it's worth what they were asking for it.

This is the second property we've purchased from a deceased estate, and I have to say it's so very worth it. My original property was the last item to be wrapped up in a deceased estate - eight years after the owners passed away. The place we just purchased was also a deceased estate, and the executors of the will lived interstate. In both cases they were keen to unload the property and accepted lower offers for a quick sale.

The awesome parts of the new place

Before I get into the costs (because there are costs) let me gush about how great this new place is...

We are now the overwhelmingly happy owners of:

• Three bedrooms! (or specifically, two bedrooms and a project room)
• 40m2 of living room, PLUS 24m2 of dining room
• A double garage (hello space to put the car away, and all the bikes, AND have a gym.
• 80m2 of GRASS! Well, actually, three corner jacks at the moment, but soon to be grass
• A spa in the en suite bathroom!
• Solar panels
• A dishwasher
• A kitchen big enough to to bulk cook, or to host a dinner party.

At the moment, we've sacrificed half the backyard to the chickens and entrusted them with killing off all the weeds in that area. They now have 10m2 each - the RSPCA recommendation is 1m2 each. They are having a great time and eating much less food. Win-win for everyone!

The only resident not thrilled with the move is poor FIRE-cat. While I thought she'd love having all the extra space, she hasn't settled in yet and is constantly pacing. Fingers crossed she settles in soon. Our first non-essential home upgrade will be putting together a catio so she can roam outside without escaping our yard and killing the wildlife.

Okay, but what does it cost?

Here we go, the thrilling numerical analysis!

Firstly, ownership and the deposit. While I have said 'we' through this whole post, it's important to clarify that I didn't buy this property - it's entirely in Mr. FIRE's name. This has been the plan for a while because I bought the last place entirely in my name. We like to keep our finances separate, so having one person as the property owner, and one as a 'tenant' works really well for us.

In terms of the deposit, this part is shared. We took out a mortgage ($90k) against the equity in my property, and combined it with Mr. FIRE's savings ($30k). Mr. FIRE will be working to pay off this loan first so we can untangle our finances entirely.

Secondly, my old house. I purchased it in late 2014 for $340k, and it's currently valued at $410k. Not only that, but the rental estimate is $350 per week, more than my mortgage repayments. The property isn't anything special, but it's neat, in a nice neighbourhood, and less than half an hour from the CBD (by car, bus or bike). I've been busily getting it ready to rent, and at this stage all that's left is painting, landscaping (bark out the front, grass out the back) and a quick pre-rent scrub.

Prep-costs

I didn't pay for the move - Mr. FIRE hired the truck, and we had a friend come and help. We did shell out a lot more in the last two weeks on junk food because we didn't have the kitchen to cook with, and for a couple of days didn't even have the microwave available.

However I have prep costs before I can rent out my place:

• Front of house landscaping: $200 (bark purchase), lots of weeding (about an hours effort)
• Back of house landscaping: Levelling the ground (2hours digging), purchasing lawn $100-$120, laying and watering it down (another 2-3hours)
• Inside house : 2-4 hours worth of packing and cleaning left
• Painting: $2,400
• Deep carpet clean: under $100 (I need this done properly, cat fur is everywhere)
• Possible professional clean: $600 (If I get this done, it will be in place of the carpet clean. If paying cleaners gets tenants into the house 2-weeks earlier, than it's worth doing.)

In total, I'll need to spend $2,800 - $3,320 to have the house ready to rent out.

Ongoing costs

Once I've got tenants into my old property and settled in, I'll be earning and spending more money. I'm estimating that all utilities costs will not change - while we have solar panels on the new property, we also have a bigger space to heat and cool. The new house has a better air conditioner, so I suspect the utilities will be lower, however I can't confirm and I don't plan to estimate based on that.

Costs for the old house:

• Mortgage: P&I payments of $1,000 a month. Interest costs are only $700 per month.
• Council rates: $93 p/month
• Water Fees: $60 p/month
• Emergency Services Levy: $10p/month
• Insurance: $30 p/month

Total outgoings: $893p/month (or $1193 including principle repayments)

Income from the old house:

• Base Rent: $335 per week or $1450p/month - this is lower than the appraised rent, I'm being conservative :) 
• Subtract fees and charges, estimate 10% - leaves $1305 in my pocket
• Vacancies, estimate one month a year as a worst case, subtract a month of income.

Total income: $1196p/month

'Rent' at the new house:

Since Mr. FIRE owns the house and is fully responsible for the mortgages, I pay him rent. This is what we did when I owned the house and it works really well

• Rent: $350p/fortnight, or $758p/month (26 fortnights in a year)

Things I don't pay at the new house:

This is important, because I'm 'renting' I won't be paying the following things for the new house, they will be entirely Mr. FIREs costs.

• Council rates: $93 p/month
• Emergency Services Levy: $10p/month
• Home insurance (I still pay contents): $15p/month

Since I'm not paying for them, living in the new house will be 'cheaper'. It's all funny money, but arguably I save $118 per month by not paying these.

Total cashflow: $1,196 rent in, $758 rent out, $893 costs out, $118 reduced costs = -$337 per month

In a nutshell...

So what does this mean in a nutshell? It means I now own 2 rental properties, the original which is negatively geared, and the new which is positively geared. At the end of a year they should roughly zero out, and as I pay down the mortgages I'll start seeing positive cash flow. It also means that all my home loans are now tax deductible.

I'm 'renting' a lovely 3 bedroom house for $350 a fortnight. This is roughly the same amount I was paying in interest on my old house. Plus I'm saving on the costs of council rates, emergency services and insurance.

The above is a worst case scenario though. I've dropped the estimated rent by 10%, and then put in a full month of vacancy over a year. If the property is not vacant, and receives the estimated rent I'll only be paying an extra $170 a month to live in a new house that is literally double the size.

Mr. FIRE and I are currently discussing whether or not we get a house mate - we have the space for it, and if we have a third person living in the house we could (hypothetically) reduce my fortnightly rent to $200, as well as charging the other person $200. Or even charge that person more, $100 a week is cheap-cheap! I've looked into housing an international student - which pays the princely sum of $280 a week, however we need to feed them and cover their utilities 

I am keen to do a three- six- and twelve-month review on what this move actually costs, versus what I have estimated it to cost. Even if my estimates are out, we are stoked with the move and the space. Importantly we're one step closer to starting a family.... by which we mean get a dog. Or three.

Skip boring side hustles and monetise your hobbies

Side Hustles have become all the rage in the last few years. Whether it's caused by stagnating wages, lack of attachment to our careers, a desire to earn more, or dipping the toe into self-employment, the rates of side hustles are rising. To go with it are rising stress levels are we find ourselves working eight hours a day at our regular job, and another 2-3 hours on our side hustles.

For many people side hustles equal burnout. It means less time on our hobbies, less time with our friends and family, and less time recharging doing nothing.

Still keen to side hustle? The trick is in your choices.

Everyday I'm hustlin'

I have a crazy idea. I think that every single person reading this is already doing something they can make money from. That something might not be the next Google (heck, it probably isn't) but it is worth $20 a month, you just need to slap a price tag on it and do some quick advertising. 

If you want it to be the next Google, then you're going to have to put in some serious effort and thinking about what your market niche is, how to price it, and how to advertise it. 

However, if you want to start today, all you need is a lick of courage and a dash of inspiration.

Okay, sales pitch aside - I'm not going to sell you anything - here's a list of ways that I could be making money from things I already do. 

Hustle life

The Great Outdoors

Do you like hiking? Do you like dogs? I love both of these things. There are people out there who have built businesses out of taking peoples dogs on hikes! This isn't your regular boring 20 minute jaunt around the neighbourhood. We're talking adventure!

You can make a few dollars walking dogs around your neighbourhood if that's your jam, but you can do even better with adventures. Tom and his dog Captain do adventures for $29 an hour per dog, and take up to six dogs on each adventure. That's $174 per trip! In his case, the dogs are collected in the van, then taken walking (off-lead!) through national parks, playing in fields, and jumping in lakes.

You could get started with minimal outlay, get some seat covers for the car, a bag full of treats, some collapsible water bowls and you're set. The dog owner can supply leashes, and any walking harness their dog might use.

Maybe you aren't comfortable taking that risk with other peoples dogs - you could be a tour guide instead! Finding dog friendly spaces can be difficult, so people will be willing to pay for you to lead a hike through dog friendly places, especially if you can show them your favourite watering holes.

Don't like dogs? Do it without them. National Parks run their own hiking tours, but there is nothing stopping you advertising yourself as a guide and making some new friends along the way - just make sure you aren't misleading people about your qualifications.

Of course, not everyone likes other people. If exploring the great outdoors is your alone time, and you don't want to interrupt that, maybe you could capture it instead. Videography and Photography aren't easy, and they definitely won't give you the same cash-in-hand experience, but it's an avenue you can explore.

Create It, Sell It

If you're already creating things, odds are you could sell those things. I don't just mean bead bracelets on etsy (although that can be lucrative if that's your jam). There are many many forms of creating, and many different ways of doing it.

If you like drawing, you don't need to draw photo-realistic art on commission to make money from it. Perhaps you like doing goofy, snarky cartoons? You could list those on RedBubble, offer it up as a sticker, on a mug, or a t-shirt.

If you love photography, it's not all wedding photography and maternity shoots. You can list your snaps on Shutterstock, Alamy or iStock. While you'll get paid more to go to an event, or do a specific shoot, you can generate passive income through sales - just list it and wait for the royalties to roll in.

I won't pretend selling art is easy, but if you already create these things just for fun, there are ways you can sell them. 

Growing a money tree

The obvious one here is to grow and sell fruits and vegetables. However since that's obvious, let's skip to some other ideas.

If you have half a green thumb, you can propagate plants and sell the sprouts. Let me open by saying I am terrible at gardening. I cannot grow anything from seed, ever. My chickens are better at growing seeds than I am (in fact, half my plants come from the seeds they didn't eat that have sprouted).

However, even I and my lack of seed raising skill can propagate plants. If you have a tomato plant, you can cut off all the sucker shoots when their 10-15cm, stick them in a pot of dirt and have another plant in a couple of weeks. The same trick works for most perennials herbs, raspberries and other vine plants. If you're growing strawberries you can split out the runners. 

Anything that you can propagate, you can sell and since it didn't cost you anything, it's all profit.

Of course, if you're terrible at plants you can still turn a profit from and empty patch of dirt. Chickens are wonderfully easy to raise and lay an egg a day. You can cut down the feed costs by collecting kitchen scraps, or even collecting scraps from your local cafe. At the moment four chickens cost me less than $15 a month to feed, and lay over 80 eggs a month. If I sold all the eggs I could turn a $20 profit each month, but I like eggs and I tend to eat them myself.

If you're really truly terrible in the garden and don't want to raise animals, you could still make money from compost. Simply mound up your kitchen scraps and throw your shredded newspapers and bills on top. Flip it over once a month, and when it's nice and crumbly throw it in a bag.

Okay, admittedly that last one won't make you much money. But this isn't a list of the Most Profitable Side Hustles. This is a list of all the ways you could make a bit of money from things you're already doing. If you're already gardening, there are ways you could be making some money from that. If you hate gardening... don't pick this.

Video Games

Lastly, just to prove there is potential money in everything, you could be making money from playing video games! With either YouTube or Twitch you can stream yourself playing video games for the whole world to see, and to pay you for! In terms or start up costs, all you need is a microphone and (optionally) a webcam. As an easier option, you can just buy a gaming headset, or use one you already have. All the software you need is available free online to set up, stream and edit videos.

While you're starting out you won't see much success, but even small youtube channels can make $5-$10 for a 20 minute video with minimal editing. You can have a look at the (estimated) numbers here: https://influencermarketinghub.com/youtube-money-calculator/

Hustlin' smarter, not harder

Maybe some of these things resonate with you, maybe they don't. The point is that to launch a side hustle you don't need to fire up Google and search for a listicle of the 'highest paying side hustles', or '20 coolest side hustles'. Your time is valuable, and rather than trading time for money, I encourage you to find a way to make money with the things you're doing for free.

Admittedly you can make more money with a dedicated side hustle. But you could also fail and flop terribly at a side hustle that cost you money to set up and you didn't enjoy.

Worst case? You don't make any money. When you were already knitting, playing video games, hiking, drawing, snapping photos... what have you lost?

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.

The oft forgotten value of doing absolutely nothing

The average adult makes 35,000 decisions a day. Ranging from breakfast, to business deals, to whether to bother to find matching socks, to how to politely tell your annoying coworker to chew with their mouth shut, we do a lot of thinking.

I'm going to bluntly and honestly say I'm tired of thinking! Instead I challenge you to embrace the oft forgotten value of doing absolutely nothing.

Obama's suit, Steve Jobs turtle neck and Mark Zuckerbergs t-shirt

What do these three guys have in common and why do I care about their clothes? Because all three of them decided to wear the same thing every day. While most of us make 35,000 decisions a day that affect our lives, Zuckerberg and Jobs are/were running massive tech empires, and Obama was running the entire United States.

While I might stress out over whether I want to get a snack, or finish my report, these guys decisions had a big impact. By choosing to wear the same outfit every day they saved their thinking power for things that really mattered.

Decision fatigue

Decision fatigue is the reason why we eat fast food instead of cooking for dinner when we haven't got a meal plan in place.  It's the reason we lay on the couch flicking through 67 channels but not watching anything. 

When decision fatigue hits it leads to throwing your hands in the air and shouting 'I don't care anymore' even when it's something you are really passionate about. In my case, it lead to crying in the shower Tuesday morning.

Stuff the side hustles!

I asked on Twitter what side hustles people were pursuing and one answer really stuck out to me.

Thanks Happy Camper!

Between this blog, freelance writing, being a member of two committees and the board for Roller Derby I am beat. I'll be honest, I can't keep up this pace and my main hustle is suffering because of it.

I once read a blog about freelancing that said "If I'm just going to lie on my couch watching Jerry Springer reruns, I might as well be writing articles at $2 a pop. It's better than nothing". I lived this for years, feeling guilty when I wasn't chasing contracts. Every time I took a cheap contract, I figured it was better than watching reruns.

I now need to say fuck that. My relaxation and rejuvenation is worth more than that crappy $2 articles. My mental health is more important than my wallet.

"My mental health is more important than my wallet."

I have one outstanding contract to work through, and then I'm taking a hiatus from freelance work. The return on investment for my time is minimal, and compared to my stress levels it's absolutely not worth it.

The oft forgotten value of doing absolutely nothing

So what am I doing instead of my side hustle? Absolutely bloody nothing! I am going to reserve my precious thinking power for my every day job. If I can lock in a measly 1% pay rise at the end of the year, I'll earn an extra $700 in 2018. To build a side hustle that effective I would have to neglect my sleep, my health and my boyfriend more than I already am.

Instead, I am giving myself permission to do nothing. I'm going to play video games. I'm going to read books. I'm going to bake more delicious snacks while watching Sons of Anarchy and all the other TV shows I bought on DVD back when I was a kid with too much disposable income and no idea what to do with it.

I will be having more naps!

I give myself permission to spend my downtime however I want. And once I have recovered from this fatigue (and the sun comes out, bring on summer!) I look forward to a better relationship, being happier at work (bring on that pay rise!) and having the energy to pursue things I love, not just those that might make an extra dollar.

Just a couple of days after making this decision I'm already feeling better, and my brain has kicked up a notch. When I was in high school I wrote half a novel, with this extra time on my hands my brain has run straight back to it. Perhaps NaNoWriMo is in my future.

Lost income from Side Hustling: About $50 a month
Costs of DVDs: Free (now, they were about $40 each ten years ago)
Getting back my time, energy and passion: Priceless