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31

Journals / Re: Tilting at Windmills

« on: February 08, 2019, 12:29:40 PM »

Health January 2019

Health Metrics January 2019

Code: [Select]

| Category | This Month | Last Month |
|----------|------------|------------|
| Weight   |     195    |     201    |

Getting back on track after slipping on the food front for the last few holiday months of 2018. I got back up to 201 lbs by the end of December from a low of 174 lbs. This was mostly due to diet as I did keep working out 5 times a week, but when I don't watch what I'm eating as much there is no amount of working out that can burn it off. Thankfully got it moving in the right direction and lost about 6 lbs in January.

Now that I'm no longer living with my ex-wife it has been easier to control what I eat as I only have to account for my weak moments and don't have someone bringing in unhealthy food or constantly trying to convince me to eat out or get fast food etc. I can handle my own weak moments for the most part(at least enough to maintain progress on weight loss), but not when I have someone else sabotaging me too.

Workout Progress January 2019

Mondays(Back Day):

Code: [Select]

| Exercise                | Reps | Lbs | Cals | Time |
|-------------------------|------|-----|------|------|
| Pull Ups                |   20 | -45 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Pull Ups                |   15 | -45 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Pull Ups                |   12 | -45 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Pull Ups                |   10 | -45 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Pull Ups                |   10 | -45 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Push Ups                |   19 | N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| Push Ups                |   19 | N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| Push Ups                |   19 | N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| Push Ups                |   19 | N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| Push Ups                |   19 | N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A |  134 |  10m |
| Plank                   | N/A |  N/A | N/A  |  60s |
| Plank                   | N/A |  N/A | N/A  |  60s |
| Plank                   | N/A |  N/A | N/A  |  60s |
| Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns |   12 | 125 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns |   12 | 125 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns |   12 | 125 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns |   12 | 125 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Strength Row     |   12 | 115 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Strength Row     |   12 | 115 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Strength Row     |   12 | 115 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Strength Row     |   12 | 115 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A |  139 |  10m |
| Leg Raises              |  12 |  N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Raises              |  12 |  N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Raises              |  12 |  N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| One Arm Row             |   12 |  60 | N/A  | N/A  |
| One Arm Row             |   12 |  60 | N/A  | N/A  |
| One Arm Row             |   12 |  60 | N/A  | N/A  |
| One Arm Row             |   12 |  60 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Back Hyperextensions    |   25 |  35 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Back Hyperextensions    |   20 |  35 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Back Hyperextensions    |   15 |  35 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Back Hyperextensions    |   15 |  35 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A |  133 |  10m |
| Side Plank              | N/A |  N/A | N/A  |  60s |
| Side Plank              | N/A |  N/A | N/A  |  60s |
| Side Plank              | N/A |  N/A | N/A  |  60s |
Tuesdays(Chest Day):

Code: [Select]

| Exercise                    | Reps | Lbs | Cals | Time |
|-----------------------------|------|-----|------|------|
| Bench Press                 |   12 | 110 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Bench Press                 |   10 | 120 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Bench Press                 |    8 | 130 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Bench Press                 |    6 | 140 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Bench Press                 |    4 | 160 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Bench Press                 |    4 | 160 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Bench Press                 |    4 | 160 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Bench Press                 |    4 | 160 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                      | N/A  | N/A | 207  |  15m |
| Incline Bench Press         |   12 | 100 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Incline Bench Press         |   12 | 100 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Incline Bench Press         |   12 | 100 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Incline Bench Press         |   12 | 100 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Strength Bench Press |   15 | 100 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Strength Bench Press |   15 | 100 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Strength Bench Press |   15 | 100 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Strength Bench Press |   15 | 100 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                      | N/A  | N/A | 200  |  15m |
| Weighted Dips               |   10 | -35 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Weighted Dips               |   10 | -35 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Weighted Dips               |   10 | -35 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Weighted Dips               |   10 | -35 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Chest Fly                   |   12 | 105 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Chest Fly                   |   12 | 105 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Chest Fly                   |   12 | 105 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Chest Fly                   |   12 | 105 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                      | N/A  | N/A | 205  |  15m |
Wednesday(Leg Day):

Code: [Select]

| Exercise                | Reps | Lbs | Cals | Time |
|-------------------------|------|-----|------|------|
| Deadlifts               |   12 | 125 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Deadlifts               |   10 | 125 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Deadlifts               |    8 | 125 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Deadlifts               |    6 | 125 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Plank                   | N/A |  N/A | N/A  |  60s |
| Plank                   | N/A |  N/A | N/A  |  60s |
| Plank                   | N/A |  N/A | N/A  |  60s |
| Leg Press               |   39 | 540 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Press               |   39 | 450 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Press               |   46 | 360 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Press               |   50 | 270 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Press               |   50 | 180 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Press               |   50 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Raises              |  12 |  N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Raises              |  12 |  N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Raises              |  12 |  N/A | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Extension           |   20 | 140 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Extension           |   20 | 140 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Extension           |   20 | 140 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Curls               |   20 |  95 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Curls               |   20 |  95 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Curls               |   20 |  95 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Calf Raise              |   20 | 160 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Calf Raise              |   20 | 160 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Calf Raise              |   20 | 160 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Side Plank              | N/A |  N/A | N/A  |  60s |
| Side Plank              | N/A |  N/A | N/A  |  60s |
| Side Plank              | N/A |  N/A | N/A  |  60s |
Thursday(Shoulder Day):

Code: [Select]

| Exercise                | Reps | Lbs | Cals | Time |
|-------------------------|------|-----|------|------|
| Military Press          |   10 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Military Press          |    8 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Military Press          |    6 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Military Press          |    5 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Military Press          |    4 |  90 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Military Press          |    3 | 100 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Military Press          |    3 | 100 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A | 141  |  10m |
| Arnold Press            |   12 |  80 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Arnold Press            |   12 |  70 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Arnold Press            |   12 |  70 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Arnold Press            |   12 |  70 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Barbell Shrugs          |   12 | 110 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Barbell Shrugs          |   12 | 110 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Barbell Shrugs          |   12 | 110 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Barbell Shrugs          |   12 | 110 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A | 141  |  10m |
| Lateral Raises          |   12 |  35 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Lateral Raises          |   12 |  35 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Lateral Raises          |   12 |  35 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Front Raises            |   12 |  35 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Front Raises            |   12 |  35 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Front Raises            |   12 |  35 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Rear Delt Flys          |   12 |  75 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Rear Delt Flys          |   12 |  75 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Rear Delt Flys          |   12 |  75 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A | 154  |  10m |
Friday(Arm Day):

Code: [Select]

| Exercise                | Reps | Lbs   | Cals | Time |
|-------------------------|------|-------|------|------|
| Barbell Curls           |   10 |  80   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Barbell Curls           |   10 |  80   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Barbell Curls           |   10 |  80   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Skull Crushers          |   10 |  60   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Skull Crushers          |   10 |  60   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Skull Crushers          |   10 |  60   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A   |  134 |  10m |
| Plank                   | N/A  |  N/A  | N/A  |  60s |
| Plank                   | N/A  |  N/A  | N/A  |  60s |
| Plank                   | N/A  |  N/A  | N/A  |  60s |
| Preacher Curls          |   10 |  65   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Preacher Curls          |   10 |  65   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Preacher Curls          |   10 |  65   | N/A  | N/A  |
| French Curls            |   10 |  55   | N/A  | N/A  |
| French Curls            |   10 |  55   | N/A  | N/A  |
| French Curls            |   10 |  55   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A   |  134 |  10m |
| Leg Raises              |   12 |  N/A  | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Raises              |   12 |  N/A  | N/A  | N/A  |
| Leg Raises              |   12 |  N/A  | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Curls            |   10 |  55   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Curls            |   10 |  55   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Hammer Curls            |   10 |  55   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Tricep Rope Pull Downs  |   10 |  47.5 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Tricep Rope Pull Downs  |   10 |  47.5 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Tricep Rope Pull Downs  |   10 |  47.5 | N/A  | N/A  |
| Cardio                  | N/A  | N/A   |  136 |  10m |
| Side Plank              | N/A  |  N/A  | N/A  |  60s |
| Side Plank              | N/A  |  N/A  | N/A  |  60s |
| Side Plank              | N/A  |  N/A  | N/A  |  60s |
| Wrist Curls             |   20 |  50   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Wrist Curls             |   20 |  50   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Wrist Curls             |   20 |  50   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Reverse Wrist Curls     |   20 |  40   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Reverse Wrist Curls     |   20 |  40   | N/A  | N/A  |
| Reverse Wrist Curls     |   20 |  40   | N/A  | N/A  |

32

Journals / Re: Tilting at Windmills

« on: February 08, 2019, 12:29:07 PM »

Finances January 2019

Still calculating the finances as 50% of our shared expenses as the divorce wasn't finalised yet and we were still sharing expenses.

Income January 2019

Code: [Select]

| Category     |    $   |   %   |
|--------------|--------|-------|
| Total        | 11,503 | 100.0 |
| Paychecks    |  2,915 |  25.3 |
| 401k         |  3,282 |  28.5 |
| ESPP         |  5,096 |  44.3 |
| HSA          |    210 |   1.8 |
This month's income was a lot higher than usual, as it included the first pay check covering my holiday pay for December and the employee stock purchase program paid out the stocks that were paid into for the last 6 months. This is also the first month I'm putting in and maxing out my employer HSA.

Spending January 2019

Code: [Select]

| Category     |   $   |   %   |
|--------------|-------|-------|
| Total        | 5,978 | 100.0 |
| Pets         | 2,146 |  35.8 |
| Mortgage     |   737 |  12.3 |
| Rent         |   700 |  11.7 |
| Food         |   485 |   8.1 |
| Legal        |   366 |   6.1 |
| Entertainment|   355 |   5.9 |
| Health       |   254 |   4.2 |
| Electronics  |   246 |   4.1 |
| Bills        |   126 |   2.1 |
| Auto         |    69 |   1.1 |
| Insurance    |    57 |   2.0 |
| Other        |    24 |   0.9 |
This month's expenses were absolutely awful.

One of our dogs started pooping blood and had to spend 3 days in observation at the vet along with a ton of tests which adds up quick along with the medicine he needed after. All told the treatment of this ended up costing over 4k. Thankfully he seems to be doing fine now, but was definitely a huge unexpected expense.

Along with that halfway into the month my ex-wife wanted me to move out asap rather than when the divorce was final on her psychologist's recommendation. This changed plans a decent bit, good news is I found a room I could rent for probably the next year that's $600 month utilities includes and is a 10 minute walk or about 6 minutes on bicycle from work and maybe 15 and 8 minutes for each of those to the grocery store. The downside though is that as this happened while we were still married January had both a mortgage payment and a big lump sum for rent both for the last week of January, February and a month for the last month on the room. This about doubled out expenses on roofs over our heads in January. On the flip side I won't have any rent on my February budget at all since it's already been paid.

There was an increase in eating out and gas as my wife and her sister have been travelling back and forth(she lives about 3 hours from us) to spend time together and going out to party and restaurants together. I contributed a little bit to this too by ordering Chinese for me and the new housemates to celebrate the move the day I moved.

There were also more legal fees related to hiring a lawyer to write a decree of divorce for us and they charge a minimum of 3 hours of work even if it comes in at less than that.

Net Worth January 2019

Code: [Select]

| Category     |    $    |   %   |
|--------------|---------|-------|
| Total        | 240,326 | 100.0 |
| Cash         |   7,323 |       |
| Home         | 110,171 |       |
| Investments  | 185,411 |       |
| Credit       |  -1,050 |       |
| Mortgage     | -61,529 |       |
Net worth went up about 17.5k from the previous month mostly thanks to the market bouncing back.

Spending/Savings Rate January 201

Code: [Select]

| Category     |    $    |   %   |
|--------------|---------|-------|
| Income       |  11,503 | 100.0 |
| Spending     |   5,978 |  51.9 |
| Savings      |   5,525 |  48.0 |

33

General Discussion / Re: Divorce and the clean slate

« on: February 08, 2019, 10:45:34 AM »

and as of yesterday the divorce is final so now that chapter is pretty much closed and starting with this month I'll be able to shift my budgeting, income and expenses to personal ones rather than shared.

34

General Discussion / Re: Divorce and the clean slate

« on: January 29, 2019, 05:30:59 PM »

Yeah, I'm very happy with the new living situation. Being single I don't have a need for a house by myself or even a full apartment. I would much rather be closer to work and spend less at this time. The new roommates have been very nice so far too.

Getting the second draft should only be a few days maybe a week, but then it sounds like getting in front of a judge will be a few more weeks which wasn't the impression we originally got. So all in all it's moving even further back and the estimate is not hopefully before end of February.

35

General Discussion / Re: Divorce and the clean slate

« on: January 29, 2019, 08:03:38 AM »

Well finally moved out this past weekend. Still working on the divorce though. The lawyer wrote up a first draft of the decree of divorce and once we have some questions answered either we can sign that or get a second draft to sign then we will have to go court and have a judge approve it.

I'm renting a bedroom near work. It's close to work. Only about 10 minute walk from my room to my desk which has been amazing, on a bicycle it's only about 6 minutes. I'm also going from a 3 bed 2.5 bath house for about 1500 a month in rent to a bedroom for 600 for rent and utilities included, so not only saving on not needing a car with it's costs but also saving on rent and utilities. At least once the divorce is final and we aren't technically paying for both the house and room.

36

Journals / Re: Tilting at Windmills

« on: January 22, 2019, 02:25:13 PM »

Well just finished fixing my iPhone 6S Plus, the battery was failing it's health test and struggling to get through half a day if it was being used at all, the screen cracked(the final nail in the coffin) and the headphone jack was broken.

I ended up looking at my options, but due to it being out of warranty, having a cracked screen and other problems a repair by apple would have been over $300 and I wasn't ready to upgrade either(have the option, just don't want to).

For the same amount I could get all the parts needed and the tools needed to install those parts. It wouldn't mean financial savings up front but I'd have the tools to do it again for more significant savings. I can also use those tools to repair other electronics and possibly even repair other people's devices for a profit down the line.

All in all was about an hour of work and although I was holding my breath when trying to power it back on after replacing that many parts it powered on, screen is working, home button still works, battery works and the headphone jack is working again so a complete success. I would suspect for individual repairs with a little practice I could get it down to 30 minutes or so of work.

37

Expat life / Re: Where to get books while traveling?

« on: January 14, 2019, 06:20:24 PM »

I would say it depends a lot on where you're going and how long you're staying. If you are moving abroad long term and staying in the same location maybe you can get a local library membership. If you're going to be moving a lot that might complicate things. There's a lot of free books on archive.org though of course these have to be public domain so it's mostly just going to be old books, but if you haven't read all the classics yet it might be worth doing that while you don't have other options. Another option although it isn't ebooks is purchasing used books locally and selling them for a similar amount recouping the cost some/completely. There are also website that will show you which kindle books are free that day or track prices.

38

Journals / Re: Tilting at Windmills

« on: January 07, 2019, 03:32:48 PM »

Thanks, I'm looking to kind of get a fresh start and start with having very little and build up to a level I feel comfortable at rather than slowly paring down to a level I'm comfortable at. I'm actually pretty comfortable with not all that much as far as possessions and events go. My life for the past 10 years was dictated in large portion by my wife and how frugal she was willing to be. So I never got down to a level where I felt like I was missing out. Given that we still spent about 60k last year saying that makes me feel kind of like an ass though. That the amount we spent with me pushing to cut costs is still higher than the median income in the US. So not that great of an achievement in frugality.

The market swings definitely are noticeable as the past few months have show knocking out most work I've put towards increasing net worth over the past 6 months. However I just keep in mind that I'm buying shares(index funds) so even if the monetary value is lower the actual amount of shares is higher thus more potential for growth and also higher dividends. I do my best to try staying positive XD.

I'm not that huge in to cycling and running, I don't hate them and do them some for financial and health reasons, but once things get settled after the divorce and things have stabilised I'd like to start doing archery more again. I was doing it 1-2 times a week up to a few months ago.

39

Taxes / Re: Mega Roth Rollover for Post-Tax Contributions for 401k

« on: January 07, 2019, 03:24:41 PM »

Some 401k's allow you to do the former some only allow what you're doing in which case rolling it over to a Roth IRA is the best option.

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General Discussion / Re: Divorce and the clean slate

« on: January 07, 2019, 03:21:39 PM »

Thanks, the appraisal was complete and there's a little smidge of schadenfreude in that I didn't want the appraisal and just wanted to go with the Zillow value despite me believing the actual value was higher than the Zillow value. My wife insisted on the appraisal because she believed the value was lower than the Zillow value. The appraisal ended up coming back about 4% higher than Zillow value.

We've come to an agreement as to how to split the finances given the house value and that'll be going to a lawyer to write up so we can go before a judge to have it all finalised. According to the lawyer it should be all done before February so that's nice.

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Journals / Re: Tilting at Windmills

« on: January 04, 2019, 09:52:09 AM »

Yeah, I noticed it a lot myself. When I was 230 Lbs, hadn't worked out in years and was eating like crap on evenings and the weekend all I had the energy to do was sit in front of the TV/play video games etc. Things that didn't require me moving much. Once I started working out 5 times a week I found that despite expending so much energy working out so much I had far more energy in the evenings and weekends. It's almost as if my body is asking to be used to do things. Plus as I get older I've been more attentive of older people and how they have aged with their lifestyles and it's noticeable between people who have taken care of their health and those who haven't. Moving closer to work and cycling to work should help me both financially and health wise.

Finally it can also be seen as a financial investment as being healthy and active reduces your odds of disease a lot. So I feel it's also an important part of FIRE.

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Journals / Re: Tilting at Windmills

« on: January 03, 2019, 07:44:08 AM »

Thanks, yeah finances and health are just one of many things we aren't on the same page with and not that you have to be on the same page for everything. However the more major life decisions you differ on the worse it'll be for the chances of success in your marriage. I'm hoping by starting fresh with minimal expenses and taking some time to save and then build from there will allow me to get through this without too much risk.

As for the health aspect, I wasn't really focused on my health until my late twenties and would definitely recommend keeping up with it, even if you happen to be skinny eating healthy food and working out is going to make you feel better/more energetic and in the long run those benefits increase as you age.

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General Discussion / Re: Keto on a Budget

« on: January 02, 2019, 11:18:39 AM »

Added Chicken & Shrooms to dinner recipes. It's a very cheap and easy meal that requires minimal work to prepare. Perfect for busy or lazy days.

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General Discussion / Re: Divorce and the clean slate

« on: January 02, 2019, 10:19:33 AM »

Progress has been a little slower than hoped on this front.

The original plan was to have everything wrapped up by the end of 2018. However, as the last quarter of the year is a busy time for us both at work and of course the holidays themselves things are going slower than hoped. Currently we are waiting for the appraisal of our home to come back at which point we will be able to determine how we are splitting the finances, then we can get the paperwork written up and verified by a lawyer after which all that should be left is going before a judge to complete the process. The hope now is to have this done before the end of January.

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Journals / Tilting at Windmills

« on: January 02, 2019, 10:16:27 AM »

I guess the start of the new year is as good a time as any to start a Journal. I'll start it with a short recap of last year and my goals for the upcoming year.


2018 Recap:

Finances:
Income -  $136k
Expenses - $60k
Savings Rate - 56%
Net Worth Start - $405k
Net Worth End - $445k

Not at all happy on this one. 2017 spending was 50k and my goal was actually to get that closer to 40k so this year was a rather large increase when I was hoping to lower spending. Almost all of this 10k increase in spending was done after we decided to get divorced(unfortunate, but not too surprising). This is the downside of being financially tied to someone, if you agree on your goals it can really boost things. If you don't though it is going to be worse than it ever would be when you are in full control of your own finances. The year started strong and ended weak. Both due to deciding on the divorce and this removing any motivation my wife has to appease my spending wishes and the market downturn which took us down from almost 490k net worth to 445k at the end. A shame, but to stay positive it's still up 40k from the start of the year. However with the divorce this will soon be halved so about $222.5k will be mine after the divorce.

Lesson learned, be careful in your chosen partner as they can be a major support or can fight you on your goals. If the goals you don't align on aren't that important to you this might not be a problem, but if they are important to you this can be a major cause for friction.

Health:
Start - 230 Lbs
End - 195 Lbs
Loss - 35 Lbs

I hadn't set any health goals last year beyond a general east healthier and work out.. Similarly to the finances started the year great then took a dive near the end, but still ended up ahead of where I started. Got down to about 175 Lbs at the lightest and need to get back to that. Hopefully once the divorce is over and I have 100% control over what food is around me I'll have an easier time making good progress again plus no food based holidays for quite a while again. I thankfully have managed not to lose progress in my weight training in this same time so at least that part has continued to progress slowly.

Lesson learned here is actually quite similar to the Financial one. So the big lesson is get a partner that is supportive of your goals as dealing with a partner that doesn't care about you achieving your goals is going to undermine progress.


Goals 2019

I'm going to actually try setting some more defined goals this year.

Financial Goals:

Currently personal invested net worth is about $225.5k, given that I'm in the middle of a divorce this is only a rough estimation about how much I would have after the divorce is over so it's simply half of our combined net worth. Over 2019 I would like to invest an additional 50k to increase this to at least about 275k(depending on market performance of course) before the end of 2019.

Meanwhile I would like to take the divorce and 2019 to drastically reduce my expenses and use the saved money towards a 20% downpayment for a home closer to work. I would like to save 20k in cash for this purpose.

I'm looking to move closer to work and find a much smaller place to stay. Pretty much as small and cheap as I can get for the first year. This way I can save both on rent and on transit.

I also want to stop owning a car and switch to primarily using a bicycle to get to work and groceries. For longer trips that don't require any hauling I might hold on to my motorcycle and for any hauling(this will probably rarely happen) I'll see if anyone I know can help me out or just rent a truck or van from home depot/uhaul etc.

If I can manage these things I should achieve a savings rate of over 90% and would effectively be FI at that spending rate(though this wouldn't be a sustainable spending long term). Not planning on maintaining this high a savings rate/spending in perpetuity, but at least for the first year to save up some money quickly to solidify my housing situation. I'm not completely sure on what I want the housing situation to be, but I'll have a year to figure it out and having some cash for it will be good regardless on what I end up doing.

Health Goals:

Currently at just under 200 Lbs, I want to set my goal to get to 170 Lbs by the end of the year while still focusing on increasing muscle mass. This should be doable as I actually got quite close to it at my lowest(174 Lbs) this year, just need to make sure I get back on track. This would mean losing about 2-3 Lbs a month on average which is well within reasonable limits. I'm guessing just getting back on track after the holidays I will probably drop at least 5 Lbs including water weight in the first week after which it'll slow down significantly. Once I get to 170 things might get tougher to track as I'll be needing to focus more on composition rather than weight on the scale, so I'll have to figure that out when I get there.

Keep going to the gym 5 times a week at least.

Make sure to get at least 3 sessions in the sauna per week.

Other Goals:

Complete at least 1 video game per month.

Complete 1 Fiction book per month.

Complete 1 Non-Fiction book per month.


I'll also try to keep up monthly reports of progress towards these goals.