Comments on: Income/Expenses Report – 12/2014

By: DividendDeveloper

DividendDeveloper — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 01:04:04 +0000

Hey, it’s Culver’s! Definitely worth it. Seriously, sorry it happened to you as well. At least we’re learning from it and have SOs that understand and support us regardless. That is actually about what I’m going to be bringing down in the future, I think. With the proper deductions, I’ll be bringing home roughly $4,200 as well. But 15% is rough! Wow, at least you get healthcare and good things like that in exchange. Thanks for stopping by!

By: DividendDeveloper

DividendDeveloper — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 22:17:23 +0000

Congrats to her! Thankfully, my girlfriend is already frugal, but I’m so extreme, it gets annoying. Live and learn, right? Takes getting used to for both of us. Thanks for stopping by!

By: Nick Brigman

Nick Brigman — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 04:24:31 +0000

Hey DD,

Sorry to hear about your rough patches this month but I’m sure you will bounce back quickly. I know my “greed” for being frugal has made my girlfriend mad a time or two. It can be hard when people have different philosophies on money, but I got my girlfriend to make a budget for the first time ever…baby steps.

Still, over $3,000 dollars invested in the month, I’d call that a win.

-Nick

By: DividendDeveloper

DividendDeveloper — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 16:22:27 +0000

Really appreciate your comment, Eric. That’s a very useful way at looking at things. Hell, at my pay level, $6 is less than 8 minutes of work. The problem is I tend to be a bit more negative on these things than most. I blow it out of proportion because I think I am scared that if I slip up once on a small purchase, the next mistake will be a little larger, then turn into two, then three, and then I am screwed. I know it’s happened before. I think my thought process was “if I nip it in the bud now, my chances of making a big mistake are lessened.” I just didn’t think of the collateral damage. I really gotta remind myself of what you said: “FIRE is obviously not worth it if those you love resent you over it.” Heh, I should put that on a sticky note next to my bed as a reminder. Thanks again.

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 15:15:19 +0000

DD,
Thanks for the candid story about the ice cream. My wife and I have had those types of “talks.” FIRE is obviously not worth it if those you love resent you over it.

When my wife wants something for herself or our baby that I view as a luxury–like just today we bought a snowsuit for the baby, it was $50–I do a little trick in my head.

I know we could use a snowsuit. It will get a lot of good use between our current child and future children, but $50 sure seems like overpaying; I bet I could get it for $20 if we downgraded the quality, brand, newness. So, in my head, I’m “wasting” $30, just as you felt you were wasting $6.

I just tell myself this, how long will ER be put off as a result of this $30? My rough number is $100 = one more day of work. So the snowsuit pushed me back by 1/3 of a work day. Basically three hours extra of working so that 1.) my wife feels happier today, and 2.) the baby gets a nice snowsuit so I can play with her outside more often (probably saving money and getting exercise) and won’t ever have to replace it.

That ice cream cone probably put off your early retirement by 20 minutes. Now, for average folks, those reckless purchases are thoughtless and frequent. And every day they add minutes, hours, days, and years to their working lives. However, for a discerning individual such as yourself, it’s a one-off purchase where the current happiness it will bring far outweighs the costs.

You gotta pick your battles, and you’ll get better at that as time goes on.

By: DividendDeveloper

DividendDeveloper — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 14:18:36 +0000

Heh, it appears that I’m really the only one without a major cash buffer lying around. It appears that we learned that’s a bad thing! I do the exact same thing, regarding the spreadsheet. Guess it’s not a flawless system, especially because it isn’t really forward looking, which can cause me to miss things. And it’s not really automatically syncable with transactions from my bank account. Not perfect, but it has been useful, December notwithstanding. Thanks for sharing what you do!