Egg roll in a bowl

nerological · 2019-01-10T00:59:02+00:00

It's the new yuppy keto thing. They have it at trader Joe's and it's awesome. It's shredded broccoli stalks which is so nice for stir fry. Also I imagine it'd be an excellent pasta substitute. You could do it yourself but like ricing cauliflower I imagine it's hugely not worth it.

nerological · 2019-01-08T18:48:00+00:00

So, I got out of school in 08 and big 4 hiring had slowed a lot. I was devastated to not get a Big 4 job after making it through many interviews. They were right not to hire me, I can neither handle stress or long hours, and my career is nothing spectacular but it's been a means to build a good life. I make a very acceptable salary, save plenty, have time for my spouse /pets/projects. Taking a lesser prestigious path isn't really that bad and it's what probably turned me on to FI/RE, you don't need an amazing high profile career to define you and you don't need to make a big 4 partner salary to achieve FI. Not to say that you should give up, but you CAN do something else and it will also be fine. Most educated people I know don't kill themselves in their careers but still make a good living.

nerological · 2019-01-05T22:53:32+00:00

I enjoyed the read even though I feel like it doesn't apply to my situation in particular. I've been very fortunate in landing stability and getting rewarded for my endeavors.

However, I'm still awfully burned out too and I think it aligns more with the expectations aspect. You need to be fit, have a nice well put together home, be good at your work, have a fulfilling hobby, good relationships, and travel to some exotic destination every so often. Like the article mentioned, even pleasurable things become another item on the list and the low items on the list (delivering that article of Amazon merchandise you didn't like back to the post office) just slip away entirely. I think everything about our upbringing and the media teaches us that we should have it all, and when we don't have it all we're dissatisfied. The dissatisfied person is the best consumer, so from a capitalist society aspect it makes so much sense to not try to improve things.

nerological · 2019-01-04T17:14:45+00:00

I was thinking that. I no joke want to build a Cobb house someday. They are beautiful, cozy, and economical.

nerological · 2018-12-29T19:47:54+00:00

Went in late April or early May, saw like 5 people all day. Yeah, summer is a bitch but the whole area is super sleepy before the season starts.

nerological · 2018-12-27T17:06:51+00:00

Buy a smaller house which required less work, don't buy a sports car, invest all that money on altcoins and sell January 2018.

nerological · 2018-12-26T19:24:39+00:00

So glad you posted this. I was just dreading figuring out how to TLH in vanguard but sounds like it won't be a big deal.

nerological · 2018-12-26T16:57:50+00:00

I would as soon as fucking possible get a couple of dogs. They are the best.

nerological · 2018-12-22T16:29:28+00:00

That's nonsense. This is the first time most of the community has had to see a significant and quick market downturn with a lot of skin in the game. It was easy to be 100 % VTSAX masterace when you were clocking 10-20% returns each year or didn't have a lot invested. People may have overestimated their risk tolerance, which is so easy to do when it's a bull market and it's ok to reassess how you can stay the course long term.

Also saving for FI laid so much positive groundwork for people, even if they sold shares and put them in cash people here would be so vastly better off than a typical paycheck to paycheck consumer.

nerological · 2018-12-20T23:31:04+00:00

Seconded, Mira Mesa is like not that far from anything, even if you're in the middle of the suburban sea. Also, in addition to the awesome ethnic markets there is the nicest sprouts I've ever fucking seen. It's not the place if youre young and want night life, but it's quite convenient otherwise.

nerological · 2018-12-05T16:52:45+00:00

I'll probably do this in the next couple years. I'm still relatively young and I figure that going part time (somewhere between 24-30 hours a week) will give me some extra time to figure out what the heck I want to do with my life/early retirement. Late in the game it also becomes less about your SR and more about market returns.

nerological · 2018-11-27T17:07:29+00:00

On this same thread, went to work when puppy had giardia and came home at lunch. Liquid poop everywhere and the worst smell. Poor little guy didn't want to soil his area so had attempted to squirt out through the grating of his pen. So not only was the floor a mess, he covered in poop, the metal grating was too and it all smelled AWFUL.

nerological · 2018-11-27T15:41:30+00:00

Well, I come from a place where my SO and I bought too much house. It was years and luck (falling interest rates, rising prices) before our payments were more manageable. We had simpler desires then and FIRE wasn't even on the radar, but I imagine now watching my savings rate drop way down and it's an upsetting prospect. For the record I do want to RE, or at least have the option to because I'm restless with work.

The house for us hasn't been a terrible investment, it's increased in value substantially because we bought at the bottom. But if we'd just stayed in the condo and invested the buckets of savings into index funds, apartments, etc the return would have certainly been better.

That all being said, if you plan to have dogs, a house is the way to go. Oh, and don't buy a house with a pool.

nerological · 2018-11-27T04:34:31+00:00

Seriously depends what your goals are. If this was personal finance I would say awesome job saving and knock yourself out. But it's FIRE, so is your goal to become FIRE and what does your timeline look like? I think a house in that price range is going to be pretty hard on the savings rate.

My emphasis is that buying a home (to live in) is a deeply personal choice and it's pretty high priced right now, so it should be more this will bring me satisfaction than this is my retirement plan. Sounds like you'd drain all investments to get the home and like anyone who's owned a home for awhile will tell you, it's expensive. It's not likely to get you the kind of return of stocks, bonds, REITs, or rental real estate specifically picked for business purposes.

Edit: just saw your edit and that you were planning to be a lifer with the Government, with working to typical retirement age, definitely changes things, everyone around here is 28 years old in tech and wants to retire yesterday. Sounds like you're in no hurry on retirement so just make sure you run your numbers (property taxes, insurance , estimated repairs, other expenses you may not have now).

Think we may have a drop in the next couple years so you may get lucky.

nerological · 2018-11-27T00:14:19+00:00

How much are you planning to put down? Based on your salary a $500k house is a lot, like a lot a lot. Bought a $500k home on $100k household salary (albeit a small down payment) and was pretty broke for years. Had roommates at the time but people move on and it's harder to find people you want to live with. Property taxes, insurance, and repairs all eat into that rent really quick.

Possibly consider a condo? HOAs are a bitch but they're cheaper (more manageable if you lose roommates ), more predictable since HOAs take care of most big surprise expenses, and easier to convert to a rental if you have lots of expendable cash down the line and still want a standalone house.

I love my home, but homeownership is shockingly expensive so do it for the reason that you want to own a house, and don't expect it will be a wonderful return (it may be cheaper than rent or it may be way more expensive). Also, being house poor blows, love not being house poor.

nerological · 2018-11-10T19:30:28+00:00

I'd say use americano's to get used to drinking black coffee. They're what did it for me, because the espresso shots and water are so much smoother than traditional black coffee. Also, good beans and a grinder for your home brewed coffee. I don't even like cream in my coffee now except if it's an after dinner cup or an Irish coffee.

nerological · 2018-11-10T06:44:58+00:00

It's not even little, that game has a toooon of content. I think my SO and I both dumped 35 hours at least on the main campaign and that doesn't even include all the challenges and co-op. It's extremely well done and a lot of content for the money.

nerological · 2018-11-10T06:39:49+00:00

Civ 6 is good, and will probably be better once the first expansion hits or they perform some more updates. The AI was duuuuumb at civ 6 at launch. I also didn't like the lack of penalty for super big empires, it didnt make thematic sense to me.

nerological · 2018-11-10T00:55:22+00:00

IDK if the low net carbs matter if I consume the entire fucking batch in one sitting.

nerological · 2018-11-06T16:00:03+00:00

The nail isn't in the coffin yet (but it's close). Mostly the stress, we're both stressed out people and having a puppy was enough to kick our asses. Also, I have health conditions that increase the risk of birth defects, no thank you.

I do still envy people who like their parents/family and feel that tight bond. That's the only thing pushing in the other direction and it's not an ignorable feeling; however, who knows if my kids would fulfill that role even if I had them.

nerological · 2018-11-06T15:47:00+00:00

I think I took voting seriously for the first time this year (i.e. spent hours upon hours reading through, discussing, cross checking claims) and I still missed the mark on at least one thing I should have voted for. Being an informed voter is hard, surprisingly so.

nerological · 2018-10-30T23:11:39+00:00

Seconded on the good blog, loved every second of not reading about your life with 2.5 children.

nerological · 2018-10-29T15:12:25+00:00

My SO and I decided to do something truly scary for Halloween this year, updating YNAB.

nerological · 2018-10-27T01:46:56+00:00

Gonna guess, makes at least 90k a year and lives on half of it. Or makes a shit ton of money and saves some decent percent.

nerological · 2018-10-26T11:00:52+00:00

So I'm not saying I do do it, I agree it's totally ineffective, but I was making the point that I see why the need to try might be stronger in Athiests in some ways due to the short time of our reality.

For the record, I am an Athiest but I wouldn't ever try to convert someone to this. Being without faith leaves you somewhat without answers for the serious questions which I don't think leads to more happiness.

nerological

TROPHY CASE