Timeblock
| Time (PDT) | Plan | Reality |
|---|---|---|
| 0000 | SLEEP | |
| 0030 | SLEEP | |
| 0100 | SLEEP | |
| 0130 | SLEEP | |
| 0200 | SLEEP | |
| 0230 | SLEEP | |
| 0300 | SLEEP | |
| 0330 | SLEEP | |
| 0400 | SLEEP | |
| 0430 | SLEEP | |
| 0500 | Morning routine | |
| 0530 | Coffee and rumination | |
| 0600 | Pomodoro: Planning | |
| 0630 | Pomodoro: Organization | |
| 0700 | Pomodoro: Thinking | |
| 0730 | Wake up wife | |
| 0800 | Getting ready | |
| 0830 | Walk to work | |
| 0900 | Stretching | |
| 0930 | Start of work routine | Stretching |
| 1000 | Pomodoro: Query-time sampling fix | Start of work routine |
| 1030 | Pomodoro: Query-time sampling fix | Slack |
| 1100 | Pomodoro: Query-time sampling fix | Flu shot |
| 1130 | Pomodoro: Query-time sampling fix | Pomodoro: Devbox shenanigans |
| 1200 | Buffer | Candidate lunch |
| 1230 | Buffer | Candidate lunch |
| 1300 | Lunch with friend | |
| 1330 | Lunch with friend | |
| 1400 | Buffer | Walk to office |
| 1430 | NAP | Ping pong |
| 1500 | Pomodoro: Weekly Review | Ping pong |
| 1530 | Pomodoro: Weekly Review | Friday hang out |
| 1600 | Walk home | Non-pomodoro work |
| 1630 | Buffer | Pagerduty |
| 1700 | Cooking | Walk home |
| 1730 | Cooking | Hanging out |
| 1800 | Buffer | Cooking |
| 1830 | Pomodoro: Cohort Linking | TV: Overwatch |
| 1900 | Pomodoro: Cohort Linking | Eating |
| 1930 | Hanging out | Bug exploration |
| 2000 | Hanging out | Shower |
| 2030 | Winding down | |
| 2100 | SLEEP | |
| 2130 | SLEEP | |
| 2200 | SLEEP | |
| 2230 | SLEEP | |
| 2300 | SLEEP | |
| 2330 | SLEEP |
Thinking
As I've mentioned before... I think, I've developed a budgeting habit now. It clicked about a month ago, and then I read a book You Need a Budget, which is the book by the person who made the You Need a Budget app that I'm using.
I believe yesterday I realized that I was falling behind. Or at least further behind than I thought. Though some of this was due to auto-investing into betterment, which I have now stopped doing.
I want to do some thinking here to verify that I should have plenty of buffer. Without further ado.
| Money Flow (average per month) | Balance |
|---|---|
| Paycheck: ($8129) | $8129 |
| Wellness benefit: ($100) | $8229 |
| Rent: $2400 | $5829 |
| Invisalign: $644 | $5185 |
| Groceries: $500 | $4685 |
| Coffee: $250 | $4435 |
| Student Loan Payments: $200 | $4235 |
| One-offs: $200 | $4035 |
| Consumables: $40 | $3995 |
| Electricity: $50 | $3945 |
| Internet: $65 | $3880 |
| Phone: $40 | $3840 |
| Clothing: $300 | $3540 |
| Home maintenance: $140 | $3400 |
| Equipment: $30 | $3370 |
| Dining out: $200 | $3170 |
| My Tools: $20 | $3150 |
| Wife's Tools: $200 | $2950 |
| Medical: $1000 | $1950 |
| Fitness: $100 | $1850 |
| Just for Fun: $200 | $1650 |
| Transportation: $110 | $1540 |
| Tucson property: $200 | $1340 |
| Quakecon: $300 | $1040 |
| Thanksgiving: $150 | $890 |
| Tucson visit: $40 | $850 |
| Christmas: $150 | $700 |
| Therapy: $100 | $600 |
| Moving: $100 | $500 |
All right, this is average monthly flow, fairly accurately, based on definitely monthly expenses and average monthly expenses according to YNAB. I've rounded up in most-cases. Medical expenses, for instance, should start shrinking per month, I think. Though maybe I should keep budgeting $1000 a month for it. Medical expenses happen, and in a sense they're an investment, anyways. Figuring out medical issues now means they cause less friction in the future, and the wife and I can make compound interest on what is gained the sooner medical things are dealt with, however little we can deal with them to begin with.
"One-offs" are things I buy once. It seems I buy a thing "only once" about $200 worth a month. A couple months ago it was a portable AC. This month, blinds for windows. This is a "know your true expenses" sort of thing. Might as well keep putting $200 in there per month.
Groceries might actually slowly be shrinking per month. We'll see. At the rate we're going this month, it should be $400.
Coffee is an agreed-to high-number as it gives the wife an anxious-free bit of time outside the house.
Technically, I've saved up enough to pay off student loans. And I have that money in an index fund. It on-average out-performs the student loan interest, so it's a net gain. I pay the minimum per month. I'm paid ahead in case I need to stop for a little bit for whatever reason. I look at this setup as a way to reloan myself money at 3.5% interest, and that I'm actually saving $200 per month, in a sense. I think it works out. Though, once I pay off the student loans, I plan on maintaining the payment, but putting it right into an index fund. Avoid that income inflation, yo.
I have the same plan when I pay off the Invisalign.
Rent is actually pretty steep, but it was something we were willing to pay for. I have been thinking, though, at this cost, could it be worth it to buy a piece of property? There are several things to consider when answering this question:
- interest lost moving capital from index fund to down payment
- average cost of upkeep in house
- principle being paid down per month
- interest being paid per month
- fixed house payments (insurance, taxes, etc.)
So, based on what some initial research shows, I could own a similar house to what I own and have an average monthly cost maybe as little as $2000 with a $100,000 down payment. That down-payment amounts to about $584 lost interest per month ($7000 a year assuming 7% yield). Principal would be, ballpark, one sixth of the mortgage payment overall (for the first year, at least), and the mortgage payment would be something like $1700 (the other $300 towards taxes and insurance). So $280 "saved" in principal payments (in that I own that much more of the house). That's savings that won't gain substantial interest though (on average, houses grow at the rate of inflation).
But that's $680 ($280 "saved" in principal and $400 saved by decreasing monthly costs) over $584 "lost" in interest from money that would be in an index fund. Really, I guess this boils down to:
- What's the minimum house we'd be happy to live in?
- Is that house cheaper to own or to rent based on the above criteria?
I believe the wife and I can explore this question tomorrow during our budget date. As well as how malleable the above spending is.
I need to go to work now.