Monthly Archives: July 2023

FIRE.179 thrEEE

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What is money for? 

Why do we save our money?  Is the deference of spending vital to any part of our life?

I made it a point to search out answers to these questions…no, I didn’t!  I just wonder sometimes, what do I want/want to do?

I’ve come up with thrEEE answers: 

Easier, Enjoyment, Energy

I do maintain a Do Not Forget List.  It’s not a ToDo List.  Interestingly, I find the act of keeping track of “things” is almost as good as the purchase, yet the list does not help with the “doing” activities.  I need to get my ass in motion a little more, not exercising motion, but explorative motion.

Lately, I’ve given much more thought to how my money (the “army of dollar bills that march off to work each day”) should serve (I accidentally typed “service”—perfectly applicable) me. 

I’m a thinker.  Not some change-the-world-with-my-brilliance thinker, but I wonder a lot.  I wanted to set a direction for my money.  Give our money a Mission Statement, or at least a motto.  At the moment, it now has thrEEE goals to achieve.

Easier

Why not use your money to make things in your life easier?  For instance, correct tools/technology to help with different tasks.  Here’s an example we don’t think about until it breaks.  The use of my microwave for food prep comes to mind—even though some would same it uses bad “energy,” I find the microwave oven to service two important functions—make my life easier and I eat sooner/saving time.  To heat canned soup I don’t need a pot or a hot stove that warms the kitchen and causes my AC to run more—saves money too.  

Here’s a strange one, using a smart programmable remote control.  I no longer have to search for the exact device clicker.  I can also program macros to turn on/off everything at once.  Want to talk about easier, I don’t have to get off the couch to change channels or power the device like in the old days.

Here is a similar idea using your money for things you don’t like doing.  Some people hate house cleaning or yard cleaning. 

Some people don’t want to go to the grocery store.  I’d rather pay $8/month and have Walmart pick my groceries and bring them to my house.  That saves me 30 min of driving, 30 minutes of shopping in a crowd, and possibly avoiding some crap I would have purchased and eaten.  Seriously, eight dollars for approximately 2 hours per month of basic food stocking time savings!  Plus, that $8 also has additional services and features. 

We also share the Walmart service with my mom so there are closer to six deliveries per month and it allows me to keep my mom stocked with food even if I’m out of town.  TOTALLY makes my life easier.

Mark Trautman and I are working on our FUnbUCKET spending—pushing each other to spend some of our savings for good.  Mark also pushed me to make the monthly bill-paying process EASIER and allow automation so I didn’t use (waste) 60-90 minutes on the 1st of the month to push my bill payments.  He was 100% correct on removing that task from my list (technically what would definitely be a do not forget item).

I can give examples of Amazon Prime, streaming video services, retirement/financial planning, Rock Retirement Club, auto bill pay, security cameras with cloud storage, etc.  Re-reading this, I see how my examples are really small….much like my little life.

Enjoyment

The thought of using deferred spending to bring enjoyment, excitement, and fun into your life is a fantastic goal. 

I’ve written about my surprise enjoyment of Kathy’s Peloton bike.  I’ve found enjoyment in the upgraded Peloton membership required for the bike, even with the increase from $13 to $44 for all the additional content.

I recently spent a huge $500 for a much nicer guitar than I’m used to and then realized that it sounds and plays so much better than the $200-300 guitars.  Bashing away sounds so much more metal with my goth explorer.

I purchased my first new vehicle because I wanted current safety features and protection.  I honestly get enjoyment when I drive my wife’s Venza because I know I spent wisely (in many ways) and it’s almost like driving a spaceship (sounds like it) compared to my 2000 truck and 2001 suv which I still drive most of the time.  It also falls in the “easier” category for lane-keeping, adaptive cruise control, and iphone controls, etc.

Here’s a random item, I bought new exercise socks that have thicker soles.  These are so nice when I spin since I stand so much doing Kathy’s drop saddle spinning style.  Less pounding on my old(er) feet…same when I run with them.  These were a wonderful $6 for 6 pairs purchase that I didn’t really need.  Yeah, my life is strange.

Energy

Deeper than the enjoyment from above, I want to use the money for things that bring me—or increase—my energy.

At your very core, you have things that give you the purest of enjoyment and light you up.  You have things that if denied are not enriching your soul, your basis of energy. 

Do you have a way to use your money to energize your soul?

I bring this “E” back around to using your money to fund or enable some of your Top 10 Favorite Things.  I don’t need to say much more, but if you have the 10 things that make your soul happy, shouldn’t that be a great place to put some of your resources…both time and money.

Action

Go gEEEt it !!!

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.

FIRE.178 CSO

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Chief Spending Officer is the newest term I’ve come up with in our household. 

I was trying to figure out what to spend some of my Playcheck on and struggling as usual with the task (sadly).  My wife offered to help and she said “I have things I want to buy.”  How is it that she has no problem coming up with things she wants to buy?

I have mentioned our christmas list.  I think that’s a great idea for always tracking things that you want for yourself (and others) with the holiday gift mentality in mind.

I also have my “Don’t Forget List” that has tasks, things to learn, and things to buy, but it’s more geared toward everyday stuff.

Here’s the strange part.  I often lay in bed at night, or first thing in the morning, and think, if I could do anything, or buy anything, what would it be?  I can’t really answer that question.  Not realistically at least. 

It seems as if I feel like I have much more than I ever wanted–full-time, free time—being by far the best possession. 

I find the idea of buying smaller neat things to be easy on my mind/stress.  We could buy $50 items all week long.  We can buy $500 items every week, or $1000 items every month without hitting our MoJo ceiling.

I think about how the splurge Peloton bike at $800 had no impact.  I think about a $500 guitar or a $500 edelbrock carb. No impact.  A $2000 scooter or motorcycle purchase, had no impact (motorcycle since sold-no impact either). I could even buy a $2000 ebike or 84” TV or a new laptop.  I find I don’t really want many more things, at least not very often.

It kind of comes back around to when I wanted some thin, light-colored, stretch jeans a few months ago.  I went to the outlet mall for hours and bought a $10 pair that was close but not perfect.   It was my 3rd purchase and none are perfect.  I should have just bought the right jeans brand new for $30-40.  What is wrong with me?  I didn’t even start talking about the 6 pairs of exercise socks for $8 or $10 dilemma.

It’s the large items that hit the accounts hard, but the small item purchase deferring are still ingrained in my being.

When I lay in bed I think, I could have a C2 corvette if I wanted.  A bad-ass ’67, 427.  I could have a new mid-engine vette if I wanted.  What the hell would that help?  Kathy already has a fleet of muscle cars and I don’t drive them, ever.  (Note: I did drive the 69 Mach1 with the new edelbrock cars and 2nd gear was awesome when the tires broke loose-on accident of course).

The carb, the new hurst shifter, the peloton, the new flooring at the beach…all Kathy’s activities fully implementing her role as the CSO.  (Insert: her first class 2A seat)

And, I will be very clear here.  She deserves every single bit (dollar) of those items if they make her life awesome.

I love my life the way it is.  I do have “things” on my Don’t Forget list.  In many ways, that’s almost as good as getting some of those new things.

Final note: I’ve been good at giving away money and helping those around me who I think deserve something, and could use something, and for some reason, I’d rather they have some of my money than me.  But, I am not as good at that as my friend Mark.  When I think I’ve given well, he’s given better.  He’s always better.  I’m always trying to do/be better.

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.