Mr Available Buys a House

Well, absence (distance) might make the heart grow fonder for existing relationships, but for new relationships it's a killer.  I got the "I'm not into the beans and rice lifestyle" from Rapunzel - hey it's not about 'beans & rice'... it's about Living Below Your Means so you can save for Financial Independence.  Some call it ERE (Extreme Early Retirement).  Some call it FIRE (Financial Independence leading to Early Retirement).  All while LIVING - enjoying life - and experiencing happiness.  You can't BUY happiness... it's a state of mind, but saving, and doing what you want to do, enjoying the outdoors, etc.... sounds like happiness to me. ;-)

It's all the same idea:  work hard for 5-10 years saving more than 50% of your take home, so you can get off the wage-hamster-wheel if you want, living off the dividends/growth of your savings (your 'FU stache') and withdrawals from things like 5-year Roth-IRA conversions (convert a portion of your rollover IRA to a Roth IRA, and in 5 years  you can withdraw that 'conversion' amount tax free, and it won't count toward taxable income).  All strategies to decrease taxable income, save pre-tax dollars toward early retirement, and have the freedom to do-what-I-want:  Travel, do things with my sons, collect the National Parks, grow vegetables... whatever!

A funny thing happened a few weeks ago...
My realtor called - a great guy who I've worked with on selling homes, and searching for new homes.  I had been doing a lot of research on my credit score, along with all this work on FIRE, and had come to the conclusion that I won't be eligible for a loan for another 4 years (thank you 2011 short-sale) and am therefore doing just fine renting for the next 4 years during which time I'll reach my FIRE date.  I told my realtor about all this, and said thanks, but I don't think I'll need him for at least another 4 years.  He thanked me and moved on.  A few days later, I decided to casually check my 'target area' to see if any homes were available that might make either good home-bases, or rental houses, and found a house that looked... interesting.  After researching, I knew I had to see it!  The irony wasn't lost when I called my realtor back, and asked "How can I find out for sure whether or not I could get approved for a home mortgage?"  One thing led to another, and by weeks end I had made an offer 5% below the asking price on the house in question.

Ironically, the seller ACCEPTED!  So I knew I'd bid too high.  Hopefully the home inspection would pick up some things...

It did - $25K worth of repairs needed - some so the house would appraise for the offer price.  Haggling ensued, because at this point we're "negotiating", and because of the late-date with winter onset looming, the seller accepted our amended offer $39K below original list price.

Awaiting appraisal... and pondering:  Is buying a home a 'sucker play', or will the mortgage tax benefit, freedom to grill, freedom to dig holes & grow things in my own yard outweigh the extra expense of taxes & utilities currently covered by rent?

Weird Science - Homemade Laundry Detergent

Last weekend's meeting with "Rapunzel" went well. Marlene's must have been visited by Merlin, because there seemed to be some... magic... in the air. I'll try to reconnect this weekend after the high school football game, and Saturday mid-day's NCAA matchup at Beltown Pub.

On the Financial Independence front, the cell phone is all sorted out - no iPhone 6 for THIS mustachian. One of the more interesting posts I found on the MrMoneyMustache.com website was the following recipe for making your own effective, yet non-allergenic laundry detergent.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to pick up:
1. Borax ($3.38 at Walmart –in the laundry aisle)
2. Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (NOT Baking Soda–$3.24 at Walmart)
3. Fels-Naptha Soap Bar ($.97 at Walmart)
4. 5-gallon bucket with lid
5. OPTIONAL: Essential Oil Drops for fragrance (we did not add this, so I am not sure how much it costs)
Grand Total: $7.59 for 640 loads (180 loads in a top-loading machine). That’s a little more than 1 cent a load! And the savings are even greater the next time you make this because the only thing you’ll have to buy is the Fels-Naptha soap bar!
1. Grate the entire bar of the Fels-Naptha soap.
2. Put in a pot with 4 cups of hot water. Stir continuously over medium-low heat until all of the soap flakes have dissolved and melted (about 10 minutes). It should be slightly foamy with no “chunks” or flakes to be found.
3. Fill a 5-gallon bucket half-full of hot water.
4. Pour in the soap mixture. Add 1 cup of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda and 1 cup Borax. Stir. My husband happened to have a paint stirrer that goes on his drill, so that helped. But if you don’t have one of these, just use the end of your mop (or something that can reach to the bottom of the 5-gallon bucket).
5. Fill the rest of the 5-gallon bucket with water until it is full. Stir again.
6. Cover and let it sit overnight.
7. When you open the top up the next day, it should have gelled and thickened. Stir again.
8. Use a funnel to pour the mixture in a used/clean laundry detergent container only HALF full. Fill the rest of the way with water and shake.
Once you’re ready to use the laundry soap, shake it in the container first. Then add:
-5/8 cups for a regular top-loading machine
-1/4 cup for a front-loading (HE) machine
I HIGHLY recommend getting a paint stirrer to put on your drill…trust me. I don’t even use an old detergent bottle, I just leave mine in the five gallon bucket and I have a quart sized rubbermaid bottle w/ my detergent at the wash. I have very sensitive skin, and therefore have to use a free and clear style laundry soap if I buy it, but this stuff doesn’t bother me a bit. Bonus points, it really gets clothes clean. It even gets my husband’s car clothes clean, and that’s saying a lot.

To predict the questions: 1) No, I haven't DONE this yet, but I'm planning to pick up the ingredients soon. 2) WHY would I WANT to do this? To quote Doc Brown, "It's a SCIENCE Experiment!" (Great Scott!) Seriously... Doctor Bronner's Magic Soap (peppermint) is some of the best laundry detergent I've ever used, and the recipe for the soap (above) sounds enough like a Dr. Bronner's soap that I want to try it. I'll have enough laundry soap to last for years. 3) You say you want to try some? Let's chat once I've tried it.

The rice cooker is on slow-cook mode with a new vegan 'Boston Baked Beans' (NOT the candied peanuts) recipe as a way to cook 2 pounds of the 25 pound bag of pinto beans. And I had no idea molasses is used in cooking boston baked beans.

Let down your noodle

On OKStupid, my old profile was viewed by someone who seemed like a mustachian - health conscious, debt free, DIY homeowner (Go "This Old House!"), and with a sense of humor. Her profile was told in a fairy tale style - mostly taken from the story of the girl who was locked in an ivory tower, and lowered her lengthy golden locks to access Prince Charming... and she also swims 20 daily laps in the 'moat', home schools her young one, and has BFF time with Cinderella, and the other fairytale gals.

Forsooth! I replied post haste, and talked about eating mostly vegan, mustachianism, and how I thought the distance was large, but the chance of meeting was great. I followed up with this P.S.: "It's good to find another person who believes in dragons, good men, and other fantasy creatures. ;-)

Evidently that worked - after a phone conversation, we're trying to work out a face-to-face in the coming days. More soon...

Freedom Friends = more free data!

Okay, I'm going to have to get a 2nd FreedomPop device and account for myself for in-the-car use (Google Maps, Wikipedia searches, etc. in those rare times when I'm between wifi at home and work). Why? Primarily because of our PITIFUL data consumption so far this month. In 1 week, my son and I have used a total of 5Mb - - - out of our 500Mb monthly allotment of FREE DATA! BUT... my son has 'our' device in his backpack at school 90% of the time, so it's unavailable for my personal use.

After calling Customer Care, and having them REMOVE the "Premium Service" that was so kindly added - for a monthly fee of $8/month, I could roll-over any unused FREE DATA balance to the next month. Not a bad deal... but that is *NOT* why I'm using FreedomPop. And while I was automatically enrolled in the 'Premium' service when signing up for FreedomPop service, I was forced to CALL IN to customer service to have the 'Premium' services removed. Did I mention you have to watch these 'free' things? Oh, they're "free", but you have to watch them. Log in at least once a month, etc...

But WAIT, there's MORE!!!
FreedomPop has a program called "Freedom Friends" where you can add 'friends' (who ALREADY use FreedomPop) to your 'friends list', and for each 'friend' added, you get an addition 10Mb-per-month of free data above-and-beyond the original free 500Mb! A quick web search found several places with lists of FreedomPop users who are ready and willing to become your 'friend', because... those users ALSO get an additional 10Mb per month! To date, our FreedomPop account has 1000Mb of free data... AND... I have a list of names I'm going to submit next month in case some of the current users stop using FreedomPop.

Where did I "find" these 'friends'? Two main sources: 1) SlickDeals.net, 2) a FaceBook page (that I'm NOT using, but others may choose to use it), 3) this forum post with 329+ friends listed.

YMMV - but from my perspective, SFSG!!

FreedomPop and Airvoice

Over the weekend, we received the FreedomPop wifi hotspot. In signing up for the service, they make it so you have to sign up for a 'premium' - an additional monthly 500Mb above the original 'free' 500Mb. It states it's on a trial basis, and that you have to call support to withdraw from the 'premium'. I'll be calling soon.

Meanwhile, my 3 phone numbers have all been ported to Airvoice, and that's going well. I'm down to $5.88 remaining in my original $10 allotment for Sept. Son1 and Son3 are both plugging away with their $10 plans. Son1 is upset - thinks he may have missed a job offer call while he was working at his current job. I told him to call them back, and ask.

On the dating front, went out on two (2x!) first-dates this weekend from the FIRE Weirdness profile.
The first seemed doomed to failure before it began...
Notable quote1: (on the phone BEFORE meeting)
"Oh, you sound taller on the phone."
Notable quote2: (upon meeting)
"You look just like your pictures!"
I don't know WHAT to do with the first quote. It was just strange. As for the second, I *SO* wanted to quip: "Am I supposed to look like someone else?"
Conversation that killed any future dating prospects:
Q: "So, you can see from my profile that I'm debt free, how about you? Do you have credit card debt?"
A: (rolling eyes, and entire body) "Oh, LOADS! I'm an artist"

Oh well... The second first-date was more promising - she looked GREAT - her pictures truly didn't do her justice. She looked like a cross between Debra Harry (Blondie) and Marilyn Monroe. Conversation went well, and we even moved from drinks to dinner. But she slowly detached, and when the check came, her $15 drinks (two of them) did not bode well as someone with a mustachian 'value' mindset. Hell, $30 is 3 weeks drinking budget for me! (but I took it out of the 'travel' budget)

Today... got a 'ping' from an attractive user on my OLD OKCupid account, and she seems like a great fit for the FIRE Weirdness profile, so I sent a nice message saying, "check out my other profile FIRE Weirdness as well, and let me know". Her profile made reference to her being locked in a castle tower, and wanting a prince to ride in, and carry her away. I sent a 2nd message saying... "P.S: it's good to find someone else who believes in dragons, good men, and other fantasy creatures." :-)

Airvoice Wireless - results 3

I've been with Airvoice since Friday, and after many calls and texts over the long Labor Day weekend, I have a $7.00 balance in my plan to last the rest of the month. Data costs are indeed 6.6¢/Megabyte, and so far I've used 0 Mb. Lots of talk minutes @ 4¢/minute, and several texts @ 2¢/text message.

I've renewed the $2.99/month Skype calling plan membership - I use Skype for most of the daily 'conference call' communications, and so far this seems like a great deal. It's amazing how easy it was to wean off cellular data once I realized I can save over $100/month by choosing a pay-as-you-go plan.

Back to School clothes shopping at Value Village set me back $42 for 14 pieces - 11 shirts, and 3 pairs of pants - including some new work "office-drone" outfits for me. Today's outfit cost $8.

Tonight, school supplies for Son3...

FIRE Weirdness

FIRE: Financial Independence, Retire Early Weirdness:

“We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.” ― Robert Fulghum, True Love

During the summer, I became a follower of the MrMoneyMustache blog. He's a Canadian who lives in Colorado, and 'retired' at age 30 to focus on doing the things HE wanted to do rather than chase the almighty dollar for the rest of his life. He blogged about his thought process, tips and tricks for saving and investing, and his philosophy to living life to enjoy LIFE NOW, letting his dollars be the workers, and earn returns in the stock market and investments, and not to hope for some magical retirement at age 60+ by which age he'd be too tired and worn out to enjoy his leisure time.

In short, it sounded right up my alley.

So now I'm focusing on becoming FI again (10 years after the dot-com bubble, and Microsoft stock meltdown took away my first 'stache).

I was reading on the Mustachian Forums, and found the "Single and Mustachian" section very interesting. I read some of the things people were saying there, copied the best thoughts people were having about their own struggle with on-line dating, and re-wrote some of those thoughts (along with some of my own) into a new separate dating profile which I called "FIRE_Weirdness". And here's the resulting new profile:

"Mustashian on my 2nd run at Financial Independence - goal: 3.5 years

I know I won't change who I am for another person, but part of love is the willingness to explore, and find the common ground we can romp through together, maybe even kicking some leaves around from time to time. We may value different things, but as long as we can collaborate on things we can agree on for 'mutual mischief', we'll probably be okay.

Thriftshop is more than a Macklemore song - it's a wardrobe, and decorating source. And Craigslist is my 'storage unit'. Travel means wanting to collect the National Parks, whether that's from a tent (air mattress - no cold hard ground for this guy) or old VW bus. Shoestring budget when possible, but will pay for value. $500 monthly travel/entertainment budget - let's go places! Rice & beans are my 'go to' - the disastrous environmental impact of factory meat farming, and the disastrous health effects of animal fat on my heart arteries has made me a 'mostly vegan' for the past few years... never felt healthier.

Deal breakers: addiction (smoking, alcohol, gambling, drugs), jesus freaks, and "angry" women.

There is no algorithm for love. If there is, it's something we write for ourselves - not the robots at OKC or PlentyOfFish, or Match, Tinder, etc.

Well adjusted weirdo looking for same - for someone whose weirdness is compatible / complementary with my weirdness, and we can combine those weirdnesses into a whole new level of weirdness, and call it love.

I've changed over time. We all change over time. Sometimes a lot. You will change too. It's more important to find someone I can change, take chances, dance lessons, etc, and GROW WITH than someone who is an exact match to the person I am today. It took me a couple years (ok, more than a couple) to get to where I am today, and I'm not finished yet.

Wanna come along for the ride, and see & do new stuff along the way?"

If there are *any* responses, I'm sure they'll be from people who have their financial act together, and have a similar mindset relative to savings and early retirement (that's the hope anyway). Not much to say so far... the first email response was a scam/phishing attempt... I mean REALLY... does a 50+ year old guy think a 25 year old female with "pictures on another site" is a potential match? If she's not within ~10 years of my age, forget it. I have a son who'll be 25 before I know it.

Back to school shopping

Today I went to the Goodwill Outlet store - also called the 'pound' store because everything is sold by-the-pound. Customers pick through waist high rolling bins of material: clothing, books, toys, linens and bedding all mixed together. When you find something you like, you take it to the checkout, they weigh it, and you pay by-the-pound. Today's haul: 4 shirts (2 for me, 2 for Son3) Total: $4.89.

After the pound-store, I went to my favorite Value Village on Capital Hill where the selection is very good. On the front door, I noticed a sign that said:
"Labor Day - Sept. 1st - All clothing, furniture (etc) 50% off marked prices".
So I looked around, found a couple of shirts that looked interesting, and a pair of pants or two. I was all ready to carry them down to the checkout... but eventually put them back on the rack. Tomorrow at 10am I'll go back and try to find those items - if possible I'll even take son3 with me - it's so hard to do any real back-to-school shopping without the student in-tow.

Speaking of son3, his phone was in a state of limbo for while - we received the unlock code from T-Mobile, but he wasn't around sit still long enough to follow the instructions in the 'unlock steps' email. Once I got my hands on the phone, I backed it up, swaped to the new SIM, and now we're both on Airvoice. It was a really simple process.

And back to the original purpose of this blog - the oxymoron "on-line dating" - a new profile was born: FIRE_Weirdness.

More discussion of FIRE_Weirdness, and how that came to be in a later post.

Airvoice Wireless results - Day 2

Yesterday's switch to Airvoice was seamless and painless for my phone because my iPhone was not 'carrier locked'. Son3's phone was still locked by our previous carrier, and after a call to their customer support to get it unlocked, I'm waiting for an email with instructions (it's supposed to be in my inbox within 72 hours).

Son3's phone has been a bit tricky. TIP: before you do this, back up ALL your smartphones (not just yours).

Airvoice's customer service has been phenomenal to deal with - for a $10/month cell plan company, I was a little surprised... but the folks on the phone really know their stuff.

I've sent only two (2x) text messages via SMS, and after each, the phone shows me a popup that shows me my remaining balance from the $10 plan. Same for phone calls - had 1 call to T-Mobile customer service about my sons locked phone, and another to my son. Remaining balance after initial setup calls/texts: $9.44

I purchased the FreedomPop Photon hotspot device from eBay for under $30 - it should be here any day. There were also FreedomPop Platinum Photon 4G hotspots for sale for only a little more. From what I've read from other users, the FreedomPop service *IS FREE*, BUT... you have to put up with their attempts to get you to upgrade to a paid service.

But for half-a-gigabyte of FREE CELLULAR DATA each month, I can put up with the attempts (and fend them off).

After making all these monthly service changes in August, I re-ran my Financial Independence spreadsheet, and see the monthly budget is not only lower, but it means I'll have enough in my FU 'stache' to be FI in only 3 years (2 years sooner than planned)!

Now I'm looking into the IRA to Roth-IRA conversion ladder plan - annually convert some amount of my rollover IRA into my tax-advantaged Roth-IRA each year (paying any tax on the IRA earnings during the conversion). In 5 years, the amount of that converted capital can be withdrawn from the Roth-IRA (BEFORE I turn 59-1/2) with no penalty, and no tax. If I do this for the next few years, I'll be able to withdraw my living expenses from the Roth before turning 59-1/2, then after 59-1/2 withdraw normally from both the Roth and standard IRA accounts.

Today: Sounders match in the light rain. Call time 10:30am... Go Sounders!!

FIRE Weirdness

Work, playing musical gigs, successful investment moves, finding ways to save $$, and socking away as much as possible from the full summer months have kept me really busy. None of the people I met in March returned my emails... assuming that's a bad thing. Recently I emailed someone who I really REALLY hope replies - she seems like a really good match. Up to AND INCLUDING the quote about "Weirdness" attributed (incorrectly) to Dr. Suess (actually Robert Fulghum) that really speaks to me:

We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.

And I didn't discover that quote in her profile until AFTER I messaged... but it's been several days. She could be on vacation, but that would be someone else's luck. Right?

Luck to me is when preparation meets opportunity - or with investments, putting my money on business's I know / understand, or believe are game changers. I'm invested in Medical Marijuana for that reason - as well as Facebook (smart company that treats their employees like partners), Google (smart phones - will rule the smart phone space, and they also treat their employees like partners), and Twitter (okay, I don't understand their 'business model', but I see so many interesting Tweets... and tweets are the frontline in the news of things that really matter: world events, etc). But I'm still putting the BULK of my assets in: VTI - the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF. (More on that in another post)

Comcast changed my bill amount this summer, so I called to see if I could move back to 'internet only' from their 'bundled temporary pricing'. When the changes were all more expensive than the original $69 internet only I'd signed up for in 2010 with NO increase in service level, I pulled the plug, returned their unused standard definition "cable-tv-box", and signed up for CenturyLink DSL for $39/month. (and my new wireless network is called "Suck_This,Comcast!") Savings: $46/month - $552/year.

Cellular service: In July, I did an experiment where I turned OFF 'cellular data' for my iPhone, and used mostly wifi - at home, and at work... 90+% of my usage. I found I really only turn on cellular data when I *need* it, and that's usually in the car for Google maps. July data usage: Son1-1Gb. Son3-2.Gb. Me-44Mb. Total bill (unlimited talk/text and 3G data): $124/month

Experimental switch #1: I'm moving to Airvoice Wireless and their 250 Minute plan: $10/month 250 talk minutes or 500 texts.

The plan is the hardest to find on Airvoice's website, but I've heard good things about (prices as of 8/28/2014 - as with anything, check their website for the latest rates):

For Son1 - he will pay for HIS OWN ACCOUNT, again with Airvoice. I paid for his SIM, and explained the 'how-to-use-your-device'. He said (paraphrased)

'I got by with NO data for years. I'm sure I can get by with only using data at home and wherever there's wifi.' [what a great son, right?!]

For Son3 - he's a real data hog, and that will be hard to fight, but I think he's on board. I'm buying a cell-phone-sized FreedomPop wifi-hotspot that includes 500Mb free monthly data (provided by Clearwire/Sprint).

For me - the above Airvoice plan, data only at home and work, plus 'emergency' cellular data usage in the car. I *might* get another FreedomPop hotspot for myself if it works out for Son3. Estimated costs: $350 - $300 to pay off Son3's iPhone, $29.98 for the FreedomPop Spot Photon 4G wireless hotspot. Estimated savings: $94/month - $1128/year(!). That's estimating $15/month for Son3 and I (at above rates) $30/month total vs $124/month today.

So not only did I pay off my upcoming November trip 'back east', and ALL credit card debt, but was also able to sock away more than $3800 in savings this month, AND I set the ground work to save an additional $140/month in recurring costs!

Playing in a rockin' SKA band. Spending $500/month travelling. Bike commuting to work 3x/week. Not a bad way to spend the summer!

In a world, where dating is On the Line...

Has it really been a YEAR since I posted anything here? WOW - time flies. An active life, interesting work, and spending more time with my sons has made blogging seem less and less important. But lately I've been thinking about the one-that-got-away (or the-one-I-got-away-from).

In a world of on-line dating... sounds like a film trailer. Honestly, on-line dating STILL seems like the greatest oxymoron of all ["on-line"=sitting in your underwear staring at glowing rectangles, and "dating"=meeting a prospective partner over drinks or lunch - the only thing they have in common is underwear! i.e. wearing underwear is a good idea in both cases].

One of my best friend's got married this past summer, and commented that he knew I would meet someone eventually, if I would only be open to it. He said, "You're one of the funniest stable guys I know. You'd be quite a catch for any woman". But... if that's true, why am I still unattached!?

Oh well, 2014 has been a good year so far. After committing to picking up the pace on contacting women via OK-Stupid, things are looking up. I met 6 (six!) new women in the month of March - 2 I'm setting up 2nd dates, and the other 4 seem like interesting women I could be friends with.

After thinking about it, I tried to pin down why the other 4 weren't people I wanted to date:

1. No chemistry - just no 'spark'.
2. Pictures were 5 years old, and no longer accurate.
3. Not over the breakup of her marriage - there was a lot of "personal space" work beyond my ability to help with.
4. 1 "coffee-date". Seriously? If someone is worth meeting in person, they're worth spending enough time to break bread with. Coffee-dates are one of those unspoken dating hazards. As for me... I'd rather do lunch.

I changed my dating profile to read (in part):
"Great guy with sense of humor, killer body, and money to burn, seeks woman who doesn't believe everything she reads".
So far, it's a great conversation starter. It gets the idea across that I'm not too caught up in myself, can be a smart-ass, and in the end it makes people want to read more.

I've also been doing a lot of thinking about the 6 month relationship I had in 2011-12 with someone I'll call Tami. more soon...