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[badminimalist]

January 2023

I'm frustrated that I spent so much money in January. Such a waste! I am competitive, and want to be consistently spending less than my best friend who also track his spending. He was about $3,400 last month, which is much less than what I did.

My goal this month is to spend less than $2,500 and really try to stick to that, especially since I'll be traveling in March.

[badminimalist]

Main 2023 Tech Objects

Apple Pro Display, the kind with a hard screen, not the soft texture one.

LG 5K Screen, I use this one at work.

Logitech MX Master Mouse. The software is a bit stupid but it's a good mouse to use, comfortable and fast and rarely has problems. Apple needs to make a better swipeable mouse.

Apple Wireless Keyboard. Small version -- I don't get much use of the buttons on the right side of the big ones.

Apple Touchpad. I like designing with a touchpad; zooms are smoother.

Macbook Air M2 - 14" Screen - Work laptop. It's not the best for doing Figma stuff in, tho. Need a bigger laptop for sprints.

Macbook Pro 16" M1 - Home laptop for using in the living room. I don't think I need more than

Macbook Pro 15" - I don't need more than this many laptops, that is for sure.

Mac Pro - Got this for free from work. It is a little bit janky -- the power supply is wack. I'm probably gonna request an upgrade when Apple comes out with a new one, since they haven't updated this in a long while, since 2019.

iPad Pro + Apple Pencil - Small one. If I had unlimited budget I would get an iPad Air, newest version, but honestly I don't think it's really worth it since I really only use my iPad to draw.

Regular sized iPhone + a smaller sized iPhone. I basically upgrade within a year of the latest release. I'm lucky to be able to these (and the iPad and the screen) through work. The smaller sized iPhone has a minimal amount of apps on it and is really for disconnecting from digital stuff.

Opal Camera -- I like it, but it can be buggy. I use this one at work because the lighting is worse than at home. At home I use some fancy Logitech camera that I got from work.

Amazon Kindle -- my original one that I've had since 2014ish. Still truckin'. I like to use it in bed.

Airpods -- Great for the commute / walking around.

2x Bose Over-ear Headphones (I'm starting to think I should bring one to work to wear at my desk so it's obvious that I'm in a meeting or focusing). These have downright lasted me forever. I don't see myself getting new ones anytime soon.

Sony Alpha 3 Camera + Voigtlander 40mm manual lens.

Apple Watch 3? -- I like wearing it with the metal band.

Apple TV + Remote.

In general, I think I actually have less tech stuff than I did in 2015. I don't have any Razer mice or custom keyboards (tho I stored the WhiteFox), or projectors. I've found the camera setup that works for me. Got rid of the calculator and lights, chargers, and fancy phone cases, and yes, the iPod. I also don't really use speakers anymore, other than the ones my partner has hooked up to the record player.

I really like the stand I have for work and home. At home I don't use laptops in the office, so the stand holds my laptops as storage, upright against the wall.

I'm grateful to be in a position where I haven't paid for a new phone or a new Apple anything, really, for years. It's an expensive product.

I'm very happy with my Technology items. As for goals, I'm hoping to help my partner make use of the two HomePods we have, or get rid of them. I also don't want more than the 3 laptops I have. One small one for work and travel, one large one for at home use, and one personal one.

My work office setup and my home office setup are essentially the same, except that I use a desktop setup at home, with a slightly nicer screen.

[badminimalist]

Let's see how much has changed from 2023 - 2015! The hoarder and list-lover in me are going nuts.

Need - $3,727.95 Macbook Pro / 15.4" / 2.5 Ghz / Mid-2014 - 2,469.25 - They made 15.4" inch laptops back then? Slightly bigger than 15"? Or was I just being extremely pedantic?

iPhone 6 / Space Gray / 32 GB - 0 - Jesus christ, that's an old device. It's kind of weird how iPhones are a way for me to mentally clock a certain time and place. It makes sense -- they're with us all the time. Razer Mouse - Chromatic - 57.74 - I do still have this, but it's meant to go to my college roommate in Feb, when they visit. Need to remember to grab it! It's still in great condition, but I can't be fucked to use a wired mouse anymore. Apple Wireless Keyboard - 10 - I still have a version of this somewhere. I do still use it, but it's very unlikely this is the same one. This might have been the battery version, actually, in which case I definitely do not have it anymore. I need to swap my keyboard at home with the keyboard at work, because Touch ID doesn't work with Mac Pro, which I use at home, versus a Macbook Air plugged into an LG Display at work. Apple Thunderbolt Display / 27" - 987.06 - That's an obscene price for how shitty that monitor was compared the one Apple makes now. I think I gave this to my sister. It would make a good kitchen computer display in a larger house.

Rain Laptop Stand - 44.9 - I still have this.

Harman Kardon Soundsticks III / 2.1 Channel w/ Subwoofer - 169 - These are long gone. They looked cool but had a touch-pressure based method to turn the volume up or down. Horrid.

Macbook Pro New Chargers - - Still have a bunch of the current version of these. They're crucial. I currently keep extra ones in a Stanley lunchbox in my office closet.

Sometimes Need - $4709.74

Kindle Paperwhite / Black - 139.99 - Still trucking along.

NEC Projector - Gift - Terrific but we don't use it anymore. I think it's with my mom who does use it.

Audio Technica AT-LP60 Fully Automatic Belt Driven Turntable - 99.94 - I actually still have this. It's incredibly Diderot effect to want to upgrade this to a Technics, isn't it? It's only about 10x more expensive... Anyway, this is still used regularly.

Bose AE2 Headphones (Black) - 199 - Still used regularly.

Samsung Display - Gift - I think my mom got this for me. It's not being used anymore. iPhone Holder - 10 - Nope. Leica T Camera, 35mm Lens, Case, Visoflex - 4000 - I gave this to one of Michael's friends. I wasn't using it. I'm gonna stick to my current camera for a while. Macbook Pro New Charger - 30 - I haven't bought one of these with my own money in years. Apple Watch / Sport / White / 38mm - 370.81 - This one is probably with my best friend from college. I'm still using the one after that. Apple Travel Adapters - Gift Apple Watch Charger - N/A Battery Charger - 9 - I still use this. That, or I gave it to my dad. This seems like the older model I gave to him.

Want / Duplicates - $364.10 Razer Mouse / Taipan - Gift Canon Calculator - 15.98 Bose AE2 Headphones (Black) - 2 - 199 Muji Foldable Light - Gift Razer Tournament Keyboard - 65.13 Logitech G700s Rechargeable Gaming Mouse - 69.99 Ikea Charger + Batteries - 6 Shinola Leather Wrapped iPhone 6 Case - Natural - $108 

Crap - $1899 Macbook Pro 2012 / Broken Mouse - 1899 iPod 80 GB Silver - Gift

I’ve still got this old Macbook with a broken trackpad. I only keep it so that I can have something that plays DVDs! I’ll probably be wiping this, returning it to Apple, getting some money back, and buying a DVD/CD reader. ^ This is long gone. I do own some DVDs, mostly nostalgic ones from high school and college. But yes, I do use Apple Movies.

I'll have to do a new pass of my technology in 2023.

Technology

So, I went through my rather robust list of technology related items, and sorted it all out into Need / Sometimes Need / Want / Crap. Here it is! I also looked up how much I paid for each item, to determine how much each category “cost”.

Need - $3,727.95 Macbook Pro / 15.4" / 2.5 Ghz / Mid-2014 - 2,469.25 iPhone 6 / Space Gray / 32 GB - 0 Razer Mouse - Chromatic - 57.74 Apple Wireless Keyboard - 10 Apple Thunderbolt Display / 27" - 987.06 Rain Laptop Stand - 44.9 Harman Kardon Soundsticks III / 2.1 Channel w/ Subwoofer - 169 Macbook Pro New Chargers - 0

Sometimes Need - $4709.74 Kindle Paperwhite / Black - 139.99 NEC Projector - Gift Audio Technica AT-LP60 Fully Automatic Belt Driven Turntable - 99.94 Bose AE2 Headphones (Black) - 199 Samsung Display - Gift iPhone Holder - 10 Leica T Camera, 35mm Lens, Case, Visoflex - 4000 Macbook Pro New Charger - 30 Apple Watch / Sport / White / 38mm - 370.81 Apple Travel Adapters - Gift Apple Watch Charger - N/A Battery Charger - 9

Want / Duplicates - $364.10 Razer Mouse / Taipan - Gift Canon Calculator - 15.98 Bose AE2 Headphones (Black) - 2 - 199 Muji Foldable Light - Gift Razer Tournament Keyboard - 65.13 Logitech G700s Rechargeable Gaming Mouse - 69.99 Ikea Charger + Batteries - 6 Shinola Leather Wrapped iPhone 6 Case - Natural - $108 

Crap - $1899 Macbook Pro 2012 / Broken Mouse - 1899 iPod 80 GB Silver - Gift

I’ve still got this old Macbook with a broken trackpad. I only keep it so that I can have something that plays DVDs! I’ll probably be wiping this, returning it to Apple, getting some money back, and buying a DVD/CD reader.

[badminimalist]

Sorting

Recently, I read online that it’s useful to sort your items by type, and then by how much you need/use each item.

Need involves items that you use daily, or nearly daily. You need this item, or your workflow/life would get a little wonky.

Sometimes Need involves items that you interact with at least once every two weeks/somewhat regularly. 

Want involves items that are clear wants, and not necessities whatsoever. Generally decorative things are in this category!

Crap involves items that you don’t need to own, and you haven’t used/interacted with in a long time. Generally, you can tell if something is crap. I’d also put in items that don’t bring you happiness/stress you out.

[badminimalist]

Jan 2023 Budget

I'm lucky in that I don't have a lot of expenses that other people have.

Non-Expenses:

Public Transportation -- subway + bus pass is paid by work

Phone -- paid by work

Dinners -- about 50% of my dinners are at work

I a bit shocked at my food spending, though. I spent $1,167.00 in January 2023.

Food and Dining - $1,167

Restaurants: $951 Fast Food: $60 Groceries: $106.62

Granted, one of the really big restaurant spends was taking out one of my report out for a promotion celebration, which was a whopping $377.60.00. Without that, I would be at $573.40, which is a lot more reasonable.

[badminimalist]

Objects

I really like pretty things. I have trouble getting rid of pretty things. I need to curate my belongings better and not buy things simply because I think they will look good.

I have SO many tee-shirts that I need to wittle down, but I don't know where to start.

Potential Criteria

Does it fit? - I'm currently at my heaviest regular weight, which makes these hard to gauge. I should ideally lose 10-20 pounds. Yes, there are shirts that don't fit me and never well that I should give away. I can start there.

Does it have holes in it? - There are few shirts with holes in them, but the two that come to mind feel super comfy. I don't sleep in tee shirts anymore (I wear pajamas) so they are still shirts I would wear not only around the house but out and about (probably not to work, but say, to the park). Lions Coffee + Brand New are the two that come to mind.

Is the material high quality? - So, I definitely won't buy new shirts that aren't high quality. A few of the shirts I've purchased online aren't the nicest material -- Kermit, Trainspotting, some band tees. However, I do really enjoy wearing the ones I have at the moment (some only for when I go to concerts).

Do I look good in it? - This is the one hardest to evaluate. I need to do proper cataloging of what I wear to make a good decision.

[badminimalist]

Coveting Shoes

I always want more shoes. Here are some I want. - Dark Green Dunks - Red Jordans - Black Converse (1970s) - White Converse (1970s)

[badminimalist]

01.20.2023

Back at it. Figured I could start today while I’m thinking about it.

Today I spent $13.43 (tipped 10%) on a cheeseburger and fries at Shake Shake since I had to eat before the show. Not gonna do that again; it was awful and so not worth the money. Next time I’ll probably try to save a salad or something from work. I drank water (free) which was good.

I took the subway in and out today, so that was free. I’m trying my best not to take Ubers because usually it’s just because I’m being extremely lazy. Ubers take longer and cost at least $20.00, whereas the subway is free.

I’m really quite interested in seeing if I can cut severely down on my spending. It’s crazy that my average monthly spending is like $23,000 regularly. How much I’ve wasted by being frivolous with my money! But it’s never too late to make a change. My goal to start is to be under $2,500. It’s going to be tough because I do have some expenses I don’t want to give up, like a cleaner ($240 a month, divided by two)

Tally from 1/20/2023 in Jan is $13.43

[badminimalist]

Dang looking back at 2015 and I spent $2259 total for the month. I guess I cooked a lot (also Ubers we’re so cheap!

I’d like to get back to this kind of spending. Maybe it’s not possible bc of inflation and moving to NYC, but I can try! These days I have free lunch (and often dinner) on the week days so that should help a lot.

10.31.15 - $167.00

Last day of October! Happy Halloween! $16 spent for lunch for myself and a friend. $56 on Amazon, although about half of that will be reimbursed by work. $7 at Whole Foods. I think I bought materials with which to make a milkshake. Or maybe just milk, knowing Whole Foods. $9 on an Uber. $35 on alcohol. $3 on coffee. $48 on a Router.

October 31, 2015: $167 Today – $2259 Total Oct. 2015

[badminimalist]

Back to work! We owe about 1.7 in mortgage. Ideally I’d like to pay off $250,000 of that a year between the two of us.

My breakdown:

- About $4,000 a month, regularly. ($48,000)

- About $25,000 every three months. ($100,000)

- Profit from side hustle ($30,000)

That adds up to $178,000 from me alone, with $72,000 from my partner. It means we can pay off the non-interest part in 6.8 years.

I’d love to do it in 5-6 years if possible to save on interest and just get it done. Maybe if I get a nice bonus and salary boost. I guess I could put my bonus towards it too!

[badminimalist]

2022 Plans

I didn’t quite make $1 million this year, but I was pretty close! I got to $880,791.00 of known Net Worth, and have ~30,000.00 (conservative estimate) from the business.

I had an increase of $326,545.57 from 2020 to 2021, not counting business money, which means I hit my general goal of $350k earnings. When the business stuff gets sorted out in Q1 I’ll go back and make those edits in my tracker.

Today I got rid of ~4 bags of clothes and shoes. I made some tough decisions and am proud of myself for letting go of so much. I also made K’s day by giving him 3 pairs of nice shoes, since we are the same size.

My stretch goal in 2022 is to have $500k in earnings. That would be really amazing, and I really do think that’s possible. More than $350 is the general goal. That would get me to $1.4 million.

The breakdown:

From my regular job I’d like to save all of that. So, ~$8k per month.

From the business I’d like to save 1/3 of the $60/hr income. So, ~2.5 saved, ~5k for spending.

This means most months I’ll have $5k for bills and shopping, and eating out and things like that.

Ideally I’m saving $10k a month, so roughly $120,000 a year.

The rest should come from stocks / RSUs? I think?

I get about 64,000 a year from RSUs, bringing us to $184,000.

Honestly, not super sure where the rest comes from.

Goal is to keep my Checkings at ~$10,000.00, and sock the rest away; in savings for home-buying, or in investments.

Not spending so much will help.

[badminimalist]

My goal is to get all of my clothing hemmed and updated and write about each piece. That can be my design project.

Virtual wardrobe. You’d want it like a lookbook eventually. Will need photo help.

I want to mend them and honor them! And actually wear them. So many button downs to wear.

[badminimalist]

Doing great. Saved $100,000 since the beginning of 2021. I’m at $650,000 right now, and hoping foolishly perhaps to hit $1,000,000 by the end of 2021.

That’s $350,000 to go. I think I can do it.

[badminimalist]

I need to start compartments for my BoA Savings account.

Emergency Overdraft: $10,000

Mom’s Remodeling: $30,000

Taxes: $12,000.00

Total Goal: $52,000.00

Each $2,000 extra that is saved will go directly towards Vanguard funds.

Checkings goal: $15,000. Don’t dip below $10,000. Over $15,000.00 is moved to Savings.

I “owe” $10,000 into Ally, too. Used that to pay for all my Christmas shopping recently. Went a little crazy.

[badminimalist]

Well, I didn’t post at all in 2020 until now. I’m going to start in the last few days of December to hopefully set up a good routine for 2021.

I did okay, though. Currently at $550,000.00 net worth, which is more money than I ever imagined having.

Still a Bad Minimalist, though. I’ve shopped enough this year to have an excess wardrobe. I have more sweaters than I have space for them, especially after learning that you can’t hang ‘em, or the shoulders will sag.

I’ve also started a side-gig of freelance design with my best friend. He does product management and content strategy and I do the product design. Our current rates are $120 / hr, which adds up fast. Before taxes, I should end up with $90,000.00 from the side-gig alone in 2020.

My goal next year is to live off of only my side-gig work, and save all of my regular salary. Ideally, I’d like to spend less than $1,500.00 outside of rent and utilities per month.

[badminimalist]

Doing Pretty Well in 2019

Just set up auto transfer for the first of the month --> Ally. $1000.

Also, $800 of every paycheck automatically goes to Ally as well. That’s roughly $2600 into Ally per month!

[badminimalist]

Jan 2019

This January:

My cash flow was -$2,030.40.

I earned $6,306 from my paycheck. 

In total, I earned $9,758.

I spent $11,790.

Granted, about $2500 is money that I’ll receive back in reimbursements. However, that’s a net gain of only about $500. That’s not good enough. It’s bad.