1500 Days to Freedom

Think different and escape the rat race.

2018 Review: Money, Blogging, Running, Dinosauring, And The Real Goal

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Just when the caterpillar thought that its life was over, it became a butterfly.

-who the hell knows

2018 Review

Another review post?

*yawn*

Yep. How can we plan for where we’re going if we don’t know where we’ve been?

I like using reflection as a tool for self-improvement. By looking at what I did, I can figure out what went right and keep doing it. Much more interesting, I can analyze what went wrong and course-correct.

Money

2018 was the first year since I started the blog that our stock market portfolio was negative. It ended the year up $21,739, but that included $37,890.97 in 401(k) contributions. The S&P 500 was down too, so not much to see here. Bad years happen. To the long-term investor, this means nothing.

On the other hand, our real estate holdings churned out $37,434 in cash, sweet cash. This isn’t such a great return though considering we had around $700,000 invested (~5%). The lower returns are because:

  • The trailer park is our biggest real estate holding ($170,000) and we put all earnings into rehab. This was always the plan. It is in a much better place now and we’ll start drawing money from it any month now.
  • We have $275,000 invested in syndications. These deals pay out most of the money towards the end (5-10 years) and all of ours are less than 3 years old.

So, real estate income should go up significantly in 2019. Not up like this though:

An elevated, elevated home park!

The truth about my financial situation is that I don’t think much about dollars and cents anymore. When I first left my job, I missed the big paychecks. I also worried about my investments. Now, I don’t miss the checks at all and I don’t worry about the stock market. Of course, it helps to have a spouse that is working, but I don’t think I’d be much different if she wasn’t.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t like the challenge of making money. We’re buying a small business in our town. We’re also looking at a triplex property. I still fiddle with the knobs every once in a while.

Verdict: Neither a win or a loss. I can’t control the stock market and my other investments are performing according to plan.

Blog Related Crap

I had the honor of speaking at Chautauqua. Going to this event as an attendee in 2016 was a bucket list item. Speaking at it was a bucket list item times 1,000. I’m thankful every day that a project I started only for myself and half as a joke (this silly blog) has let to opportunities like this:

I’m sorry dear wife that I used this picture

At FinCon, I shared a stage with the Physician on FIRE, Jillian Johnsrud (Montana Money Adventures), JD Roth, and Mr. Money Mustache. The last two inspired me to begin my journey to financial independence. Hell, I didn’t even know anyone retired before their 60s before I found MMM. In any case, it was surreal sharing a stage with them. Life came full circle. And it was good.

Frugalsaurus waves the FI flag at our FinCon panel

This was the year that we had some serious media coverage, both print and TV. This was fun, but it’s about time to move on. Others deserve a chance. Besides, the world doesn’t need to see any more pale, nerdy, FIREy middle-aged white guys. I’m incredibly thankful that I had the opportunities though.

Verdict: Win! 2018 was a fun year in my career as a blogger. I’m unsure that I’ll ever top it, but I’m also not quite sure how to measure success. I’m also not quite sure if I need to get anything more out of the blog besides weekly amusement. Thanks blog. I’m glad I didn’t give up on you, although I’ve thought about doing so frequently.

Home

Over 5 years later, we’re still trying to wrap up our remodel. It’s thisclose to being done, but we still have lots of little things to complete. Also, I keep getting distracted by new projects. Over the summer, I built these planter boxes in the front yard:

I also built this bed that folds into a wall. It’s great for reclaiming space in our home office:

Verdict: I’m putting this one in the loss column. It’s time to get this freakin’ house done once and for all.

Personal Growth

2018 was the year I overcame my fear of public speaking. This was my biggest win for the year. I’m a different person; more confident and assertive in social situations. To tell you how far I’ve come, I used to be terrified at just asking a question in a group setting. As a kid, I had speech impediments and didn’t like opening my yap-trap in any way. Now, you can’t shut me up sometimes. Sorry world.

I never thought I’d be saying this, but I’m mostly at ease speaking to a group. Take that comfort zone!

Camp FI Southeast

I strengthened some friendships and let others go. Regarding the latter, sometimes people just evolve away from each other. In other cases, some reinforce bad habits. Either way, life too short to make time for everyone. I’m thankful that I have good people in my life.

I walked 6,685,801 steps or 18,317 per day. I’m not sure if I’ll match this in 2019, but I do enjoy mindful wanderings around town.

Running a half-marathon was hellish, but it felt damn good to have accomplished it. I also ran a 5k for the first time in under 30 minutes. Not great, but not bad either for an old dude with asthma and two torn knees.


Verdict: Win. I’m a better person. And while I still retain my unsightly dad belly, I’m in better shape than I was a year ago.

The Real Goal

2018 was a mixed year. It was really good in that we had no major health issues, our children are doing well, and Mrs. 1500 continues to love her job. While I made progress on some of my goals, I didn’t go far enough.I want the person I am at the end of the year to be much different from the one that I was at the start.

The real goal is to grow every year. Life should be a journey of constant improvement. As new evidence presents itself, old beliefs must be burned down and replaced with better ones. At the same time, bad habits and bad people need to be left by the wayside. Growth requires determination, rationality, and open-mindedness.

I didn’t grow as much as I would have liked.

I hope to end 2019 with a smaller gut, bigger muscles, and a better brain.

Less internetting (new word!), more reading.

Fewer cookies, more broccoli.

Less travel, more home time.

Less sitting, More running.

Less bullshit, more living.

I swear I haven’t even been drinking. I’m completely sober over here. After all, one of my goals is to drink less.

Onward and upward friends.

-Carl

Discipline is freedom.

-Jocko WIllink

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Comments

  1. From someone who stuttered most of their life and had to overcome that to then get over a fear of public speaking, congratulations to you! I know it can be hard.

    And those planter boxes are awesome dude! Here’s to a great 2019!

  2. The elevated home park looks nice to me! Whenever someone says trailer park, I always imagine where Shawn lived on Boy Meets World, but this doesn’t look like it.

    Looks like a pretty good 2018!

    What kind of new business are you guys thinking of buying?

    • “What kind of new business are you guys thinking of buying?”

      We’re actually buying it in about two hours. Tune in for an update in a future post…

  3. Plus 2018 was the year I met you so best year ever right!? 😉

    I love your constant desire to improve and become a better version of yourself. Situations and things change all the time, so how can we not expect people to change, grow and become better as well?

    The ability to face your fears and conquer them is one that will pay dividends (not the $$ kind! 😉 ) in the short and long term and will ultimately set you up for your ideal life. Keep living the dream!!

    • “Plus 2018 was the year I met you so best year ever right!?”

      Oh yeah, of course! 🙂 That was a pretty great time in Minnesota.

      Change is so damn important to a good life. Besides, I find stasis incredibly boring. For the next 45 year or so of my life, I hope every single day is a little different.

  4. “This was the year that we had some serious media coverage, both print and TV. This was fun, but it’s about time to move on.”

    Um, I hate to bring this up so soon after you typed it, but isn’t there a movie coming out? Oh, I guess you hadn’t listed movies yet. So, it’s all good. Maybe a Broadway show for 2020, then?

    • Ooops, I forgot about the movie. My part in that will probably be pretty small though. No big deal. I’m thankful I was asked to take part in any of it.

      Broadway show? Can I play a tree? One that doesn’t talk or move?

  5. that travel thing is a tough one for us. the past 10 years i’ve gravitated towards driving trips where we take the dog along and put our stuff down and stay for a week or so. if friends join us then that’s all the better. airports get to be a bigger and bigger deterrent for air travel.

    looks to me like y’all had a good year and you spent zero days working for ‘the man.” that’s a win. making money is a fun hobby for sure.
    freddy smidlap recently posted…We’re on the Glide Path to Retirement: Here’s Our StrategyMy Profile

    • “if friends join us then that’s all the better. airports get to be a bigger and bigger deterrent for air travel.”

      Yep. Farting around on trips is sooooo much better when you’re sharing it with good people. Hell, that’s why I reached out to you when I was coming to the Northeast.

  6. Am I a better person than I was a year ago. That is some challenge…

    I think so. I hope so. Am I the person I want to be. Definitely not.

  7. Love this reflection on your year. I’m feeling inspired to reflect on my own. I read a great quote this morning that you seem to be living: “What I do every day matters more than what I do once in a while.” I’m trying to give more attention to my daily activities.

    One challenge I’m having lately is finding a balance between making progress on self-improvement and being overly critical. Reading through what you accomplished this year and how it made you feel it seems you conquered the year. But you wanted to do more. I think most of us want to do more, I certainly do. But does that constant wanting more keep us moving forward or can it also drag us down by making us feel like nothing is ever “enough?” As usual, the answer for me seems to be a mix of both. Not sure if this makes any sense or is useful, but I’m thinking a lot about evaluating my own progress lately.

    Thanks for continually sharing your journey. It helps.

  8. Sounds like a great set of goals for 2019 Carl! It’s been fun to follow along on your adventures in 2018, and a constant source of amusement!

    My own FI adventure seems to have far less travel and public speaking than yours, but I’m looking forward to more of the same in 2019!
    Mr. Tako recently posted…Throw Negative Nancy On The FireMy Profile

  9. I love everything about this “The real goal is to grow every year. Life should be a journey of constant improvement. As new evidence presents itself, old beliefs must be burned down and replaced with better ones. At the same time, bad habits and bad people need to be left by the wayside. Growth requires determination, rationality, and open-mindedness..” Thank you for keeping it real.
    Catherine recently posted…2018 in ReviewMy Profile

  12. Hey Mr 1500 – Haven’t checked in for a while but looks like you have had a great 2018!

    “While I made progress on some of my goals, I didn’t go far enough.I want the person I am at the end of the year to be much different from the one that I was at the start.” – Think you are being way too hard on yourself with this one from what I can see. It’s great to always be trying to improve one’s self but you are a pretty stand up guy as you are, I don’t think you need to change all that much – as you say yourself in one of your goals “Less bullshit, more living.” – maybe it’s worth focusing on enjoying what you have and what you’ve achieved already (I can’t speak from experience though as I’m not at FIRE yet so maybe I will be exactly the same once I get there and be looking at the next big set of challenges! Hah!)

    18000+ steps a day is incredible and congrats on running the half marathon, it’s no mean feat for anyone in any kind of shape or age!

    Hope 2019 turns out even better for you 🙂
    theFIREstarter recently posted…2018 review plus 2019 goals: the year of keeping calm and carrying onMy Profile

    • Thanks for the kind words theFIREstarter. Focusing on enjoying the status quo is so important. I have to remind myself of that every single day.

      In any case, I hope to see you in June.

  13. Oh I meant to ask about the elevated living homes… they look really nice! Much better than what I had in my head when you mentioned a mobile home park. What is the idea behind them being on stilts though? Are they situated in a high risk of flood area? Thanks!

  14. Wow Carl I can’t believe how big your girls are!

    It’s great that you have made strides in your public speaking goal. Have you ever heard of toastmaster? Maybe a group you want to check out. I just joined a group. To work on my public speaking. Maybe why I had a hard time connecting during FinCon events. maybe unknowingly I suffered from asking questions.

    Also the half marathon that is a great milestone. Are you planning more runs this year? How do you pick the ones you are doing?