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What Day Is It?

July 20, 2018 by Mr. 1500 Days 15 Comments

There is one huge problem with early retirement and it is this:

I never know what day it is.

I’m absent minded to begin with:

Where is my wallet?

Where are the *&^%ing car keys?

But most of the time when I was working, I knew what day it was. However, even then, I never really knew the date except around a holiday:

The 4th of July was yesterday, so it’s the 5th!

However, the holiday soon fades away and then I find myself confused again.

But now the problem is even worse. I don’t know the number or the day. Today could be a Tuesday or Thursday or a Sunday. The problem is at its peak in the summertime when the girls are out of school. At least when they’re in school, I know if it’s a weekday or weekend.

To add to the confusion, weekdays are the new weekends. Weekdays are better!

  • Saturday at 10am in the Home Depot garden section sucks. On Tuesday morning, no lines!
  • There are loads of people at the gym on weekends. On a weekday morning, it’s only seniors playing pickleball.
  • Sometimes, I’ll go see a movie at 1pm on a Wednesday. There are usually like 3 other people in there. No obnoxious adults or chatty kids, just some random seniors (this is what they do after pickleball).

To help with the situation, I considered buying one of these clocks:

However, the clock is $30 and I’m a cheapass. But more than that, it’s ugly. I don’t like all of that wood. If someone came up with a modern version, I’d probably jump on it. I’ll probably just make my own with Arduino and LEDs.

What the hell is the point of this post? I don’t know. If you’ve made it this far, I’m sorry. I just wasted 2.4 minutes of your precious day. To make it up, if you come to Boulder County, I’ll buy you a nice beer. Not a Coors, but a good micro. That is the least I can do.

But wait, don’t go away just yet. Have you ever read My Son’s Father? It’s pretty great and Mr. MSF devoted a whole post to me: https://www.mysonsfather.com/mr-1500-visits-the-fi-laboratory/

The FIRE community including bloggers, readers and podcasters is composed of some of the finest people I know. I’m so happy to be a part of it all, even if I have no clue what day it is.

Join the 10s who have signed up already!

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Filed Under: Something Completely Different

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Comments

  1. My Sons Father says

    July 20, 2018 at 2:06 pm

    I go to the community center during the winters and have been surprised at how chippy those pickle balls games can get. Nice to see the competitive spirit alive and well in our senior citizens.

    Thanks for the shoutout, I appreciate it!

    I can’t think of a better muse for my bizarre creative expressions then the FIRE community.

    Reply
    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      July 20, 2018 at 3:19 pm

      “I can’t think of a better muse for my bizarre creative expressions then the FIRE community.”

      Yep. This community is one of the few places where I feel like I can really be myself without people thinking that I’m crazy. This is my crowd.

      Reply
  2. Mrs PoP says

    July 20, 2018 at 2:14 pm

    Mr PoP is already messing his days up! It’s been like 3 weeks! As he would say, the struggle is real. =).

    Relatedly, my favorite line from downton abbey was when the Maggie Smith character asked, “what is a weekend?” to someone unfortunate enough to have a job. It’s something to aspire to.
    Mrs PoP recently posted…He Said / She Said – Dispatches From CO – Part 1My Profile

    Reply
    • Ramona says

      July 21, 2018 at 4:23 am

      Yep, we quote that Maggie Smith line. All. The. Time. Hilarious!

      As a still somewhat working person, we might need to enact a law to keep the FIRE and senior community out of the grocery stores on the weekend. Seriously?! You have every other day to do that. Stop rubbing your leisurely time in my face.

      Reply
      • Mr. 1500 Days says

        July 21, 2018 at 6:52 am

        Haha, true! FIRE hours: Monday-Friday, 1-3pm!

        Reply
    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      July 21, 2018 at 6:55 am

      Mr. PoP is doing well in early retirement! He hasn’t been done for even a month and his FIRE nap count is already way higher than mine. Admittedly, my count is 0.

      Reply
  3. MrWow says

    July 20, 2018 at 4:05 pm

    This is something I look forward to. I miss it when we come back from traveling. When traveling we do what ever when ever. Then we come back and the day of week is important again.

    That MSF post is awesome. The podcast referenced was fun. You should join in on a round table sometime.

    Reply
  4. wendy says

    July 20, 2018 at 9:10 pm

    Do you really *need* to know what day it is?? Just be zen… enter important appointments into your calendar, set some alarms for them, and be done with it. ‘Days of the week’ are for wage slaves – which you no longer are.
    Wallow in it… then pass the beer.

    DayLessNess is something I humbly aspire to!

    Reply
    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      July 21, 2018 at 6:53 am

      DayLessNess! Love it!

      Yeah, sometimes I do want to know what day it is to avoid the weekend crowds. But for the most part, you’re right. I should just enter it all in the calendar and let the phone beep when I have something coming up.

      Reply
  5. Rusty says

    July 21, 2018 at 6:54 am

    Half the reason I wear my fitbit is that is shows the day of the week, the date and time. It is definitely a weird side affect of early retirement. You should check out what day of the week you can get a discount on movies. For us, Tuesday is the winner at $5 instead of the normal $7+. I have been thinking lately I need to look for all the random day of the week specials that places offer like “kids eat free” Wedensday’s.

    Reply
    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      July 21, 2018 at 7:31 am

      Ha, I’ve had a FitBit for almost a year. So, I just read your comment and the thought I had in my head was this: “FitBits don’t show the day of the week!” Two seconds later, I look at my wrist and BOOM, there it is, the day of the week! Thanks for the tip!

      Reply
  6. Kevin@LifeInFIRE says

    July 22, 2018 at 2:22 pm

    I have that clock, and yes, my wife hates it.
    We have to keep it out of the way in our vacation trailer because it’s too ugly for our home…but it works. You easily know what day it is if you’re lounging around on a Tue afternoon. I think we should all created a cooler FIRE version of the “weekday clock.”
    Great post! We love living off-peak: M-F 9a-3p
    …BTW, soon your “1500 days” will be FIREd days instead of pre-FIRE days…time will go SO fast.

    Reply
  7. Matt says

    July 23, 2018 at 2:14 am

    I have seen that clock, and seen it given as a retirement present!

    If you don’t like the clock, have you considered a floor insert like a cruise ship has in their elevator? Of course, then you need someone to change it out. But, I think that’s an interesting case where the “normal” person can experience the same blissful ignorance of the calendar: what you are doing in the moment is much more important than some common reference to the day.

    Reply
  8. Financial Velociraptor says

    July 26, 2018 at 10:46 am

    Sheez. If it wasn’t for my blog and the M-W-F posting schedule I’ve settled into, I’d have the same problem. I have to have some kind of FI meetup on the calendar to know the current number.
    Financial Velociraptor recently posted…Bro, do you even lift?My Profile

    Reply
  9. JL Collins says

    July 28, 2018 at 11:17 am

    I have the same problem and I like that clock.

    Maybe some visitor will bring it to Kibanda as a housewarming gift one day. 😉

    Reply

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My goal was to build a portfolio of $1,000,000 by February of 2017; 1500 days from the birth of this blog (January 1, 2013). And hey look, I’ve since retired!

Investments only (primary home excluded)
1/1/13 (The Start): $586,043
1/1/14 (1 Yr Later): $869,635
1/1/15 (2 Yrs Later): $987,351
1/1/16 (3 Yrs Later): $1,057,961
1/1/17 (4 Yrs Later): $1,257,128
1/1/18 (5 Yrs Later): $1,527,701
1/1/19 (6 Yrs Later): $1,549,440
1/1/20 (7 Yrs Later): $2,035,040*
1/1/21 (8 Yrs Later): $3,379,746**
1/1/22 (9 Yrs Later): $4,762,642
1/1/23 (10 Yrs Later): $3,112,821

2023: Investments only
1/1: $3,112,821
2/1: $3,582,368
3/1: $3,716,852
4/1: $3,861,599
5/1: $3,694,445
6/1: $4,089,141
7/1: $4,384,858
8/1: $4,539,865
9/1: $4,468,622

Gains: $1,355,801

Overall
Gains since 1/1/2013: $3,882,579
Net worth***: $4,698,622

* The big jump between 2019 and 2020 was partly because we bought another home, but kept the previous (much more expensive) one as a rental. We have since sold it.

** Tesla.

*** Includes our primary home equity in addition to our investment portfolio.

Finally, we still have about $290,000 in mortgage debt (which I love!). No regrets about the debts!

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