What have I been up to?
I’m happy to be back at it and bringing you my Q1 update. This quarter has had its share of ups and downs, but overall it has been a positive start to the year given some circumstances.
I’ll mention that I had other focuses this quarter instead of money and finance. I went light on finance books and blogs but still listened to some great podcast episodes. I took a break from the personal finance “learn” mode to be more in the moment and opted for different self-development materials.
Last year, I focused on maintaining and building relationships (check out Ramit Sethi’s Money Dials). I’m continuing to make an effort to contact family and friends as that really helps me get into a better place. It’s important to me so I frequently I use my 15 minute drive to go to pickup the kids from daycare, to call people and have a quick chat to catch up.
The Good
Adding more experiences to my life is another area I’m trying to focus on. Money and saving has caused me to undervalue experiences, so I want to change that. Relationships and experiences go hand-in-hand and it’s been a while since my wife and I have had more than an evening away from the kids, so I surprised her with a two-night stay at a nice resort.
Drinks and appetisers while watching curling, a wilderness walk, and massages. I also did some solo water sliding because apparently I’m a kid.
I also went on a guys’ trip to Big White in Kelowna, BC. Three full days of skiing was amazing. I love the feeling of letting your skies run as you carve turns down the hill. Not fighting the hill, no chatter to the skies – just let the skies do the work.
Max speed: 73.2 km/h
The Not So Good
Unfortunately, the year didn’t start off as planned, with most of my family getting Covid. Fortunately, everyone had mild cases and got past it healthily. But it meant we had to split the house for 10 days. Girls upstairs and the boys downstairs.
That experience was frustrating, to say the least. An inconvenient, uncertain, and fearful time not knowing what would happen.
A positive came out of that though, as my daughter couldn’t go to daycare for an extended period, it gave my parents the opportunity to come look after the kids for an entire week. My mom especially enjoys that and jumps at the chance to shoo my wife and me away to get more one-on-one time with the kids.
Back to the Good
There were some definite bright spots to start off the year mentioned above, and here are some other activities I really enjoyed:
- My wife, and kids, and I got to meet our new nephew! This is the kids’ first cousin on my wife’s side. They were very excited to hold him.
- A few supper-and-a-movie date nights with my wife at home.
- Taking the kids out puddle jumping (full-body Muddy Buddy’s required)
- Watching my nephew win U18 AA hockey provincials with my son, my sister, brother-in-law, and niece. My nephew scored the Championship winning goal!
- Celebrated three in-person birthdays – for my wife, our daughter, and my dad.
- A night out for a drink and movie with some buddies.
- Lunch walks with a friend.
- Visiting with a close friend I haven’t seen in person in a long time and trying out all the beer they’ve made.
Not an experience per se, but I splurged on myself and did a huge upgrade to my work-from-home office. I got an electronic height-adjustable desk, monitor stand, and a new wireless keyboard and mouse. It’s one of those things I use every day, and I can’t wait to get into my office and use it – so I guess it is an experience after all.
Blog Update
I wrote a post on Why You Should Track Your Spending, which includes 6 reasons why tracking your spending is a savings superpower. In the post, I briefly go into my love for YNAB which I’ve been using for the past four years to track my spending (and budgeting).
Q1 Net Worth: +$22,419
An increase of over $22,000 this quarter is great, but I want to put that into context as I don’t want to give the impression that I’m some incredible investing or cost saving genius.
The markets were relatively flat (even slightly negative) during this time. You may recall I am an index investor ($VGRO and Canadian Couch Potato), so my stuff tracks very closely to the markets.
Most of this increase is because of us being in a place of privilege. I’m very fortunate to have a job that offers a bonus program which I received in February, plus we have a supportive family which gave us a monetary gift.
I would like to say that this was due to some incredible investing, cost saving, or side-hustle income, but in reality, that isn’t the case. We’re very lucky to be in the situation we are in.
| 2022 | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net Worth | +$22,419 | – | – | – | +$22,419 |
Check out my last 2021 Net Worth Update here.
Q1 Savings Rate: +49.15%
With the influx of cash, I deployed the majority of it into long-term investments but also kept a healthy chunk for short-term savings, enjoyment money, and some to use for the 2022 RRSP season.
Based on that, my savings rate was around 50%. Well over my goal of 40%.
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Savings Rate | 49.15% | – | – | – | 49.15% |
Podcasts
I like to highlight some of my favorite podcasts that I’ve recently listened to.
The Rational Reminder Podcast
You may notice a theme in this section – it’s all about financial advice.
I usually harp on why people don’t need a financial advisor, (VGRO and GO) but these episodes provide a great perspective and reasons why it may make sense. It’s always good to find alternative opinions to your own to find holes in your thinking.
- Episode 36 ETF Model Portfolios: For Performance and Comparison Purposes
- Episode 53 Preet Banerjee: The Real Value of Financial Advice: An Empirical Perspective
- Episode 112 Michael Kitces on Retirement Research and the Business of Financial Advice
- Episode 116 Mark Hebner: Recovering from Active Management through Education
Explore FI Canada
- Episode 067 – Starting From Nothing with Jonathan Bielaski
- Episode 069 – Farewell.
I’m sad to see EFIC end (for now???) but happy that it happened, and that I got to be a guest on it.
FI Garage
- Episode 068 – The Mechanic gets angry
Reading/Audiobooks
I didn’t read or listen to any financial related books and instead focused on other areas of personal growth.
Read This to Get Smarter About Race, Class, Gender, Disability, & More – Blair Imani
Diversity and Inclusion
Highly Recommended.
This is an easy read and a great primer on the many issues we face in daily life. She explains everything succinctly without losing the important points.
Atomic Habits – James Clear
Productivity
This is a MUST READ!
Most books tell you WHAT you should be doing, but are skimpy on the HOW – this book is all about the HOW.
This is the most practical book I’ve read. It gives you plenty of actionable tips to create sustainable habits. I’ve listened to this book multiple times and I’m due for another.
Here are some buzzword highlights:
- Systems Are Better Than Goals
- Habit Stacking
- Your Environment Shapes Your Success
How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk – Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish
Parrenting
Highly recommended
I struggle with my patience with the kids. I’m quick to irritation (after asking many times). This was my second listen through of the audiobook as there is so much to take away.
This book has given me alternative approaches and new phrases to use instead of my old habits.
Do away with timeouts and talk/listen to your kids.
Health and Wellness
I’m back at it – I joined a Spring Slim Down Challenge again and I am working out consistently and eating much better again.
I’m down 10 lbs in the past 5 weeks thanks to the help and support of my wife. She’s been helping me meal prep and “lovingly” questioning my snacking.
Looking back at how I got off the rails at the end of last year, I can see how mental and physical health are so tightly related.
Focused too much on work, which I was enjoying, I tipped the scale too far in seeking esteem from valuable contributions at work. Not giving my personal-self enough attention, I snacked which led to cravings and then again to more snacking.
I have to be mindful of my small eating habits, such as enjoying a beer or having a treat, as the next day I notice my cravings soar. It’s sometimes easier to not start than to stop.
Mental Health
In my last update, I left out some struggles I had over Christmas which I wasn’t ready to write about.
Getting Covid after the Christmas break was difficult for me – I didn’t handle it well. Being with family and knowing there was a chance we were exposed, I was uneasy and preoccupied the whole time. I let my frustration be known and it didn’t look good on me.
However, that experience opened up some communication with my family as we realized we’re having similar struggles.
Since that happened early January, I decided it was time to pre-book sessions with my counsellor. They’re always helpful and even if you don’t have a specific topic to talk about. I talked about Christmas and my eating and ended up having another breakthrough realization to better understand the difference between my work-self, my personal-self, and my inner child that needs attention as well.
Take my advice and find someone to talk to.
Final Thoughts
I’m really happy with my health progress to date. It’s been a nice upswing and I plan to keep it going.
With everything happening, the good and the bad, reflection is the key to understanding yourself. My food and mental health triggers are becoming known and I’m constantly working to improve.
It’s an unfortunate truth, but you need to go through the hard times to learn and improve yourself.
Relationships are key and adding more experiences to my life has started off strong. Continuing to find ways, cost effective or not, to spend time with loved ones will have positive effects.
How has your 2022 been so far? Have you been working on yourself?
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