What have I been up to?
Hi all, welcome back to my personal and financial update . I thought my previous three months had flown by until these past three months happened. Summer holidays were amazing and our family was busy with the September start of school and activities.
We spent lots of time in our backyard with the kids this summer. Enjoying the splash pool, water balloon fights, and playing with the neighbor kids. Bike rides and trips to community playgrounds was also common.
I had plenty of time off with two separate 10-day holidays. The first was three back-to-back mini-weekends starting out with visiting my parents farm to see my sister and her daughters, then to the lake with my wife’s family, and finishing it off with relaxing back at home.
The second holiday stint we spent the entire time at the cabin. The weather varied so we were able to try out some hikes with the kids. They did so great – I was expecting some meltdowns and those ended up being some of the highlights of the week. We enjoyed the hot sunny days at the beach and on an ugly rainy day we did a daytrip to Waskesiu for some shopping and ice cream.
I golfed more this summer than I have in recent years. I participated in more golf tournaments, going out with family or friends, and I went on a weekend golf trip with a group. I almost golfed more holes that weekend than I did the rest of the year.
I’ve been making a conscience effort to plan things with family and friends. It’s very easy to get caught up with your own things and not take that planning step. It’s nice to have things in the calendar to look forward too.
I’m fortunate to say that my summer was eventful, fun, and fulfilling.
Enjoyable Moments
- Went back home to see my parents and visit with my sister and nieces.
- Golfed with my father-in-law and brother-in-laws.
- Planned a mini-golf tourney and drinks with four of my good friends.
- Won a charity golf tournament with three great guys from our volunteer club.
- Time spent at the lake doing beach days and hikes.
- Went on my 1st golf trip where we played 63 holes in 3 days.
- Went on my 2nd fishing trip up north to the Churchill River and Voyager Lodge.
- Met up with a close work colleague I had never met in person. We’d been working together for a over year.
- Had a great in-depth visit with a friend talking politics, current events, and crypto.
- Volunteered in the Rock Your Roots reconciliation walk and got to know a friend better over lunch.
- Continuing to have walks in the park with a buddy.
Work and Volunteer Related
Work continues to be busy and fun. I really enjoy the complex problems I’m working on for our organization. I get to work with a great group of people so that makes the challenges that much more enjoyable.
For my volunteer club I was very busy cleaning up the bookkeeping. I’m not an accountant and have never been a bookkeeper so there were lots of lessons learned from the year for how to do things better. The goal is to put the club in a better position than when I started, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t bumps along the way until you get there.
I also won the Volunteer of the Year Award for all my effort I put in as treasurer! I’m happy to have been considered with a number of guys who put a lot of time and effort into the club.
Recent Blog Posts
Q3 Net Worth: -$11,906
Another drop this quarter. This time for ~$12K. That’s the second straight quarter with a negative.
This is to be expected. And this is OK – this is why we need to stick to our investment plan. I continue to invest bi-weekly and periodically check to see if my portfolio needs rebalancing and so far, it doesn’t.
Market downturns are an investment opportunity. This means the market is on sale and if you’re investing regularly, you should be able to pick up a few more shares each time.
| 2022 | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net Worth | +$22,419 | -$40,304 | -$11,906 | – | -$29,791 |
Check out my Q2 2022 Net Worth Update here.
Check out my Q1 2022 Net Worth Update here.
Q3 Savings Rate: +35.24%
I had a quarterly savings rate of 35% bringing my YTD savings rate in over 40%.
I’m very happy with my progress this year and keeping above my 40% savings goal.
| 2022 | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Savings Rate | 49.15% | 31.87% | 35.24 | – | 40.99% |
Podcasts
The Rational Reminder
My suggestion to everyone is to check out the Understanding Crypto Limited Series from the Rational Reminder’s Ben Felix and Cameron Passmore.
As of today, it’s a 17-part series which I found immensely informative and entertaining. I wanted to learn about what makes up a blockchain, how cryptos work, and the benefits and shortcomings that come along with it. This really hit the spot.
If I had to choose 1 episode from the 17, I would recommend Understanding Crypto 6 with Bruce Schneier (listed above) and his scathing review of crypto. 🙂
Reading/Audiobooks
No personal finance or self-development books this time around. This summer I dove into the world of Star Wars. I wanted entertainment reading at the lake so I loaded up my library card with Libby and enjoyed them with a force.
Mental, Health and Wellness
My mental health has been continuing on a positive upwards trend. Spending time with family and friends really fills my cup and having a positive impact on my work projects brings fulfillment as well.
The only downside to being social and busy with work is my eating habits. They can go downhill fast and cravings take over. Once that sets in, I find it very difficult to break. But with everything, each day is another chance to try again. It’s time to turn the corner and get my meal preps done, stay out of the pantry, and move my body.
Final Thoughts
It was an amazing and fun-filled summer. There is a theme that spending time with family and friends is so important. I had pulled back on these things for a number of years as I was focusing on saving money and went too far inwards.
I never realized how much that pullback was impacting my enjoyment of the now. I’m in a much better place now. I still save, I still make value judgements on the money I spend, but the important things have come back into view and that’s my continued focus.
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