Back in the olden days when Debt Free Alpha was just a young lad, I worked at two supermarkets. The first was in 1999 at this store called Met Foodmarkets. I would ride my Raleigh M-20 mountain bike about about a mile to work and park my bike in the back of the store. I made a whopping $5.15 per hour, no benefits, and worked the registers. I learned a lot from that experience about how not to be an effective boss and how I was yearning for more in life.
Fast forward to 2001 I worked at a different supermarket, which I quit once then got rehired after a few weeks of my rapidly dwindling savings. During my employment there I met a friendly, but insecure young lady by the name of Stacey. She rode her bike to work, worked in the Bakery, and was afraid to learn how to drive. We became friends and over the years I’ve seen her blossom into a confident, passionate person.
I still can’t believe she’s rocking the 2010 MacBook Pro. I remember when she was shopping around for different laptops and couldn’t decide which one to get. Stacey if you’re reading this, it’s 2022. The 2021 Apple Silicon MacBook Pros are pretty dang amazing. 😉
A common theme of this particular episode is getting out of your comfort zone and not selling yourself short. Looking back over the course of my life and career making those changes are what allowed me to grow and hit salary and investment goals I didn’t think would be attainable before the time I hit 40.
Lastly I’m trying to avoid burnout and it’s close to midnight but I hope you are all doing well. The last two days have pulled at my emotions but I’m staying focused on what I as an individual do have the power to control. Deep breaths, meditation, one step at a time. Tomorrow I have meetings for the entire day from 8:30-5:30, then meeting friends after that. wish me luck.
I consider myself middle class though based on this 2020 tool by the Pew Research Center I am within the Upper income tier along with 21% of others in the area.
Income Tiers for DFW
I don’t feel like I’m Upper Class, more like middle class. As a single person I don’t own a home, travel very frugally when I do, don’t spend too extravagantly. Then inflation, inflation, inflation. Speaking of, my rent is expected to go up $180/mo from $955/mo to $1,135. That’s an 18.8% increase from where I was
What are the pros living here? It’s relatively quiet, my neighbors stay out of my business, neither the dog or I have to walk up a long flight of stairs, parking is decent and they don’t tow cars if someone stays here for a few hours / days. It’s still cheap relative to both my income and in terms of what other people pay. One of my friends in Frisco has a Ring camera and has had packages stolen or knocked around, drunk young guys ring his bell at all hours of the night. I haven’t had to experience any of that.
The Cons? I’ve been here since Dec 2014, the complex was built the year I was born, the inside is a bit lacking of frills, the stove is pretty old, there isn’t a bunch of natural lighting, I have only one friend who lives within a 5 mile radius and that’s someone I used to date so we don’t really hangout. For any company I do have over, the place isn’t that impressive. The fixtures, the flooring, the paint on the walls. The worst is the bathroom, the glaze is flaking off the tub, the ceiling has spots of mildew that just gets painted over. Since the flood last year, pieces of tile either have glue that doesn’t adhere to floor, or the grout between the tiles has a slight water damaged look upon close inspection. My neighbors were smoking in their unit for a while and the smell would come under the door into mine almost daily. I had to complain multiple times about it. They’ve since stopped but I smell whatever meat they cook in my unit too and it is not a very appealing aroma. Nothing is walkable apart from a little convenience store, barbershop, and taqueria that opened up. Desirability to me of these places is fairly low.
I haven’t signed the renewal paperwork yet but I am starting to look at other alternatives that would be at $1200/mo or a bit above that.
Option 1 – MacArthur Ridge Apartments – $1294/mo – $200 Pet fee, $20/mo pet rent, $75 application fee, $75 admin fee. Built in 1991 so not that much newer. 4 stories. Read reviews about the lower levels being moldy. 2 years ago someone wrote about them increasing rent by 18% more from year 1 to year 2. People complain about the walls being thin, parking situation is not good.
Option 2 – Summerbend – $1,311 /mo – $250 pet fee, $20/mo pet rent All 6 reviews on page 1 of apartments.com basically said it was the worst place they lived and to stay away. People said there were issues with the foundation, cracks in the floors, roaches. Sounds like a shitshow.
Option 3 – Hyde Park at Valley Ranch – $1,340/mo for a renovated unit a comparable size to where I’m at now. $150 pet deposit, $150/mo pet fee. Read reviews about water being turned off. Bad parking, poor management, people talk about having to wait month to get the a/c fixed. Even worse than the other ones. It was built in 1986. Sounds like a hard pass.
Option 4 – Avalon 8801 – $1,404 / mo – The inside looks great, it would be about 50 sq/ft more than what I am in now. The floors are a wood laminate which also would be an upgrade. However the pricing increase is pretty high at 47% more than what I pay today or 23% after the increase. 2 months ago someone posted that the place was infested with German roaches. I saw 4 different pictures of roach traps that were full of roaches. No, no no. Also built in 1986. No because my quality of life sounds like it would go down and not up.
Option 5 – Villas at Beaver Creek – $1,175 / mo – Looks nice inside, relatively modern. $300/mo pet deposit. $10/mo pet rent. $80/mo to park in a garage. $30 for covered parking, $100/admin fee, $40/application fee. Built in 1993. People mentioned issues with the a/c 10 times and roaches 16 times. That doesn’t sound like an improvement at all.
Option 6 – The Lyndon – $1,401/mo. $300 one time pet fee, $100 pet deposit, $20/mo pet rent. Management is poor, maintenance seems very slow to respond to various requests tenants have had. The floors / walls are thin from what people have written. Built in 1998. Would it be an improvement? No.
Option 7 – MAA Addison Circle – $1,460/mo for something comparable to what I’m in now. $425 dog fee, $20/mo pet rent. One of my friends used to live here when it was owned by Post. Now it goes by a different name. Tenants complain about the call box not being functional, same with the elevator, slow maintenance. One said there was a 30% increase for their rent renewal. They talk about trash in the hallways and dog poop in the stairs. Also pool area being dirty.
I have 2 weeks to decide whether to stay or leave. I’ll keep looking but it all doesn’t look very promising right now. Not to mention moving would probably be about $900 depending on the location, how many boxes are needed, setting up new utilities and all that stuff. Factoring in the pet and processing fees too. I don’t know if it’s worth it especially with some of the reviews I’ve been reading.
Choosing to be happy is something I try to make a daily goal of mine. That can mean taking breaks from dating apps, going out for a walk in nature, taking pictures, karaoking it up, binging on some Netflix, cudding with my dog on the couch, and viewing content from some of favorite YouTubers. It also can be coming to terms with the past, journaling how I feel about different situations and then getting it off of my mind. Or repeating the serenity prayer. “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.
There is so much going on in the world and with people who are either friends, acquaintances I care deeply about. It’s a balancing act between showing empathy, but also trying not to let their circumstances, or their trauma affect my mental health. Then being happy for once close friends who leave without saying goodbye. That’s part of life though, trying to be the best version of yourself and spending the most precious resource available (your time and energy) wisely.
4/30/2022
4/1/2022
Difference
% Change
401k
$143,369
$162,197
-$12,828
-8%
Roth IRA
$20,231
$21,773
-$1,542
-7%
M1 Acct
$5,070
$5,419
+$349
-6%
Crypto
$1,236
$1,701
+$465
-27%
Buffer Fund
$1,250
$1,626
-$376
-23%
HSA
$1,932
$1,415
+$517
+37%
Total
$179,087
$194,131
-$15,044
-8%
Is it a bummer my net worth went down 8% in a month with me still contributing a total of about $2,700/mo into my investments? Yes. Do I think this will be temporary in nature? In the grand scheme of things yes, but the rest of 2022 might be a rocky year. I did receive a $228 dividend on FSKAX on 4/8. Individual stocks in my M1 account have taken such a beating. AMZN is down 49%, MSFT is down 17%, TSMC down 24%, Google down 25%, Disney down 49%. My Vanguard index fund VTI is only down 1.29%.
My go-forward strategy is to keep on going with dollar cost averaging and not lock in my losses. I think the market is overreacting. Worst case is I lower my contributions
I got Covid a little over 2 weeks ago while on vacation of all places. My Emergency Fund declined since I had a bunch of unexpected expenses on my trip. That includes 2 nights at a Best Western, super expensive food deliveries in the Boston area (one meal for 3 people was close to $85, another for myself at the hotel was $40). Having insurance is nice since my urgent care visit didn’t have any out of pocket expenses.
As far as health is concerned I still have a bit of a residual cough that comes and goes but I’m mostly back to my old self.
The vacation was a hit otherwise and aside from getting sick it was nurturing to my soul to get away from Dallas for a bit and be close to home.
Living room of the place we rented an AirBnbTook a cooking class at the North American headquarters of a well known cutlery vendorMy friends had the room with the massive tub, I was jealousOne of my friends is a wine aficionado. I could drink wine out of a box but this was quality. 🙂
All in all I’m up 7%, or $12,163 for the month. Crypto has gone up 22% without me making any contibutions for the year. I deleted my personal finance channel (DebtFree Alpha and later Awkward F.I.R.E) for the second time. My heart wasn’t in it after 69 videos I only had 17 subs. Also wasn’t able to monetize at all. When you make an effort with a project and it doesn’t work out, it’s okay to call it quits. Work has been keeping me quite busy and putting together quality videos people didn’t enjoy wasn’t a good use of my time.
That said life is going well for the most part. Going on a vacation next week. Finishing up cornhole for the season soon. Spent $40 to get my headlight reglazed due to the factory coating fading away. Also got my transmission flushed for $200, also spent some coin getting an oil change. I got another nail in my tire but the road hazard warranty covered it. Just hit 70k on my car after 6 years of ownership. It’s had little issues here and there but nothing major. Definitely didn’t get the value yet from the $2500 warranty I bought years back. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad one. I’m digging the design of the new Acura Integra though it’s low on power. If I get $20k on my trade, financing $10-15k really wouldn’t be bad. Really not sure about keeping the same car for a decade+. I’m already getting a bit bored.
No big life updates. The extra salary from my new position has been really helpful when dealing with unexpected repairs and literally anything. I’m not struggling while maxing out retirement accounts so that’s really big for me. Have a date Saturday I’m looking forward to. I feel thankful cute guys still are interested in me.
Will April be the month I break $200k? Right on the cusp, it’s been long enough, I’m ready for it… hahaha
Russia is currently at war with Ukraine – Many are watching anxiously wondering what this is going to mean for international relations. Hoping it isn’t a precursor to WW3..
There are still lots of issues in the supply chain related to Covid and there may be some new ones related to exports that come out of Ukraine, such as Neon and the global semiconductor industry.
I recently got promoted at my job and got a raise to go with it. I’m excited for both.
Had a cavity and got my filling redone. The bill was pretty cheap thanks to my dental coverage, I think $35.
Down about 7 pounds thanks to some experimenting I’ve had with Intermittent Fasting and consuming a bit less calories than I used to.
My stepdad recently turned 70. I didn’t get to celebrate with him and my mom in person but I wished him well and ordered some dessert.
My friend’s father passed away on Monday. I met him once in July spoke briefly. He was in poor health but still friendly to me.
One of the bartenders at Round-Up a local bar here in Dallas passed away in a car accident on his way back from Oklahoma. I will miss seeing his friendly face around. I saw him less than a week before he died. R.I.P. Lee (https://dallasvoice.com/round-up-employee-lee-williams-killed-in-wreck/)
3/1/22: 401K $152,603.32 Roth IRA $20,323.80 M1 Acct $4,859.06 Crypto $1,397.33 Buffer Fund $1,375.27 HSA $1,408.55 Total $181,967.33
1/29/22: 401K $157,097.16 Roth IRA $20,788.63 M1 Acct $4,690.51 Crypto $1,360.29 Buffer Fund $1,000.27 HSA $1,408.55 Total $186,345.41
My overall net worth is down, but but but… It’s only down $4,378 or 2.3% Month-Over-Month. Including matching, $2,700 per month to that total. At the current rate I’ll hit $1M in 11 years or before I hit 50. Some upcoming larger expenses will be my portion of a rental in April, vet expenses, car maintenance (though I’m tempted to buy a new one you have no idea), starting to save for a wedding trip in August.
Here’s to the good life!
Drinking wine at a friend’s birthday party
Trying to excel in everyway possible and lot let myself down. Funny how much people freak out over what happens daily but today the market is up again 1.86% and AAPL is up 2.06%. Last night I watched a classic video by Mr. Money Mustache about staying the course. Perfect reminder to make decisions based on what will bring me the most happiness and thinking long term. Ok I better hurry up before I’m late to meet up with friends. 😀 How are you all doing?
I fixed my last posting, apologies for the formatting getting all janky…
Happy to report there have been some recent positive developments for me professionally. After several years of trying to get ahead I finally got a promotion! Random thoughts:
Money isn’t everything but it helps when you’re trying to retire early or reach some major financial-related milestones in life.
I was poor for many, many years. From my first job in 1999 all the way up to Sept. 30, 2016 when my last student loan was paid off. Looking back over the years I could’ve been a lot more aggressive about growing my salary but I didn’t want to choose money over my happiness. On some level I thought the two would be mutually exclusive.
My salary since I entered this industry many years ago is up several times. I was happy in the early stages since I knew this was a growing industry with potential. What a huge difference from working in banking as a head teller.
In terms of the numbers, my salary still doesn’t put me in the top 1%, or even the top 10% for that matter. However my cost of living is a lot lower than a lot of the more liberal cities my friends live in. SF, Boston, Chicago, NYC just to name a few. Everyone I talk to is in shock/envy when I tell them my rent is only $965/mo for a 1br. Yes it is but their place is new construction, recently remodeled and doesn’t feel like 1983 inside. If you want to look at annual rent as a % of overall net worth we’re talking like 6%. Recently rent.com said the average was $1700 for a 1bedroom in the DFW market.
Am I in the hood? Not quite, the area is working class. I see the occasional luxury vehicle. There aren’t people walking up and down the street selling drugs, homeless people sleeping outside my door, or loud music playing at all hours of the night or window security bars on every home. I still want more modern, and more natural light.
Taxes are inevitable. Going to max out my HSA contributions to help lessen my burden. Still on the way to maximizing my 401k and the Roth IRA of course.
Over the years I feel less and less connected to people with massive student loan or other debts. I still empathize and have offered advice when people ask. I guess like anything else if you haven’t had to deal with that situation in years, you kind of gravitate toward it and instead focus on the growth part. I am a PAW (Prodigious Accumulator of Wealth). -$50k to basically $200k in 10 years. Will the next 10 years put me at $400k? Assuming non-compounding 8% return a year that’s $16k x 10 or $160k. Then add the 401k / Roth IRA max for 10 years. That’s $25,500 x 10 or $255k. If my math is right we’re looking around $655k in 2032. I could do that and move into somewhere nicer with money to spare and upgrade to a nicer car at some point. Or tough it out a bit longer and hit my overall financial freedom number a lot more quickly.
I’m valuing my health more than money. My friend Ryan passed away one year ago due to Covid-19 complications. Losing him has made me a lot more aware of where I’m at right now in life. A reminder that tomorrow isn’t always guaranteed.
Well it’s late again and I should be sleeping. Cheers.
My portfolio was down at the end of the month due to the market fluctuations. Dropped $9,841 or 5%. No big deal though. A year ago my net worth was $126k, so still up 48% more than before. I also have my rent saved up for the next month, all $965 of it.
1/29/2022: 401K $157,097.16 Roth IRA $20,788.63 M1 Acct $4,690.51 Crypto $1,360.29 Buffer Fund $1,000.27 HSA $1,408.55 Total $186,345.41
12/31/2021: 401K $166,506.19 Roth IRA $21,327.59 M1 Acct $4,532.81 Crypto $2,070.36 Buffer Fund $250.16 HSA $1,499.50 Total $196,186.61
2/2/2021 Update: 401K $114,241 Roth IRA $9,447 M1 Acct $1,498 Crypto $168 HSA $687 Total Investments $126,041
Writing this one up in a rush. The market has been all over the place. Between what’s happening in the Ukraine, concerns about Omicron and a new varient, company earnings, crypto taking a big dump. Seems like no matter what the month is there is some type of catalysmic event causing uncertainty. Over the years i’ve learned ot play the game for the long term. Short term plays are nice and can give a quick dopamine hit but I’ve got targets to hit.
Similar to my post a year ago Texas Y’all Winter Cometh, we got more snow in the lonestar state. It was more ice and it’s still melting.
I’m working at getting promoted at my job, but I’m not sure what is going to happen. I look at the market rates for the title I’m looking at and that would be a huge jump from where I’m at now. I don’t think realistically they would offer me that. Likely half of the difference. I see others who have worked with me who got promoted and within months jumped ship. Or they stayed a year and went elsewhere for a promotion. My fear of change can seriously hold me back. Money isn’t everything but my adjusted gross income (after taxes, retirement, and other deductions) the last 3 years has been almost the same. Much love, I’m off to meet friends for lunch. Stay healthy, financially wise, and happy out there. 🙂
Keeping the renewed sense of optimism people have with a new year starting on this post. If you want to look Month-Over-Month I’m up $10,234 or 5.5%. Year-Over-Year I’m up $72k or 58%. I legitimately don’t think I could save much more and still have what I’d consider to be a comfortable lifestyle. Still it beats having a ton of debt and wondering how it’s all going to get paid. $200k by March I think is totally reasonable.
I was thankful to receive a monetary gift from my parents. It helped me be a little less stressed while waiting for my next paycheck to be direct deposited into my account. I ended up splurging on a Ridge wallet to replace my bulky wallet that has like 13 different cards in it. Really digging the minimalist look.
If I could earn an extra $20k a year I think that would be the sweet spot for me. I’d feel much more abundance, being able to upgrade my lifestyle a bit. Right now I’m still on track but the process feels slower than it should be. Maybe with the new year I should change up some things in my life. Everyday is an opportunity to learn something new, or try something and fail. No reason to overanalyze and never give anything a try. I might fight tooth and nail but also mindful I’m not that far from my 40s and I’m never going to be this young again.
Sharing a few pics from my recent “adventures”.
Virtuvian LightsSenior Citizen dog dressed up for the coldSelfie while on the Katy TrailWood bark on a tree at Arbor Hills Nature Preserve
I like to focus on my energy, cutting back more on Facebook and Instagram which have proven to be fairly easy. The dating apps are a little more challenging. Swiping, chatting, trading pictures. I got my first catfish of 2022. Red flags – Sounding too eager to find the love of his life. Wanting to chat on Google chat vs the platform he messaged me on. Having a story about the family being in the army and the UN. I asked him for a pic with a thumbs up. He responded ok one minute, then blocked me on the app we chatted on originally. Aside from that I’m trying to be a supportive son since my mom has Covid with moderate symptoms and we think my stepdad has it too. Glad they agreed to get vaccinated after many heated discussions. Oh and my dad would’ve turned 65 today, been 18 birthdays with him gone. You never fully forget the past, you take a deep breath and just keep on going despite it. Take care.
Debt Free Alpha 