Simple Living

Took the plunge and bought an Apple iMac M3.  Opted for the larger 16GB / 512GB HHD configuration.  So far it’s been pretty good and once I learn more of the OS and keyboard shortcuts the easier it’s going.  This orange version cost me about $2.1k (California Tax Rates). Why an iMac? I’ve been Windows and Linux for many years and for a few years in college did own an older MacBook.  For most of this time I’ve managed with cheap laptops.  Although I debated a MacBook, the price was too much and I figured why not a desktop computer again?

For 2016 Toyota Highlanders that use a key ignition to reset the oil change maintenance light do the following: Power off the car. Insert the key and turn it 2 positions to ‘on’. Press odometer button to Trip A. Turn key to off position. Hold odometer button and keep holding then turn key to ‘on’ position. It’ll flash maintenance resetting and when done you can let go of odometer button. Car maintenance light is now reset.

Got into gardening thanks to Covid lockdown and have 7 plants so far in my home with a plan to increase it to a total of 8. My Sansaviera is my oldest plant at 3 years since I’ve had it and it’s grown so much I had to repot it to a larger 8 inch pot and also was able to propagate part of it in its original 5 inch pot. I’m keeping it simple and have them only in my living room and bedroom.  Most of my plants are 2-3 years old now so I’m repotting to larger pots and refreshing the soil. 8 inch Sansaviera Parlor Palm 6 inch Xanthosoma - Elephant’s Ear 5 inch Sansaviera x2 Epipremnum aureum - Golden Pothos Phalaenopsis - Orchid Update - 1/13/23 - Xanthosoma Picked up my 7th plant for $14.99 at Lowe’s a Xanthasoma or Elephant’s ear.  I was debating that or a Monstera but wanted to try this one.  It’s quite nice and look forward to it growing to double its size; if that’s feasible. I’m going to reserve my 8th and final plant to be a larger 10-12 inch pot and really considering a parlor palm

I’m going to stick to a budget around $500 for 2024.  I’m getting better as I’m on track to hit $740 for 2023. My planned items will be mostly clothes and shoes: Shoes - $225 Air Jordan 1 Low 10.5M - $125 Stan Smith White/Green 10M - $100 Clothes - $260 Bomber Jacket - $200 Polo Letterman Navy - $160 -  Done Uniqlo T-Shirts 5x - $100 Watches - $40 Casio A168WG - $40 -  Done Tech - $40 iPhone 16 -TBD Anker 10k - $40  -  Done That’s basically it.  I may kick it up a bit to $800 if I need to replace other clothing items, but don’t anticipate needing much more. The only unknown is I may upgrade to the iPhone 16, if it turns out to be worth a swap from my 14 Pro.  I kinda want to standardize to Type C. Future Budgets - $300 As I near completion of my wardrobe and finish upgrading to higher quality items, I can slow down my purchases to replacement items only.  I’ll consider $175 for clothing essentials like new shirts and $125 for a new pair of shoes each year. If not for the $200 Bomber

I've tried for years to lose weight and each attempt has ended in failure.  While I was able to see short term gains, I would lose focus and give up in a short period of time.  I've decided once again to try as my weight has hit 184 lbs and it’s making me feel depressed as I look and feel bloated. Old goal 155, new goal 150 My original goal was to reach 155 lbs.  I'll need to lose 29 pounds or 101,500 calories.  I'm budgeting 2 pounds per week so about 15-29 weeks to realistically achieve this. After learning 155 lbs is BMI 22.2.  I’m going for 150 lbs or another 5 lbs for 34 lbs total weight loss. Outline, Plan & Log Summary - Weekly Vacation Perspective of 20k steps/day Diet Strategy Goal - 10k steps/day Diet - Avoid Junk Food & Eat Healthier Diet - Limit Alcohol Reward - AirPods Journey Log   I. Summary Starting Weight - 184 lbs Week 01 - Goal 182 - 4 lbs lost - 180 lbs Week 02 - Goal 180 - 5 lbs lost - 175 lbs Week 03 - Goal 178 - 0 lbs lost - 175 lbs Week 0

Another year has gone by and I’ve accumulated quite a bit of new stuff from clothes to tech.  2022 was a banner year for me. 2023 is a time to improve the quality of my wardrobe and invest in a new computer. My planned purchases: Tech - $106 Dell Precision 7530 - $250 - Sold JBL 510BT Headphones - $30 - Done Vuolao V8 Headphones - $16 - Done Apple Airpods 2nd Gen - $60 - Done Shoes - $311 Jordan 1 Mids 9.5 - $110 - Done Jordan 1 Lows 10.5 - $130 -Done Air Force 1’s 10 - $71 - Done Clothes - $323 Uniqlo - Clothing Haul - $150 - Done Northface - Winter Jacket - $173 - Done Hobbies - $0 Swiss Army Knives - $0* - Done Total expenditures $ 740 Keeping it simple.  For the Jordan 1's...I'm considering the Black & White Panda colorway or Green/Black/White.  I want something a bit more subdued than my current pair. Added a pair of cheap Bluetooth headphones.  While I love the Airpod Pros.  I’m finding it easier to have headphones. Update - 5/13/23 - Dell Laptop Wanted a project and

Making some room as I find stuff that I seldom use anymore. Victorinox INOX watch - $300 Swatch - $400 Timex - $170 Tiffany Ring - $250 Tiffany Bracelet - $200 iPad 2018 - $150 GoPro 5 - $150 Switch Lite - $125 PS4 - $175 Fire HD8 - $25 Sansa Clip - $40 Anker Speaker - $15 I’m taking a bath on the electronics all selling for less than half their original purchase price…but that’s the reality of tech, they depreciate in value. Overall, not a bad haul and about ~$2,000 in cash.  Although that’s 60% of the original value of all these things. The Switch and PS4 were worth it in terms of how much use I got out of them..the rest I’ll need to reevaluate my spending habits . Update - 12/4/22 Added a few more items for sale this year as I clear out my storage and collections.  Was good timing as I ended up spending over $1,200 on new stuff this year. Update - 12/25/23 It’s actually cheaper and more profitable if I don’t buy stuff that I end up having to resell later at a loss.  While sometimes

As 2021 draws to a close, I'm planning what I want to pick up in 2022.  I'm focusing on various collections and budgeting about $ 800. I. 2022 Wish List Clothes - $360 Uniqlo - T-Shirts x3 - $45 - DONE Uniqlo - Polo Shirt x2 - $50 - DONE Banana Republic - Crew Sweater - $15 -  DONE Uniqlo - Heat Tech Shirt - $20 - DONE Uniqlo - Ultra Down - $80 - DONE Northface - Venture 2 Rain Jacket - $100 - DONE Adidas - Red Gym Shorts x2 - $50   - DONE Shoes - $200 ($110 spent) Air Jordan 1 - $110   - DONE Total - $470 spent I'll add to my list over time, but these are the items I want to start budgeting for. II. Wardrobe Refresh 2022 is also a refresh year for my wardrobe and I've decided to standardize to Uniqlo Supima Cotton T-Shirts.  Uniqlo Supima cost about 2-3 times more than a Hanes, but last 2-3 times longer than a Hanes. I've personally tested this by wearing in rotation both Hanes and Uniqlo T-Shirts for last 2 years and have already had to replace the Hanes T-Sh

Updating my Inventory List for my various Collections.  I've added a 7th Category Swiss Army Knives and replaced Clothing to focus on Sneakers. Headphones -- 11 Tech -- 12 Watches -- 7 Swiss Army Knives -- 16 Sneakers -- 4 Fountain Pens -- 4 Whisky -- 3 The only collection that hasn't changed since 2018 are my fountain pens.  All others have grown or been updated. 1. Headphones -- 11 Reduced by 3 items by dumping all my old MDR-ZXs, ATH-EQ500 and WM-77 as they were getting too old and I haven't used them in years. Over-Ear Audio Technica - ATH-MSR7 Audio Technica - ATH-M50x On-Ear Grado - SR80e In-Ear AKG IG955 // Office Klipsch R6i // Home Beats Urbeats // Bag Apple Earbuds x4 Wireless Apple AirPod Pro 2. Tech -- 12 Added an iPhone 11, Fire 8 Tablet and RG351p.  Sold off the Apple Shuffle and gave away my old 6s. I’m going to sell the LG K7. Phones iPhone 11 iPhone 4 LG K7 Tablets Amazon Fire 8 iPad 2 Laptops HP i7 HP i3 Gaming RG351p Sony Playstation PS4 Sony Playstation

 My weight has held steady at 173 lbs for past 5 years.  I started gaining a lot of weight from 2004 to 2010 and it since leveled off above 170 lbs ever since; that's roughly when I stopped long distance running (I used to run 25-30 miles per week). as My Diet 2019 ~ 2022 I've been reading about keto diets and the issues with processed sugar and contemplated trying a keto diet, but was concerned with the side effect of feeling tired/sluggish due to ketosis.  I will however try to reduce my carbohydrate intake by avoiding processed sugar and increasing the amount of protein and fat. To keep it simple, I'll make just four (4) changes to my diet: Breakfast (egg or tuna salad sandwich) Eat veggies ( 8 oz/day - Celery, Carrots, Cucumbers, etc) Drink more water (48 oz/day) Avoid processed sugars I've been trying this for a few weeks now in 2018 and seems to be working.  For most part I've been eating an egg or tuna salad sandwich for breakfast, snack on the crunchy veggie

 I have about 92 items in my primary collections.  By treating them as 'collections' helps me focus and carefully select which items to add, replace or keep. Headphones -- 15 -- $700 Technology -- 11 -- $1700 Watches -- 11 -- $6000 Fountain Pens -- 4 -- $100 Whisky -- 5 -- $300 Clothing -- 46 -- $3200 Value Estimation -- 91 // $12,000 10 items constitute the bulk of the valuation at about $8,000; of which the Rolex and Omega constitute most of that.  The rest of my possessions tally up to barely $4,000.  I used a combination of depreciated or replacement cost to determine valuation; for example I can find my Rolex Explorer online for about $3,700 and used that as the value basis.  Kinda surprising how much money I've spent over the years accumulating all this stuff and in only 91 items! Reflecting on that, none of these are actually my 'primary' expenditures.  I spend more on food, housing or transportation each year.  My car costs at least several thousands in car