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Solar Panel Project - Do It Yourself
I was finally ready to install solar panels. After having made all the calculations, I arrived at the fact that I could get the return on investment in 5 years. But I had an even better idea. I decided do build it myself. What better way to learn about solar power except by doing it yourself! I always prefer to do things myself rather than letting some one else do the job for me. My work will be subpar at best, but it not only gives me a great opportunity to learn something new, but is also a lot of fun.
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Solar Panel Project - Inception
I have been wanting to setup solar panels for several years now. It all started way back in August 2015 when for the first time the electricity bill touched Rs. 2,000. We don't even have air conditioner so what gives? At this point I started looking at the past bills and noticed the slow rise in unit rates. If you are interested, I already wrote a post on the inflation of electricity bill. That got me thinking if it is time for some solar panels.
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Fixing My XIRR Calculations
For the longest time I was debating whether to consider dividend reinvestment as a transaction in my XIRR calculations or not. Until now I never used dividend reinvestment in my XIRR. The reason was simple. If I did not sell and buy something (dividend reinvestment), then why should it be a transaction? But finally after some thought and a nudge from Value Research I decided to fix it.
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Exit Load In Mutual Funds
If you have been investing in mutual funds for any amount of time, you most likely know about exit load. Some mutual funds, typically the equity kind will charge the investors some fees if they exit the fund (redeem investments), before a certain time period. This is done to discourage investors from prematurely exiting the fund.
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My Daily Routine: 2021 Edition
Every weekend, I call some two to four of my friends, relatives or ex-colleagues thanks to my Friends Roster project. And invariably at least one of them ask me what I do on a daily basis after retirement. They are curious as to how I spend my day. I have posted my daily routine more than two years ago including a complete time table. But I thought may be I should do a 2021 edition in case some things have changed since then. So here goes.
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Mistakes To Avoid If You Plan To Retire Early
There is no one straightforward way to reach the goal of early retirement. Although many people have attempted to streamline the process. And that includes me (see my 5 steps to early retirement) :). There are several other small things that you need to take care of before the grand picture emerges. One of them is expenses.
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Laptop Upgrades And Lap Gadgets Review
Over the years I have been upgrading my laptop to keep it humming along. Normally the upgrades are mainly to help keep pace with the rising demands of my development tools. However, the latest upgrade to the laptop has been to extend the life of the laptop until I can buy another one. You see, I tend to upgrade my laptop every 5 years or so. I purchased my current laptop in late 2016. So it is almost time to replace it.
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Comparison With Another FIRE Couple
You know how I like to compare myself with other FIRE (Financially Independent, Retired Early) individuals. So here is one more of them. I do the comparison because there are very few of them and I just started my journey. So comparing with others helps me understand how they think, behave and spend. That way I can check if I am inline with them or whether I am an outlier. Either of those situations is alright with me, but it is just a fun exercise.
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Our Real Power Bill Inflation
In the last post I showed you that the electricity inflation over the last 9 was around 7% in Bangalore. Of course the inflation depends on how many units you use. If you are in the lower or higher slab than me then perhaps the inflation may be different for you.
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Power Bill Inflation
I don't normally talk about my inflation numbers in this blog, because I don't have a lot of data. I am the kind of guy who needs data to talk about things. To make sense of inflation we need at least 7 years worth of data. Ten years data will be more useful though. Thankfully I have some of my electricity bills since 2012. So there is long enough history to see the inflation in electricity bills in Bangalore.
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