misteraven

Seems a lot of people are in a similar state of mind... Sick of social media or already giving it up, tired of retarded rents and crowds, tired of scraping out a meager existence in the rat race... Realizing that the world seems eager to keep driving full throttle towards the cliff. Obviously there's a lot of opinion on this subject that keeps popping up across different threads. In general, I've seen lots of people sort of realizing that we seem to be on one of those hamster wheels chasing the latest iPhone or whatever gadget and then quickly realizing that its just a temporary happiness before your back running on the wheel chasing that next thing. Just a hollow existence that leaves you suddenly realizing how miserable everything seems to be. Anyhow, many of you guys know that I made a pretty big move myself a year or two back. I had an apartment in Soho and brand consultancy / creative services agency around the corner, lots of invites to private / industry parties, more free sneakers than I can wear, etc... Yet, I was miserable. Seemed like everyone around me was miserable. Seemed like anytime I made an extra dollar, my cost of living went up an extra $0.98. I realized one day that some of the guys that lived in my building earned many, many times what I was likely to ever see and yet they lived the same basic life I did. At at the same restaurants, obviously lived in similar apartments, walked the same streets. No doubt I wasn't in a place to own a Mclaren GT or mansion in the Hamptons, but I also realized those guys owned shit they never used because it was a hassle to pull an exotic car out of parking, drive it down bumper to bumper cobble stone streets, just to zip around NJ for a few hours. Or wait in Friday / Sunday traffic fighting bridge and tunnel traffic to hit the Hamptons, so they didn't bother. Even worse, they had that same hollow look that seemed to me to be the same misery I saw in everyone else's eyes. I used to skim IG and Tumblr looking at these amazing cabins with mountain views or photos of dudes fly fishing in these amazing landscapes and figured if I could only win the Mega... Then it occurred to me that you didn't actually need to win the Mega to live that lifestyle. That the organic vegetables for sale at Dean & Deluca I could really afford and the cabin with spectacular mountain views was accessible if I approached it a different way. So I started making some changes, rearranging plans and eventually dropped out of that situation. Managed to work some stuff around to buy a place in the Mountain of NW Montana, grow my own organic vegetables, raise a flock of free range chickens and ducks and live a more satisfying existence. Finally get back to the stuff that was important to me (12oz) and actually be available and involved with my kids and family. So that's the Cliff Notes version of my story. If you guys are interested I'll post some pictures and always happy to answer questions. Mostly, I was just interested in hearing from you all and seeing if a thread like this and some advice from the few of us that have made this type of move, might inspire some of you other guys that are trying to figure it out.

Mental state definitely has a lot to do with this. Both in terms of jumping in and in terms of what you take back out. Currently down about 27 lbs and finally seems to have stabilized. Still eating as much as I want, though admittedly I've gone hungry a couple times holding out on picking some shit up in favor of sticking to a clean diet and waiting until I can get home to my fridge. Having a tough time finding (good) fatty foods and wondering if I'm eating way too much protein.

Wild ride these last few days. Assume everyone is HODLing like a motherfucker. Wish I had like $50k to be dropping right freakin now. Anyhow, how's everyone looking? Thought I was slick when I dropped $500 at $9.9k. Saw my portfolio balance out later that day and then more FUD sent shit way back down to new lows. Honestly seeing this as an opportunity to make up for lost time. Anyone else going in? Thoughts?

Wondering if it might be cool to start up a visual version of "what I've been up to all these years" type thread? Anyone feel like kicking that off?

Welcome back my dude. Glad to see you pop your head up. Hope you've been all good these last years!

@One Man Banned Your comment inspired me to look up the general info on consuming large amount of tea or caffeine. Seems its a bad idea to have 5+ cups regularly with high blood pressure being one of the main repercussions. It obviously varies by the amount of caffeine in the drink, with coffee being highest, followed by black tea. Green tea and most herbal tees have much less caffeine (and usually less taste as well), so you can have a bit more of that. That said, black tea followed by coffee are the most consumed liquid besides straight water.

Oh yeah, I'm now down about 25 lbs. Its certainly slowed down and seems somewhat stabilized, but if not I'm going to have to figure out a way to bulk up a little.

Its not the coffee but rather the caffeine. Coffee in itself is actually considered healthy according to many trusted sources. Personally I've been drinking a ton of tee. I start with a morning latte, but not unusual to drink 5 or 6 mugs of tea that for all intents and purposes has probably as much caffeine in it. Still a far cry from 20 I guess.

Definitely agree with all your saying. I'd go on to say its engineered as such. We live in a debt based economy. That's not a figure of speech or cliche, but is actually the model our economy is built on. Crazy part is that its engineered to be impossible to ever pay off and is only healthy when more debt is accumulated. Saving money is actually a negative since one of the key benchmarks in the overall health is a stable high market velocity, which means everybody needs to keep spending money or the system falls in danger of collapse. This is part of why interest rates have been held low fo so long. Its to discourage savings and help keep market velocity high (a fancy word for spending money as fast as you can get your hands on it). The Fed lends banks money for virtually no interest and in some case borrows it back via a third party at a slightly higher interest rate and then all that gets dumped into the economy so we can keep shifting it all over the place accumulating additional debt along the way. And no doubt that most people are miserable. Seems almost like a drug addiction chasing that next high that becomes increasingly elusive and never lasts quite as long. Recall taking note on the subway and streets when taking my kids to work, just how miserable everyone looked. Profound difference from the general disposition of the people where I now live. In regards to your last paragraph, the interesting thing to me are the early adopters that managed to stack up enough crypto that they can live a good (if not awesome) life selling back small increments while the bulk of their crypto wealth appreciates at a rate faster than the value of what they're cashing in. That's a hell of a nice spot to be in and I do believe there is still opportunity to pull this off. Kudos to you @Mercer for having your shit together.

"We’re talking about income tax, so your goal is to figure out your income from bitcoin in 2017. For the purposes of the IRS, that means bitcoin assets that were converted into non-bitcoin assets like cash or goods and services. Your bitcoin holdings aren’t taxable (at least not yet), but any time you sold bitcoin or used it to buy something, you were accruing taxable income." Suggest dudes not convert to fiat. Said it before, if you want to trade it out, might as well buy silver or gold with it. Take this how you want, but fact is that its actually a plan to that the Federal Reserve targets what they say is a 4% inflation rate. I've seen many trusted sources say in most years it's more realistic to say its actually in the 6 - 8% range when you audit the purchasing power for what Americans buy most (and much of which is not factored into the Feds equation for inflation) like fuel and groceries. That means every dollar you have saved in fiat, buys you 4% less every year (if you believe the Fed) or 6 - 8% less (if you believe the other sources). Note if you hold that over years, this is a compounding depreciation in the purchasing power (8% of $100 leaves you $92. Year 2 with 8% more inflation leaves you with $84.64. Year 3 with 8% more leaves you with $77.87 and on and on. If you don't want to believe the other sources, then go by what the Government tells you (Because after all, they'd never light right?!) and halve that compounding depreciation. No doubt many will point to the fluctuation of precious metals and be like, "thats way risky". But I'd argue that its not so much the metals fluctuating as it is is the fiat its being valued in. When the Fed expands or contracts the economy or the President signs a bill to spend a ton of money in one regard or another, you see metals swing in value. But once you start thinking of value in terms of other commodity with no regard to fiat, you'll see that metals have been very consistent for most of recorded history. (Keeping in mind that market is also heavily manipulated as well). An example is that if you look at the value of a quarter in 1964 (the last year it was largely made up of silver - plus other alloys) and then search eBay for junk silver quarters, you'll note that they sell for approximately the cost of a gallon of gas today. In 1964, that about what that quarter bought you. Likewise, if you look at the median home price during most of American history and instead converted that value to metals, you'll also note that the median house of today costs about the same if paid in the same amount / kind of metals. This is why people refer to precious metals as a hedge and not an investment. It circumvents the "invisible tax" placed on your savings by allowing you to preserve the purchasing power of your wealth of long periods of time, unlike fiat which is purposely engineered to slowly transfer your wealth out of your hands. Anyhow, I wont go into the advantages of remaining discreet by buying metals and holding your wealth in hand and available to convert back into whatever it is you want with very little effort or attention, but you can connect those dots. Perhaps we can also revive the Buying Gold and other investments thread as I find the two discussions very related. Link: http://forum.12ozprophet.com/threads/buying-gold-and-other-investments.124157/

This response and the original you’re replying to is done of th best shit I’ve seen on the forum in a while. Awesome to see someone post a thought provoking comment and really enjoy seeing someone come along and addressit point by point with well informed facts and logical opinion. Two thumbs up. Rest of everyone reading this... take note.

Dudes like him will be part of the set that loses from something like this. Granted he has enough money for a thousand lifetimes anyways, but crypto is the biggest threat to the establishment in many millennia. Soros is a complete sack of shit. World will be a better place when that dude is rotting in the ground, though seems he already has his son well into the training stage to continue.

Doesn’t really matter what you spend. They focus on the money you make. Obviously if your spending wildly outweighs your income, they’d wonder what the deal was and come ask. That said, dropping money every so often buying crypto isn’t going to raise any interest. Converting your crypto back into dollars is what they want to know, especially if more dollars come out of it then when you put in (capital gains). As mentioned, drop a $100 or whatever you can afford. Learn how it works, transfer it off Coinbase. Once it’s off their exchange, it’s gone for all intents and purposes. You could have shot it to a dozen friends to cover coffee and beers since verifying that fact is a waste of time, considering the dollar amount and complexity of tracing it. Once you’re doing big things, it most likely won’t be on Coinbase. Also by that point, you won’t have questions like this, so don’t sweat it. Buy some crypto, mess with it. Like I mantioned, transfer a few bucks to a private wallet. Try and destroy it and then restore it back. Send a dollars worth to a friend. Send half to yourself on an international exchange. Trade it for some altcoins. Just start using it. Learn.

Oh man, if 12oz got back to where it was... $$$

Lot of news about NEO this weekend. Mainly an announcement about some clone of the lightning network or something allowing for easy, cheap and fast private transactions for NEO. Wish I'd gotten down with it a while ago but still thinking it's not too late. That being said, there's definitely two ways to look at all this... The long term safe plays like buying blue chip stocks and being happy with the dividends or buying the shit coins and putting your chips down vegas style, LOL!

No idea how they can possibly enforce this in any way. Suggest trading on the international exchanges and then buying silver / gold at http://www.jmbullion.com when you're ready to convert to start spending some of your gains or better yet stacking your savings. Obviously the international exchanges aren't backed by any government regulation, but then again, whats that really matter? I wouldn't leave my millions floating on them, but then again, not sure I'd leave my millions in a bank either.

Yeah the USA based exchanges ask for a bunch of personal info to register. Its mostly to track capital gains once you convert from crypto back into dollars. You dont get taxed (usually) on stuff you buy (at least by the IRS) though even that is a great area. In any case, the plan is to only start in coinbase. It's easy to buy BTC, ETH and LTC there. Plus the free $10 covers a fair bit of the transaction fees (though Coinbase is typically highger than other exchanges, its still very low compared to most financial transactions). Once you get started on there, shift your crypto around... Learn to send to yourself on a different exchange like Binance or Bittrex or to a private wallet. Learn to destroy and recover, buy, sell, trade and shape shift. Start with a $100 and then play with it a few dollars at a time until you learn whats it like and how it works. Once you get to this point, start researching altcoins... Learn who's behind them, what the origin and purpose of that particular coin is. Track its history and start comparing it to others. Start filtering news and watching how certain news and outlets affect the prices. Start buying / trading a few coins and look at the percentage of your wins / losses. Once you feel confident, start putting more money into it and develop a trading strategy that works for you. Never invest more than you can afford to lose and don't be greedy. Try to pull your investments out once you get rolling so if the entire situation goes to hell, you can at least say you arent any of your own money. Asl questions, learn, give back.

Oh come on... Surely you have some wild tales of buying property and exotic sports cars in Monaco from early bitcoin riches? Tell me your personal assistant's, personal assistant is actually posting this on your behalf from your lux private helicopter?

Yeah man, here you go... This is what we sent to people in response to the last few WOBF tees. Its honestly as basic as it gets, but will earn you and (and myself) a free $10 on a referral once you fund it to $100. Seems all teh exchanges are cancelling the referral bonuses so no idea how much longer they'll keep giving away the 10%. I also have a simple tutorial I sent to some close friends. If anyones interested in that, DM me. --------------------- How to open a free crypto (Coinbase) account: 1. Go to Coinbase using our referral code - http://bit.ly/12ozCB and sign up. It’s fast and free. When you connect a credit card or bank account and add $100, you’ll get $10 free. You can always transfer the money back to your account. 2. Once you have an account and have added $100, purchase enough Bitcoin (BTC) to cover the cost of your order. 3. Hit us up for our private crypto address. You must send the cost of the shirt ($40 for short sleeve or $50 for long sleeve plus $6.50 for Priority 2 day shipping. Add your name, address and what your ordering to the notes when you send. 4. Email us that you’ve done it and we’ll email you back a confirmation and ship same day or the next day at latest. 5. Highly suggest going to the 12ozProphet forum and participate in the Crypto discussion to learn why this is a big deal… http://bit.ly/12ozCrypto Peace, 12ozProphet

Anyone know a solid WordPress / WooCommerce plugin for accepting crypto? Preferably one that send to a private wallet and doesn't connect to a middle man service and charges an extra transaction fee?

No you should see images in posts immediately.

I'm going to have to look into that pressure cooker thing. Personally my favorite method to cook is using an offset smoker I had built out in Oklahoma a while back. Weighs like 2000 pounds and when used properly makes everything taste amazing. Since moving to NW Montana, I've had a real tough time finding good smoking woods (believe it or not) so havent been able to use it as much. Also the altitude and cold have totally thrown me off, so relearning what works here. Anyhow, the smoker is the opposite of what I generally need since I want to set and forget and have a quality meal ready to go at about the right time each evening. Made a decent beef stew in the crock pot the other night that was super easy. Definitely going to look into the pressure cooker thing, as well as that book. Anyone got any particularly good Keto / Paleo recipes to share?

My experience is that portion control doesn't matter when you eat clean. I don't count calories in any way, only carbs. Target is 25g a day unless I'm being strict, in which case I keep it as far under 10g as I can. Beyond that I eat anytime I want and as much as I want. These last 6 or 7 weeks I'm down 20+ pounds despite eating anytime I want with no thought to portions. I do think portions matter, but believe its more in regards to high carb and processed foods since those have an affect of not satiating your hunger the way fat and protein does. Since I'm not taking in carbs, I don't think about portions at all.

Not sound like a pussy, but taking magnesium supplements and using lavender oil on my pillows has worked freakin wonders for my sleep patterns. My mom used to do shit like that for me after college cause I could fall asleep until the sun came up and slept in 1.5 hour increments until just getting up. Magnesium is very hard to replace naturally via diet. It also happens to get depleted quickly via stress. It's properties help regulate mood and depression. Thing is your body adapts to intake quickly, so to keep it effective you want to take it for a few days in gradually increasing doses and then stop for a week or two before cycling back. You can take magnesium as a pill (usually as magnesium citrate and I've seen various drink powders. I've taken both and see them work with differing impact at different times. For the powder form, here's one that's been great for me: https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Vitality-Supplement-Raspberry-Lemon/dp/B00BPUY3W0/ref=sr_1_6_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1516385228&sr=8-6 Likewise, try the lavender oil thing. Just a dab off your finger on each side of your pillow before going to bed. Smells like sleeping at a new chicks house, but shit works. Here's a quality one: https://www.amazon.com/Radha-Beauty-Lavender-Essential-Therapeutic/dp/B00QQOERJE/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1516385374&sr=8-3

Probably more than you need, but your question is very subjective as I have no idea what your financial situation is. Unless you start dumping into shit coins, my opinion is that its very unlikely you'd lose it. But that my opinion and not fact. I'd probably suggest you start with $100. Buy in and then transfer a small amount to a private wallet, destroy and recover your wallet. Transfer some to a friend after they've spotted you for lunch or a beer. Transfer to an exchange or two and then start buying / selling some bitcoin and altcoin. Sounds like a pain in the ass and jumping through hoops, but you'll learn a ton if you take the time to actually use it in various ways. While you're doing that, come back here and ask questions, skim the news headlines and look at some of the links others have posted in here for recommended sources. Add to the discussion, speculate and ask questions. You'll dial it in.