Guess what!

It’s been another busy month – even more busier than the last! (Prepare for next month to be even busier!) I’ve barely been able to contribute anything to the blog this month, let alone keep up to date with the SEO world. It seems like I’m not the only one! Quite a few others of the FIRE community seem to have had busy months as well. So much so for those relaxing holidays over August eh?!

Following on from last month, our new starter started today. Keen to learn, it’s going to be a bit of a mind bomb to begin with as there’s lots to learn, but have high hopes. In other news, I’m off on holiday soon for 24 nights! (We’re soooo looking forward to it – haven’t been on holiday (properly) since early last year). We’re off to Canada / New York on a cruise from Southampton. Bring on the relaxation!

I’ve also been keeping up with the latest series of Peaky Blinders which has stolen some time at weekends – but hey, I enjoy it! The mess of Thomas Shelby and how he always inadvertently manages to start another war with another rival gang.

Anyway, how’s those savings been this month?

Value of Investments

Anyway, here?s the total value of investments to date across all accounts;

Aug-19 Jul-19 Jun-19 May-19 Apr-19 Mar-19 Feb-19 Jan-19
??60,882 ??58,104 ??48,743 ??41,400 ??37,687 ??29,873 ??24,666 ??17,919

We’ve managed to break the ?60,000 mark for the first time ever! Now ?40,000 away from that big milestone! Onwards and upwards! The fund in total has gone up (compared to July) by ?2,778 which is way off the mark of the ?10,000 increase I saw from June to July. Markets have been pretty turbulent in August with lots predicting the BIG RECESSION around the corner. You may also be asking, why aren’t you counting your house in your net calculations? The reason why I don’t, is because I don’t see my house as an investment. I see it as a home – for my partner and the dogs. Including house equity would put my ‘net worth’ closer to ?200,000 as it currently stands, but for the purpose of FIRE, I’m excluding this figure out of my calculations.

As you can see, my Stocks and Shares (Active Investments) are doing AMAZINGLY pretty pants right now with continual drops. Carnival share are still bouncing around (20% down on those currently) due to the recent fines they’ve come to. However, as I’m going on a cruise in the next few weeks, being invested onto their share scheme meant that we’ve just been given $250 onboard spending money (which isn’t so bad after all!). On the other hand, the fund side of things (global trackers) is continuing to show good growth. In total, ?51,304 invest and end of August this resulted in ?54,566 returned (so close to 8% return on investment – which I’m thrilled about!).

As mentioned in an early blog post, I will be transferring everything across to index funds / global trackers. Unfortunately I don’t have the confidence, time or know-how to take grasp of the active investment side of things.

Here are some stats on income / expenditure side of things;

Total Income: ?9,000.00
Total Saved (?): ?5,200.00
Total Expenses: ?3,220.00
Savings (%):?61%

Another month just hitting over 60% savings rate which I am super thrilled about! I think realistically, I might be at my limit at 60%+ without significantly affecting day to day happiness of hobbies and activities that me and my partner partake in. For example, cutting down on our dog activities like our hydrotherapy sessions and flyball (a sport for dogs we love to join in on), which would save us another ?100+ per month is an activity which the costs brings us lots of happiness. Of course, I’m sure there’s the odd saving here and there for mortgage renewal rates / insurances etc, but realistically I have ‘optimised these already’. Therefore I think with anyone who’s on the FIRE journey, they find that sort of ‘sweet’ spot of still living for today / spending on what you want to spend on, but at the same time maintaining / keeping that savings rate high.

Few Other Happenings

  • Each Way Sniping (On the Horses) a robot specifically designed to place bets automatically for you is something that I’ve installed / trialing out currently. So far, ?150.00 up for the month, which is staying in the account for the time being.
  • I invested into some Premium bonds this month! Only ?200 to begin with. Personally I like the idea of Premium Bonds on the basis that it’s easy to get to if you need emergency funds, but at the same time putting you into a prize draw to potentially win the big million (amongst lots of other cash prizes). It’s a safe haven for money and my purpose will most likely be built up to ?5,000 in case of a rainy day.

That’s it today folks! Happy saving!