Bristol ERE journal.

Where are you and where are you going?
bristoldude
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue May 27, 2014 1:01 pm

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by bristoldude »

January:
in: £1,161
out: £749
35.49% saving rate brings me to only negative 6% for the last 12 months. ha.

If I don't pick up another contract before then I've currently got this salary covered to the end of April and around £9,000 profit to take out as well.

Lingering £250 drinking / eating out expenses, Mostly at the front of the month while still in the UK.
£60 health insurance for 3 months in Spain.

Spain is a wonderful change from the UK, sun shining, great food. Working on my Spanish.

Interested to see what a full month in Spain means expenses wise (I'll still be in an airbnb) and how quick I pick up the next contract when I really start looking.

Hoping to stay remote and in Spain, but won't be picky for too long.

Jason

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by Jason »

I heard Barcelona is beautiful. I've never been to Europe. The world scares me. Good luck with everything.

bristoldude
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue May 27, 2014 1:01 pm

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by bristoldude »

Barcelona is beautiful as is the rest of Spain, and the world is on the whole very very safe.

Thanks for the luck.

Jason

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by Jason »

My in-laws are Italian and went to Italy and then Barcelona and were raving about Barcelona - its architecture and its cleanliness. I think if they could have said, it they would have admitted to liking it more than Italy. But that would be treason.

I will use this opportunity to vent a frustration with America: lack of high-speed rail.

I hate flying, but don't fear flying, I fear airports, I fear waiting in line. I fear taxis and snoring people sitting next to me. I fear losing time and getting lost.

When my father was dying, I was sitting with him and saying how does this friggin country not have a high speed rail that I can get on in order to see you every weekend. People are flying through Europe at speeds of excess of 200MPH as we speak and all we have is Amtrak and now I have to get in my rent-a-car drive to the hotel, then drive to O'Hare and fly to Newark and take a bus to get to my car.

Its obviously the airlines lobbying against this.

Thank you for hearing me out.

bristoldude
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue May 27, 2014 1:01 pm

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by bristoldude »

Long distance relationships are expensive. Worthwhile though, and thankfully it should only be long distance until September.

As further remote work was not quickly forthcoming I've come to the USA where my partner is working until the summer. This will probably be the last time I see her until September, or at least the only decent chunk of time. I'll stay for a few weeks.
I can't work here but I'm getting the CV brushed up and getting leads on new contracts in the UK. I think I'm going to go and do a short stint in London for the big money until reuniting with my partner in Scotland in September. I've also been doing some open source code and learning some new skills (dev ops mostly).

An expensive month: £1,340 with flights, too much eating out and drinking etc.
Really struggling to keep this in check while moving around so much. I should have a pretty stable 3 or 4 months working coming up followed by two or more years in Scotland in one place. Hopefully that stability brings more reasonable expenses.

On the income side, I started withdrawing profits from my business before the financial year end in April, resulting in highest ever monthly income of £7,039.00 (artificial really as I did no work this month), 80% savings for the month, 23% savings YTD and finally getting back to record net-worth of £18.5k. Next month should look similar, still figuring out the taxes that will be due and some final expenses.

bristoldude
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue May 27, 2014 1:01 pm

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by bristoldude »

I also realised today that I've reached more than 1x trailing years expenses in networth, though if my expenses were what I think they could be I'd be almost at 2x.

anyhoo, only 24x more to go ;)

bristoldude
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue May 27, 2014 1:01 pm

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by bristoldude »

Wow, some late transactions from last month just showed up, a lot more stuff that I thought would show up this month.
£2,072.00 out means I'm actually only 0.94 years of savings.

I'm due a £250 refund on a flight that got cancelled, but I replaced it with a £400 flight so thats not great.

bristoldude
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue May 27, 2014 1:01 pm

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by bristoldude »

March:

A pretty interesting month, quite disjointed.
A couple of weeks living with my partner in the states, a long weekend in NYC, flight back immediately followed by an interesting PHP gig, that was unfortunately in a small, expensive village outside a small expensive city..

I tried for a week commuting by train and bus from a nearby larger more affordable city but couldn't bear the 3.5 hour round trip (minimum), so I gave a weeks notice on the Friday, thankfully still in a trail period.

I've just secured a new gig, in a city I don't know, but where I have some friends and my sister has recently relocated, more on how this pans out in next months update no doubt.

out: £954 - better than usual, but lots of waste in here.
in: £4176 - pulling the years remaining profit out of my business. There's a strong chance I'll hit the higher rate tax bands in the new tax year so I've pulled out as much as possible this year.

I'm hoping the new gig will provide a few months of stability to allow me to regain some good habits.
The last year has left me flabby and weak.

bristoldude
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue May 27, 2014 1:01 pm

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by bristoldude »

April - better late than never..

The new gig's going well, and at £450 a day is the most I've ever earned. This money appears to be a bit of an anomaly outside of London so I'll try and keep this going as long as possible. Settling into the new city (Birmingham) pretty well after a tedious first two weeks in hotels and crap airbnb's.

out: £1,745
£200 groceries
£90 on trains for a couple of trips to different cities to visit freinds
£30 on taxis
£20 dentist
£140 shirts, smart trousers, shoes for the new gig
£10 mobile phone
£300 rental deposit
£950 Drinking, Eating out & cash I took out..

remarkable lazy expenses. so many takeaways and eating out / drinking around the city move. Lots of drinking out in socialising with work and acquaintances I'd like to be friends in new city.. There was a stag weekend in here as well.
Completely ridiculous and needs dealing with (hence me actually splitting it out for the first time in months!)
At least the £300 deposit should come back.

in: £1,907
£400 of this is cash gifts, it was my birthday this month and I hadn't let anyone buy me anything for the last couple of years..

bristoldude
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue May 27, 2014 1:01 pm

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by bristoldude »

May, Getting pretty slow with these updates but trying to keep them coming.
Embarrassment at high and luxurious expenses may be playing a part.

Still going with gig in Birmingham, enjoying it and there seem to be prospects of extension, though I may need to make the location a bit less fixed to allow for relocation with my partner in September. Having moved into a shared house I feel much more relaxed and am getting to enjoy the city.

Out: £2,753.74
This is a really outrageous amount for a month, and is the highest for a long time.
~£500 of this is business expenses I'll be refunded.

In: £2,046.74
I'm averaging out the money I take out of my company from April to April for security and so I can figure out my taxes. This level could already be sustained through April and will continue to rise if / as I get more Gigs.
Anything that would take me into the higher rate of tax I'll either take as pension or leave in the company in case of time off in the future.

Noedig
Posts: 191
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 10:15 pm

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by Noedig »

Wotcher, Bristoldude.

Glad things are going well. As a long time contractor I observe it's getting trickier to take money out of your company. In the wider scheme of things this is rightly so, but personally it is an embuggerance.

One thing I would say, is use expenses where you can, as it is all tax free. Your other efficient options are limited to: the small-and-shrinking-from-5k dividend allowance; the unbelieveably generous 40k direct pension contribution abilities; a small salary (useful for the NI) and then dividends.

Likely you know that all already, I mention as I recall it took me a while to tune in to the possibilities, as I was distracted spending too many years just grafting, while the kids were young, building up what you refer to somewhere in your blog as a 'cushion' and I have always mentally referred to as a 'stern wave' that will keep the dinghy moving forwards when the motor cuts out for a while.

The dinghy's a bit barnacle-encrusted at this point: I'm in the endgame and frankly knackered, working crunch time on an immense Digital programme writing UX epics & stories. Tough week.

You are a keen young spod with life before you and I salute your efforts. You have wised up to ERE a couple of decades before I did.

I see your earlier and forthcoming trips to Espana: just been to Zaragoza (wrote on it in my Journal) and now I finally understand, why Brits move to Spain. Doubly so, what with that and sodding Brexit. That said, nothing wrong with Brum, and a good Balti curry is something for which I am Jonesing fiercely.

Good luck me lad.

bristoldude
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue May 27, 2014 1:01 pm

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by bristoldude »

Thanks for the tips Noedig,

I think I've got it all nailed down apart from the pension, which will probably come into play this year.
That's a split I'll need to think about more, if it's worth just shoving everything above £43k into the pension for the (not too distant) future. I'll leave that discussion for another time though, it won't be a consideration until I've got another couple of months work in.

I could certainly see myself moving to Spain, Granada I could live in, and I'd like to explore some of the northern coast as I have very fond memories of visiting as a child. I guess we'll have to see where we are after the current brexit mess.

Thanks for the encouragement, it feels like it's moving in the right direction.
Currently reading YMOYL and planning to sort out my loose expense tracking.

fingeek
Posts: 249
Joined: Wed May 24, 2017 8:16 am
Location: Wales

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by fingeek »

Reading with interest! I'm just over the pond from you (where you were at least), am an IT guy too. Currently salaried and seriously considering contracting as a next-step to free up time (and do something different). How's the contracting market for you? Any thoughts of moving back to Bristol?

bristoldude
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue May 27, 2014 1:01 pm

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by bristoldude »

The contracting market in my little niche seems very good at the moment, certainly around Bristol, London and Belgium, Germany.

I'm getting into the intermittent nature of the job as well, and having an undefined length of time off in the next 1 to 4 months is something I'm looking forward to.

I'm actually planning a move up to Scotland to be with my partner during their masters course, which will likely shrink my earnings significantly.

Hopefully I can land some remote work and make up some of the difference through lower housing costs and living with/like a student.

bristoldude
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue May 27, 2014 1:01 pm

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by bristoldude »

Quick one for June as I'm feeling short of time. Trying to clear my months long to do list or just remove items I don't care about to give more brain space.

in: £2,966.23
out: £1,993.23

better than last month but still a lot of drinking, takeaways and stuff in here. I did get some new hiking boots I hope will last many years..

I've promised myself July spending will be considered and tracked and categorised so we'll see how that goes.

Currently in negotiations to take my current gig remote, and extend for another 3 to 6 months which would see this years income heading pretty close to 6 figures.

bristoldude
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue May 27, 2014 1:01 pm

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by bristoldude »

July and august were a couple of strange months. Split up with GF. here are some numbers:

July
in: £4,839.82
Out: £1,554.07

August
in: £6,578.94
out: £2,679.61

Augusts expense is due to not having a house and drinking too much alcohol. month of skipping around hotels and friends sofas.

The housing situation is now resolved, and I've decided to stop drinking for a month while I take stock of situation.

currently at 1.3 years expenses, expect that to shoot up as paying attention should bring me back to under 1000 a month.

Noedig
Posts: 191
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 10:15 pm

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by Noedig »

Wotcher again Bristoldude (or is it Birminghamdude now?)

My commiserations on the split, whatever the reason there will be some jangly cut nerves there. Relationships, eh? <pauses and tries to think of something true but not hackneyed to say on topic, finds nothing good enough to offer, decides against it>

Some of my work colleagues are based in Brum as it happens. I had a good pub session with them just talking about the tantalizing different kinds of kebab available there: I understand there are two particular Brum specialities - the "Red Meat" pre-spiced kebab, and the "German kebab" which is a kebab only even meatier. That conversation had me practically slavering. Fortunately for my (already somewhat considerable) weight I live far away in London and can pretend those things are unavailable, rare regional specialities like the famous Brummie Balti curry, or the Glaswegian deep-fried Mars Bar.

My own contract is just coming to an end for me and some colleagues - I received email notice halfway through my two week holiday at 17.01 this Friday! Now, I am old hand and have seen nearly everything in this game, and my circumstances are such that this is not a problem. But I mention to you because it is further evidence that you cannot take the future for granted as a contractor: that indeed is somewhat the point - you are acquired in the first place *because* you are flexible disposable resource. So gather ye the raining soup, while it raineth! For the future is uncertain.

Translated into ERE-speak, that means keep up the savings rate, and build the cushion, it will give you more freedom to manoeuvre in the future.

I recommend the free MoneyDashboard tool for taking 90% of the work out of tracking expenses (it sucks records from your accounts and does a rough categorisation on them for you to tweak).

Have you opened that SIPP yet? As Arnold says "Do it! DO IT NOUGHH!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6P40wLThbc

ducknalddon
Posts: 249
Joined: Fri May 20, 2016 5:55 am

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by ducknalddon »

A SIPP isn't going to be much good if you want to retire early, you can't access it until 55, maybe even later for @bristolsdude.

Noedig
Posts: 191
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 10:15 pm

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by Noedig »

@ducknaldon, good point. Suits earlyish retirement, but nowhere near extreme.

bristoldude
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue May 27, 2014 1:01 pm

Re: Bristol ERE journal.

Post by bristoldude »

I've certainly been considering a SIPP for some of the remaining money once I max out my standard rate tax allowance.
I figure there's little incentive for the withdrawal age for private pensions to move back, and £40-60k going in over the next year or two could give me a nice cushion to roll into after 24 years of compounding..

The obvious alternative (paying 40% tax to get it out directly) isn't too appealing, although leaving enough in the company to pay out for a couple of years after I'm done seems like a good plan.

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