Well, it looks like it's time for another update!
February 2018 Summary
Ledger
Name - Cost - Date
Event - 27.65 - 1/2/18
Dentist - 35.7 - 4/2/18
Food - 9.12 - 12/02/2018
Stationary - 11.37 - 12/02/18
Book - 10.99 - 12/02/18
Shoes - 37.9 - 16/02/18
Food - 18.49 - 21/02/18
Book - 3.74 - 22/02/18
Phone - 107.48 - 25/02/18
Total (£) - 262.44
Hmmm
. Unfortunately, a number of unexpected costs arose this month. Firstly, after a routine check-up the dentist recommended that I replace two fillings. NHS subsidised, but not completely fee.
Secondly, my beloved Adidas suede sneakers finally gave up the ghost after four years of faithful service. The toes quite literally came off. I sourced a new pair of Dr Martens from their clearance sale for £33.95 (including delivery, which, as compulsory purchases go, is a fairly good one, in my opinion.
Thirdly, my phone decided that it no longer wanted to barely work at all. It has had minor issues for a while, and I had planned to purchase a new handset when my current contract finished in August. I bought a refurbished model through eBay, and so far (I've only been using it for a couple of days) I'm sufficiently happy with it. Still stuck on my £32 p/m contract until August however!
Of course there was the stationary cost also, which is a part and parcel of my diploma, so not much to complain about that.
As for the other purchases, the event cost isn't a necessary one, however, it is to hear a particular speaker in Oxford who I have wished to see for ages, so I'm not so concerned about that. One of the food costs was very high by my past standards, however I wanted to experiment with cooking some Japanese cuisine, and some of the speciality ingredients cost a little more. Also, in the future, I plan to incorporate some sort of fish into at least a third of my cooking (for health reasons), and so therefore my costs could slightly rise. I've set a budget of £30 p/m, which I believe to be reasonable. Book costs were maybe somewhat high, but if you are spending money on anything, I don't think books are a bad bet
.
More positively, I did work a few extra shifts this month, meaning that will have absorbed the extra expenditure (and left me a little left over, according to my maybe-dodgy calculations
). I'm guided by my (probably not mine originally, but oh well) concept of 'revenue-neutral' spending. This is inspired by the revenue neutral bills I understand are used fairly frequently in U.S politics, whereby any new bill which proposes additional govt' spending has to make sure that it does not increase the U.S debt level. Therefore, applying this to my own case, any extra expenditures I plan to make I try to cover with either additional revenue (through working extra shifts, selling old goods, etc) or cutting my original spending. Hope that makes sense
.
Investments
A very boring month compared to January. A total contribution of £904.50p into my various ISAs this month. Of this £520.14p into the standard ISA, £326.57p into my LISA and £57.79p into my IFISA. Overall, the combined current value of my ISAs is (as of writing)
£16,511.51p.
Speculation
After hitting some real lows last month, the crypto market has recovered a little. Also, for full clarity, I've added a very small holding of Bitcoin to my crypto coin portfolio. I have held these for a while, but I did not include them in the overall portfolio as they were designated to a charitable donation I will be making in the future. However, given the recent falls, I shall be making a cash donation instead, hence the inclusion of the coins now in my portfolio. Also, I've had some issues getting a valuation for one of my coins, so this will be a part guesstimate. Overall, the total value of my remaining coins is (as of writing)
£1,300.
Therfore. the total value of my combined normal and speculative investments, plus my safety fund is
£18,111.51p Of course, my crypto amount is as of now a guesstimate, and in turn this figure might not be entirely accurate, but it should be close enough.
Focuses for March
I plan to reward myself with a holiday at the end of this diploma, and so have decided to not make any ISA contributions (other than into my LISA) this month, saving cash instead. I'm not entirely sure where I would like to go yet. Maybe Iran, I've always found Persian history quite interesting. Not much else really. I read a few different investment books this month, including 'The Complete Guide to Property Investment' by Rob Dix and 'Forex for Beginners' by Anna Coulling. Both good books, and have definitely given me some new ideas regarding investing. One of these especially being the power of leverage, which I might have to utilise myself if I'm ever to achieve FIRE!
. Also, my current Stoic reading text is 'De finibus bonorum et malorum', again by Cicero. So far in, I prefer it to De Officiis'.
Alas, that's about it. Seeya soon!