Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

[Sabaka]

Well, it looks like it is time for the first monthly summary of 2018!

January 2018


Ledger

Name - Cost - Date

Misc - 0.52 - 4/1/18
Book - 1.83 - 4/1/18
Food - 5.37 - 05/01/2018
Jeans - 6.8 - 15/1/18
Food - 7.14 - 17/1/18
Book - 10.77 - 28/01/18
Food - 4.4 - 29/01/18

Total (£) - 36.83

Overall, a solid month to start the year. I wasn't tempted by any of the January sales, and again bought the jeans through eBay. They do look like something out of a 70s music video parody, but they're only for work anyway Food costs were low, and I was particularly impressed by some of the meals (still all vegetarian) this month. One of the books was expensive, however I hope to sell this on eBay once I have read it, so it is not an entirely 'sunk' cost.

Investments

Quite a large amount of activity this month.

After taking sometime to think about it, I decided that I was not comfortable with the level of risk in cryptocurrencies, and so I sold the majority of my holdings. Luckily I done this before 'Black Tuesday', when cryptocurrencies across the board lost a lot of value. Roughly, my entire cryptocurrency holdings were worth around £6000 at the time (from an initial investment of £1800) and I sold £3906.7p worth of coins. I kept what was then worth around £2,000 worth of various coins invested.

Using the £3906.7p (plus regular income), I made contributions of £3061.82p into my standard ISA, and £335.21 into my LISA. Using the remaining proceeds from the crypto cash, I made a £1576.50 subscription into a new IFISA (Innovative Finance ISA).

I'll let Google define the IFISA:

"An innovative finance ISA (IFISA) lets you use your tax free ISA allowance while investing in peer to peer (P2P) lending"

The platform I am using offers loans promising a variety of rates of return, but they generally range from 7-11%. My own expected rate of return is 10.75%.

I have decided to make this new investment because: 1) It offers a very good rate of return
2) It offers an element of diversification
3) I find finance and investing very interesting generally, and making this new investment gives
me a chance to experiment with a different area of it

For the purposes of documenting it here, I will calculate the value of the IFISA as: the initial investment + the projected rate of return - the 1% fee taken by the platform.

Overall, the total value of my combined ISAs is therefore (as of writing): £15,780.91p

Speculation

My remaining crypto coins have a current combined worth of: £908.63p. Down from around £2000 before the slide this month

Alltogether, the total value of my normal and speculative investments, plus my safety fund (£300) is £16,989.54p

Focuses for February

My course is back under way. That and work take up most of my time, however I am finding the course enjoyable, so it's not so bad. I do have some time to read, and I'm just finishing up Edmund Burke's 'Reflections on the Revolution in France' and some of his other writings. Really enjoyed them, in fact some of the greatest writing I have ever read. I highly recommend.

Also been reading 'De Officiis' by Cicero. A great read if you're interested in a virtuous life, stoicism, ancient philosophies, etc.

Well, that's about it. See you all soon!

[Sabaka]

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!

[JeanPaul]

Impressive reduction of expenses from the beginning to now!

[Sabaka]

Thanks man, I just had a flick through your journal, pretty much where I would like to be in 10 years!

Anyway, time for another monthly summary.

March 2018 Summary


Ledger

Name - Cost - Date

Food - 7.09 - 5/3/18
Mother's Day - 12.78 - 11/3/18
Book - 2.4 - 14/03/18
Food - 7.98 - 15/03/18
Food - 9.63 - 25/03/18
Food - 5.83 - 30/03/18

Total (£) - 45.71

Overall, a much better month compared to the previous one. I managed to avoid any unnecessary spending, so that is good. My food costs were a little over the £30 monthly budget I set myself, however I had to cook some extra meals this month due to my parents going on holiday (and therefore not being able to cook dinner for me - I have it hard, I know ) Also, I quickly decided that incorporating more fish into my diet was not required, and therefore it is back to vegetarian/vegan meals. I'm pretty much a fully fledged vegan/vegetarian now, apart from the odd bit of milk, honey or cheese and when my parents cook meat. I really enjoy it. It's cheap and I am the feeling healthier than ever before.

Note: I did begin to make some holiday purchases this month (flight, accommodation, etc), however I have decided to keep this in a separate 'holiday ledger' in order so I can better track the expenses. Once my holiday has come and gone, and all related expenses have been accounted for, I shall include it in the journal (otherwise I'd be cheating! )

Investments

As stated in the previous month's entry, I was saving towards my holiday this month. Therefore, the money that would usually have been allocated into investments has instead been transferred to my safety cash fund. Consequently, the only investment this month was into my LISA of £323.98. Overall, the combined current value of my ISAs is: £16227.82p.

Speculation

Well, after regaining a little in the previous month, in this month the crypto market fell to new lows. I am really glad that I was lucky enough to have sold the bulk of my crypto investments when the market was high, meaning that I can view the current downturn with a certain sense of equanimity (although it never feels nice to lose money, even if the losses are unrealised!) I was able to sort out the valuation issues, and so the following figure is correct, to the best of my knowledge. Overall, the total value of my crypto portfolio is (as of writing) £602.

Therefore, the total value of combined normal and speculative investments, plus my (now increased from £300 to 1228.81p) safety cash fund is £18058.63p.

Focuses for April

As mentioned above, I have started purchasing holiday-related items. I have decided to go for two weeks in Greece, travelling throughout the country to visit all of the ancient ruins and museums. I'm already a little excited, but I'm trying not to go into over-planning mode as I still have the diploma to focus on. Not much else really. I have been reading the complete works of John Milton, and I've enjoyed them so far. Poetry has always alluded me slightly, but I've got on better with these works. Anyway, that's about it. Thanks for stopping by, I'll see you all soon.