Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Where are you and where are you going?
wolf
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2017 5:09 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by wolf »

Congratulations for "cracking the £10,000 net worth mark"! If Bitcoin keep rising, I think, that it easier for 100.000.
How is your final month of study? Have you achieved your diploma? Wish you good luck for your exam!

Sabaka
Posts: 135
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:41 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

MDFIRE2024 wrote:
Sat Nov 04, 2017 1:33 am
Exam is on Wednesday, getting a little nervous now :shock: :lol:. I'll be sure to update the journal after the exam. Alas, time for the journal update.
(Also, sorry for the slight sparseness of this post. A combination of being busy with revision and also losing a 99% completed version because I never remember to save a draft :lol: )

November 2017 Summary

Ledger


Name - Cost - Date

Food - 8.12 - 1/11/17
Food - 1.4 - 6/11/17
Food - 9.72 - 9/11/17
Food - 11.24 - 20/11/2017

Total (£) - £30.48


The first month I didn't make any 'unnecessary' transactions. Not much other news, although I haven't decided to continue with the subscription to the Economist magazine, found it a little too taxing fitting in two magazines a week. But yeah, pretty solid month.

Investments

A total contribution of £381.24 into my various ISAs this month. Of this £107.93 was invested into my LISA, and £273.31 into my standard ISA. Also, this month I sold two dud investments, to finance an increase of my crytpo allocation to 20% of my overall portfolio. Overall, the total value of my combined ISA's is (as of writing) £9547.46

Speculation

I have transferred £888.7 from my Crypto bank account to the Exchange this month. This was a funded from a mixture of previous deposits into my Crypto bank account and also a withdrawn amount from my standard ISA. Of this, the bulk of it (£754.85) has not yet been used to buy any coins. I am waiting for the current speculative frenzy to die down. Therefore, adding the uninvested amount to the current value of my coins, the overall value of my Crypto portfolio is (as of writing) £2717.15

Altogether, the combined value of my normal and speculative investments, plus my safety fund (still £300) is £12264.61. Maybe @MDFIRE2024 's prediction of $100,000 Bitcoin is not so far off the mark ;)

Focuses for December

Revision, revision and more revision. Only kidding :lol: Soon as I have finished (and hopefully passed!) the exam for Unit 1 on Wednesday I will have a month off before the start of Unit 2. During this month, I intend to fully enjoy Christmas :) . I've also set aside £50 for presents for family. Other than that, not much else. I did finally finish the Complete Essays of Montaigne, only took me a month :shock: . Very good though, I'd highly recommend it. Also, good news, Amazon offered a 3 month free trial of Kindle Unlimited as part of Black Friday, and I am now currently reading 'How we invented freedom and why it matters' by Daniel Hannan. I'd definitely recommend if you're interested in the history of classical liberal values. Well, that's about everything. See you after the exam, here's for the best :)

Sabaka
Posts: 135
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:41 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

Only a quick update, just took the test and I passed! 89/100, one off a distinction, so that's a little annoying :roll: Oh well, going to enjoy Christmas now!

chenda
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Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:17 pm
Location: Nether Wallop

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by chenda »

Congratulations :) Will this be the basis of your new career ? Was going to say that the advice I wished I had followed earlier was to focus on a profession which I had an strong aptitude for, not one which I thought I might enjoy. Excelling at something where you're at the top of the game brings its own rewards and satisfaction.

I liked the Ben Fogle programmes too.

CS
Posts: 709
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2012 10:24 pm

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by CS »

Congrats on the test score! Your plans are coming together.

Sabaka
Posts: 135
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:41 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

chenda wrote:
Wed Dec 06, 2017 3:22 pm
Thank you :) . I hope it will be the basis for a new career. I agree with your advice. I think you can generally find satisfaction in doing a good job, whatever the job may be. My bet is that the more I move towards financial independence, the more freedom I will have to look at how to 'monetise my passions' (to use a horrible corporate phrase :lol: ). Of course, once you are completely financially independent, you do not have to worry about 'monetising your passions' in any case.

The Ben Fogle programs were great. I think the Egyptian episode was my favourite. I hope they recommission another series.

CS wrote:
Wed Dec 06, 2017 6:50 pm
Cheers :)

Sabaka
Posts: 135
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:41 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

Alas, it is the end of the year. It has been a good year, overall. I feel I have more direction going into 2018. This time last year, I had finished college, gotten rubbish grades and started working a part-time job I did not enjoy. I did not have any idea where my life was going. Now I have a long-term goal in FIRE, and a short-term goal in my financial adviser qualification. So, all is much better.

Anyway, I am going to structure this posts in two parts. First, a summary of December, and second, a summary of the entire year.

December 2017 Summary

Ledger

Name - Cost - Date

Food - 5.33 - 1/12/17
Christmas - 41.02 - 6/12/17
Christmas - 8.53 - 9/12/17
Book - 0.49 - 09/12/2017
Stationary - 10.78 - 12/12/17
Food - 5.99 - 12/12/17
Christmas - 13.15 - 21/12/17
Food - 6.07 - 21/12/17

Total (£) - 91.36

Overall, discounting the Christmas costs, I spent a total of £17.39 this month. I am very happy with this amount. I think my food costs were some of my lowest to date, although this is partially due to having more of the ingredients at home already. The stationary was a necessary cost, and I should be okay for stationary for a good while now. I'm also proud of myself for resisting the urge to buy new books over the course of the month!

Investments

A total contribution of £782.8 into my various ISAs this month. Of this £335.02 was invested into my LISA, and £447.78 into my standard ISA. Overall, the total value of my combined ISAs is (as of writing) £10.563.94

Speculation

A deposit of £111.94 into my Crypto bank account. The value of my actual Crypto portfolio is (as of writing) £5.198.34. This amount, added to the cash sitting in the Crypto bank account results in a total Crypto investment value of £5.310.28.

The Crypto market is becoming more and more speculative. Despite only recently deciding to increase my crypto allocation to 20% of my overall portfolio, I am already questing whether I should exit the market completely. I cannot get away from the fact that 99% of the value of these various coins is purely speculative. As much as I tell myself I would be fine if the value dropped dramatically, I have not yet experienced this. It's definitely something I'm going to have to think more about in the following few days/weeks.

Altogether, the combined value of my normal and speculative investments, plus my safety fund (now £200) is £16.074.22


2017 Annual Summary

Investment performance

Type - Cost - Value - Percentage Increase

Investments - £9882 - £10563.94 - 6.9%
Speculation - £1778.02 - £5310.28 - 198.66%
Cash - £200 - £200 - 0%

Total Investments - £11860.02 - £16074.22 - 35.53%

FIRE

Total Investments (2016) = £3.607.97
Total Investments (2017)(Currently) = £16.074.22

Total left to FIRE goal (£400,000) = £383.925.78 :shock: :lol:

Goals for 2018

Well, that's it. For 2018, I hope to pass my financial adviser course and find a trainee role in a relevant sector. I also wish to continue learning about FIRE, Stoic philosophy and various other things to improve my life. In the summer, I would also like to spend a couple weeks in the summer visiting a few places in Europe. In terms of net worth, would £30,000 by 2019 be too much to hope for? Probably :lol: Anyway, that's it. Thanks everyone for all your help, and have a great new year!

wolf
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2017 5:09 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by wolf »

How do you tackle the "Big 3": housing, food, transportation? Do you plan any changes there within the next few years?
Your goal with 30000 by 2019 is doable, I guess. At least you should aim for it. Numbers, such as this one, have an "anchor"-effect. IMO, you should not lower such a number, because then you will probably come up with ideas to make that possible. I wish you a great year.

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fiby41
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Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by fiby41 »

Has the Kraken surfaced yet?

Sabaka
Posts: 135
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Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

fiby41 wrote:
Sat Jan 13, 2018 5:55 am
How do you tackle the "Big 3": housing, food, transportation? Do you plan any changes there within the next few years?
I am very lucky in that I still live at home, and so therefore housing and food are pretty much free (I have a small rent, and I do pay for my own lunches, but the cost is negligible compared to if I was living on my own). Transportation is by bicycle, which Is also good because I have always absolutely loved riding my bike, and I hate driving :lol:.

At some point I guess I will move out, but not until I am earning more money. Currently my goal is trying to internalise ERE systems, so that when I do move out it will not be as much of a shock to my savings rate!

I've kept the target at £30,000. I had the same reasoning as you. Shoot for the moon, even if you'll miss, you'll land amongst the stars, or something like that :) Best of luck to you also!

fiby41 wrote:
Sat Jan 13, 2018 5:55 am
Has the Kraken surfaced yet?
The mythological sea monster or the cryptocurrency exchange?

Sabaka
Posts: 135
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:41 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by 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 :lol: 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 :shock:

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
Posts: 135
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:41 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by 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 :shock: :lol: . 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! :x

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 :lol: ). 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 :lol: .

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! :lol:. 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
Posts: 66
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 5:15 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by JeanPaul »

Impressive reduction of expenses from the beginning to now!

Sabaka
Posts: 135
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:41 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

JeanPaul wrote:
Thu Mar 01, 2018 1:48 pm
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 :lol: ) 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.

Sabaka
Posts: 135
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:41 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

Monthly summary time!

April 2018 Summary

Ledger

Note: From this month, I shall be recording a sum in my ledger under the term 'Recurring expenses'. This is a total sum for all of my expenses that occur monthly (eg. Rent, phone bill, etc). I have decided to include this in my monthly journal in the hope that it provides a better reflection of my overall expenses.

Name - Cost (£) - Date

Recurring exp - 183.6 - n/a
Book - 9.49 - 3/4/18
Food - 11.13 - 6/4/18
Book - 5.56 - 14/04/18
Food - 9.36 - 18/04/18

Total (£) 219.14

All in all, a good month. My monthly food costs are trending upwards, however. I had begun to feel very lethargic at work, and so I done some research into how I could rectify this through some dietary changes. In particular, I read an online summary of the book 'How not to die' by Dr Michael Greger (I will read the actual book eventually!). My diet was already very close to this one, but I expect I will be buying some additional foods. Overall, if I can keep within a budget of £40 p/m, I will be happy.

Book buying is again a sin, but a sin I can live with. Food, books, exercise, etc play a huge role in my life, and contribute massively to my happiness. As long as the spending in these categories does not become too substantial (and I don't expect it ever will do - I'm a very slow reader for one!), it is money I am willing to part with. A part of my desire for FI is that it would give me a greater capacity to enjoy the things above. If the pursuit of FI ever meant having to give up on said things in the present, for me, it would not be worth it.

Investments

After a very dry March, we had a lot more activity in April. Firstly, I have decided to close my IFISA. (Yes, the one I opened only a few months ago :roll: ) Although in my defence, I rushed into opening the IFISA, so therefore I shall view closing it as rectifying a past mistake ;) . Anyway, the total amount received on closing my IFISA was £1678.28p. This was from a total contributions into the IFISA of £1710.62. So my mistake cost me £32.34p. Obviously not great, but I believe there was the potential for a far greater loss, so it is a loss I shall bear.

In terms of my other ISAs, this month I made a total contribution of £2555.82 (mostly funded using the IFISA withdrawal amount). Of this, £1889.16p went into the standard ISA, and £666.66p into the LISA. Also, the govt' paid into my LISA the £1000 bonus due for the 2017/2018 tax year, which has given a nice little boost to my net worth. Overall, the combined current value of my ISAs is (as of writing) £18532.51p.

Detracting the amount that was essentially transferred from my IFISA to my other ISAs, my savings rate for April was 89.68%.

Speculation

The crypto market rebounded a little in April, resulting in a current combined value for my crypto coins of (as of writing) 934.04p

Therefore, the total combined value of my normal and speculative investments, plus my safety fund (which includes cash destined for holiday spending, but which I shall include in my total net worth until it is spent) is £20465.63. Hey, how about that! We're broken the £20k barrier. Maybe my prediction of £30k for the end of 2018 is not so unfeasible. Also, if Bitcoin really does go to £1000000000000 per coin (as so many youtube comments reliably state) I might achieve FI 14 years early! ;)

Focuses for May

Final two months of my diploma :shock: . I just submitted my coursework assignment yesterday, and, fate permitting, I will achieve a good enough grade that I do not have to edit and resubmit it. Now it is time for massive preparation for the exam in early July. My normal reading this month was Berkshire Hathaway's shareholder letters from 1965-2016 (all collated in a kindle eBook) . I have really enjoyed them, and I'd recommend to anyone who is interested in business/investing. Anyways, not much else. Thanks for reading, see y'all soon.

Sabaka
Posts: 135
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:41 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

Monthly summary time!

May 2018 Summary

Ledger

Name - Cost (£) - Date

Recurring exp - 183.6 - n/a
Food - 11.52 - 1/5/18
Food (Flaxseeds) - 10.87 - 1/5/18
Book - 6.64 - 02/05/18
Book - 2.99 - 10/05/18
Food (Vitamins) - 13.95 - 11/05/18
Food - 8.13 - 14/05/18
Food - 14.08 - 22/05/18
Diploma - 6.75 - 24/05/18
Food - 0.75 - 29/05/18

Total (£) - 259.28

A little more of an expensive month, compared to so far in 2018. After reading 'How Not to Die', I've decided to add a couple things to my diet (flaxseeds and vitamins), but as I have bought these two things in quite large quantities I should be good for a few months now. My standard food costs were higher than I would have ideally liked, however speciality ingredients (miso paste this time) once again bumped up costs. However, if my calculations are correct, the total cost of the flaxseeds and vitamins together should work out at around £6.39 p/m. Adding this to my standard food costs this month of £34.48, the total figure (£40.87) still came below my upper limit of £45 p/m. So overall, not too shabby.

Book costs were fairly low. This was helped by re-reading a couple of books this month, those being 'ERE' and 'How I found freedom in an unfree world'. The only other cost was the diploma one, which is actually the train ticket to get to the location of my exam in July (very close now! :shock: ).

Investments:

Another boring month :lol:. In total, I contributed £707.22 into my ISAs this month. Of this, £396.39 went into the standard ISA, and £333.33 into the LISA. Overall, the current combined value of my ISA is (as of writing) £19,991.58.

Speculation:

The crypto market most resembles a bouncy ball, in that depending on how hard it hits a floor, it correspondingly bounces even higher, before inevitably dropping once again. At the moment it is dropping, and the current combined value of my crypto coins is (as of writing) £856.48

Therefore, the total combined value of my normal and speculative investments, plus my safety fund is (as of writing) £21.963.95

Note: I contributed an extra £100 to my safety fund this month. The safety fund itself is made up of money designated for holiday expenses - only a couple of months now! - and a standard fund for emergencies/larger expenses).

My savings rate for May was 83.69%. I'm not sure how relevant the SR statistic is for my situation, due to the fact that I don't have to pay for many essential costs (accommodation, etc) as I live at home. Ah well, it's there.

Focuses for June

The final month before my final exam, so June will be a month of mostly revising, revising and revising :lol: . In all honesty, I've been pretty much devoting all my time to studying since I started the diploma (All the way back in September! :shock: ) so I'm mostly just continuing that trend. I can't wait to finish though, and, fate permitting, I will get the grade required.

My normal reading for May was, as stated above, re-reading 'ERE' and 'How I found freedom in an unfree world'. I particularly enjoyed the opening in ERE, where Jacob compares the current state of things to Plato's 'Allegory of the Cave'. I've read other things in the past where the this allegory is used as an explanation for the topic being discussed, but none have been as fitting as the one in ERE.

I really enjoyed 'How I found freedom freedom in an unfree world' also. One issue I tend to find with this book is that I find that it somewhat overstates the efficiency of an individual's own hedonic calculus. Also, I find that sometimes the book strays too far into moral relativism territory, although that is largely a personal criticism. Overall, the message of the book, that you should: - think independently; - not expect to be able to control or even influence externals; and - be conscious that you use your time in a way that does not bring you too much dissatisfaction; is a good one.

Anyway, that's about it. See y'all later.

Sabaka
Posts: 135
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:41 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

Hi everyone, update for June!

June 2018 Summary

Name - Cost (£) - Date

Recurring exp - 183.6 - n/a
Food - 10.96 - 6/6/18
Book - 0.99 - 8/6/18
Father's day - 19.46 - 09/06/18
Donation - 50 - 09/06/18
Book - 12.7 - 17/06/18
Food - 11 - 18/06/18
Present - 17.82 - 26/06/18
Book - 6.94 - 26/06/18

Total (£) - 313.47

A much more expensive month as compared to the rest of 2018, which isn't great. However, much of the increase was due to the donation and
fathers day/present cost, so I can at least take some comfort that I'm not spending much more money on myself! :lol: I've made less meals this month due to time constraints, so whilst the overall food cost is low it is likely to be an anomaly when compared to future months.

In other very good news, my expensive (£33 p/m) 2 year phone contract has finally ended! :P I have switched to a new sim which offers similar benefits for the princely sum of £7.50 p/m. Additionally, this sim is a 1 month rolling-contract. One thing I've discovered since I started pursuing FIRE is that I really dislike being tied down with anything long-term, especially when there is money involved!

That's about it. Hopefully next month will be a cheaper spending month.

Investments

A second boring month in a row, which is a record for me :lol: . In total, I contributed £599.05. Of this, £569.04 went into my standard ISA, and £30.01 into my LISA. Additionally, I have £330.00 sitting in my current account waiting to be contributed to my LISA. The reason I have not put this in yet is because I am changing my method of contribution to direct debit and the first of these is set for July.

I have also changed the asset allocation of both my standard ISA and LISA. I have moved the entire ISA into a Vanguard total stock index fund, and the LISA into 80% bond index funds, 20% property index funds. The reason for the standard ISA asset allocation is purely simplicity. The reason for the LISA's new conservative asset allocation is that I intend to withdraw this money within 5-6 years to purchase a property.

Overall, the total current combined value of my ISAs is (as of writing) £20,618.96

Speculation

The crypto market has crashed hard. The current total value of my crypto coins is (as of writing) £537.30.

Therefore, the total value of my normal and speculative investments, plus my safety fund is (as of writing) 22,259.69.

My savings rate for June was 60.4%. Due to my very low income, slight increases in spending decrease my savings rate substantially. This is something I'll have to keep in mind.

Focuses for July

My exam is in 4 days! I'm very nervous, but I feel I've done a great deal of preparation, so I hope I do well. After my exam, I'm going back to full-time hours at work, and so my savings rate should improve (I'm hoping for plus 90%!). Until mid-August I'll be concentrating on doing the necessary things to find a new job. I'll then be on holiday and that's when I'll receive my results! Fate permitting, I'll get the diploma and then I can start applying for new jobs. If not, I'll have to go back to the drawing board and reconsider a lot of things.

I've read a few different books this month. 'Man's search for meaning' by Dr Viktor Frankl, 'Common sense investing' by John Bogle, and I'm currently reading 'Rome's Last Citizen: The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar'. All of these are great, I'd highly recommend.

Anyway, that's about it, see everyone soon!

Sabaka
Posts: 135
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:41 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

Hi everyone, time for another update!

July 2018 Summary

Name - Cost (£) - Date

Recurring exp - 183.6 - n/a
Food - 8.81 - 9/7/18
Train ticket - 6.95 - 18/07/18
Food - 8.72 - 20/07/18
Book - 4.31 - 23/07/18
MMA gloves - 25.04 - 18/07/18

Total (£) - 237.43

Managed to come in quite a bit cheaper this month, which is good. Last month of the higher recurring costs, my £32 p/m phone contract is completely finished now, something I am very happy about.

My exam got delayed! Turned up at the venue to be told that I could not take it that day due to IT problems. Fortunately, it got rescheduled fairly quickly and I have now sat the exam :D. This is why I had to purchase another train ticket.

Book costs were low as I did not have as much time to read due to working full-time and revising. Similar situation with the food costs, did not have enough time to plan elaborate meals so simple fare it was, which lowered the usual cost quite a bit. MMA gloves were necessary, I've just started training some grappling type stuff and Muay Thai gloves are an absolute pain for grappling. I did manage to use a £10 Paypal voucher though, so I got some decent quality ones for a fairly low price.

All in all, a good month :).

Investments

A boring month. I've decided against using a direct debit to contribute as I just don't feel as comfortable with it. In terms of contributions, in total I contributed £1273.14p into my ISAs. Of this, £943.14 went into my standard ISA and £330 went into my LISA.

Overall, the total combined value of my ISAs is (as of writing) £22,450.67p.

Speculation

Crypto market is still low. The current total value of my crypto coins is (as of writing) £552.58p.

Therefore, the total value of my normal and speculative investments, plus my safety fund is (as of writing) 24,118.68p.

My savings rate for July was 119.78%. Which obviously makes no sense :lol: . It is this high because I deferred making a contribution in June. From next month, I think I will instead use a 3-month average savings rate, as this will smooth out anomalies such as this.

Focuses for August

Holiday in two weeks! I'm really looking forward to it. I did make some additional holiday purchases this month, but as stated in a previous journal entry, I am keeping all holiday expenses in a separate ledger for the sake of ease. After holiday, time to start applying for new jobs. I hope I find one quickly, the current job is becoming a real grind. I have started to read 'Natural Born Heroes' by Christopher McDougall recently. Very entertaining, and its given me lots of new ideas regarding fitness!

Anyway, that's it, see y'all soon.

Sabaka
Posts: 135
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:41 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

Update time!

August 2018 Summary

Name - Cost (£) - Date

Recurring exp - 157.5 - n/a
Food - 12.24 - 1/8/18
Food - 2.8 - 03/08/18
Food - 25.12 - 20/07/18
Book - 6.99 - 12/08/18
Present - 12 - 27/08/18

Total (£) - 216.65

As expected, costs were lower this month, helped by being away on holiday for two weeks. Food costs were generally okay, the bill for '£25.12' is for another supply of vitamins, which should last me another 6 months now. I managed to avoid feeling the need to purchase new clothes for my holiday, which I am proud of!

Holiday spend

I lost track of the spreadsheet at some point whilst on holiday :lol:. Having done my best guesstimate, I believe my overall spend for my holiday equals £880.69p. This is under my £1000 budget, so therefore I am quite happy with it. Although I was helped in this by my parents 'lending' me approximately 75 euros to spend.

Investments

In total, I contributed £883.41p into my ISAs. I've decided to put a little money into p2p lending again, investing £553.41p into my IFISA. I also made the standard contribution of £330 into my LISA.

Overall, the total combined value of my ISAs is (as of writing) £23,690.05p.

Speculation

Crypto market is even lower! The current total value of my crypto coins is (as of writing) £413.46p.

I have also decided to increase my safety fund amount to £800 (from £300), as I anticipate I might be having to make some larger cash expenditures in the coming months. Therefore, the total value of my normal and speculative investments, plus my safety fund is (as of writing) £24,903.51p

My current savings rate (using the new calculation method of the average of the previous 3 month's SRs) equals 78.08%. That is a bit of a more normal number compared to last month. I want to keep my long-term average above 75%, hopefully pushing on to 80%.

Focuses for September

I passed my Diploma! Now I have just got to apply for as many (suitable) jobs as possible and hopefully get one soon! I have done some research, and apparently a starting salary in £20,000 - £30,000 p/a range isn't completely out of reach. I'm hoping I will find a job that will enable me to continue living at home and would not require a car, although I might have to slide on one of these points.

Holiday was good. I don't know actually, parts of it were good but there were also parts where I felt profoundly depressed. I guess that in my excitement for the holiday, I forgot the classic quote from Socrates: "Why do you wonder that globe-trotting does not help you, seeing that you always take yourself with you?". I think I need to work on myself.

Anyway, that's about it. I've been reading a selection of Plutarch's Greek Lives, and I'm really enjoying them. Highly recommend.

See y'all soon!

Sabaka
Posts: 135
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:41 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

Another little update because I'm stupid!

I forgot to add a £1000 investment into another p2p account into my figures. I have made this investment due to a particular cash bonus that is currently being offered by this company, which will effectively boost my rate of return to 14.1% for the year.

This will also obviously have some effect on both my savings rate for the month and my total net worth. I will do all the calculations in the next journal entry.

This reminds me that I really need to learn how to do a basic spreadsheet to keep track of all this stuff! :lol:

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