Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

[Sabaka]

Update time!

February 2020 Summary

Ledger:

Name - Cost (£)

Recurring exp - 5.95
Food - 5.3
Misc - 26.99
Languages - 49.14
Charity - 118.69

Total (£) - 206.07

Overall, an okay month. Taking away the charitable contributions, my total expenditure would have been £87.38p, which is a good figure. The charitable expenses are there as I have decided to keep to my pledge made last year to donate 10% of my income. This is the first month in which I've earned an income since May last year!

Food costs were very low due to receiving free food from my place of work (that's a definite FIRE hack!). Of course, the other major cost is that of languages. I decided that If I want to start improving in Polish at a quicker rate it was required that I have at least a couple of hours of practice a week speaking it. So therefore I have one lesson a week with a tutor and I'm trying to find a language partner to do a free exchange with. The "misc" cost was for a new pair of shoes for work (my old ones were deemed not suitable for work ).

Net worth:

I made some changes in my investments, which means I should receive quite a nice bonus in March! I also have benefited this month from being mostly out of the stock market and partly in some investments which have gained from the stock market's woes. Therefore, I can report an increase in net worth this month to approximately £38,600. An increase of £600 from last month!

At a withdrawal rate of 3% p/a, this would provide an annual income of approximately: £1158.. I plan to track my savings rate again once my financial life has calmed down, at the moment it is far too complex to be worth my time in working it out!

Other stuff and focuses for March:

Books I read in February:

- Why do Robins have red breasts by Joanne Stevens: A spin-off book from a nature TV show we have in the U.K. Basically a trivia book with lots of interesting facts regarding the natural world. Quite enjoyed it and it was a nice, easy read.

- Stand up straight by Major Paul Nanson: Basically a book detailing leadership and other such qualities. It contains different lessons and tactics regarding how to improve one's leadership skills, along with other skills such a perseverance, decision-making, etc. I enjoyed the book, but as with all "self-help" type books I found that a lot of the things it teaches are things I already know (but may not practice! ).

- How to be a Conservative by Roger Scruton: A really good book from the late, great English philosopher Roger Scruton. Although the title almost makes it look like one of those "self-help" books, it is actually a really good delve into the conservative philosophy and mindset. It is also not short of what solutions conservatism can offer to the problems of the modern age. I would really recommend to people from all sides of the political spectrum and I will definitely read more of Scruton's books in the future.

I am also currently reading "In wartime: stories from Ukraine" by the Tim Judah. A book talking about the current Ukrainian civil war. I will post more about this next month, but so far I am enjoying it.

So, what else have I done this month? Not much really. Between work, language study, reading and exercise I don't have an abundance of free time. I decided against signing up for any dating apps, and instead am going to try and develop my social and dating skills in the real world .

Well, that's everything, see everyone later!

[2Birds1Stone]

Just got caught up in here. I'm interested in your quest for Slavic languages. Any particular reason? I'm a native Polish speaker, though I was born and lived in USA my entire life.

[Sabaka]

@2birds1stone

Hiya! In all honesty, I'm not too sure what has inspired this interest. I don't have any Slavic ancestry as far as I'm aware, and my parents are not professors of Slavic history or anything . Initially my interest was more in Russia only, and that has been since at least age 14/15 (I asked for a Russian football shirt for Christmas!). I learnt Russian on and off until about age 18 when I began to study it with more commitment. I guess as with anything, the better you get at it the more interested you become, at least that has been my experience with learning Russian. And part of learning the language is learning the history, culture, etc.

It has probably only been in the last year that I have started to become more interested in the wider Slavic world, and that was through learning about how it is interlinked with Russia. The links between Poland, Ukraine and Russia are especially interesting to me. I had wanted to start learning a second language alongside Russian, and Polish seemed like a good fit. Now that I have started to to learn it, my interest in Poland and the language is increasing just for its own sake.

A small part of my brain maybe thinks that I could see myself living in that part of the world in the future, but given that this would be a long way away I don't think it has paid a huge part in my interest.

It's awesome that you have the ability to speak Polish despite living in the USA your entire life! I always think it is such a shame when second-gen immigrants (or even first-gen if they emigrated as a child) haven't learnt the language of their parent's or their own homeland. Although I understand why there might be reasons for the parents not wanting to separate their child too much from the culture of their adopted homeland (integration, etc). Language learners are definitely jealous of those who grew up in bilingual homes though!

One thing that has always fascinated me is how 2nd gen or 1st gen migrants feel about their identity and how they define themselves. This plays quite an important part in our lives I think. I guess this is a less of a problem for you guys in America, as it is more common to refer to oneself as "Polish/Italian/Whatever-American", and this provides a way of fusing the two identities. However I think in some other countries it might be more difficult.

Dziekuje u Do zabaczenia! (Sorry for not using the correct letters, don't have a Polish keyboard yet!).

[Sabaka]

So, before I do the standard monthly summary, I want to try and share my own web of goals with you. I am in the process of rereading ERE again and it is the first time I think I have half-understood the web of goals concept. So, here is my own attempt:
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1Pyj ... sp=sharing

Any thoughts or criticism is welcome .

Anyway, here is the monthly summary:

March 2020 Summary:

Ledger:

Name - Cost (£)

Recurring exp - 5.95
Book - 14
Food - 55.67
Misc - 23.55
Languages - 37.9
Charity - 114.8

Total (£) - 251.87

Minus the charitable contribution this month would have been 137.07. Not so bad, but still more than last month! This increase is down to three things. Firstly, I did a little bit of prepping when COVID19 first appeared on the horizon and I am now stocked with approximately 15-20 days of food and water, and this cost about £50. I will eat this food at some point in 3 years, so I consider it an advanced necessary purchase

Secondly, I subscribed to the Economist for 3 months for £12. One of my tests to enter the military is likely to be a current affairs test, and therefore I thought it'd be a good idea to reintegrate myself into the news cycle. I could have perhaps only used free news sources, but the Economist is guaranteed quality and having it prevents me having to trawl through buckets of awful news to reach the good stuff!

Thirdly, I had my bi-annual dentist check, which cost £22. 5-10 minutes there, quick "Need to brush more" and that was it. I should have been a dentist.

Costs might be slightly higher or the same in April, due to needing to buy food again. More on this later. One charitable contribution was made to a youtube channel called "Mossybottom". He is smallholder living in the West of Ireland who is slowing repairing an old cottage and doing other cool things. I also contributed to the National Emergencies Trust who are raising money for those in the U.K being affected by COVID19, and the final contribution was to a campaign by the Adam Smith Institute to build a statue of Hayek.

Net worth:

As of today, my total net worth is approximately £39,000., which represents an increase of about £400. Based on a 3% WR, this would equal an income of £1,170 p/a. Rich! . I did lose a bit of money in the market bloodbath, so this is why the increase does not accurately reflect how much I saved this month, which was in total about £960.

Doing a simple calculation of my monthly income minus my spending, divided by my monthly income gives a savings rate of 79%. Not so bad!

Other stuff and focuses for April:

Well, COVID19 has engulfed our countries. How has it personally affected me? Well the restaurant where I was working has closed up, and so I have been placed into "furlough". The government has checked behind the back of the sofa and found some spare change and decided to pay up to 80% of the wages of those of us who have been furloughed.

I am unsure of the morality of taking this money for doing nothing whilst others are still having to work either as normal or from home. The way I have rationalised it is that essentially this govt' debt is actually owed by the citizens of this country, and that therefore I am actually just taking back what is mine. Hell of a fine rationalisation I know, but it's all I got

Positives are that given the skills ERE and minimalism have taught me I will still be able to maintain a mighty high savings rate during this period, however long it may be. I'm hoping to keep it above 75%. I also now have a wealth of free time to do some other bits and bobs. I am reading a lot, I have signed up for some courses on FutureLearn (a great resource, check it out!) and I also want to do some other things, especially regarding local nature. I have also downloaded a stargazing app which I hope to use a little during the month .

I've decided not to continue listing all the books I have read during the month and instead just make a note of ones I particularly enjoyed. The Tim Judah book about Ukraine was very good, and I also read a fantastic history of the Romanovs by Simon Sebag Montefiore. I highly recommend both.

Well that's about it. Everyone have a good month and stay healthy!

[Sabaka]

Monthly update!

April 2020 Summary:

Name - Cost (£)

Recurring exp - 5.95
Book - 16.06
Food - 14.38
Languages - 62.62
Charity - 85.43

Total (£) - 184.44

Overall a good month. Taking away charitable contributions results in a monthly spend less than £100 p/m, which is what I'd be hoping for. There is obviously room for improvement even in this ledger. The money spent on books is unfortunate, but almost required due to the current shutdown of libraries. The languages cost was quite high, but this is practically my only hobby so I feel it's justified .

Charitable contributions this month were to GiveDirectly (for the 3rd time, I really like this charity) and The Woodland Trust. I imagine that I will spend a similar amount in May as in April, although cannot be sure.

Net Worth:

As of today, my total net worth is approximately £41,000, which represents an increase of about £2,000 (thanks in part to new contributions and also a rebounding stockmarket). Based on a 3% WR, this would equal an income of £1,231 p/a. In total, I managed to save about £862 this month, which equates to a savings rate of approximately 85%! Not bad for a month where I haven't been working .

Interestingly, this month is also the first in which I've regained the net worth I spent on my trip to Russia last year! Onwards and Upwards

Other stuff and focuses for May:

I think I'll probably be back working within the next couple of weeks. In some ways this is good (increased income - I'm losing out on about £400 a month whilst being furloughed), in other ways this is bad (40 odd hours less a week to devote to things I like). I forgot to mention in last month's entry, but my Army selection event (which I would have been doing this last weekend) was also postponed, which was a bit of a blow. I'm hoping it won't be long before it's rescheduled, its hard to stay 100% motivated without any fixed dates.

In other news, I started using Tinder again. It dawned on me that once I start the Army training there will probably be a period of about 2-3 years where dating could be quite difficult. Basically, I've got to make the most of my current freedom . Spending another 3 months in Russia is really tempting me at the moment. However, I don't really want to have to deplete all the funds I have saved this year by doing so. I want to at least maintain a 50% savings rate for the year, but who knows?

I've not read as many books this past month. I read some of Euripides' plays, fairly interesting but not amazing. I'm such an uncultured swine . I also started reading a collection of short stories which is in Russian and English. This is really interesting and rewarding, but also very slow .

That's about everything, hope everyone has a great month!

[Sabaka]

Monthly update!

May 2020 Summary

Ledger:

Name - Cost (£)

Recurring exp - 5.95
Food - 10.84
Misc - 185.9
Languages - 25.89
Charity - 81.6

Total (£) - 310.18

Spent a little bit more this month, compared to previous ones. This is entirely due to buying a couple of one-off things. Firstly, I ordered a new pair of boots. Having so far ignored Sam Vines' boots theory, I decided that this time I would pay a bit more and hopefully get a pair which will last me a long time. They cost about £160 and they're made to order in England, so I probably won't get them for a couple of months. From the reviews I've read they're great quality, so hopefully they'll last a long time. Secondly, I bought an old Soviet watch for about £25. Basically, I wanted a nicer looking watch for when I go out, etc. As I don't anticipate wearing it loads, I think over time this will prove to be a very reasonable purchase.

In terms of the other items where I usually spend quite a bit of money, I actually did pretty good this month. Food costs were low, as were languages costs. Of course, I also made my standard 10% of income charity contribution. This contribution was entirely to a charity called "SightSavers". They do really good work preventing blindness in the third world. Check them out .

Net Worth:

As of today, my net worth equals approximately: £43,000. This represents an increase of £2,000 on last month's update, mainly due to a rebounding stock market. I managed to save about £738 this month, which equates to a savings rate of approximately 68% This is quite a bit lower than the previous months saving rate, however this month I did make a couple of one-off purchases.

Other stuff and focuses for June:

I will be returning to work next week. Also, my pay for next week will be less than it is currently on furlough! Really quite a strange situation where one is better off not working . So that's the bad news, good news is that my Army selection should be soon. I had a call from the recruiter, things are starting to get going again, I could have a selection within the next 3 weeks! After my selection and when I have a date to begin basic training, I will feel pretty confident quitting my job and going travelling a bit . That's if there is anywhere that I'll be able to go! I'm hoping that by July/August I will have more available options . Worst case scenario, I will go up to Scotland or Wales for a bit of hiking/camping!

In terms of other stuff, everything is normal. Tinder is going a bit better than when I've had it before, I asked a female friend to critique my profile. Turns out my old profile was basically like one big "go away" sign . Still learning languages and preparing for the Army tests. I had started to slack a little in this the last two weeks, but knowing that the selection will be soon has given me a big boost. I'm still reading the short stories in Russian, and have also been reading a book about the history of Serbia by Tim Judah, which has been a really interesting read. Now I want to learn Serbian/Croatian too!!

Well that's about it, cheers! Everyone have a great month!

[Egg]

Hey Sabaka,

I missed your reference to Mossy Bottom a few months back, but I also love that YT channel. You know he takes volunteers, right? Could be something fun for you:

https://www.workaway.info/en/host/437944469456

In my case watching him is more escapism than a glimpse into the future, as I don't share your smallholding ambitions. Also, my dad lives in Ireland, and the climate - and to some extent the midges - just doesn't do it for me. Rural France could be on the cards at some point though. Housing is pretty cheap over there, in areas with a perfectly nice climate (Poitou-Charentes for example) which in itself is like crack to an Englishman.

Not really a recommendation per se, but I watch this channel too sometimes on YT ("Irish Partizan") and thought of you - chap lives in Belarus:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-oxiU ... 6FOYqh93FA

Anyway, sounds like you're motoring along quite nicely over there - good job! And good luck with army selection. I've said it before, but it's an excellent career and (secondarily) allows savings rates one could only dream of without a City banker's salary.

[Sabaka]

@Egg

Thanks for reading! I'd read the MB takes volunteers, it looks interesting! It might also be a good way to get around the quarantines countries are imposing on people who have spent the two preceding weeks in the U.K. I think Ireland has a really low infection rate, so one could spend two weeks there before travelling onward to a different country Lots to research!

Some parts of France do look really nice, and I imagine there is quite a large pre-existing U.K community there, which could be helpful when dealing with any bureaucracy and establishing a social circle. It will be interesting to see over the next few years which countries become popular for Brits to emigrate to once we have left the EU. Instinctively I imagine that some of the most popular destinations (France, Spain, etc) will still allow a route for British citizens to gain residence through property ownership, as the British are quite a large segment of their property market in some areas. But who knows?

Also, I think we must hang out in the same youtube circles, as I've watched a couple of "The Irish Partizans" videos . I am guessing you will also be familiar with the Bald & Bankrupt channel too? Really interesting country Belarus, a super tough existence there however. Many Belorussians emigrate to Russia for a better standard of life, which tells you everything you need to know!

Thanks also for your words at the end. Feels good to be on a set path again!

[Sabaka]

Monthly update!

June 2020 Summary

Ledger:

Name - Cost

Recurring exp - £5.95
Book - £10.99
Food - £1.65
Misc - £48.11
Languages - £25.63
Charity - £79.00

Total - £171.33

Quite a good month in terms of expenses. Overall the costs were low in all of the categories apart from the "Misc" category, where I bought a couple of things due to birthdays, etc. The charitable contributions this month were to a couple of Russian charities, one of which works with orphans and the other with snow leopards. Both pretty cool. If you want to find charities from a specific country, I recommend using the site "GlobalGiving". It allows you to filter by region and country. Not much else to really say about expenses in June, so let's move on .

Net worth:

As of today, my net worth is just shy off: £45,000. This represents another increase of around £2,000 on last month's update, again mainly due to a rebounding stock market, although I probably saved just shy of £1k also. SR last month was approximately 88% .

Other stuff and focuses for July:

Work has been difficult. I'm not even doing many hours, usually max around 25 hours a week, I'm just bored with it to be honest. Good news, I had my Army selection halfway through last month and everything went well. Now I am just waiting to hear whether there'll be another interview type of thing or whether I will just be given dates to begin training

Still learning languages, still reading. Done an overnight hike and camping trip last month too, which was cool. Depending on the situation when I get given my dates, I want to travel somewhere. Most countries have started to open up, but at the moment most travel seems to be not worth it due to quarantine requirements or nothing being open in the destination. We'll see.

That's about everything, have a great month everyone!

[Sabaka]

Monthly update!!

July 2020 Summary

Ledger:

Name - Cost

Recurring exp - £5.95
Book - £10.16
Food - £8.86
Misc - £319.86
Languages - £50.03
Charity - £72.99

Total - £467.85

Expensive old month! . So what did I end up spending money on?
1. Army gear. A headlamp, tape, sewing kit, etc. All stuff I'll need for when I begin training.
2. New (refurbished) phone. My old phone had started giving up the ghost really. Battery was rapidly depleting past the 25% point, big cracks on the screen etc. Shame as I loved that old phone, and altogether it costed me only about £279 (including sim card + data) over the 2 years 5 months I had it. I got the new phone for a similar price, so hopefully it performs as well a service!
3. Used backpack for £55. I wanted a backpack that would be eligible for carry-on when I go travelling.

As for the other costs, they're all roughly as normal. Charity contribution this month was less a charitable donation and more of a gift to a content creator on YouTube (related to languages, they put out a lot of free content that I've been enjoying for years).

Costs might start to creep up as I start buying a few (probably unnecessary!) things.

Net worth:

As of today, my net worth is around: £45,000. A slight increase on last month, indicating good progress. I believe I had a saving rate of around 91% for July, mainly due to my large spending being deferred on the credit card. I don't imagine I'll be at work for much longer, so my total NW will either stay around this figure (if I'm not able to travel much) or more likely reduce quite a bit (if I can travel).

If I do go travelling, I still hope to keep my NW above £40,000. This would mean that I would still have a NW higher than the end of last year, if even only by a little bit. How could I spend £5,000 travelling? Well it depends on where I will go, what I will be doing and how long I will be doing it for. I will be saving a lot once I'm in the military, so I am not so averse to spending a bit of money beforehand!

Other stuff and focuses for August:

Life has stalled a bit. At the moment I am in a situation of waiting for a response from a third party, and before I get that response there isn't much I can do. Of course during this time I could be disciplined in learning languages 4 hours a day, keeping my fitness at a peak, etc. But it is hard when there is no time deadline or externally imposed goal (and the weather's nice! ).

So instead I've been watching lots of camping videos on youtube, researching outdoors equipment, watching good tv shows/films. When I become interested in something I can go down the rabbit hole, and this is what has happened with watching bushcraft/camping/outdoorsy videos. This can also lead me to spending a lot of money on stuff, however I've been quite good so far. I'm not sure if it's weird that I'd be prepared to spend up to a £1,000 on camping gear but not more than a £100 on a phone, but it's the truth

So that's life at the moment. I think I'll probably leave the current job soon to do some camping/hiking stuff. And then when I get that response from the third party and life has started again, I can go travelling for a bit.

Well that's about all friends, have a great month!!

[Kriegsspiel]

I think it's great you're joining the military. What specialty are you aiming for?

[Sabaka]

@Kriegsspiel

Thanks man! And something safe behind a desk .

Monthly update!

August 2020 Summary

Ledger:

Name Cost

Recurring exp - £5.95
Food - £15.14
Misc - £685.91
Languages - £12.97
Charity - £25.79

Total - £745.76

An even more expensive month than the last one! So where did all that money go? Well I done a week-long camping/hiking trip in August, walking the Hadrian's wall national trail. Walked 84 miles in pretty much 5 days! My feet were pretty shredded by the end of it, but it was really good . Almost the whole "misc" cost can be accounted for by this trip. Unfortunately the phone I had just bought in July got water damaged beyond repair (a stupid mistake on my part) so I had to buy a cheap phone in order to get home and I've just ordered a proper new one today! But hopefully that'll be it for phone shopping for at least 2 years .

Next month should be a return to a lower level of spending, although I can't be sure.

Net worth:

As of today, my current net worth is approximately £45,000. So the same as last month. I expect it might drop down a little further over the next couple of months, depending on if I will be able to travel anywhere etc. I have not made any savings this month, and therefore cannot calculate a savings rate.

Other stuff and focuses for September:

So I left my job halfway through the month. I could have perhaps stayed working a little longer, but in all honestly I was a bit bored of it and I wanted to do that camping trip, so there we are. My military application should progress past its final stage this month, and then I think I'll be able to travel abroad a little. I so want to travel, I've been feeling a little restless at the moment.

I want to get back into the swing of things this month, in terms of my exercise, language studying, reading, etc. So wish me luck with that!

Anyway that's about all. Have a great month everyone!

[fiby41]

Perhaps put the phone in a closely fitting zip lock bag on next trip?

I like reading about how your language studies are coming along.

[Sabaka]

@fitby41

Good idea! Annoyingly I put almost everything else in my rucksack in zip lock bags, just not the one thing that needed it the most! .

To be honest, I've been a bit lazy with my language studies recently, so there's not much to report! At the moment all I do is learn at least 10 new Russian and 10 new Polish words a day, and revise words already learnt. A few times a week I watch Russian youtube videos or listen to Russian podcasts/radio too, and do a little bit of studying from a Polish textbook. On average I'm probably spending 1-2 hours daily on languages. This isn't necessarily bad, but considering I'm not working at the moment I could be doing more.

How is your Russian coming along? I think I read in your journal somewhere that you were considering going to Russia for university? Is that still an option?

September 2020 Summary

Ledger:

Name - Cost

Recurring exp - £5.95
Book - £15.97
Food - £39.23
Misc - £270.72
Languages - £52.29
Charity - £110.00

Total £494.16

Another quite expensive month unfortunately. The charity contribution will be my final contribution for the foreseeable future, as I am no longer earning an income (when earning a regular income I try to donate 10% of it). The misc cost is mainly comprised of the new phone purchase, however I also bought a couple of more things that I expect I will need when I start in the Military. The good news is that I have bought most of these things I think I will need, so costs should be lower going forward.

I had to buy a new suit in the last couple of days too, despite having only bought one at the start of this year . In my experience, suits have a very low tolerance for changes in one's weight/body composition. The total cost for the suit and an extra shirt was £174! I could have perhaps found a cheaper alternative, however I absolutely hate clothes shopping so spending a bit more money to reduce the time spent looking is an acceptable compromise for me.

Net worth:

As of today, my current net worth is approximately £45,000. Almost exactly the same as last month, which is expected due to making no new investments. Expenditures for this month have largely been covered by gifts received for my birthday. If I am able to travel before starting in the Military, this figure will fall by a little. However, I have found a new way (investing some of my funds into my personal pension) to instantly increase my my net-worth by nearly £1000! Just goes to show how important financial education is!

Other stuff and focuses for October:

I finally have a date for my final Army interview!! It will be mid-October. I'm a little nervous, but also excited. I really want things to progress now, and I'm doing my best to prepare. Soon after the interview I should receive my dates for basic training. After which I can look to travel a little if possible. And then the beginning of a new adventure!

So this is almost my entire focus for next month, with everything else being put on the backburner a bit. I am continuing to study languages a little and doing a bit of exercise everyday, and I have been also doing some more cooking to relax a little. But mostly just interview prep .

Anyway that's about it, I'll see you all next month! Have a great one!

[2Birds1Stone]

Interview is 11 months from now? That's a LOOOONG wait!

[Sabaka]

Interview is 11 months from now? That's a LOOOONG wait!

Oh man haha, I should probably invest in a calendar! *Mid-October. Cheers for bringing it to my attention, I've edited the post!

I think I'd have lost the will to live it had been another 11 months!

[Sabaka]

October 2020 Summary

*Notes:

Going forwards, I am no longer going to be maintaining monthly ledgers tracking my expenses. This type of budgeting tool had been really useful for the past few years as it allowed me to curb impulse buys, analyse my spending month-to-month and prevent mission creep and a gradual increase in expenses. However now I have reached a point where all big purchases are more carefully analysed and low level spending is unconsciously kept in check, and therefore I no longer feel a need to log and tracks all my expenses.

I will still make a note of big purchases, one of which last month was a new (refurbished) laptop. I decided to treat myself as I'd had my old a fair few years and there was a couple of programs I couldn't run on it. The laptop cost around £450 .

Net worth:

The same as last month, my current net worth is approximately £45,000. However, I am now certain that it wont be going down due to travelling! I plan to do a restructuring on my finances after the U.S election (market timing! ). Currently I am mostly in cash or cash equivalents, however I plan to invest a fair bit of this after the election. I'm really hoping that the election passes without tumult, however if the situation takes a turn for the worse I at least want to gain an investment advantage!

Other stuff and focuses for November (and beyond!):

So I passed my final interview for the military! This came as quite a surprise to me to be honest, as I did not feel I had done super well. Another surprise was how soon my intake dates for training were, I start in 2 weeks or so! I'm excited and a little nervous, but it will be good to get going. The next few years will be quite challenging, but that's what life's about!

Other than this, I have been reading a little, learning languages a little, etc. I've decided I would quite like to improve my knowledge of computers and technology, so I am hoping I can do this a bit before I'm too busy too!

Due to this general busyness, I think this will be my last update for a fair few months. I will still be lurking on the other journals and posts however! So I would like to end with a big thanks to everyone who has read and commented, and everyone who contributes to the forums in anyway. This is truly my favourite place to visit in the internet!

Everyone have a good rest of the year, merry Christmas and happy New Year!

[Egg]

@Egg

Also, I think we must hang out in the same youtube circles, as I've watched a couple of "The Irish Partizans" videos . I am guessing you will also be familiar with the Bald & Bankrupt channel too?

Heh, yes for sure. Now you mention Bald and Bankrupt, you've reminded me of another channel I started watching recently:

Ghost Town Living: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEjBDK ... gzT9YLNT8g

Premise is a dude who's spent his life savings buying an abandoned Californian mining town. Some sketchy health and safety going on, but the sometimes reckless approach to exploration reminds me a touch of B&B.

Congrats on joining the army btw. When you get through your basic training etc. make sure to get yourself loaded onto Modern Languages Aptitude Test and also to get your Russian tested. May have changed, but back in my navy days, I got paid over £1000 for doing a one-day French test (pay-out depended on skill level and language difficulty - I was near-fluent at French, but it was in the 'piss easy' category, unlike Russian).

[ertyu]

Come to Eastern Europe and buy an abandoned village

much cheaper

[Sabaka]

@Egg @Ertyu

Woah, I just watched a couple of videos on that ghost town channel, absolutely insane! It's one of those types of projects that would never be fully completed, there'd always be something to do. I can't say the idea of constantly maintaining lots of different buildings would appeal to me massively, but I'd definitely want to have my own bit of land one day!

Thanks for the tip regarding the MLAT, I'll definitely check that out. It'd be good to have my Russian level professionally qualified, rather than just saying "I speak a bit" .

So I'm back with another update...

I finished my basic training! It was definitely difficult at some points, however overall it was a good experience which I have taken a lot from. Now onwards to the next stage of training, and then finally I'll hopefully start my actual job at some point! In terms of finances, having been confined to a military base for 3 months has made it very easy to not spend money and save, which is good. Looking forward, it's very easy to keep living expenses low when in the military so therefore I should be able to continue a good saving habit!

Other than that bit of news, nothing else has really changed. I'm looking forwards to getting back into my language learning and reading, and I've also set a couple of goals for this year regarding my social life and my physical fitness. I'm also hoping that the borders open up so I can travel to a couple of different countries this year, but who knows regarding that front.

In terms of finances, my net worth has increased quite dramatically since the last update, a combination of a high SR and a particular investment doing very well. My total net worth is approximately £55,000 at the moment, and increase of £10k in just over 3 months!

That's about it really, a very short update I hope everyone is well, and good luck for the coming months!