Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

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Bankai
Posts: 986
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2014 5:28 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Bankai »

Yeah, it's a nice bonus from RS. In a similar fashion, you can open a 'sacrificial lamb' bank account and switch it to a bank offering sign up bonus. And repeat until you've collected all the bonuses currently offered. Some banks require 2 active DDs to qualify for the bonus, but you can always just do paypal + £1 for charity.

Also, grats on your diploma! And with a £30k job, you can reach SR in high 80's while staying at home.

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

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

@Bankai

Hi man! Haha, you guessed it with RS! I've seen that a couple of other p2p sites offer similar offers, and I've just signed up for another one actually, which offers a better bonus of £100 for a £500 deposit (although this company is more risky, I believe). That's a great idea regarding the 'sacrificial bank account'. In fact, I've just switched my main bank account due to a reward scheme being offered, but I hadn't considered setting up a separate bank account specifically for the purpose.

And thanks for the congratulations. If I am being more realistic, I'm probably looking at a wage of around £20k-£25k. This would still be a big increase on my current wage however, and allow me to push up that SR!

Good luck with your own journey!

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

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

Monthly update!

September 2018 Summary

Name Cost (£) Date

Recurring exp - 157.5 - n/a
Present - 10.52 - 2/9/18
Food - 9.4 - 03/09/18
Food - 10.22 - 13/09/18
Bike lights - 9.99 - 14/09/18
Book - 12.35 - 18/09/18
Book - 10.99 - 22/09/18
Food - 10.1 - 24/09/18
Misc - 7.54 - 29/09/18
Jeans - 6.98 - 30/09/18

Total (£) - 245.59

Food costs were generally good this month, managed to keep most costs close to a £10 threshold. This is definitely helped by cooking one massive bulk meal instead of 3 slightly smaller bulk meals. The main reason I have been doing this is not cost-based however, but in order to save time. Bulk cooking 3 different meals tends to take up the whole day and when you've only got two days off a week, this hurts :lol:

Book costs were again quite high, although nothing too bad. I plan to reread some of these books in October also, so I doubt that I will be spending any more money on books next month.

Some extra misc costs also this month, such as the bike lights and jeans. Both of these were pretty necessary. I am often riding in the dark and so bike lights are essential for safety, and my old jeans (1 of only 2 pairs! :lol: ) had become threadbare, so after a quick search on eBay I managed to find some secondhand Levis going for £6.98 with p+p, which I think is acceptable.

All in all, a fairly good month.

Investments

In total, I contributed £3631.90p into various savings schemes this month :shock: . I turned 21 during the month, and my parents gifted me quite a large amount of money as a present, which was a very nice surprise. It was also slightly higher than it otherwise would have been due to the fact that, after only 1 month, I decided I should not have made a certain p2p investment and therefore decided to start liquidating that position. :roll: . I really need to practice investment discipline :lol: .

Of the actual investments themselves, £2801.90p went into my standard ISA, £330 into my LISA and £500 into a different p2p account offering a good cashback offer.

Overall, the total value of all my disparate investments currently equals (as of writing) £27,187.23p.

Speculation

The current value of my crypto coins is (as of writing) £379.25p.

I have also decided to increase my safety fund amount to £1,000, due to anticipated larger expenditures that may be on the horizon. Therefore, the total value of my normal and speculative investments, plus my safety fund is (as of writing) 28,566.98

Savings rate was quite difficult to work out this month, due to the large inflow of irregular income and the fact that I was transferring investments across to different accounts. However, doing my best guesstimate, I believe my SR currently equals 89.72%

Hopefully next month will be a more simple affair! :lol:

Focuses for October

The great thing about having got my diploma is no more studying. This has in turn meant that there is much more time for reading! I've read two books and am currently on my third. One of these is 'Catastrophe' by Max Hastings, about WW1. I really recommend this book, it is very moving. I also read 'Investing Demystified' by Lars Kroijer, which is a really good all-round investment/personal finance book, especially for U.K investors. I was already pretty much following the advice set out, but the book was very helpful nonetheless.

Finally, I am currently reading 'Basic Economics' by Thomas Sowell. This is a great book, and is a great foundation for looking into Economics if you have never studied it before. I was expecting that it may be a little dry, but in fact it is very entertaining. Highly recommend.

Work has become really tough. Fortunately, after applying like mad, I've had some success in getting some job interviews, so I am hoping that something comes from these as soon as possible.

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

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

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

Hello everyone, update time!

October 2018 Summary

Name - Cost (£) - Date

Recurring exp - 157.5 - n/a
Food - 12.22 - 10/10/18
Donation - 10 - 19/10/18
Boots - 88 - 19/10/18
Food - 10.21 - 22/10/18
Present - 51.38 - 26/10/18
Book - 0.99 - 31/10/18

Total (£) - 330.30

Overall, a somewhat good month. The boots were quite a high cost, but having now worn them in they seem to be of quite a high quality, and therefore should give me a good couple years at least. The present is for a Russian friend who I met on an online app. She has helped me a lot with communication practice, etc and her birthday is coming up, so I thought I'd send an 'English gift box' :D .

Otherwise, book and food costs were generally good, so all in all I'm quite happy.

Investments

In total, I contributed £1109.48p into my ISAs this month. I have managed to completely liquidate the p2p investment that I wanted to, however another p2p investment which I had made purely for a cashback offer has gone slightly wrong. Due to obtuse T&Cs, I will no longer be getting the cashback :shock:

Concerning the contribution, £779.48p went into my standard S&S ISA and £300 into my LISA.

Overall, the total value of all my disparate investments currently equals (as of writing) 29,357.97p

Speculation

The current value of my crypto coins is (as of writing) £317.33p.

I have also decided to add another £500 to my safety fund, again due to anticipated larger expenditures that may be on the horizon. Therefore, the total value of my normal and speculative investments, plus my safety fund is (as of writing) 29,675.30p

Savings rate was again quite difficult to work out this month, due to the large inflow of irregular income and the fact that I was transferring investments across to different accounts. However, doing my best guesstimate, I believe my SR currently equals 90.91%

Focuses for November

I've had a couple interviews, no success. I have just had an interview today, and I've got another 3 coming up. I'm really hoping I can be in a new job before the end of November. I definitely don't want to be in my current role at the start of the new year. Other than that, this month I read Dostoevsky's 'The Idiot'. Amazing, but so sad. Apparently a lot of Russian literature is the same, I don't know if I'll be up for it :lol:. I'm currently reading a book about Magna Carta, which is also shaping up to be good.

I'm also thinking of taking a Microsoft Excel course. I'm embarrassingly bad at creating spreadsheets, and I'd like to change this. :lol:

Anyway, that's about it, seeya later :)

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

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

Всем привет!

November 2018 Update

Name - Cost (£) - Date

Recurring exp - 157.5 - n/a
Train fee - 7.85 - 1/11/18
Food - 11.08 - 04/11/18
Donation - 10 - 04/11/18
Train fee - 6.55 - 05/11/18
Book - 4.99 - 05/11/18
Book - 10.98 - 20/11/18
Matched betting - 17.99 - 20/11/18
Food - 10.32 - 21/11/18
Webcam - 14.99 - 26/11/18
Russian kb stickers - 1.89 - 26/11/18

Total (£) - 254.14

Food costs were good this month, helped by eating a lot more food from home rather than buying my own and bulk cooking. Train fees were again for interviews, one of which actually worked out this time. I've been offered a job! It's with a big U.K bank, and I will be starting in January. The pay isn't much more, it's approximately £20,000 p/a, although there are also share options which are quite attractive :) .

I've finally taken action regarding the book costs also. I've signed up for the library again and checked out my first book! The webcam and the the Russian kb stickers are to help with my Russian learning. I've decided to hire an online tutor, and I'm also looking into purchasing a recommended course. I feel that I had gotten as far as possible with my other resources.

I've also been looking into side hustles recently, and decided to start one of my own. It's matched betting, and the cost was for an online subscription service that is necessary. This cost will be monthly, however I'm already in approximately £80 profit, and I've read that by putting in 4-6 hours a week average earnings of £500 p/m are possible. I've also decided to give Merch by Amazon a go.

Investments

In total, I contributed £486.56p into my ISAs this month. Quite a drop from last month, but this is due to me stockpiling cash as I plan to hand my notice in so that I leave before Christmas, which means I'll have nearly 3 weeks off before the start of my new job. As someone who absolutely hates losing money, this is hard for me to do. However, the prospect of working over Christmas is not appealing whatsoever.

Concerning the contribution, £156.56 went into my standard S&S ISA and £330 into my LISA.

Overall, the total value of all my investments currently equals (as of writing) £28,679.63

Speculation

The current value of my crypto coins is (as of writing) £199.50p :shock:

As stated above, I've been stockpiling cash this month, due mainly to the fact that I will be missing out on 3 weeks pay because of my decision to hand my notice in so that I finish before Christmas. However, matched betting also requires the use of a float, and I will not be including this in my NW as it is a hassle to work out. Therefore, the total value of my normal and speculative investments, plus my safety fund is (as of writing) £30,083.33p

Savings rate was again quite difficult to work out this month. However, doing my best guesstimate, I believe my SR (rolling average) currently equals 81.83%

Focuses for December

I've cracked the £30,000 mark! Really happy, and now the target is £50,000. Bring it on! :lol: . I can't wait to get a few weeks off work, and to never have to wake up at 12am for a night shift again! I'm also (surprisingly) looking forward to my new job. We'll see how long that lasts once I've actually started :lol: .

What have I read this month? One book was a history about ancient Britain, which was really fascinating actually. It was by an author called Neil Oliver, but I can't remember the title at the moment. I'm currently reading the Snowball by Alice Schroeder, which is a biography about Warren Buffet. An amazing insight into a great man, I'd highly recommend.

Over December, I plan to work on my side hustles and spend lots of time learning Russian and reading (hopefully library books ;) ). Anyway, that's about it.

Пока!

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

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by wolf »

Well done with the SR! And congratulations to the 30k!

What's your new job?
And more importantly, why do you learn Russian?

I've also read the biography about Warren Buffett. I found it also fascinating. There are some great insights in the book.

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

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

@wolf

Thanks man.

It's called a "personal banking adviser". Which I think basically means talking to people about their finances and mortgages, etc.

So I know how say 'I surrender' when they invade :lol: . No, I just have always been fascinated by the culture, literature and the history. Plus it keeps my brain ticking over :lol: .

Yeah, WB strikes me as a really good man. Just goes to show that we shouldn't judge people on their wealth or anything.

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

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

Hi everyone,

The new year is upon us! First, I am going to do my normal monthly summary for December, and then a special year summary.

December 2018 Summary

Name - Cost (£) - Date

Recurring exp - 175.49 - n/a
Russian course - 120.88 - 1/12/18
Amazon Merch - 137.98 - 01/12/18
Food - 9.6 - 05/12/18
Christmas gifts - 113.37 - 11/12/18
Misc - 4.5 - 12/12/18
Book - 3.49 - 12/12/18
Books - 23.27 - 19/12/18
Food - 10.28 - 19/12/18
Food - 15.47 - 24/12/18
Suit + Misc - 79.05 - 27/12/18

Total (£) - 693.38

Wow :shock: . High costs this month, and one of them was definitely unnecessary. This is the 'Amazon Merch' cost. Basically, I thought I would try out Amazon Merch as a side hustle to gain a little extra money, so without doing much research I paid for a designer to come up with 10 shirts. I know, stupid me. I forgot the maxim that there is "no such thing as easy money". However, the shirts are uploaded now and, who knows, maybe one of them will go viral and take me out of the red :lol: .

There were a fair few extra costs this month, such as the obvious Christmas gifts, the suit and clothing costs and the Russian course cost. The Christmas costs were necessary (less I be exiled from the family), as were the suit + misc costs (I don't think my new boss will like it if I turn up in my joggers) :lol: . I am really liking the Russian course, and I feel like I am progressing well, so I think that is also worth it.

All in all, although an expensive month, it wasn't like I splurged on completely unnecessary items, so I am fairly happy.

Investments

In total, I contributed £1525.44p into my ISAs this month. A good amount, especially compared to last month. I could have invested more, but I am keeping a larger cash buffer than usual as I might not receive a paycheck until the 20th of February. Of the amount invested, £330 went into my LISA and the remaining amount of £1195.44p went into my standard S&S ISA.

Instead of a separate section dedicated to crypto, I've decided to just include their value in my overall investment value. As I am no longer purchasing crypto coins and the value of the ones I still own are so small, I think this is the best decision. Also, as my safety fund is used as a float for my more profitable side hustle (matched betting), I have decided to exclude this from the investments value, as it is a hassle to work out exact value of the float. Due to this, the total value of my investments will be a little lower this month, by approximately £1,000.

Overall, the total value of all my investments equals (as of writing) £29,005.80p.

Focuses for January

Given that this is the last monthly summary of 2018, I will instead put my focuses for January in my yearly summary :) .

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

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

Yearly summary

2018, overall, was a good year. Looking back at the targets I set at the end of 2017, I have reached most of them. In terms of finances, I have reached my £30,000 NW goal. I also passed my financial adviser course and have found a new job within that sector, which should offer me greater earning potential in the future and help me on the fast track to FIRE.

I also did spend a couple of weeks on holiday in Europe, which was a target I set for myself. Although my biggest takeaway from this was that unless I was going on holiday with someone or to do something specific, then I wouldn't particularly see the need to travel abroad again. However, one must try these things, so I don't regret the holiday as such.

I also set a rather vague goal of "learning about various things to improve my life". I feel I have done this, to an extent. I have continued to read the Stoics and research their philosophy, although I could become better at applying some of their theories in practice. I also read various other books, from which I believe I have picked up things. In the future, however, I would like to be more defined with the goals I set myself regarding learning and skills.

So, what are my targets for 2019? I shall list them below:

Work:

- Achieve my CeMAP (a specific qualification for mortgages, which will help me in my career).

- Do my best at work, learning quickly and being a good employee.

FIRE:

- Reach a £50,000 NW (I am actually hoping that I can exceed this a little, but a lot depends on where the market goes).

- Maintain at least a 75% savings rate.

Life:

- I want to begin a defined fitness plan again. Because I was busy with work, studying, etc, it was hard to maintain an actual fitness plan. I have kept up my fitness, but I want to be in a situation where I am actually setting goals and recording progress again.

- Join at least two organisations/clubs. I basically have no friends, and I have never had a girlfriend either. I want to rectify this situation, so therefore I am going to look to join at least two organisations/clubs of some sort, whatever they may be.

- Progress with Russian. I pretty much managed to do at least 1 hour a day for the entire last year. I want to continue this.

Well, that's about it. For everyone who has kept in touch or read this year, thanks, and good luck on your own FIRE journey's for 2019.

Happy New Year!

Mae
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2017 3:44 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Mae »

Congrats for hitting your 2018 goals! Good luck with those of 2019!

Can I just say that I am extremely jealous you live in the UK and thus closer to the Scottish Highlands :p

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

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

@Mae

Thanks! I am actually based in the south-east, so unfortunately still quite far from the Highlands!

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

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

January 2019

First monthly summary of the year!

Name - Cost (£) - Date

Recurring exp - 107.5 - n/a
Russian - 151.59 - 1/1/19
Shirts - 25 - 01/01/19
Train tickets - 126.8 - 05/12/18
Dentist - 21.6 - 04/01/19
eBay - 13.24 - 05/01/19
Food - 12.1 - 5/1/19
Stationary - 8.77 - 09/01/19
NI contribution - 14.1 - 12/01/19
Misc - 7 - 19/01/19
Food - 8.4 - 19/01/19

Total (£) - 496.1

High costs this month, not helped by the fact that I have been travelling by work to train. Unfortunately this means that much more of my time is spent getting to work, which is making pursuing my other hobbies, etc more possible. I have also started online Russian tutoring in order to increase my speaking ability, but this also comes with costs.

There are a couple of other one-off costs there also, such as the stationary, NI contribution, dentist and eBay cost. Food costs were generally good, helped by doing very large bulk-cooking, like 12 meals at a time.

So all in all, an expensive but overall okay month to start off the new year.

Investments

In total, I contributed £1956.21p into my ISAs this month. Of the amount invested, £330 went into my LISA and the remaining amount of £1626.21p went into my standard S&S ISA.

I also contributed an amount of £658.07p into my easy-saver/emergency fund. I'm thinking of taking an amount each month from my money left over for investments and keeping it in cash. I like the flexibility a large cash fund gives me, in terms of being able to invest in myself, try new projects or to stop working. I'm not sure though, we'll see.

I was able to make these large contributions as I have wound down my side hustle, due to the fact that I simply have little time at the moment to do it.

Overall, the total value of all my investments, including the crypto coins, equals (as of writing) £32,718.65p

Focuses for February

I've got into a bit of a funk recently, not feeling great, not wanting to exercise, etc. I'm not entirely sure how to get out of this, however. I'm hoping that as the we get into the New Year I'll find some motivation to start some new hobbies, join some clubs and hopefully gain a social circle.

As I've been travelling to work on the train, I've had a ton of time to read. Most notable this month was 'Free to Choose' by Milton Friedman. A great book, by a great man. I highly recommend. Anyway, that's about it, seeya next time!

Cheepnis
Posts: 303
Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2018 11:52 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Cheepnis »

Wow, you are doing great. First time looking in your journal, but £20.5 on food is impressive. Going to take some time and follow your journal more closely. Keep it up!

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

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by wolf »

Sabaka wrote:
Sat Jan 26, 2019 7:52 am
High costs this month, not helped by the fact that I have been travelling by work to train.
Yeah, I am also travelling to work by train. And "high costs" are relative ;)

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

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

@Cheepnis

Cheers man :) . I have to add a disclaimer and say that as I still live at home with mum and dad, a fair amount of my food is covered by them! I buy ingredients for my lunches only :lol: .

@wolf

Haha, cheers man :) . I'll remember that when I'm beating myself up for spending too much on something :lol: .

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

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

February 2019 Summary

Name Cost (£) Date


Recurring exp - 127.5 - n/a
Gym - 24.99 - 1/2/19
Protein - 86.22 - 01/02/19
Bike equipment - 64.97 - 01/02/19
Food - 11.88 - 03/02/19
Train tickets - 31.5 - 05/02/19
Food - 13.53 - 17/02/19
Mistake - 21.84 - 17/02/19
Library - 0.75 - 20/02/19
Books - 25.09 - 20/02/19
Vitamins - 14.51 - 23/02/19
Course - 460 - 23/02/19
Misc - 12.98 - 24/02/19

Total (£) - 895.76


Again, high costs for this month. I've signed up for the gym again, as part of my New Years resolution to start a properly defined fitness program again (starting strength, if anyone is interested). The 'bike equipment' is essentially a pannier rack and bag, and a secure padlock. The gym is near the train station, so I cycle to the gym in the mornings; work out; go to work, go back to the gym to change and then cycle home again. Long days :cry: :lol: .

Books were expensive, but they are the reference-type ones which I think I will continuously refer back to, so I took the plunge. My vegan vitamins had run out, so that explains that cost. The 'mistake' was exactly that. I wasted a Sunday morning signing up for a blog subscription and creating a website, before realising that I didn't have much to particularly say :lol: . The 'misc' cost was just some razor blades and other personal hygiene items.

Ah, now the big one. The 'course' cost for £460. This is essentially the next course on the road to Chartered Financial Adviser status. Work the past couple of months has affirmed in me a desire to 'go it alone', which I'll go into a bit more detail on later. But, essentially, having Chartered status would help me in doing this.

So, another high cost month! I hope March returns to some normality.

Investments

In total, I contributed £1,327.49p into my ISAs this month. Of the amount invested, £330 went into my LISA and the remaining amount of £997.49p went into my standard S&S ISA.

I also contributed an amount of £341.04p into my easy-saver/emergency fund. This has bought me up to £1000 in the emergency fund, which equals 3 months of my basic expenditure. As said last month, I like the flexibility a large cash fund gives me, so I'm still going to put away a little cash every month. I did also manage to do that this month, and there is £90.46p in that account.

I have also started contributing to my new company's pension and share scheme. I do not currently have the access to include these figures, however I will do by next month :) .

Overall, the total value of all my investments, including the crypto coins, equals (as of writing) £35,774.88p.

Doing my best calculation of my savings rate, it currently equals: 90.27% (this is probably a little too high, as I have missed January due to not having the required date).

Focuses for March


As hinted at above, the past couple of months of working have reaffirmed in me the desire to be in control of my own life. The problem, however, is that in order to achieve my ideal of FIRE I am going to have to be at the corporate grindstone for the next 15-20 years. This looks very unappealing to me. So perhaps instead of this I can pursue entrepreneurship, maybe lengthening the time until I reach financial independence but being happier on the journey there. I don't know, it's something I'm going to have to think about.

The other option is that I find a way of increasing my income (while decreasing my unhappiness with work to an acceptable level) or I explore leveraging my investments (buy-to-let). to a point where I can reduce the time required until FIRE.

So the main goal for March is to explore all of these different options :D . In other news, last month I mainly read financial books, such as Tim Hale's "Smarter Investing" and " The 4% Rule: The science of retirement portfolios that last a lifetime" by Abraham Okusanya. Both really good books, especially for U.K investors.

Well, that's about it! See you next month!

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

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

March 2019 Summary

Name - Cost (£)

Recurring exp - 289.8
Book - 3.1
Food - 20.85
Train tickets - 102
Misc - 619.72
Russian - 19.87
Protein - 57.47

Total (£) - 1138.31
l
Unfortunately, March hasn't returned to normality :lol: . Most of the costs were fairly standard: train tickets, book costs, food costs, etc. I decided also this month to take the 'Giving what we can' pledge, which is essentially a pledge to donate 10% of my lifelong income to charity (the money is covered under 'Recurring exp'). I have been thinking about charity for a long time, about how I can help those around me. I have decided that given that by divine fortune I find myself in the top 2% of the world, the least I can do is to donate a part of my income to alleviate the suffering of others.

I haven't yet decided how best to donate this money, so any suggestions would be helpful. I have been (and am currently) reading up about Effective Altruism, but I remain open to different suggestions.

The large misc costs were due to a mistake. Like last month (when I imagined I wanted to start a blog :lol: ), this month I decided I needed to create a Youtube channel. I bought a camera, set up a whiteboard, committed a fair few hours to other Youtubey things. I then proceeded to record a video, realised I hate the whole thing, before listing what I could on eBay.

Luckily, I look set to get out of this mistake approximately only £100 down and with a bit of embarrassment (I had told my parents and friends of the whole venture). What I have realised however, is that these failed attempts at start-ups, or 'side hustles', are a symptom of my current deep dissatisfaction with my work and life. I am not sure how I change this, but I'll keep you updated :lol:

Investments

I have always been a bit of worrier. This is often reflected in my investment behaviour, in which I often find myself tempted by various different things, as I am always just a little bit worried that my entire investment strategy is wrong. I am usually capable of resisting such temptations. Recently however, this has turned into worrying about the ethics of my investments.

Is it ethical if, by owning an index fund, I own a tiny individual part of miners, weapons manufacturers, etc? By holding minute ownership of such companies, I am directly profiting from all manner of nasty things. Is that not wrong?

So, whilst nothing significant has yet changed in my investments, it may very well do soon.

With that said, here is the current state of my investments:

In total, I contributed £988.05p into my ISAs this month. Of the amount invested, £330 went into my LISA and the remaining amount of £658.05p went into my standard S&S ISA. Additionally, I have made pension and sharematch contributions this month, and have put away a little more cash.

Overall, the total value of all my investments, including the ISAs, p2p lending, pension and share schemes and crypto coins, equals (as of writing) £38,082.25p

Doing my best calculation of my (12 month rolling-average) savings rate, it currently equals: 99%. In other news, I am not very good at math! :lol: .

Focuses for April

Figure out where my life is going :lol:. In all seriousness, that is only partly a joke. I need to find some kind of meaning in life. I am also going to explore how I could invest ethically whilst still reaching my financial goals. It's going to be a busy month. Anyway, that's about it, see you later!

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

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Sabaka »

April 2019 Summary}

Name - Cost (£)

Recurring exp - 127.5
Book - 7
Food - 22.12
Travel - 174.86
Misc - 42.14
Russian - 51.17
Charity - 124.99

Total (£) - 549.78

A month which is starting to look much better in terms of cost spent. Interestingly, the largest costs were those associated with me travelling to work. So essentially, I was working to earn money in order to spend a fair chunk of that money travelling to work :lol: . Food costs were also low, in large part due to the fact that I have been eating more of the house supplies rather than cooking my own. Russian costs were fairly normal, and book costs were quite low. Overall, a much better month.

Investments

In total, I contributed £1043.76p into my ISAs this month. Of the amount invested, £333.33p went into my LISA and the remaining amount of £710.43p went into my standard S&S ISA. In addition, this month I have again made sharematch and pension contributions. I did not make any additional contribution to my easy-access/emergency fund.

Overall, the total value of my investments currently equals £39,549.70p

Focuses for May

As some of you may have seen, I made a post in the lifestyle section asking for advice. The advice has actually been really helpful in helping me think through some things. I think ultimately I still need to think through those issues more, but I'll keep you all updated here :lol: . In bookish news, this month I have re-read the Iliad and also started the biography of Montaigne by Sarah Bakewell. I enjoyed the Iliad, however it is not a read that particularly excites me in anyway. The biography of Montaigne is excellent, and Montaigne in general is one of my favourite philosophers. Generally, I feel I fall into the same skeptical camp as individuals such as Montaigne and Taleb (not that I am anywhere near the level :lol: ).

Anyways, 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 »

May 2019 Summary


Ledger

Name - Cost (£)

Recurring exp - 127.5
Book - 11.97
Food - 24.65
Travel - 20
Misc - 353.61
Website - 92.6
Charity - 2

Total (£) - 632.33

Overall, a fairly good month, and I managed to keep most of my costs low. The bulk of the 'Misc' costs are for a TEFL course, which I started in May. I'll say a bit about why I am starting this course in the 'Focuses for June' section. I have also started a blog. How stereotypical, I know, another FIRE blog :lol: . Well, this one is different! First of all, it's not a FIRE blog. Essentially, I have found writing down my various thoughts to be very helpful, but just writing into a Google doc did not give me the same satisfaction as having a blog where I'm actually expressing my thoughts to the big wide world. So therefore, I took the plunge and bought a bluehost subscription. If any of you want to check it out, here's the link:https://samthesceptic.com/.

Not much else to say here, so let's move on to the investment section.


Investments

None :lol: . So, overall, the total value of my entire investment portfolio is (as of writing): £39,979.82p.


Focuses for June


So, what has been going on? Some of you may have read my post in the 'Lifestyle' section of the forum, in which I asked for some general advice. Well, I have now quit my job and am currently an unemployed bum :lol: . I decided I simply could not carry on with what I was currently doing, and that therefore drastic action was required.

Now, what am I going to be doing now, that is the question. Essentially, at the moment I am still thinking about it and weighing up my options. In my post in the lifestyle section, I stated that I believe I need to move away from my home town in order to basically have a fresh start elsewhere. I also went through some different options for doing this, including teaching English abroad, going to university, joining the military or simply moving to a new city. The two options I have narrowed down upon are teaching English abroad or just moving to a new city (probs London). However, I also realised that in order to teach English abroad (in Russia, which is where I'd want to go) would require a degree. So that has opened up the avenue of studying for a degree.

At the moment, I am leaning towards studying for a degree. Not only because it would allow me to option of teaching and living in Russia, but also because it would open more doors in general. Whereas I feel if I go and get some entry-level position in another city somewhere, I'm very limited in what I'd be able to apply for.

Another advantage of the studying for a degree route is that, here in the U.K at least, it can be achieved quite cheaply. Our student 'debt' system is a very strange one, and would be too complicated for me to explain succinctly. Basically, it is a 'debt' where the interest is capped to a quite low rate; you only start paying it back above a certain salary threshold; your repayments are set at a certain level, and to top it all off the debt will literally be wiped after 30 years, regardless of whether if you have repaid the entire sum.

So yeah, very different.

Ultimately, however, I still do not know what I am going to do, and it is all up in the air. Luckily, I am fortunate enough to have a lifestyle and living circumstances which allow me to live very cheaply, and I can actually cover my monthly expenses through various bits and bobs. So essentially, there is no rush to make any big decisions. Also, I feel that having saved up £40k by age 21, I can take a couple months off the maximum saving wheel without sacrificing too much.

Well, that's about it. To round off, as stated in a previous post, I am working through the Great Books list (not consecutively, I take breaks to read other stuff) and now I have finished the Iliad and the Odyssey, and am now working through the Plays by Aeschylus. Not enjoying these as much, they are quite fragmented.

See everyone later!

User avatar
Bankai
Posts: 986
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2014 5:28 am

Re: Freedom through Frugality: Sabaka's Journal

Post by Bankai »

You don't need a degree to teach English abroad. Many places are happy with native speakers with no degree or any teaching qualifications. I'd try that first - you might spend years obtaining a degree just to find out that you don't like teaching in the first place.

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