Monthly Update – Mar 24

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A bit late with March’s post, mainly because I have been away. I have been trying to make the most of my time and getting out and about. I had my NHS health check. Now according to the nurse I should be on my third check – Ha Ha! Well, my last GP practice never invited me for a health check so this was an enlightening experience.

According to the nurse, the previous health checks should have been carried out so they had a baseline to track my health. Well, with no history they had to start by taking my current assessment and then wait another 5 years and see how my health has changed. Luckily, my health seems to be ok and my stats match my current age. If I can increase my fitness I could possibly drop down to below my current age when it comes to heart health. I am not sure that will happen but at least I have relatively OK health values. My BMI seems OK, my cholesterol is OK too. The only issue is my blood pressure, which as usual was high and so I had to do my pressure at home and submit. I suffer with white coat syndrome and means the doctors/nurses can never get a good reading as my anxiety kicks off and my blood pressure goes through the roof. Their suggestion is to up my exercise and eat a healthy diet and try to keep active.

Yet another person I knew has passed away, I seems that I know someone each month so far. It has got me focused on getting out and enjoying my freedom while I can.

I sorted my bicycle out and have now started cycling again. I am hoping this will improve my health and fitness over the summer.

My tomato seeds have also germinated and I now have a good, strong looking crop of tomato plants which hopefully will continue to flourish and I can get some home grown tomatoes this year. I have some basil growing on my window sill too, so I am hoping to get some good healthy meals and reduce my shopping bill this year. I have spent a bit of time this month sorting the garden out and I have quite a few flowers already blooming. It is uplifting to see when I look out of my kitchen window in the mornings. It feels like Spring is here and Summer is on its way.

Income

No premium bond win this month, sigh. I had a few dividends and a large savings account interest payment. This all adds to my passive income total and I will need to track this to see how this affects any pension drawdown as I want to remain within my personal allowance if possible. I have earnt a bit of cash via surveys and other online work but it is not enough to actually live on. It just adds a bit of pocket money to buy drinks or food when I am out and about.

Expenses

Expenses have been large this month as I had to MOT and service my car. It is my main form of transport and use this to visit friends and to travel to holiday destinations that cannot be reached by train. I have made sure that all my tax allowances (pension and CGT) have been used up. I will now start collecting together my paperwork so that my tax form can be completed and submitted.

Month End Summary

At last the Spring season is here and maybe we will get some good, warm, dry weather. I could do with getting out more and getting fitter. My health check this month has made me focus on this and now I have the time and the ability to get out there and make a difference to my mind and body. I am hoping to get out more on my motorbike and enjoy socialising and some freedom. It seems that this last winter has been a hard grind and I really need some positive vibes to bring me out of the winter doldrums. Happiness is required and I really should not waste my time procrastinating, I need to get out there and DO IT!

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Monthly Update – Feb 24

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February being the short month does fly by quickly, even with the extra day (leap year) it seems to have been quicker than ever. Maybe that is a good thing as this suggests I have been busy and active. I guess I have, although the weather has not been as good as I would like I have tried to get out and about.

I weight myself this month ( I don’t own scales) as I had the opportunity and found I have gained more weight than I would like. I therefore need to lose some especially as I have change my GP surgery and have now been invited for a NHS Health Check. I have never had one of those before and I guess I will learn how bad my health really is. Even though I have given up work and the work stress has now eased I still have the underlying ‘anxiety’ which I just do not seem to be able to get rid off. My body is in constant ‘fight or flight’ mode which is the reason my blood pressure is always high. I suffer from white cost syndrome so as soon as a doctor puts a blood pressure monitor on me my blood pressure rises so it reads as hypertensive. I laugh when they tell me to relax as I appear to me more relaxed yet my pressure has gone up more. I have the outward appearance of some one who is calm and controlled yet underneath my body is going mental. I will wait and see what the results of this health check are. I may have to do what I have done in the past which is take readings at home when I am relaxed and these then show as normal.

I think some of my anxiety is due to menopause but I am trying to avoid HRT medication but maybe it would help me. If I reduced my anxiety then it could benefit my health in general. I want to focus on my health this year and really need to motivate myself to exercise and also do things. I have agreed with my partner that each month we will do at least one overnight stay somewhere. This has given us a motivation to get out and find locations we would like to visit.

Yet another person I knew has passed away, I seem to be surrounded by this kind of news. This person was one of the only people I spoke to during lockdowns as they operated a business and I would go and visit them and have a chat while making my purchases. I am not sure what will happen to the business now. A really sad time as he was not very old either. I think that has also spurred me on to do things while I can. No point dying with money in the bank I could have spent on activities and memories.

On the financial front, I have reviewed all my accounts and have worked out what remaining allowances I have and have started the process of topping up my pension, given that I am classed as a non tax payer I can only pay in £2880 so I have now scheduled the payments. I have reviewed my other accounts and moved savings to gain better interest. I have started looking at withdrawals from my SIPP as I could take some money and top this up with dividends and interest from savings and use up all my personal allowance, starting rate savings allowances and CGT. I am crunching numbers to work out how to do this and the best way to do this, I think UFPLS may be the way but I need to understand how to do this. I have a personal allowance which I am only really utilising for my savings interest and dividends, which is helpful as both my savings and dividend interest is above the separate allowances. I need to determine a good way to utilise these in a tax efficient form to enable me to release cash and use this to fund my lifestyle and enjoy more things in life.

Income

No premium bond win this month either. I had a few dividends but the income has been small, so the dividends from Jan will balance out the smaller input. I need to look at ways to balance my income as I get a few large sums then nothing or very low income on other months. It would be good to spread it out a little more.

Expenses

Expenses have been mainly the basic costs of supporting a house and car. I have had a few social occasions and these have been great for my mental health. Next month will be interesting as some of my utility bills will increase with inflation and I will also receive my council tax notice and find out how much it will cost me for the next tax year.

Month End Summary

A quick month with my tax review completed and all my allowances accounted for and used where I can. I just need to look at utilising more of my personal allowance as there is spare and drawn more money and have more to spend and enjoy myself.

Enjoy March and the start of Spring and some better weather to enable us to get out and make the most of life!

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Monthly Update – Jan 24

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January seems to have flown by so quickly. It has been a bit of a rollercoaster for me as I start the year. The good activities have included the growth of my investments which is a great start to the year. They are up 3% already which is a positive feeling. I have topped up my ISA for this year so my yearly allowance is now maxed out. I sold some old employer shares and banked the profit and used up my CGT allowance and popped the money into my ISA. I am slowly selling my shares each tax year and popping the money into my ISA and occasionally my SIPP to gain a better return and reduce the taxable gains. I cannot time the market so just sell some every January as an activity to kick off the financial tasks for the year. As I am classed as a non tax payer there are limits to what I can put into my pension so just top up what I can from my share sales when I can.

I haven’t been that active this month due to the weather. Things I have wanted to do have been restricted and I am just hoping that the rest of the year will be better so I can try to make up for the lack of activity this month.

I spent at least an hour waiting on the phone to speak to the HMRC as I received my tax statement and it stated that I still owed them my CGT payment from selling my rental last year. I had to be passed around to speak to different people to get this corrected. I had all the CGT transaction reference numbers and it appears that my self assessment form/account did not have this recorded even though I had declared it. After a bit of double checking my tax record was updated and I am now ‘assuming’ that it is OK. I did asked them twice if I would receive an updated tax statement but they said no, I would not need one. I said how do I know this is ok and they just said we have updated your records it is OK. I have made a note of the date/time I called them as they would not give their names, so if there is any fall out from this I will quote my call date and their responses to me.

Another bit of new year post informed me that an ex-employer had their pension account data held by Capita who have been subject to a data breach. They informed me that my data could have been compromised. They acknowledged that my pension is closed (I transferred it a few years ago) but they still retain some of my details and this could have been stolen. I have therefore been given a free credit monitoring account, the old monitoring account I had when I last went through this saga has been re-activated. Oh great! I have been trying to avoid Capita yet unbeknown to me an ex-employer hosted their data with them!

I learned that an acquaintance has succumbed to their illness and passed away in the second week of January, that has been a sour start for the year. They were just 7 months older than me and it was quite a shock when I found out that they had this illness. They managed to survive for 5 years but it eventually consumed them and their battle was lost at the start of the year. A terrible shame and has made me think about my own life and how I need to make more of it while I have the health and the ability to do so. This is part of why I have been working on my FI path as I wanted to break out of the workplace and do activities that I have always wanted to do. I fear that I may not have the funds but I do need to make the most of my time. A time millionaire is my aim.

I have a few things planned for Feb and March, I need to make more effort to get out and be active. I need to keep on top of my health and not waste my days. I have started my creative activities and need to do more drawing and painting. I am very rusty and need to just practice, practice, practice. I do need to widen my social circle too. I do not have many friends and it is one of the reasons why I try to find ways of getting out and about on my own and learn to be on my own. I have always found it hard to make friends and I think this stems from childhood where my parents would not let me interact with other children and I was not allowed to have friends. I was also bullied a lot at school as I have skin grafts on my body which kids would make fun of. Some are very visible and I was unable to cover them and so this made it easy for kids to tell others that it was a disease that was infectious and to stay away to prevent them from catching it. It meant I have mental scars that ran as deep, if not deeper than the physical ones. The teachers were never very helpful either and made things worse for me. It has affected me all my life and although things are not so bad now I am an adult, it still has an effect on me, there is still a lingering feeling of avoidance and fear of rejection.

Income

After a few consecutive months of wins I have not won anything with my premium bonds this month. I have made up for this by receiving my largest dividend payment this month and this will help to cover my expenses for the next two months. My next large dividend payment will be in about 6 months time. I have gained some income from my online survey activity and this helps to fill my day and give me some pocket money to spend on a few treats, mainly meet ups with ex-work friends at coffee shops and pubs for some light relief and social contact.

Expenses

Expenses have been mainly the basic costs of supporting a house and car. I have been looking at the rise in costs and I am trying to keep a tight control on them as this cost of living hike is reducing my ability to do other things. The growth in my investments helps to provide a little bit of relief but with the state of the world at the moment, it is hard to know what will happen next and how that will affect the markets and how that will drive cost into materials and their consequential knock on living expenses. Just when you think you have the money to do something, the cost rises.

Month End Summary

A quick and quiet month of contemplation and a chance to look forward and plan for the year ahead. I cannot plan for every situation but want to aim for some positive fun and gratification while I have the time, health and ability to achieve it.

Happy new year to you all and hope your plans for 2024 come to fruition.

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Monthly Update – Dec 23

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December blew by fast and I didn’t feel I had much chance to get out and do anything other than prepare for Christmas. I managed to meet up with a few friends and had a great, restful and relaxed Christmas. A few trips out to a warm and cosy pub to meet friends and catch up.

I managed to avoid the worst of the floods which hit the UK and ended the year by trying to up my exercise and walking routine. My finances seem to have ended the year well. My net worth growing by 10% which is great, I have stripped out the income from the sale of my rental house. I am so glad I have left that sector as the rules continue to change and I am now just trickling the cash into ISAs and pensions.

I spent December still working off the COVID residual tiredness and rested and slept quite a bit. A few of my friends ended up getting COVID over Christmas which ruined their festive plans, some spending their days isolating in bed. I am glad I got my bout of it before so I could have an enjoyable time.

I started working through plans for 2024 and look at doing new things and getting on with living life without a job.

Income

A little bit of paid survey income and a premium bond win to finish the year well. Some more dividends in my ISA & SIPP. My ISA has grown by 16% and my pension by 10% by the end of the year. Not as good as some people have reported but a good rate for me. I really need to have a look at cutting fees as these seem to be the area which is soaking up some of the gain I could have made. Having the choice of multiple ISA accounts from next tax year would be good as I can then look to spread some of the cash around and still contribute where the fees best suit me. I cannot do much with my pension as I do not have an income so unless I get a job I cannot pay any more than the flat rate non taxpayer total into my account each year.

Expenses

Expenses this month are focused on Christmas and finding suitable gifts for family. I have the basic expenses for supporting my house and transport costs. I need to review my expenses for next year as prices continue to rise and the basic costs of living increase and I need to account for these in my budgets. Inflation continues to hit me hard and I need to keep an eye on them. When I look at my expenses for this year, my passive income has covered it so I am glad that I am within my budgets and targets. If I can live on my passive income alone then I can continue to leave my SIPP to grow and then look at drawing an income from this in future years.

Month End Summary

A quiet and enjoyable month to end the year. I feel more relaxed that I have done in a while. I worried about my bout of COVID and am now feeling happy that I am here to continue to enjoy and plan a few more adventures in the year ahead. I have some natural immunity now to help. Roll on next year when I can look at new learnings and adventures. I want to make the most of my free time and get a more positive feedback from plans rather than feel restricted by fear of financial difficulties.

THANK YOU to those who bought me a coffee last month!

Especially to Dee ! – Thank you for your support and hope you continue to enjoy my posts as I continue my FI journey!

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Monthly Update – Nov 23

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A bit of a quiet month for me. The weather stopped me going out and about as much as I would like, so have started working on some of my old hobbies. I am trying to get back into sketching and doing some textile art. These are things I used to do but gave them up as work commitments got in the way. I am now trying to bring back some of the activities I used to do when I was younger. I am trying to start doing the activities I have wanted to do for ages, things that make me feel good and also engage me.

One thing I have noticed when watching youtube videos and reading other FI blogs is how the ability to choose what you want to do comes into focus. You are not constrained by the rat race and ‘the man’ and can start living and doing things that you want. It has taken some time to recover from the pandemic years and now I am trying to do the things I have just not had the time to do before. I feel like a time millionaire and want to spend it wisely. It will take me some time to get into the good habits of sketching and I have been completing online courses to try and encourage me to do more creative pursuits.

I will get there I am sure, it just takes time to get those creative ideas flowing.

I have abandoned looking for a Christmas job. The only ones I could find were full time and I just do not think I can handle a full time job at the moment. Then again, I have not been too well this month. I have now officially had COVID. It started off as a bit of a cold with sniffles and just feeling a bit tired. It then turned into a full on headache with aura which resulted in me retiring to my bed. I have now experienced my 3rd aura headache in my whole life! The aura headache meant I spend the day in bed as I just could not move without the flashing lights appearing in my eyes. I found a test kit and this proved that I had COVID. I really did not feel good and my fitbit recorded my heart rate as fluctuating wildly during the night. On one night my heart rate was recorded as being in the ‘fat burning’ zone, which is the zone I am normally in when walking, but this was while I was actually lying in bed sleeping. I think if it had been in the ‘peak’ zone then I would have worried more readily. Luckily, my fitbit was also the indicator that I was recovering as my heart rate reduced and I eventually started to feel better after a few days. I still feel quite tired and have felt a bit faint a few times, so have had to stop and have a breather before continuing with what I was doing. It shows how my body is not as good at fighting off viruses as well as it did in the past and illustrates how age starts to weaken me. At least I now have some natural immunity and hope that my system copes better next time and I don’t feel so bad or so wiped out by it.

It makes me even more focused on doing things for me now. I want to feel that I have lived my life and not wasted it on work, work, work. I have noticed a few ex work mates who have now taken career breaks which will possibly turn into full retirement from work. I have also noticed that jobs in the sector I used to work in are getting fewer by the day. I have also received a card from someone who did the same job role as me, they have found finding work more difficult this year and have now retrained as a financial consultant.

For me, the job market is shrinking as my role is not required in my original work sector. It does not help as more and more of the companies in the sector I used to work in have closed or merged with others. This is reducing the job positions and increasing the number of people applying for what is left as they are made redundant. I have been reading a few articles and seen a few products advertised which in theory make my old job role unnecessary. So technology is taking away the role I used to perform, anything left that requires a human to perform can now been delegated down removing the need for my role completely.

So when it comes to work for me, I need to start looking at a change and find something more rewarding instead. This could be like looking for a unicorn as it seems that the workplace is getting more competitive. It seems that team dynamics is all about encouraging competition and challenge rather than team building and cooperation, shared tasks and solutions. There seems to be less team cohesion and more individualism, no wonder we have poor productivity in the workplace. From the outside looking in, it is not looking very attractive and is probably disheartening potential candidates from applying for job. I know it is making me think twice about job vacancies.

Income

A little bit of paid survey income, another premium bond win too. Some more dividends in my ISA & SIPP. The interest from cash accounts continues, although for how long this will continue is up for debate. I have all my personal allowance available (no rental income now), I can use this to cover the savings interest & dividends earned so currently have no additional tax to pay. I also need to look at selling off some more of my ex employer shares, they are giving me a good dividend pay out but I need to use up the dwindling annual CGT allowances and sell off the shares and put the money into an ISA. It was part of my original FI plan to sell down my shares over my gap years, drip feeding them into an ISA and also provide income to carry me nearer to SRA before breaking into my pensions. The longer I can leave my pensions and ISA to grow the better.

Expenses

Expenses this month are much reduced from last month. I have tried to keep within my budget and make up for my overspend last month. I have a buffer of cash in my energy account so hope this will help to tide me over the winter months. With Christmas drawing nearer I need to buy my gifts and sort out my Christmas activities. After feeling so ill last month, I want to enjoy myself as much as possible. I am starting to feel my age a bit especially as I see more people around me retiring or sadly departing this world at what I feel is too young an age.

Month End Summary

A more frugal month for me as I prepare for the winter. My ISA and pension have both bounced back in value. My pension contains more bond exposure but the amount of red is reducing so I should end the year better than I started it. My ISA is looking better and I still have one more chunk of money to invest from my rental sale earlier this year. I am not trying to time the market but phasing it helps me roll up some of the other dividends received into the purchase and reduce my dealing costs.

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Monthly Update – Oct 23

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A bit of a strange month, a few meetups with friends but mainly expenses which seem to get more expensive every time I look.

I now have my motorbike fully repaired and now the weather has changed, I guess my changes of going out on it are now limited. I will have to start looking at how to prepare it for the winter as it will remain locked away in a garage until better weather appears again, sadly. If there is a chance to go out I will try to.

I have had the trees in my garden trimmed by a tree surgeon which has costed quite a bit. I have also had to renew my car insurance which has shot up by 30%, some people I have spoken to have had their shoot up by over 50%. I had to shop around to get the new insurance quote down to a 30% uplift as I wanted to retain a like for like insurance provision. I have noticed on my renewal letter that the company have yet again tweaked the policy and have reduced the cover offered so to gain some of that back I have to seek out comparable quotes. I have also noticed that their market value for the car is now quite low and it is likely that if I was to be in an accident they will write off the car as the cost to repair will be greater than the value of the car. So I will need to make sure I have the funds to replace the car should this arise. I doubt I will get much back from the insurance company based on their current valuation.

I did buy the car in cash 10 years ago and have basically took the view that I would just run the car until it became unviable to run then replace it. So that has been my plan, I did get a quick trip to Scotland and back this month and with it happily achieving a 75mpg I cannot complain about its ability to sip fuel and enable me to travel some distance. By comparison to get to the same location by train would have cost me 3x as much and taken probably 5 hours longer due to the weather and delayed train connections.

I continued to have a poke about looking for Christmas jobs, but could not find a part time one that suited my needs. I did manage to find some part time Royal Mail ones at a mail sorting centre but they had listed physically fitness requirements to make sure you could cope with the workload. I don’t think i could handle the bag lifting weights all day, so I would struggle to perform that job so have given up looking. Most of my jobs have been office based so really I should be looking for something office based and part time. There isn’t anything matching that near me. It is only warehouse working or cleaning jobs for budget hotels. This is where I realise I do not have the fitness required due to my age.

I have tried out my heating system in preparation for any cold snap. It seems to be working fine but I will refrain from putting it on to conserve money. My bills are up over 50% mainly because of the standing charge. Basically I have to pay £300 just for the connection without any energy being used. That is just madness given that this seems to just feather the energy companies and enable them to keep their profit and dividends consistent. After listening to Martin Lewis there is one energy company that does not have a standing charge so I may crunch some numbers and see if it is worth me moving to them. I used to have a tariff which had no standing charge and a higher energy unit rate which worked out well for me. I would have to see if that would be viable now that I am at home more.

The benefit of not working was that I could have a short notice trip to Scotland to see friends which happened between the storms and I had a great time up there and could see the aftermath of the flooding in a few locations. I was glad I wasn’t there when the flooding was at its worst.

Income

A little bit of paid survey income, some premium bond wins – nothing big sadly. Some more dividends including some good ISA fund ones. The interest from cash accounts continues to increase as the UK interest rates go up again, which is helpful. As I have all my personal allowance available, I can use this to cover the savings interest earned so currently have no additional tax to pay. I now get some interest on cash in my ISA accounts which are being taxed. I queried this with the ISA provider and they responded by saying they will always deduct the tax and I will have to claim it back from HMRC at the end of the year. That is something I will need to put on my SA form and see if I can get a rebate from HMRC.

Expenses

Expenses this month, other than the norm, are tree pruning and car insurance & road tax. I also bought myself some new clothes as I had a discount voucher and needed to use it before it expired – and needed the clothes too! So I have had quite an expensive month. Looking back this is quite normal for me but this year seems to be quite a high value given the inflationary costs on services and how this seems to be knocking the prices so much. What makes it feel worse is that my ISA and pension funds have dropped due to the market drops. My pension has a reasonable exposure to bonds and has lost quite a bit of value now. It is down quite a bit on last year and every time I look, the bond element seems to be dropping. I am just glad I am not drawing from it yet.

Month End Summary

An expensive month for me as I prepare for the winter. I try not to look at my ISA and pension as they both continue to drop in value. My pension is getting a bigger hit due to its bond exposure. At the moment my pension is only showing a 2% growth for the year which is terrible. My cash savings have done better which says something. My ISA is also being hit by the fluctuating stock market and I just try to keep going and balance my spending as much as I can.

I do worry about finding a job as I think it is a matter of networking to find a job and I just do not have that any more. I don’t think people have a good view of me as I don’t seem to get much help so I guess I am not very good or I am not see as the sort of person anyone wants to promote or suggest for a job even though I am a hard worker and get things done. I guess it is also because the jobs I have done have required long commutes and not been in the local area, so I have no contacts or people who could help me find a local job. I do feel I am on the scrap heap and I just try to hang on and try to make the FI fund work and support me until I reach SRA. Everything feels like a constantly moving target and I just feel glad that I have no big demands which make work a mandatory need to live. I keep looking for hustles I could do from home but nothing has seemed viable at the moment. I will keep researching things and see if I can find something which could give me some extra cash.

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Monthly Update – Sep 23

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I have had quite a busy month which is great it is really helping me to relax and improve my health.

I have had a few issues with my new motorbike, one resulting in a warranty claim. I have had to wait for this to be resolved, so I have refrained from using the bike that much this month and gone out and attended beer festivals and meet up with friends and acquaintances. I also spent some time with my sister, who had some holiday, and visited some places related to our ancestry. It was really good to go and visit the places where our ancestors lived and worked. We also visited a museum which was full of the equipment and other social history information which gave an insight into how they would have lived.

My ancestors were mainly farm labourers and where they managed to ‘better themselves’ became farmers as either tenant farmers or, if very lucky, owners of land. Some became masters of trades and then ran their own businesses. The churches and villages we visited were very old, many dating back to the doomsday book. There were some interesting insights into village life and we manged to find some of the farms and buildings in which they lived and worked. The museum had pictures taken my a Victorian photographer who had gone out and tried to capture the social history of the time. One photo was of the shop that one of my ancestors owned and ran but sadly no picture of them. It was quite common to have pictures of the owners outside their shop. It would have been great if a photo of them had survived as I could then see any family resemblances.

It does feel good to do some of the things I wanted to do when I achieved FI. Being able to go places and explore. Able to flex my days and go when the weather was good and not have to worry about work getting in the way. After the past few years of limited opportunities it has been good to start seeing some positive change. I do worry that my money will run out. The cost of living crisis and the inflation are making my costs spiral and I may have no choice but to work in future years. I do wonder how I will achieve this as it appears to be “who you know” not “what you know” when it comes to jobs. Most of the people who would have helped me find work have now retired. I think I will struggle to get a job as I am ‘overqualified’. I looked for Christmas jobs, most are full time, I looked to see if there were any Royal Mail part time/shift jobs going, there are none local to me I would have to travel 30-35 miles away to the nearest sorting centre with jobs.

I look at my expenses and my energy bills have gone up by 50% and are unlikely to reduce. I will just reduce my use and cut down on my heating use. I have already started to look at how I can reduce costs. Living on my own I do not have the economies of scale which other partnered FI followers have. I have to support my housing costs on my own. It is quite clear that solo living is more costly than a couple.

If things get tough I may have to get a job but I really don’t feel capable. My brain fog gets in the way some days and I find I just cannot function like I use to. I am trying to just get along as I am and if I have a bad day then I just write it off and rearrange my plans. I just enjoy the flexibility. I am now trying to find ways of improving my health and reduce this brain fog and other issues. I am aging and know that my health will get worse but I will also try to fight it and keep going as much as possible. You are as old as you feel and I will try to feel younger and try to remain as fit as I can.

Income

A little bit of paid survey income, I have not spent much time on this this month so the income is well down. I also received some small dividends. The interest from cash accounts continues to increase as the UK interest rates go up again, which is helpful. I have some fixed interest accounts that have matured and now have been renewed at higher interest rates. I also won £125 on premium bonds. Still no the big win I would love to receive. A large win would ease my uncertainty as I see investments roll up and down due to recent global events.

Expenses

Just my normal living expenses and expenses related to ancestry hunting and meeting up with friends. I have also bought a theatre ticket for the RSC which I will visit with an old work mate. It is for a performance next year but having to book early as we struggled to find any tickets for this year. It was a combo of limited shows and tickets so we have booked up early for next year and hope that there are some great actors in the cast.

Month End Summary

I have been making the most of any dry day as I did last month. The summer in the UK has not been that great. I hope next year is better.

Overall, a good month for me, I have been continuing the positive feeling while trying to keep to my budget.

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Monthly Update – Aug 23

Image by tigerlily713 from Pixabay

I have had quite a busy month and tried to make the most of the sunny days. I managed to do the minimum mileage required for the first service on my motorbike. I took it to the dealer to get some nice new oil and have the tappets checked. All part of the running in process for the bike.

My bike is a Royal Enfield and just love riding it, Its fun and sounds great.

Image from Royal Enfield

I took it out for a good ride a few days after the service and ended up giving it such a shake down that an electronic sensor failed. Ouch! Good job it is under warranty. I called the dealer on my return and arranged for them to check it. They agreed the sensor would need to be replaced under warranty.

I am just waiting for them to call me when the part is in so I can get it swapped out. I am not sure how long this will take, its been nearly a month now, I guess as the bike is ridable it is not as urgent on the warranty listings.

Meanwhile I have been out to music festivals and generally enjoying the last of the summer days, try to avoid the worst of the rain. It feels like I am starting to do some of the things I wanted to do when I achieved FI. Being able to go places and explore. Able to flex my days and go when the weather was good and not have to worry about work getting in the way.

I do worry that I haven’t enough in my FI fund to continue to live like this. The cost of living and the huge inflation hit to average UK retirement income forecasts mean that I will be classed as living on the minimum retirement income in a few years. Not a good sign really. I do not have a full state pension and I am waiting to see what happens to my DB scheme as the old employer is moving it to a pension company and I could end up getting less than it was originally going to provide as an annual pension. Pretty bad that they can do this – wash their hands of the DB pension and give it to a pension company to run.

I am now able to access my SIPP if I want to. I am trying to refrain for another few years and will let it grow. At least I know it is there to draw from if I need it. I have been getting emails from the SIPP provider saying how to access it and how to get advice. I will continue to try and live within my passive income and draw down my cash buffer and then look to draw on the SIPP later. If things get tough I may have to get a job but I really don’t feel capable. My brain fog gets in the way some days and I find I just cannot function like I use to. I am trying to just get along as I am and if I have a bad day then I just write it off and rearrange my plans. I just enjoy the flexibility.

While I have the health I want to spend my time getting out and exploring and doing some of the things I have not been able to do before – either due to work and/or time constraints. I want some “Me Time” rather than being restricted by employment. I read a few other FIRE blogs where they are doing the same getting out and enjoying their time doing things that they enjoy and exploring. It is good for your mental health. It is just a shame that the costs are rising and at some point it will be hard to do these things. Especially as the UK prices seem to be rising and making tourist visiting too expensive. The elephant in the room – the UK is a very expensive place to live and visit. Even the Scandinavian tourist I have met say how expensive it is here.

I have seen some of the news but trying to avoid it. The ULEZ scheme in London is just a money making scheme IMO. If this appears all around the country they will cripple places. It is not really easing the air pollution. I already see the 20mph town speed limits and the shops closing and buildings now being converted into residential flats. How is that going to work long term? People live in the towns with all the work and retail outside town. The town shops I have seen being converted have no parking so the tenants/owners will have nowhere to keep a car unless they buy season tickets to use town council car parks. Is that the plan? Or is it part of a long term plan to make everyone call a self-driving car. Everything will be subscription and the Great Reset starts to become real life.

I will ignore the news as it is depressing. It just seems to be full of spin and distraction/deflection news. I will go and enjoy what is left of the good weather and try to find better things to do and keep smiling.

Income

A little bit of paid survey income, I have been out and about so have not spent much time on this. I also received some dividends, one of the largest paying months so that covers my expenses for this month. The interest from cash accounts continues to increase as the UK interest rates go up again, which is helpful. I also won £100 on premium bonds. It’s about time I won a large prize, £10k+ would be fantastic. At the moment, my annual passive income is covering my annual expenses – with the exception of the motorbike – which I am excluding from the baseline budget..

Expenses

Just my normal living expenses and some extra spent on social activities and travelling around on my motorbike. I am reaping the rewards of my home grown tomatoes and salad veg. I have renewed my house insurance too, no real difference in cost this year. I just wonder what my car insurance will be like later this year.

Month End Summary

I have been making the most of any dry day. I have been to a few music festivals and generally out and about while avoid the family crowds. I will be glad when the schools go back.

Overall, a good month for me, I have been feeling positive and energized. I trying to keep to my budget and enjoying adventures out and widening my travels.

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Monthly Update – Jul 23

Image by tigerlily713 from Pixabay

I thought June pasted quickly but July seems to have done so even faster. Maybe it is because I have been trying to get out and do things. I have been out and about on my new motorbike as I need to get the bike run in and I need to achieve a mileage target so I can get its first service completed, which is already pre booked. I therefore have set myself a target. I have enjoyed going out when the weather has been dry to enjoy the countryside and refresh my riding skills. I have been watching some youtube videos on techniques and then going out and practicing. I did have a lesson with an instructor last year and I am now going out to put into practice all the things I was advised to focus on. It’s good as I have something to focus on and it is exercising my brain and making me think.

I have had my first ride in the rain though. It started off dry but a storm rolled in while I was out and I ended up getting wet just on the last mile home, so luckily did not end up getting too cold. I have since bought myself some suitable rain wear so I can avoid getting too wet next time. I have bought a small tail bag to I can carry the wet gear on my bike and then have it to hand if I need it. Again, it gave me the chance to practice wet weather riding techniques and think about hazards which could a problem (things you don’t have to worry about when you are in a car). It will improve my observation skills.

I have completed and submitted my tax return, my accountant has confirmed that I have paid all tax due (my CGT from the sale of my rental house) and that I am a non tax payer as the remaining income is well within my annual tax allowance.

It now means that my income sources this tax year are purely from investment returns and the odd bit of online survey income, topped up with savings. I have also reached the milestone age of 55 so I can in theory access my SIPP for income if I need to. At the moment I am trying to not do so and live off investment and savings and let my SIPP grow before resorting to withdrawals.

Because I am a non taxpayer I am limited as to how much I can invest in my SIPP so cannot top up it up with the rental sale profits. It is annoying as it could work harder in there, all I can do is put some in my ISA, until full, and then spread the rest around bank accounts and use some to cover house repairs and expenses.

Income

A little bit of paid survey income and interest from cash accounts including a maturing NS&I savings certificate. I also won £50 on premium bonds. Not much but its enough over the year to give me a passive income I can live off.

Expenses

Just my normal living expenses and some extra spent on social activities and travelling around on my motorbike. I have a few extra bits to buy so I can maintain my bike. This will help me by giving me new things to learn and give me some purpose and expand my knowledge and learning something new and saving some cash by doing some jobs myself is worth it.

Month End Summary

I have been making the most of any dry day and getting the miles on my bike and trying to avoid the families now out and about as the schools have broken up for the summer.

In all, a good month, I have been feeling positive and my investments have started to pick up and I am living off the income OK at the moment. I keep to my budget and am trying to create new skills and adventure out and explore more. A few coffee stops and people watching while out on my motorbike just helps to improve my outlook on life.

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Monthly Update – Jun 23

Image by tigerlily713 from Pixabay

June has flashed by so fast. After returning from my Scottish holiday, I received a call to say that my new motorbike was ready for collection – Whoo Hoo ! A new vehicle and back on the road on two wheels. I have bought a Royal Enfield, so its a classic looking bike, and I have to now run it in. I have never done this before but means that I need to keep to restricted speeds while riding and have to limit my rides and distances until it reaches its first service. That is quite a good thing in some ways as it gives me time to refresh myself with riding and getting use to the bike itself and the way it operates. It is harder is some ways as it limits where I can ride due to road speeds. I need to avoid hilly locations and high speed roads.

I am glad the weather has been dry as it has meant I could go out and start accumulating the mileage. The bike is already booked in for its first service so I have a timeline and target to aim for. I have enjoyed my rides out and it has put a nice grin on my face. I am enjoying the rides to cafes and out into the countryside. It is a breath of fresh air for me, literally. I am enjoying this and it has given me something to focus on and get my brain working again. I am buzzing, in a good way, when I end the ride as my mind has been focused on defensive riding and learning the bike. It has helped to give me some self confidence back. It has been a good exercise for me.

Other activities this month has included completing my tax return and going out to pubs and social meet ups which has helped to improve my mood. I miss the social aspects in the winter.

I have also noticed that the market town where I live is getting worse. The council has now approved the planning application to close the shopping centre in the town and convert it into residential flats. The town was once a thriving traditional market town but like others it is now full of empty shops and sad looking people. As I walked through the town the other week I did not see any happy looking people, they were all heads down and pacing along. The number of shops just keeps diminishing each time I walk through. The shops in the shopping centre are now running down their stocks and any new arrivals are pop up charity shops who are using the space to stop it looking like some abandoned apocalyptic landscape. There are no closing down signs yet so I guess the shops are operating up to their respective lease dates and just operating the stores with less stock. It may also be another reason why the staff look disheartened and sad. I am not sure which chain stores will move to retail parks and where the remaining independent retailers will go. It seems that this is not the only town having this issue after seeing the same on my holiday.

To add insult to injury the council have now reduced the speed limits throughout the town to 20mph. I do wonder what the real reason is behind this, is it more to help bring in self drive cars? I guess at some point the town will become pedestrianized. For anyone buying or renting one of the new shopping centre flats, they will have no parking so will have to find somewhere to keep a car – or – not own a car at all. Is this the real aim?

I will keep enjoying my motorbike and travels while I can.

Income

A little bit of paid survey income and interest from cash accounts, including a premium bond win. I have finally got my rental council tax refund and paid it into my account. So that is another task completed. Dividends have been paid early into my ISA from my global funds so this month my ISA income is higher than expected, it means than next month will be lower. I am pondering what to do as I am feeling a bit bored at times and wonder if I should try to find something to do. A nice flexible part time job would help me feel active and give me some motivation.

Expenses

Just my normal living expenses and some extra spent on social activities and travelling around on my motorbike.

Month End Summary

A good month for travelling around and learning my bike and getting the mileage up. I have spent some time enjoying the sun and meeting people which has improved my mood. I just need to keep going and enjoy every dry day. I am waiting for my tax return to come back after the accountant has confirmed my non-tax payer status and that I have correctly paid any CGT and just meander along. I am so glad I am out of the landlord game and can focus on my investments and try to find things to change my outlook and move forward into a new phase of life.

Enjoy the summer sun…

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