The journey is always more important than the goal - December 2nd

As I said, this month I will be a bit more active, and I will publish a post per day, for the whole month. If Possible. Let's go!

 Last summer I had a 'little accident' jumping rope, as I could hear something happenning to my knee. It is healing slowly, and I estimate it is still matter of months until I will be fully recovered. Few day ago I had some mild pain on my thight, and now, after few days, I can feel it getting worst everytime I need to walk. I still need to go to work one more day before my annual leave week, so I need to embrace the pain and go to one more 12 hours shift. Now, this is just a muscle problem, and while I am in pain, I hope it will recover faster than the knee cartilage.

Alternative future: they say the physical problems start first in your mind. I sneak in and open the 'magic book' - The mental causes of physical illnesses. I look for knee and thight. Ready for some fun?

quote: ''The knee is the link between the soul and the personality. A knee problem is related to stubborness, pride and lack of flexibility. Indicates that you are leaving your life mission path behind.''

Ok. I need to process this mumbo jumbo. What I need to accept is that I need to forgive, to understand and to be full of compassion. Is this the issue, are they on something? Ok, this being said, I need to check my thights.

quote: ''Fear to take important decisions in order to go forward.'' Oh, this was way to close to home. Yes, I have some important decisions to take, and yes, I am a bit afraid to take my leap of fate. So, what do I need to do in order to change my destiny?

Cue: Terminator quote...

The idea to work with is: I am in perfect balance, I advance through life full of trust and happiness, at any age. This it is raising some interesting questions. And I afraid of getting old, and more than that, am I afraid of dying? Right now, after I crossed the whole ocean of life during tremendous storms, and I can almost see the promised land.

Yes, you may have guest, I am talking in metaphors and parables, but the struggle is real. I am almost there, close to the end of my journey, almost reaching my final target, and I am realising that I have no plans after that. Is this the end, my only friend? Where I can find some even bigger challenge?

Actually, the thing is that as long as I perceive this as a lifelong challenge, I was thinking that I am happy to get close to my goal every day. I could learn, I could grow, I could improve myself. I do not know, I should be happy, as I reach peaks that I never imagined that I could achieve. Partially due to my perseverence, partially to 'luck'. Still, I am there, on the top of the biggest mountain and I am asking myself, that's all?

Every success book is teaching you how to get there, how to achieve perfection, but none is telling you what to do after that. Maybe I need to check some of my old books. Carlos Castaneda. Nissargadata Maharaj. Maybe I will remember how everything it was long time ago, and the end will become a new beginning. Maybe. Until then, I am taking back my human appearance. I become one with the crowd. But all that I can think is:

What if?

Have fun and keep the final goal in mind! George

Why not...

...have fun and win rewards on my favourite blockchain games (Splinterlands- Hearthstone-like card game) (Mobox - GamiFI NFT platform) and (CryptoBrewmaster - Beer factory sim).

...get the higher rewards for your investments using Blockfi, Hodlnaut and Celsius.network. Get ETH while writing on Publish0x blog, using Presearch search engine to maximize your income with PRE tokens. Check my Lbry.tv channel in here and use Torum instead of Twitter . I am also writing on Read.cash.

December - End of the month report - FIRE

Total portfolio: £254703 (+93839)

Debt: ZERO
External funds: ZERO
Car: No
Net Worth: £254703 (+93839)

Investments UK: £229011 135083 (+93928)
Investments overseas : £3934 (same)
Cash: £700 (-1368)
Pension: £20554 19274 (+1280)

Total Income: £1492 (main job)+0 (second job) + 9615= 11107
Passive income: £9615 (86%)
Savings rate: 88%

Side hustle 2 profit (Royalties): £ 0.25
Side hustle 3 profit (Match betting): £ 0
Side hustle 4 value (Crypto): £9600 (Total funds still invested in crypto:8858)
Side hustle 5 profit (Focus groups): £0

Side hustle 6 profit (Internet):£1

I was not so active in here, as most of my work at the moment is in the virtual space, related in a way of other to the cryptocurrency. I write and publish being paid in crypto, I have my main savings account in crypto and I am a co-founder or supporter of various crypto-projects. I am also maintaining few crypto-masternodes, being paid in crypto too for the work. I took this decision to go completely into this strange world, as there are quite few solid projects that are perfectly safe, offering an interest or reward in the range of 3-12% per year. I mean, I am looking at my bank offering me 0.10% as they are thinking they are making me a favour. Other than that, I am well paid for my work, even if I am a bit overwhelmed, being  currently involved in 36 projects, the equivalent of a 2 full time jobs timewise. But, I am pushing a bit, in order to be completely independent financially in few years. I am not far, and at the current level of monthly income, I will be there soon. I did not made any effort with the books, yet they still sell, now and again. No focus groups, as I am still doing my full time real job. Well, the world is changing, and it is certainly very interesting to live in it right now. At some moment I am thinking to get money to buy a property with cash, but the taxes will be up to 20% of the amount, if I am not mistaken, as soon as I am sending the money from crypto into the bank (this being categorized as a taxable event - capital gains). If you are exploring the idea of working for crypto, I will give you some hints, as you can read my fully detailed report for crypto in here. 

July 2021 - End of the month report FIRE

 Total portfolio: £160864 (+12890)

Debt: ZERO
External funds: ZERO
Car: No
Net Worth: £160864 (+12890)

Investments UK: £135083 (+9035)
Investments overseas : £3934 (same)
Cash: £2068 1103 (+965)
Pension: £19274 (+703)

Total Income: £1481(main job)+0 (second job) + 16905= 18386
Passive income: £16905 (91.94%)
Savings rate: 90%

Side hustle 2 profit (Royalties): £ 0.30
Side hustle 3 profit (Match betting): £ 0
Side hustle 4 value (Crypto): £16900 (Funds spent in crypto:8858)
Side hustle 5 profit (Focus groups): £0

Side hustle 6 profit (Internet):£5

This was a good month, mostly because of my newlyfound success on blockchain gaming. As most of the profit was made from capital gains, some of my gaming assets (NFT) increasing as much as 14 times. There are mainly 2 games that bring me more than 1000$ per month (yes, dollars, because that's what they pay). One of them is called Axie Infinity, and you need to buy a team of three Axies (game characters) in order to start, and they cost around 300$ each. Minimum effort will get you 700-800$, with 20 minutes of daily play. The second one, the one that gain something like 12.000$ in assets from 2.500$ in just one month, it is called Splinterlands, and the initial investment is 10$, in order to buy a Spell Book to gain access to the paid version (anti-spam measure). Both games are paying you in cryptocurrency tokens (called SLP for Axie, and DEC for Splinterlands), and all I have to do is to change them at the end of the month into GBP, using Binance Exchange, and send them to bank account. Still, if you do that you may want only to use only your £12000 allowance, as you need to pay capital tax if you send more than that to your bank account. The problem with crypto is that it is starting to feel like a second full time job, and I am getting tired lately. I may need to slow down a bit. 

As for main job, I just did my hours, and no extra shifts, as I am able not to get the equivalent of my pay day with just 60-80 minutes of playing games. Of course, I have another 36 projects I take care, related to crypto, hence the full time job feeling. 

I was trying to get rid of the extra pound that i gained in the past 18 months, and I am going twice per week at gym or pool. Getting ready for a wedding and an IVF session kind of adds to the general stress, in terms of money, time and patience. But I will finally say I do! in September, if everything goes well. Until now we spent almost ten thousand pounds on wedding preparations and some 1200 on IVF. 

I did not have much time for any other activity, except 4-6 weekly blog post on crypto themed platforms, being paid for that. I completely stopped the matched betting, and I did not write much lately. 

That's all for July, see you in another month. Feel free to ask if you have any questions. 

G.

June 2021 - monthly report

Total portfolio: £147974(-110219)

Debt: ZERO
External funds: ZERO
Car: No
Net Worth: £147974(-110219)

Investments UK: £126048(-117019)
Investments overseas : £3934 (same)
Cash: £1103 (-302)
Pension: £18571 (+301)

Total Income: £1566(main job)+0 (second job) + 7836= 9402
Passive income: £7836 (83.34%)
Savings rate: 83%

Side hustle 2 profit (Royalties): £ 0
Side hustle 3 profit (Match betting): £ 0
Side hustle 4 value (Crypto): £7622 (Funds spent in crypto:9656)
Side hustle 5 profit (Focus groups): £0

Side hustle 6 profit (Internet):£208.66

Interesting month, as you can see, cryptocurrency portfolio is swinging wildly up and down, with 40% down at the beginning of June. Right now 3 days later recovered 20% already, but you never know what to expect. I consider the crypto there as Principal, and I do not mind the volatility, just the monthly income provided. 

The shares are minimal now, but they seems to stay on the same level, and Ratesetter closing made me to look on some other alternatives. I am currently testing Freetrade up, where you can buy fraction of almost any share with minimal fee. It is good for fun, to make a single picking portfolio, but I do not think is as cheap as other alternatives. I will try it to see how it is working. I see some fee free ways to buy. 

Other than that, everything is going according to the plan. 

May 2021 - monthly report

  Motto: Audaces fortuna iuvat. 

Total portfolio: £258193 (+113059)

Debt: ZERO
External funds: ZERO
Car: No
Net Worth: £258193 (+113059)

Investments UK: £234080 (+112503)
Investments overseas : £3934 (same)
Cash: £1405
Pension: £18270 (+657)

Total Income: £1483(main job)+0 (second job) + 22526= 24009
Passive income: £22526 (93.82%)
Savings rate: 93%

Side hustle 2 profit (Royalties): £ 0.23
Side hustle 3 profit (Match betting): £ 0
Side hustle 4 value (Crypto): £21926 (Funds spent in crypto:9863)
Side hustle 5 profit (Focus groups): £0

Side hustle 6 profit (Internet):£56.66

Where should I start? I completely stopped doing the match betting, as I have no pleasure in doing it anymore, and the betting companies make it harder and harder to get a profit. I did not write or worked on a book for months, probably from May last year when i finished the one about Microbiome. I did not have any time for Focus Groups also, due to my full time job and various COVID19 related challenges. But, and there is a big BUT, I kind of slowly migrated to another full time job related to crypto, and If you enjoy this or try to learn about, this is the link for my April activity (If you are not well versed in cryptocurrencies, this may be difficult to understand, but basically is like in the real life, there are blogs where I write for crypto, games that I play for crypto, and saving accounts where I keep crypto for a weekly or monthly interest). You have all the links in there also, some may be referral, but i do not mind if you do not use them. Feel free to ask anything you need to find out in here, I will help if I know. 

So, back to crypto, this is by far the best month I ever had, mainly because of three big rewards that arrived simultaneously. So, I made almost 22.000 in April, but getting it into the bank account is a bit tricky, as there is only a 10.000 limit yearly, after that Capital Tax need to be paid (I think is 10% but at the moment I will just keep my crypto in Savings account and enjoy the interest, getting only as much money as I need out to the bank account).

End of the month report - March 2021

 Motto: Audaces fortuna iuvat. 

Total portfolio: £145134 (+29307)

Debt: ZERO
External funds: ZERO
Car: No
Net Worth: £145136  (+29307)

Investments UK: £121577 (+28651)
Investments overseas : £3934 (same)
Cash: £1506
Pension: £17613 (+437)

Total Income: £1517(main job)+0 (second job) + 8496= 10012
Passive income: £8496 (84.85%)
Savings rate: 85%

Side hustle 2 profit (Royalties): £ 11.44
Side hustle 3 profit (Match betting): £ 8.13
Side hustle 4 value (Crypto): £117260(Funds spent in crypto:11263)
Side hustle 5 profit (Focus groups): £0

Side hustle 6 profit (Internet):£4.66

Interesting times to live. Overall, i think i save more at the moment, as i do not go out, or in holiday, or doing anything outside my house. Work, home, and working from home. Starts to get boring, but there is not much left until we can finally go to cinema or gym. I do not care much about the rest. But there are some big expenses coming, as i need to prepare myself for a wedding, and possible for a IVF tratment round. These expenses are so big that i cannot even estimate them. Anyway, once they are done, most of the stress that i feel right now will dissapear, or at least this is what i hope. 

So, this is one all time high in term on monthly income, i must say, maybe except one December 7-8 years ago when i made something similar. Mostly due to £8376 from writing, Play2earn, interest and dividends in the crypto-market. High risk, high rewards. And i do not even do the risky stuff, mostly using lending apps for a nice 12% interest for stablecoins (those crypto that are not very volatile). If you are curious to see the full budget and projection, check this article. And ask me if you have any questions. I am happy to help. 

As for the rest, one full time work with no extra hours (they cannot affort to pay us extra anymore, but at least i have a full time job, so i am grateful for that). No part time job, as this is not possible now due to Covid policy - we can work only in one place. A free bet, they just offer me 10$ for free, i said i am not doing it because i do not have the time, but free money are free money. Some surveys i did in my free time (read bored at work). And few books sold. This was my month. 

It was hard for me to read how one of the blogger i admire separated from his wife, as she could not cope with the FIRE life and needed something more. I am lucky to have a partner that can give me lessons about this. But this was very important to read, as it made me realize that you need to have a plan once you choose to retire. A very good plan. Mine is to have a baby, and hope that this will get me busy for most of the day. I know, i know. What i am thinking. What can i say, i just wait for this year to finish and i will adjust my strategy, once again. 

Take care!

G.

End of the month report - February 2021

Motto: Audaces fortuna iuvat. 

Total portfolio: £115827

Debt: ZERO
External funds: ZERO
Car: No
Net Worth: £115827

Investments UK: £92926
Investments overseas : £3934 (same)
Cash: £1286
Pension: £17177

Total Income: £1658(main job)+0 (second job) + 3383= 5041
Passive income: £3383 (67.11%)
Savings rate: 70%

Side hustle 2 profit (Royalties): £ 0
Side hustle 3 profit (Match betting): £ 0
Side hustle 4 value (Crypto): £88623 (Funds spent in crypto:11263)
Side hustle 5 profit (Focus groups): £0

Side hustle 6 profit (Internet):£0.23

We live through strange times. With the lockdown full on, I had no time to do any part time jobs, as I am still going on my main one, and due to Covid19 restrictions I am required to work only in one place. So, main job it is. I have completely stop doing any match betting also, as i am trying to make my bank account to look good, with a property buy in mind (it was funny, when they checked for a mortgage, and they could see 8-12.000 monthly used for betting websites, in a good month like March Cheltenham). I bet they were thinking that I am either a math genius or the most addicted gambler on a planet. Probably the second. Given the conditions, I was fully focused on crypto-market like a real job, and I am doing alright, as they got auto-compounding accounts with the interest paid every 5 minutes, with 15-240% Annual profit yield. Every early retirement candidate dream. On the surface. I must to admit that I learn very fast, I am good at numbers and finances, and I had a ton of luck. Literally. The market is that volatile, that you have in one day as much movement up and down as a share can have in 5 years. So, took me 2 years to teach my brother the basics, so he can perform slightly above average. But it is not something that I would recommend. Unless you want to try your hand with 1-2 thousand, just for the fun of the game. The risk is much higher than any traditional investment, even with the so called stablecoins (coins that mimic the dollar - which is not doing great lately also). But if this is the way to make me reach FI, so be it. As a classic said:

So, this being said, keep it going and we will see each other in one month, unless something major happen. 

George 

End of the year report - 2020

 And finally the year known as 2020 is gone. And, as the story goes, years from now we will find a face mask in our jacket pocket and we will say:

''- Well, that was indeed a strange year!'' and we will laugh, take our Geiger counter, and start to find a path through the Atomic winter, hiding ourselves from the human canibals. 

Enough with the chit-chat. Let's see the numbers. 

According to my excel tab, I started the year with a net worth of £31148, and i finished with £52710, adding £21562 this year to my savings. How did i do it, i will check in a moment. 

My total job income this year was £18720 after tax, with £18373 from my main job (with 6 months of furlough), and £347 from my focus research side hustle (done during June, July and August from the safety of my home). 

£5773 was my semi-passive income, with £2744 gained from crypto interests, £2830 from matched betting, with a lucky win at the March Grand National, right before lockdown. As i approached the end of the year i gave up the matched betting side hustle, as it is not as easy and fun as before. And finally, i got £200 from blogs, surveys and other internet related stuff. 

£154 was gained from interest, mainly from Santander, TSB and Ratesetter, but right not the TSB interest is 0%, Santander went from 3% to 1.5% to 0.80%. And Ratesetter is paying only 50% of the interest at the moment, in order to survive. 

My £1000 i still have in shares paid me only £5.82 in dividents after the fees were taken.

Amazon paid £10.35 in royalties for my books. 

And, to keep the best for last, i found £0.61 on the floor this year, mainly 1,2 and 5 pence. 

Just to recap, this year i made £24660, with £5939 from (semi) passive income. 

2021 will be an interesting year, with my wedding coming in May, and most probably no honey moon after, given the current situation. 

Take care and keep saving!

George

End of the month report - December 2020

Total portfolio: £52710 (+5829)

Debt: ZERO (-808)
External funds: ZERO
Car: No
Net Worth: £52710 (+6637)

Investments UK: £46579 (+6028)
Investments overseas : £3934 (same)
Cash: £1573 1803 (-230)
Pension: £16238 15996 (+242)

Total Income: £1742(main job)+0 (second job) + 350= 2092
Passive income: £350(16.74%)
Savings rate: 20%

Side hustle 2 profit (Royalties): £ 0
Side hustle 3 profit (Match betting): £ 11.32
Side hustle 4 value (Crypto): £26186 (Funds spent in crypto:10687)
Side hustle 5 profit (Focus groups): £0

Side hustle 6 profit (Internet):£218.13

This was a good month, and overall i managed to cover all the expenses from December quite nicely (total spend £1004 according to my math, could be lower than than but i got new phones for both of us, upgrading from Iphone 5 and 6 to Iphone 7 and 8). Crypto is increasing like mad lately, so in the first days of the year i send to my bank account the mentioned £1004, so i can say that technically crypto paid all our December expenses. I had a couple of match bets, hence the minimal profit, and i got paid another £18 for 6 surveys made in December (£3 each). I paid all debts from paypal and i had a nice income from cryptocurrency as interest, paid weekly, at the moment i get around 40$ per week. Still wave a nice cash reserve with only the rent to be paid until end of the month. As i will go to the yearly report soon, i am happy to see that financially 2020 was not that bad, with the main problems deriving from the anxiety and mental health issues caused from staying inside the house for too long. 

As the new year started, i am yet to prepare a strategy to lose the kilograms that are piling up lately, with all the festive food around. I reached 87 kg with 180 cm height, so i would need to loose around 7 kg as soon as possible. Still learning Spanish, but the guitar lessons are less and less often. 

Strategies for the new year? I will post them soon. Until then, i have a little link for you, to read the article and check the blogs in there, as all of them are paying quite well in cryptocurrency (I got only £85 this month, but my brother got almost £300 paid in December, writing consistently). 

That's it for the moment, take care and read my next article soon. 

George.