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.

End of the month report - November 2020

Total portfolio: £46881 (+4573)

Debt: £808 (+808)
External funds: ZERO
Car: No
Net Worth: £46073 (+3765)

Investments UK: £40521 (+4394)
Investments overseas : £3934 (same)
Cash: £1803 (+179)
Pension: £15996 (+1268)

Total Income: £1552(main job)+0 (second job) + 289= 1841
Passive income: £289(15.68%)
Savings rate: 20%

Side hustle 2 profit (Royalties): £2.54
Side hustle 3 profit (Match betting): £ 0
Side hustle 4 value (Crypto): £20503 (Funds spent in crypto:11687)
Side hustle 5 profit (Focus groups): £0

Side hustle 6 profit (Internet):£289

First of all, i hade some big changes around my savings. First, even if it is a bit risky, i was using a cryptocurrency lender to lend the 7000 that i saved, for a return of approx. $100 via Celsius.network. I did my research and it is a solid company, with enough insured funds to cover an eventual bancrupcy or a similar event. If i would go the other way, and make a mortgage, after getting the rent paid, and substract the mortgage, taxes and bills, the result would be somewhere between 50-70£ per month, with additional stress. Now, if my move will prove succesful, and i manage to save enough via cryptocurrency and index funds, i am planning to buy a small rental paying in cash. This way there will be no mortgage. 

Everything is increased slightly (pensions, shares, crypto), even if the economy is not booming. There is still some black swan event incoming (BREXIT, COVID19 third wave, etc), so i can only speak about this year (2020). Except this, in November i had no focus groups, no big royalties, and just a small return in interest (deemed to decrease further in the next few months). My cash is sitting in the bank getting 0.60% interest (Santander 123). 

So, the plan is to use the cryptocurrency returns to invest in shares, and to add to this the other side hustles that i can do during this period. Until i reach the critical level. And the second rental for us, if it is the case, after the next year wedding (again, black swan event, i cannot even imagine how this will be). 

See you at the end of the year. Take care and be good with others!

G.

End of the month report - October 2020

Total portfolio: £42308 (+847)

Debt: 0 (0)
External funds: ZERO
Car: No
Net Worth: £42308 (+847)

Investments UK: £36127 (+461)
Investments overseas : £3934 (same)
Cash: £1624 (+556)
Pension: £14728 (+92)

Total Income: £1485(main job)+0 (second job) + 110= 1595
Passive income: £110 (6.91%)
Savings rate: 20%

Side hustle 2 profit (Royalties): £2.60
Side hustle 3 profit (Match betting): £ 0
Side hustle 4 value (Crypto): £10350 (Funds spent in crypto:4687)
Side hustle 5 profit (Focus groups): £0

Side hustle 6 profit (Internet):£105

So, an interesting month. Total net worth was still going up, and the investments are recovering slowly, even the badly affected shares. Not much of a profit made this month, as i am working long shifts at the moment, and i will probably get the match betting out of the list next month, as i do not do it anymore. I am getting some small amounts from writing online on blog and i am trying to get trhough the property buying deal, but everything is so slow these months. Royalties are also down a lot, and interest in bank is almost inexistent. This is the reason of investing in a property, even with the estimate of 50-100 profit after paying the mortgage and bills. I cannot read the market, the financial instruments are awful right now, and my time is limited (i am exploring few other posibilities like blockchain gaming rewards, but nothing on sight). If you have a good idea, i am all ears. 

Yours truly,

George

End of the month report - September 2020

 Total portfolio: £41461(+2410)

Debt: 0 (0)
External funds: ZERO
Car: No
Net Worth: £41461(+2410)

Investments UK: £35666(+2240)
Investments overseas : £3934 (same)
Cash: £1068 1238 (+170)
Pension: £13684 14636 (+952)

Total Income: £1647(main job)+0 (second job) + 1752= 3399
Passive income: £1752 (51.55%)
Savings rate: 34.12%

Side hustle 2 profit (Royalties): £2.3
Side hustle 3 profit (Match betting): £ 29.57 (Betting in September£310)
Side hustle 4 value (Crypto): £10137 (Funds spent in crypto:4687)
Side hustle 5 profit (Focus groups): £0

Side hustle 6 profit (Internet):£0.5

A very good month overall, with some bonus from work and a big profit from cryptocurrency (£1500). I am no more staying at home, going full time at work now, so my short 5 months early retirement test came to an end. Anyway, at least now i learn a lot about what i need to do when i have a lot of free time at hand, even if it was hard at the beginning. I reached the 40k mark, so i am pleased about it, as this year simulation was 36k at the end of the year. If i am managing to buy my first property by the end of the year, this 2020 will be a huge success for me, financially speaking. Due to work, i had no time for any focus group, and i cannot still do my secondary job due to Covid19. Match betting is close to zero, they are just tempting me from time to time with £5 or £10 free bet (which i do because is free money). I will start soon to work on a writing project, across 4 blogs and maybe a book, after i finish the research. 

Hope you have an even better summer than mine! Take care and keep going!

G.

Video ad aimed at FIRE movement

 Yes, apparently you can see something like this from time to time. I know, i know, it is not direct related, but the CEO of Elrond has a vision closely alligned with the FIRE movement. 

Just watch this video and enjoy the feeling. 

The product is Maiar.com and to be honest, it is looking interesting. I will find more at the end of the year, when they will launch it. The idea of financial independence is getting some more traction lately. 

( P.S. The link got a refferal attacked, it is just helping me to get early access. )

Have a beautiful, sunny day!

G.

End of the month report - 1st of August

Total portfolio: £39051(+3626)
Debt: 0 (0)
External funds: ZERO
Car: No
Net Worth: £39051(+3626)

Investments UK: £33426(+2400)
Investments overseas : £3934 (same)
Cash: £1068(-100)
Pension: £13684(+109)

Total Income: £1456(main job)+50 (second job) + 505= 2011
Passive income: £505(25.10%)
Savings rate: 11%

Side hustle 2 profit (Royalties): £2.3
Side hustle 3 profit (Match betting): £ 310 (Betting in June £61)
Side hustle 4 value (Crypto): £6899 (Funds spent in crypto:5067)
Side hustle 5 profit (Focus groups): £50

Side hustle 6 profit (Internet):£53.16

After some initial increase, all the shares, pensions and investments in UK decreased slightly, but not as much as in March. I can still see a crisis looming over in the near future. What i will do in these conditions? I will buy a property, for the first time, using the First buy Isa that i saved in the last few years, the lack of stamp duty fee and a generous 20% Government Scheme to help first time buyers. With a final sum of 97k for the mortgage, this seems to be a good deal at the moment, especially as there are a lot of sellers and not too much buyers. I was waiting long time for this opportunity. 

Anyway, the cash is close to last month, with few more money to come from the betting websites. I decided to stop actively betting, focusing on focus groups instead. This is a neat activity, where you stay on zoom and talk for one hour or two, with an average payment on £40-50 per hour. You can do only one every six months, but there are 13 focus groups that i know, so the posibility is for 26 of them per year, with a minimum extra income of £1040 paid for talking. Crypto decentrilised finance is another thing that i start to research, given the rates of interest on 10-12% for stablecoins (cryptocurrencies corellated to dollar, 1 stablecoin = $0.98-1.02). Loans are very cheap in crypto-verse, around 1%, but given the volatility is not a wise choice. Instead of this, providing liquidity for others (in a similar way with Ratesetter, but using crypto) is a good source of income. If you are fine with the risks attached to it. 

Now work, seems that the holiday will finish soon and i will be back to work, but now i am even more motivated to never work again (for money), if i do something that i like, that it is not work. 

Hope everyone is good and healthy!

G.