November passed in the blink of an eye and for the first time in a long while, I experienced a few sleepless nights due to workload (and other things).
However, I’m not one to dwell on negative stuff so I’ll focus on the positive.
Saving Energy
I was invited to take part in E.ON’s energy saving event, where, if I was able to use less energy than usual (during a specific period), I would be “rewarded”.
The specific period was between 4.30pm and 6pm on a Thursday, so I just logged off my work laptop early, switched all lights off apart from one lamp and read my Kindle for an hour and a half!
I know £1.09 may as well be nothing in the scheme of things, but better in my pocket than the energy provider’s.
Also, it looks like I’m paying (in more ways than one) for the extra hours that I’m putting in while I WFH.
Hope
A month ago, I visited my friend from uni, who was barely recovering in hospital from second round of chemo and I didn’t know if I was there to say goodbye to her.
Well, there’s been a complete turn around – saw her the other weekend and things have changed massively, her mentality has changed and her fighting spirit has shone through. She now has HOPE, albeit to live a very different life and has been progressing rapidly through rehabilitation. She’s nearly back to her old self and although there will always be the shadow of leukemia, it’s in remission for now.
The hospice where she has been receiving excellent care is Sobell House Hospice and I have donated to them as I have seen firsthand the fantastic care they have given to my friend.
She’ll be moving out of the hospice soon but they’ve started her on this journey of hope and I will be forever grateful.
Anyway, how did I get on with my numbers?
I saved 18.2% of my net salary. The above includes £36.11 from doing Prolific surveys and £63.82 from Google Adsense.
Surprisingly, a small partial bonus was paid by work this month, which would normally get paid in March.
I chucked it all into my ISA, although I guess I didn’t really think things through properly, as this was the first month of my newly increased mortgage payment – ouch! 🙁
Shares and Investment Trusts
I just topped up existing investments.
Current share/IT portfolio can be found here.
(Entire portfolio here)
Future Fund
Well it was as if the Santa Claus Rally had come early, with my Future Fund getting a decent boost, jumping up to £236,958, its highest value so far this year!
I can’t get excited about this as it’s been a rubbish year investment-wise. Still, it feels good to see the rocket again!
Dividends and Other Income
Another good month for dividends.