It was my birthday this month and I celebrated by attending a gin festival for something different! Some gins nearly blew my head off, a couple tasted awful, a few were great. I did come away with an overpriced bottle.
I also booked myself a Thai massage, which veered from blissful to not-so-blissful as the knots in my shoulders were kneaded and pummelled away! It was at a nice little family run business located near my gym, I’ll definitely be going back there again in the future.
There were other social events this month, including catching up with a couple of uni pals and visiting family who had recently moved to Hebden Bridge.
Copy of da Vinci’s ‘Last Supper’ in a church in Hebden Bridge. Apparently for a while, it was hung side-by-side with the original
My car was serviced and MOT’d – it passed with advisories so those will likely need to be sorted out before next year. I’ve also got another slow puncture, so that’s another new tyre needed.
My mortgage rate is dropping again in July, another 0.25% decrease so my rate is now 4.3% variable. My mortgage deal is up for renewal later this year so it will be interesting to see what will be on offer.
So, half way through the year, how did my numbers look?
I saved 26% of my net salary. The above includes £11 from doing Prolific surveys and at £25 premium bonds win.
Shares and Investment Trusts
No new investments, I just topped up existing ones.
My update on my investments is nearly done, will get round to posting that in a week or so.
Anyway, current share/IT portfolio can be found here.
(Entire portfolio here)
Future Fund
The rocket continues with its trajectory, merrily ignoring political shenanigans! I don’t know if that’s good or bad, so am cautiously optimistic at best! At the end of June, my FF ended up at £318,574.49.
Dividends and Other Income
A great month for dividends:
I received £997.63, of which £595.63 was from my ISAs, the rest from my SIPPs. All dividends were reinvested.
Here’s what my ISA dividend income graph looks like:
Goals Update
Here’s how it looks for month 6:
Still ticking along nicely I think.
Duolingo – No!
At some point this month, I lost my 967 daily streak on Duolingo! 🙁
I didn’t log on for several days – it slipped my mind during the heatwave and I was a little too warm to remember to do my daily lessons!
Ah well, starting all over again to see if I can ever achieve that 1000-day streak!
Other stuff
In other news, I lost some tomato plants when the weather veered from being too hot to too wet, back to too hot again but a couple have survived so I will get some tomatoes this year – yay! Same with courgettes, I should be getting at least a couple and hopefully, I’ll be able to protect them from the greedy squirrels this time!
And that’s it really – hope you all had a great June!
Hi Weenie,
Good job on keeping an even keel through the hot and wet times.
On the mortgage thing. I renewed in 2022 when interest rates were on the up! (Thanks Liz Truss!)
My mortgage was up for renewal in Jan 2023, and I could renew with the nationwide up to 3 months in advance. Just as rates were soaring!!!
I managed to get 4.45% fixed for 5 years, but got lucky- rares were 1% higher a week after I secured the mortgage 4 months early (different provider).
So my advice to you is to tidy up your credit score now – your freedom fund counts for jack ahit if you have an unpaid phone bill from 2018,.
Get a Mortgage in Principle early and
Consider MEWing (mortgage equity release( – borrow money cheaply to invest (but don’t tell them that, say it’s for hoke improvements or to buy a car – but defo stick that money into the markets).
GL.
GFF
Hey GFF
Phew, you were lucky to get that fixed mortgage rate just as they were going up! I don’t think interest rates will fall much more so I’m very likely to get one fixed too, whether 2 years or 5 years, not sure until I see what the rates are – my provider will contact me 3 months before my current deal is up so I will be able to see what’s on offer. I fully intend to keep my money invested in the markets, though not currently considering borrowing to invest.
Hope all’s well with you and the family.
Hey Weenie,
Happy (slightly belated) Birthday!
Car Servicing Etc: I’m not sure if you do the same, but I divide the average annual expense by 12 (breakdown cover, MOT, Insurance, car tax, repairs etc) and stick that amount away every month. Then there’s no nasty one off surprises. I’ve had a mid life crisis in reverse and got rid of the convertible sports car and now drive the most reliable cheap to run car.
Mortgage: Here’s hoping mortgage rates keep continuing downward for you and all of us. I’m very lucky that I’ve got a 1.29% fix for 5 years, with 11 months left, so I can start the new deal process in 5 months or so.
Duolingo: Ha ha oh dear, I feel your pain, except (on a much smaller scale) I have this issue with Wordle. You get distracted for a day and lose the daily streak. Ridiculous really, but I fully understand.
Your dividends and re-investments are really rolling in, it’s a lovely feeling to collect those passive earnings.
Well done with reading 7 books, I know it’s not your target reached yet, but it’s really important on a number of levels, gaining knowledge, entertainment, relaxation and avoiding any form of screen time. The later is rally affecting me lately and I need to get off the phone and re-learn how to concentrate properly.
Have a great (and very hot) July.
Thanks Starla – how was Glasto? Hope all went well for you. I’m still making my way through all the highlights videos but getting distracted by all the sport that’s on tv right now!
Good idea on the motoring expense plan – I have my service and MOT on a 12 monthly payment plan but breakdown is a 2 year plan and insurance is paid annually, so yes, it would be a good idea for me to put something away each month to cover those annual payments. My car tax is only £35 so that’s fine!
Lucky you still on that 1.29% mortgage rate! Alas, you won’t be getting anything near for your next deal but at least the rates have come down massively from Truss-levels a couple of years ago! I had a big shock going from 1.25% to 5.3% when my deal ended but it won’t be so bad for me when my deal ends later this year.
I’m struggling to motivate myself with Duolingo now that my long streak has broken but I will keep at it. Am at a level now where I really should do more outside of the app to really progress as it is starting to get complicated! Might go back and redo some of the earlier stages.
Wordle – love it, we’ve had a Wordle family WhatsApp group for a couple of years now and it’s very competitive! I had a really long streak at one point but yes, easy to get distracted and mess it up. Times when I don’t like Wordle? When it’s a word spelt the American way….grrrr!
Hope you can find/make the time to get back to reading – am currently ploughing through an 850 page fantasy tome and it does help me relax and focus. Checking my phone (yes, I play games on my phone) is really distracting and I need to stop.
Thanks and hope you enjoy the hot July too!
Just checking back in on the Glasto question. I got there on the Sunday before the public, so after 9 days of walking 5+ miles a day, burning the candle at all ends, and heat with no shade, I was whacked. I’ve not even started on the highlight videos yet, but between the mayhem, I managed to get a few good bands in… Hugh Cornwell, Wet Leg, Weezer, Bob Vylan, Amyl & the Sniffers, Gary Numan. Also Nick Lowe (you know that when you end up in the Acoustic/Folk tent on the Saturday night that you’re tired ha).
Now off to read your investments post!
Happy belated birthday fellow June baby.
Worth hitting the duolingo shop, and getting some streak freezes with the points you collect as you build your next streak (I’m up to 1870). Tbf, it’s rare for me to miss a day. My HIIT workout streak on the other hand…
Thanks, happy belated birthday to you too, G!
Wow, impressive streak, I’m kicking myself for losing my streak, it’s so pitiful now that it’s annoying!
Yes, I think I need to pick up some of those streak freezes for next time…
Hi weenie,
Great progress! Looks like your FF fund was up by ~9kish from last month!
Growing stuff is hard work and needs constant attention. If it’s not the slugs it’s some other bigger critter stealing your carrots!
Having just also read your updated strategy, do you have a target retirement date/ age/ portfolio value? How much of a DB pension do you have?It’s in the distant future for me currently, so interesting to read others aims.
Aside from the monevator slow and steady portfolio I think yours is the one of a few that seems to have been going for so long. Amazing consistency.
Hi Unfurledgnat
I do kind of have a date in mind now and sort of an idea of portfolio value – will post about that soon. My DB pension isn’t huge – not requested a quote in a while but it’s more than the state pension.
Thanks for reading, this blog has kept my own motivation going!