I’ve been a sun-worshipper since my teens and like nothing better than to relax and bask in the sun for hours (with sun lotion on), listening to my favourite tunes or reading a book, but that heatwave we had this month was a little too much, even for me! Phew!

It was so tempting to WFH in my bikini and just not put my camera on but I didn’t want to risk me forgetting and joining a video call! It was times like these that I missed the office air con, which I usually complain about being too cold! And no, I’m not one of those who ‘works in the garden’ as in any case, 1) the wifi signal isn’t strong enough and 2) I can’t work with just the laptop screen and need a second (bigger) screen to do my job properly.

Was madly trying to keep my plants alive in the heat – many are in pots so suffered a lot more than the ones in the beds/borders. I’m always reluctant to use the hosepipe so was doing some extra ‘weight training’ by lugging the watering can around!

Also, trust my sister to go away during this particular hot period as I’ve been tasked to water her plants (indoor and garden). As her house alarm is linked to her phone, she knows how many times I’ve been over, so I can’t skimp on my duties, haha!

This month, it wasn’t only the temperatures which were soaring but also my expenses.

I had a couple of social outings but the big expenses were car repairs – a few items marked as ‘Amber’ on my MOT in previous years turned to ‘Red’ so had to be fixed in order for my car to pass.  The ensuing £648 was mostly paid for by emergency fund, so that’s me not reaching that goal I set this year.

Reasons to be Cheerful

The news continues to be filled with doom and gloom, so I look on the bright side:

• My sister who lives in Singapore came over to visit – it was so good to see her and my niece in the flesh after over 3 years and my little niece has grown so much!

• Summer sports – first the tennis, then the Women’s Football Euros – this is the first time I’ve watched most of the matches of the women’s tournament and I’ve really enjoyed it – what a win for the Lionesses! Have also been catching lots of the events from the Commonwealth Games – after spending a couple of hours watching women’s T20 cricket, I think I can say this is another sport I will happily go to spectate.

• After numerous IVF treatments, my friend had a baby girl! ‘Geriatric’ Mum (as new mothers over 35 are referred to) and daughter are doing well and I can’t wait to see them both.

• Meeting another blogger – more on this later!

So, how did I get on with my numbers in the heat of July?

I saved 15.2% of my net salary. The above includes £96.57 from doing Prolific surveys. As my social life continues to make up for lost-Pandemic time, my savings rate will suffer but hey ho, it’s important to enjoy my life and maintain friendships.

Shares and Investment Trusts

Being busy on the social front this month made it easy for me to ignore all the negative doom and gloom stuff that dominates the national news.

Reasons to be Cheerful

• We had a bit of a heatwave and it finally felt like summer!

• Me celebrating my birthday – another year older, am I any wiser? What do I know now that I didn’t know a year ago? Only that I look and feel the same, although I will likely have squarer-eyes this time next year as my sis got me 12 month’s Netflix subscription as a present!

• Attended our twice-postponed works’ Christmas/Summer Party, which was a real blast, hugely enjoyable. A great turn out and I finally got to meet some ‘new’ colleagues who had already celebrated their two-year anniversaries at work but whom I’d never met as they joined during the pandemic and they’re not in the office on the same days as I am!

• Made use of our twice-postponed Centre Court tickets at Wimbledon and watched Rafa Nadal progress through to the next round – this might be his last Wimbledon so it was great to catch him in action. It was a glorious day out, rain started just as we were ready for the train home so the timing was perfect!

• Attended another Manchester FIRE Pub Meet – as usual, a decent turn out and a good mix of new and old faces. These meet ups are always fun and interesting. One guy turned up with his boss – yup, both on their separate FIRE journeys and wanting to leave the rat race, it was fascinating!

So, how did I get on with my numbers in June?

I saved 17% of my net salary. The above includes a £50 premium bond win, £10 charity lotto win, £30 from winning football predictions at work and £78.94 from doing Prolific surveys.

Shares and Investment Trusts

No changes here, I just topped up existing investments.

Current share/IT portfolio can be found here.

(Entire portfolio here)

Future Fund

The markets went into bear territory.

Keep calm, keep your hair on!

Monevator did an excellent post recently on bear markets.

Since I have no idea what’s going to happen, there’s been no change to my strategy. I have just continued investing as normal, flinging my money at this bear market, topping up my holdings as the prices go down, just as I was topping up when the prices were going up.

My Future Fund plummeted to £219,428 by month end. I’m now down -5.6% YTD.

I’d be lying if I said I was completely unmoved and unconcerned at the continued downturn and lack of progress.

Whilst I’m not stressing or having sleepless nights over this, I am experiencing little pangs of worry as I look at my numbers, which I try not to do too often but needs must, to do my updates! All I can do right now is to keep calm and carry on investing.

Dividends and Other Income

Hallelujah for dividends, shining a bit of light during these dark days of investing!

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