My family’s visit has come to an end and the house is all quiet again. Things should be be back normal again but I’m finding myself somewhat lacking a little on the motivational front.
Work has been really chaotic (we’ve all been given brand new laptops and telephones and system migration is taking place) and people are starting to leave so that’s probably one thing that’s distracting me. I’ve also been scheduled my first workshop sessions with the back-to-work specialists to help put me on the right job-hunting path, ie sorting out CV etc.
Another reason for distraction is that things haven’t worked out with the guy I’ve been seeing for the past 1.5 years…let’s hope I don’t feel the urge to write sad posts about frugal dating at some point…
Anyway, back onto more relevant topics, let’s have a look at some numbers:
So I managed a savings rate of 42%, which is better than last month.
My average savings rate continues to drop –  it’s now at 46.5%. This is still a pretty good number, but as I said in the last update, I don’t have many months left in the year to try to drag it up to my target of 50% so I will settle for getting as close as possible!
This month’s income was boosted by £50 from rent received and £19.17 from TopCashback*. There was also an unexpected £500 referral fee, which came from a Manchester property developer – I’d put them in touch with my aunt, who had ended up making a purchase – boom! A nice little windfall and although tempting to just spend it, I’ve whacked it all into investments!
I also chucked some more of my matched betting profits into some property crowdfunding via Property Moose.
Future FundÂ
The markets continue to be pretty steady for my portfolio, (although there was a small wobble last week) which now stands at £82,888, a small gain of just 2% from last month.
Dividends and Other Income
Dividends received this month (which will be reinvested):
I received a nice sum of £83.29 in dividends, which compares favourably with last September’s £46.70.
Total dividends received this year now stand at £638.09, so my target of £720 is pretty much in the bag – I think I should hit it next month, looking at dividends in the pipeline. Average dividend income so far is £70.90 per month, average over 12 months now at £53.
Anyway, here’s my dividend income progress:
Shares and Investment Trusts
No new investments in shares or investment trusts this month – I just topped up a couple of my existing funds/ETFs.
As per my post over the weekend, I sold three of my Monkey Stocks, so that money isn’t reflected in the portfolio as it’ll be invested next month. I also took the opportunity to sell the few South32 Ltd shares I owned, which were a spin-off from BHP Billiton plc.
Current portfolio can be found here.
Matched Betting
With the house back to myself, I should have taken the opportunity to throw myself into matched betting.
However, as well as being a little distracted, I was having deep thoughts about my matched betting so instead, I ended up wasting time enjoying some binge-watching (‘Peaky Blinders‘ series 2 & 3, and ‘Stranger Things‘) and catching up on some reading.
Non-Financial Goals Update
Here’s how things look on the goals front in brief:
When she was over on her recent visit, my Mum decided that she wanted some new kitchen furniture – I chipped in towards it and ended up dipping into my emergency fund.
It’s unlikely now that I will hit my target of £1k by the end of the year, but I’ll be topping the fund up with my redundancy money in any case.
Still plugging away with the reading and currently on another finance-related book (again from the library), so will do a little review at some point.
Hope everyone had a good September – roll on the winter months!
[*referral link]
Hi Weenie,
Ah – some time to enjoy the peace and quiet and put your feet up (or do some more matched betting!) – enjoy it while it lasts! Sorry to hear it didnt work out with the chap, but better to find out sooner rather than later, and just means the right person is still somewhere out there :). Best of luck for the job hunting and the future on that side, it sounds like at least the company is being supportive by providing some help, so hopefully something in the pipeline soon?
A very good month both in terms of savings rate (I accept its below what you are targeting but considering the UK average…!) and the dividends continue to roll in, along with a good variety in their source – hopefully a good buzz to see that in 1 year you have doubled your income?
Its when I see the 3k for matched betting in 7 months I think I probably ought to investigate it – even if I cant replicate your winnings, and I only make a few hundred, its still a few hundred, right? One day… 🙂
London Rob
Hi London Rob
Cheers for the kind wishes – yeah, plenty o’ fish out there apparently, so I need to cast my net out and see what I drag in! 😉
I’ve attended the first job workshop now and have already found it useful. My ‘mentor’ did advise against panicking and rushing into any old job so I’m remaining calm still!
I’m very happy that my divis have doubled in a year, not that I will see that kind of increase next year but there should still be good increase. And yes, a good variety/mish mash in their source so hopefully diversified enough.
A few hundred is better than nowt! 🙂 However, I slammed into a brick wall with the matched betting this weekend – ok, I wasn’t hungover, just a little tired and made a mistake, which ended up costing me a chunk of profits! Let’s hope I can recover over the next few weeks.
Thanks for you support as ever.
Hi Weenie,
Just make sure you follow the career persons advice with the plenty of fish as well – dont take the first one that comes along 🙂
Your mentor is absolutely right – make sure you get the right role that works for you, and hopefully at the pay you want – if they are helping with the CV and interview techniques this should also really help when trying to find a new job – question is will you stay in the area or look wider? Always hard to make that move, and hopefully its not a question you will have to answer, but worth making sure you have an answer in the back of your mind!
Keep going on the divis – you will be surprised how fast they keep adding up (I was when I look back over the last 4 years) and remember the snowball – each extra bit of income is adding to the amount your saving!
Well exactly – a few hundred is better than none, but the trade off is return against time, would I be willing to do it? If someone experienced like yourself can make an error when tired and lose some profits, that doesnt bode well for me – given I will nearly always be doing it when tired 🙂
Keep up the good work!
London Rob
Hey London Rob
I’m likely to stay in the area but Manchester’s a big place so there should be options for me! Ideally, I’d like to stay in the northwest.
Yes, well, the matched betting errors (I made another one!) are entirely my own fault, just me being careless when I should know better.
This month isn’t going to be a great one on that front but still, it’s better than nothing!
Ah Weenie, it sucks about the guy, particularly with all of the other big changes that are happening. We’re all friends here, sad frugal dating posts still welcomed (although, you’re right, it would be better for all involved if they were happy frugal dating posts instead!)
It seems so weird that they are rolling out new hardware in the middle of a redundancy cycle. Who will be left to use it after you leave?
I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts on the workshops, what the experience is like and whether you feel you get some value from the experience. Good luck in “keep on keeping on” through the chaos.
Cheers Mrs ETT, am moving on and in fact, bagged a date already – I’ll be making sure it’s a frugal one haha!
I know, really weird about the new hardware – nobody will be using our kit because we’re not getting replaced – I might enquire about buying the laptop and seeing what they say.
As mentioned to London Rob, I’ve attended the first job workshop, which was about CVs which I found it really useful (my ‘current’ CV is over 8 years old!) The next workshop will be about sorting out my LinkedIn profile, interview techniques etc.
Thanks and yes, I shall keep my head down and keep on keeping on!
Congrats on the high savings rate! While it may not be the 50% you’re aiming for, getting, and staying, in the 40s is a great start towards building your early retirement case flows.
Don’t stress over the man or the job. When it works, it works, and when it doesn’t, you’re better off finding something better! And you will find something better.
Thanks Jack and yes, whilst the savings rate isn’t 40%, it does make some different towards building up my future wealth.
Trying not to stress on either bloke or job and don’t want to go on the rebound on either!
Cheers for stopping by.
Hey Weenie,
You’re doing incredibly well with your savings rate and your dividend income! I remember a few months ago (maybe more like a year ago) that your dividend income was only a few quid – it’s incredible how much it’s grown in such a short period of time!
As for the shows, I totally get why you binged on Stranger Things – it’s so good that binge-watching is the only way to watch it! Peaky Blinders is also incredible – I’ve only watched 2 episodes, but I can already tell I’m gonna love it..even though the accents are a little all over the place!
Keep up the great work!
Hey Ricard
Yes, it wasn’t that long ago when my dividends were just a few quid each month – I am very happy with the results of this year’s investments. Might not be such a huge increase next year but it should continue to go up.
Haha, hear what you’re saying re the Peaky Blinders accents! I can’t wait for the next series of Stranger Things!
Thanks and thanks for stopping by.
Hi weenie,
Sorry for the late comment. Also been very distracted myself this month (actually that’s just every month 🙂 )
Sorry to hear about the bump in the road for your love life, glad to hear you’ve kept a positive attitude as usual and got straight back on the dating scene!
Thanks for the update, interesting to read as usual and we’re all rooting for you in all areas! 🙂
TFS
Cheers TFS, although need to be careful about rebounding!
It’s always great when you receive money unexpectedly and I am sure your future self will thank you that you invested the £500 that came your way.
Great to see the dividends building up and it’s almost double the amount of last years so congrats with that! Rooting for you to hit your annual target. Fingers crossed!
Thanks MGUK
Yes, whilst it was tempting to spend that windfall, it was just more ‘sensible’ to invest it!
Looking at the dividends that have come in this month, I think I have that annual target in the bag already, which I’m very happy about!