SF's road to MF/FIRE - Take Two!

slowlyfading

savingholmes said:

Great progress. Your side hustle income is going up too!

Thank you! I am trying hard

slowlyfading

ajmoney said:

I watched a few of your youtube clips this morning, it has been a great motivator and helped give me a bit of clarity when I was starting to get quite overwhelmed by everything.  Thanks for putting the info out there, it is great.

Thank you so much for watching - it takes up a lot of my time but I am enjoying it at the moment

ajmoney

slowlyfading said:

ajmoney said:

I watched a few of your youtube clips this morning, it has been a great motivator and helped give me a bit of clarity when I was starting to get quite overwhelmed by everything.  Thanks for putting the info out there, it is great.

Thank you so much for watching - it takes up a lot of my time but I am enjoying it at the moment

I am sure I am not the only one enjoying watching so thank you.  It is really good to watch a like-minded person.

slowlyfading

I've not written in here for SO long but I feel like I'm getting a bit lost in terms of direction and focus so here I am!

Money wise; we're doing ok. We have two major expenses this month - the car insurance which will be around £300 and then we need to pay of the rest of our holiday by the end of the month. We have booked a self-catering cottage in Scotland in the summer and the rest of the payment - around £500? - is due.

Once those are paid for, it pretty much wipes out any savings that I can do this month which makes me unless I can suddenly get lots of side hustle income paid, which looks unlikely, then our savings will be really low. I just need to remember that it's a one off and doesn't mean I'm failing.

The next week I have set myself a challenge of not getting any food out - which includes any takeaway coffees. They are my weakness and those kind of spends have been creeping up lately. It was much easier in lockdown when I didn't leave the house!

slowlyfading

I've been thinking today about our plans and the time scale that we are (hopefully) going to reach them in. Assuming nothing major/drastic happens in the meantime the plan is:

• mortgage free by the time I'm 45
• Financial Independence by 50

That assumes average growth with investments plus continuing the pay down the mortgage by approx. £185 a month. Obviously some months are easier than others! 

But, I am so tempted to try and speed it up a bit; I'm feeling jaded by it all and very much want a break. But, it isn't possible unless by some miracle I can massively increase our household income. At the moment I do side hustles which bring in a very small amount of income which include:

• blog
• YouTube ads
• Etsy shop
• Affiliates

All of these bring in very small amounts a month. To be honest, I need to dedicate more time to this if I want them to bring in any more. I also could try and get another post which would mean me working full time instead of part time but then I don't get as much time with my family. It's so difficult to know what to do! 

I also don't want to miss out on the present; time is going by so quickly anyway and I want to savour every moment I can. I wish there was a simple solution to this but there really isn't. 

So, plodding along it is then. 

Grogged

It's always difficult seeking that happy balance isn't it?
It's so easy to miss what we have today, as it's natural to plan for the future and what that will bring.
In reality, all our plans are about our future "present", so I wouldn't feel guilty about enjoying today's "present".
It sounds like you have a good plan that will transition you into financial independence in a smooth way, rather than in a big bang by sacrificing too much of the present.
Take care, G.

listoflists

You’ve got 2 amazing over arching goals, but maybe some shorter term targets to aim for and celebrate would help?  E.g. owning every additional x% of your home, or include savings / investment figures to see when you are mortgage neutral. 

Or perhaps look at things a slightly different way?  Imagine you are now 50 and FI. 

What are you now going to do more of?  If it’s spend more time with loved ones then hurrah to not working full time in the present with some flexible time to do that now.  I’m not imagining you’re aiming for a champagne lifestyle at the end of it all, but if it’s to go out to a cafe / have a take-away coffee on a regular basis, or have some (more) fun days out, can you build a bit more of that sort of thing into your present budget even if it stretches the overall target a little bit? To make the journey less of a plod. (If your aim is to take off round the world forever I realise none of this helps 😂). 

What is it that you definitely want to do less of?  If it is getting up and working 9-5 for someone else, then doing more of that now is just going to make the path to 50 and FIRE more of a grind, so hurrah for part time working and side hustles and spending time with the kids (while they are happy to spend time with you! 😊). 

You’re on a long journey and maybe you just need to find a few closer horizons so it doesn’t seem as daunting. Also, keep checking back and seeing how far you’ve already come - seems pretty amazing to me!  

L9XSS

listoflists said:

You’ve got 2 amazing over arching goals, but maybe some shorter term targets to aim for and celebrate would help?  E.g. owning every additional x% of your home, or include savings / investment figures to see when you are mortgage neutral. 

Or perhaps look at things a slightly different way?  Imagine you are now 50 and FI. 

What are you now going to do more of?  If it’s spend more time with loved ones then hurrah to not working full time in the present with some flexible time to do that now.  I’m not imagining you’re aiming for a champagne lifestyle at the end of it all, but if it’s to go out to a cafe / have a take-away coffee on a regular basis, or have some (more) fun days out, can you build a bit more of that sort of thing into your present budget even if it stretches the overall target a little bit? To make the journey less of a plod. (If your aim is to take off round the world forever I realise none of this helps 😂). 

What is it that you definitely want to do less of?  If it is getting up and working 9-5 for someone else, then doing more of that now is just going to make the path to 50 and FIRE more of a grind, so hurrah for part time working and side hustles and spending time with the kids (while they are happy to spend time with you! 😊). 

You’re on a long journey and maybe you just need to find a few closer horizons so it doesn’t seem as daunting. Also, keep checking back and seeing how far you’ve already come - seems pretty amazing to me!  

Really wise words which should help you.  I found some months/years easier than others. Life as it does gets in the way both good and bad. The one constant you do have is the support on this forum from other like minded MFWs, all at different stages to you.
keep posting, your doing really well. 

slowlyfading

Grogged said:

It's always difficult seeking that happy balance isn't it?
It's so easy to miss what we have today, as it's natural to plan for the future and what that will bring.
In reality, all our plans are about our future "present", so I wouldn't feel guilty about enjoying today's "present".
It sounds like you have a good plan that will transition you into financial independence in a smooth way, rather than in a big bang by sacrificing too much of the present.
Take care, G.

I like the point about future present and today's present - I hadn't thought of it like that. 

slowlyfading

listoflists said:

You’ve got 2 amazing over arching goals, but maybe some shorter term targets to aim for and celebrate would help?  E.g. owning every additional x% of your home, or include savings / investment figures to see when you are mortgage neutral. 

Or perhaps look at things a slightly different way?  Imagine you are now 50 and FI. 

What are you now going to do more of?  If it’s spend more time with loved ones then hurrah to not working full time in the present with some flexible time to do that now.  I’m not imagining you’re aiming for a champagne lifestyle at the end of it all, but if it’s to go out to a cafe / have a take-away coffee on a regular basis, or have some (more) fun days out, can you build a bit more of that sort of thing into your present budget even if it stretches the overall target a little bit? To make the journey less of a plod. (If your aim is to take off round the world forever I realise none of this helps 😂). 

What is it that you definitely want to do less of?  If it is getting up and working 9-5 for someone else, then doing more of that now is just going to make the path to 50 and FIRE more of a grind, so hurrah for part time working and side hustles and spending time with the kids (while they are happy to spend time with you! 😊). 

You’re on a long journey and maybe you just need to find a few closer horizons so it doesn’t seem as daunting. Also, keep checking back and seeing how far you’ve already come - seems pretty amazing to me!  

What a fantastic response - thank you so much! Definitely lots of things to consider. I do monthly aims as well to keep me on track in the short term; though they are much the same from month to month and don't particularly offer much challenge at the moment. 

When FI, the main thing is to spend more time with family and spend more time outdoors and enjoying the simpler things. Not the hectic, fast past that life often has at the moment. I never seem to get much down time! And a takeaway coffee with a slice of cake as a treat every now and again. 

Do less of? Just everything really; I am stuck in a rut and everything seems a bit of a chore at the moment - side hustles included. Think I need a break somewhere!