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Month: September 2014

September 2014 Income/Expenses

September 2014 Income/Expenses

It’s payday tomorrow which means time for the monthly report! This blog has been going for a full 3 months now and the time has really flown past. This month has seen a huge spike in traffic, primarily due to my ‘Essential’ items I’ve never bought article being featured on a recommended reading list from one of the UK’s leading personal finance blogs. So I’d like to take this opportunity to give a huge thanks to Kraig, TFS, Monevator, Wade…

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How do you define yourself?

How do you define yourself?

‘Hi, I’m Guy.. I’m a computer engineer from the UK..’ This week I’ve been thinking alot about how we define ourselves and the relationship many have with their occupation. It’s ironic, because the very first line of my About Me page describes my occupation even before my location or age. It sounds weird when you stop to think about it, however to many (and myself included it seems..) our occupations are the go-to choice for describing ourselves to others. When…

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Financial mistakes I’ve made

Financial mistakes I’ve made

Over the weekend we’ve had a huge influx of new readers due to my ‘Essentials’ I’ve never bought post being featured on a couple of weekend reading lists by other bloggers. A big welcome to all of our new readers and I hope a few of you will stick around and join in with the conversation in the comments sections. Don’t forget to subscribe using the form over to the right!   To follow up on this, I thought it…

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‘Essential’ items I’ve never bought

‘Essential’ items I’ve never bought

Looking over the ‘demotivator’ calculator from MSE has made me consider some of the items I’ve managed to avoid wanting or purchasing over the years and just how much of an impact they’ve made on the finances during my reasonably short life so far. The additional bit of this calculator is that it will work out how many weeks you would have had to work to pay off this expense from a given salary after taxes. I thought it would…

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What’s your time worth?

What’s your time worth?

There are many reasons to focus on your financial journey with the aim towards financial independence. No-one’s journey is quite the same and their reasons for starting it are equally unique. However, most people tend to fall within a mixture of a few key reasons: Security – Security from unexpected events and unforeseen expenses. Security from being homeless if you lost your job or child became ill. Happiness – Happiness gained from knowing you’ll never need to be stuck in…

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Calculating the Internal Rate of Return

Calculating the Internal Rate of Return

If you, like most of the personal financial community, prefer to invest passively each month it can be difficult to calculate the true percentage gain throughout the year. Take for example someone who starts a brand new fund and invests £100 each month for 12 months, giving a total investment pot of £1200. If the pot was now worth £1260, the platform website would show a percentage gain of 5% over the total amount invested. However, the actual percentage gain…

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Be Frugal, Not Cheap.

Be Frugal, Not Cheap.

While focusing on maximising your savings rate and trying to live cheaply, there’s a risk that friends and family may perceive you as being cheap. I believe it’s important to understand the difference between being frugal and being cheap as it can have a big impact on social interactions and lead to resentment. Being frugal to achieve Financial Independence is a great cause and more should be encouraged to take the journey for themselves. However inevitably we will all have…

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Free things that people still pay for

Free things that people still pay for

Every day I come across people willing to spend their hard earnt cash completely unnecessary luxury items which eventually end up discarded and wasted. Frequently these are bought by people who are financing it with debt and using the luxury as a small distraction from their real money problems. Worse than this however are the items and services people pay for despite them being available for free!! Whether it’s paying for the convenience or status associated with a brand name…..

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September Challenges

September Challenges

It’s September which means a return of rush hour traffic and even more rain for us here in the UK. August was a really positive month for me with a totally unexpected and potentially life changing opportunity that I’m still trying to decide upon. We had an excellent month financially which saw a large drop in expenses and steady increase in pensions/stock funds to give a decent overall networth increase. August was also the first month that I’ve set myself…

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