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Category: Personal

Common replies to the Financial Independence closet exit

Common replies to the Financial Independence closet exit

Comments 14 comments

I was recently reading though an interview conducted by TheFireStarter who was speaking with the often hillarious Financial Zombie when he mentioned a term which really stuck in my head: Are you in or out of the FI closet with friends and family? I think it’s a great term for the situation we find ourselves in as from what I’ve read on fellow blogs; many really do think of themselves firmly trapped in a financial independence plan closet. It’s odd…

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April 2015 Income/Expenses

April 2015 Income/Expenses

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It’s payday today which means time for this month’s Income/Expenses! I think it’s important to keep track of your income/expenses every month as it allows you to spot trends and areas for improvement. I find it really useful to track the spending changes each month, and really motivating to see the networth improvements. Sometimes it can seem like financial independence is so far away, but by watching your networth steadily increasing you’ll know you will reach that point eventually. A…

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March 2015 Income/Expenses

March 2015 Income/Expenses

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It’s payday tomorrow which means time for this month’s Income/Expenses! March seemed to fly by for me. I was working hard on a big project at work whilst also trying to keep an eye on lowering that grocery bill. No major one-off expenses this month and only a couple of meals out with friends. The homebrew was finished and despite being a bit flat.. was very tasty with some lemonade added in. The great result from this is absolutely 0…

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Cutting down expenses in March

Cutting down expenses in March

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I can’t believe we’re almost 2 weeks into March already, these past couple of weeks have flown by and I apologise for not keeping you more up to date with what’s been going on to try and lower some of the expenses in our lives. Many commenters over the past few months have (correctly) identified that some of our expenses seem overly high for just 2 people and so I’ve been making a big push these past few weeks to…

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February 2015 Income/Expenses

February 2015 Income/Expenses

Comments 13 comments

It’s month end today which means time for this month’s Income/Expenses! February is the month where all our big annual expenses come in as its the anniversary of us purchasing the house. I also registered my motorbike in February so annual expenses relating to that come in this month too. Fortunately the bike passed it’s first MOT, the mechanic commented on how high the mile counter was for such a small/cheap bike.. he couldn’t quite believe I’d used a £700…

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I just saved over £500 with a single phone call

I just saved over £500 with a single phone call

Comments 2 comments

What would you do if someone came knocking on your door demanding over £500? Would you invite them in for a friendly discussion to sit down and work out the calculations used to reach this figure.. or would you tell them to shove it and crawl back under the rock they came from? Having recently watched a TV series (on catchup, no tv licence required) which followed a team of court bailiffs; I’ve seen plenty of such reactions and they’re…

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Family finances and property

Family finances and property

Comments 13 comments

Apologies for the delay between posts, I got hit by a cold and have been pretty groggy for the past week. Last weekend I received a call from my younger sister, She’s a couple of years younger than me and in almost the exact same position of life as I was at her age.. Living in rented accommodation with her partner and desperately trying to save a house deposit whilst seeing the money disappear in rent. She was calling to…

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January 2015 Income/Expenses

January 2015 Income/Expenses

Comments 8 comments

It’s payday tomorrow which means time for the first Income/Expenses report of 2015! Expenses are running high this month as I bought a new bike (finally) and got the last of the required house furniture to allow us to finally finish unboxing things a year after we moved in. I’ve had a really productive month; managing to keep both of my January challenges of no alcohol and maintaining a low carb diet. From the peak at the start of the…

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The cumulative effect of positive changes

The cumulative effect of positive changes

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The positive effects of financial compound interest have been well documented for centuries. In fact almost all strategies for achieving financial independence and early retirement rely on this mathematical boost to drastically reduce the time and funds required. What is less well documented and yet still just as important are the cumulative effects of making changes in your lifestyle and habits. Mr Money Mustache has recently blogged about his own very minor lifestyle changes which he hopes to compound into…

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Working towards Early Retirement in 2014

Working towards Early Retirement in 2014

Comments 19 comments

Before we dive head first into 2015 and a wave of inevitable soon-to-be-broken new year resolutions, I think it’s important to reflect upon what we’ve worked towards in the past year and to identify the major achievements. 2014 was a real life changing year for me. It marked the point of 5 years full time employment and utilising some of the accumulated funds to stabilise for the future. We bought a house Like many young people out there in the…

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