As it usually does, January seemed to both drag and fly by. I was extremely busy at work having lots of projects coming in. Also I had to prepare for a presentation I was asked to make to a conference of 180 people, which was both nerve wracking and a success.
We also had a great visit to the theatre to see Tempest with Sigourney Weaver. It was at Drury lane theatre which was a beautiful theatre. We got to see this for £2.50 a ticket thanks to Mrs Wealthster grabbing a bargain!
Other than that It was quiet month with a few outings to see friends here and there.
The markets were very good again. A few wobbles as the threat of tariffs came and went. I had a moment where I was thinking “this is what sparks the big one”. That may still be true but what this feeling brings is the urge to sell everything and cry. Maybe I’m overreacting but this is the craziest I’ve seen the US in my short millennial life and its scary. Especially seeing as a significant portion of my wealth is in US markets.
Also seeing how insane Elon Musk is becoming it really is a cause for concern. I don’t know where it end but the lack of respect for the checks and balances of democracy we are seeing are alarming.
Leasehold drama
As I did last month, I had to pay some money towards my service charge. The mood has changed and the person who was leading the charge against paying these charges has taken a step back for health reasons. Therefore I decided that, even though I am still owed nearly £5k and possibly a further £3-4k, to pay another £2900 to cover the last year’s service charge (which I don’t entirely agree with). Anyway it’s not ideal but I don’t want this to build up to an unmanageable level when it is all sorted out.
We also have been served the costs of carrying out fire safety works on the building. This is predicted to be about £3-4k for our share. This is also in dispute because it is our position that the freehold should pay for this. It is the subject of another court case. Even if I do need to pay this, it is less than I expected so that is at least positive.
Investments
This was a very positive month for our investments.
Networth is now £769k (+£9k) and our FI fund is £536k (+£9k). No new investments thanks to devastating leasehold service charges.
Spending
Spending was horrific this month. That is partly due to having to pay the whole year’s service charge in one go. I actually returned to feeling quite bad about the situation but then I remembered I have a lot of money now so it doesn’t matter.
My savings rate was -5% and it was only that “high” because of my pension contributions and mortgage pay off. This accounts for the money I borrowed from myself to cover expenses this month. I’m holding myself accountable to pay this back by recording a negative saving rate.
We also paid for another trip overseas. This is to Bali this time for my sister-in-laws 40th bday. I’m excited about this too! It will also be a long time until my next time off once we get back in at the end of March not that i’m asking you to pity me. £1500pp all in including flights for 2 weeks. I don’t think that’s bad.
It’s just been one thing after another the past few months and I’m wondering if I’m ever going to get back to saving properly again. I’m in no rush and I guess sometimes life is like this. I’m also glad I can use my savings to help pay for things like this using money that didn’t exist last month. I knew this day would come regarding the service charges so it might as well be this month.
That’s all for now.
