Well, 2020 has been something that is going to go down in History. The way we live our lives, the way we run our businesses, the way to travel is NEVER going to be the same again. It breaks my heart. I remember when I was at school and I was learning about the plague and the devastation it caused, Covid-19 has been our version of it. 

I never thought that the word social distancing would be part of my normal vocabulary and wearing a mask in public places would be mandatory. 

Do I Need To Panic?

Since 2008 our economy has been rocky, to say the least, it had started to recover and was doing really well. Although, by studying economics and knowing how the economy works, I knew a recession was coming as too much money was being printed and the economy wasn’t allowed to hit rock bottom in 2008. Our economy goes through cycles. Since 1900, the UK has had 9 recessions, (whereas the US has had 24, that’s almost triple the amount of the UK), which for the UK averages out at a recession every 13.33 years and according to acorns.com the average economic recession lasts 15 months. The Great Recession of 2008 lasted 18 months which was the longest decline since World War II. 

You’re going to live through at least 6 recessions in your life

Recessions typically happen because of decisions a country’s leader makes or it’s the economy readjusting itself. Recessions are inevitable. 

According to a report on the BBC the number of people claiming unemployment benefits surges to 2.7 million between March – July.  Jobs are still at risk and unemployment is rising. No one expected that the world as we knew it would take such a dramatic turn. However, it did. Some people were lucky enough not to be affected too much by the changes and for others, their whole world came crashing down and sadly, some ended up losing their jobs, their homes and some sadly, their life.

I knew, when the UK was put into a 3-month lockdown there would be consequences. My biggest fear was that the UK would head into a recession. It was bound to happen. You put EVERYTHING on hold, shit is going to hit the fan. It was never just going to pick up where it left off and be ok. That’s ignorant to think that.

So, what would happen if you lost your job tomorrow? Have you thought about what would happen? Are you prepared? You want to have a backup plan and not find yourself in a powerless situation and be ready for whatever life throws at you.

Instead of being a passenger or victim when it comes to your earnings: take control and take action … I know it isn’t as simple as it sounds …. but a few small steps a day will make a huge difference.  

How To Prepare For A Recession

Imagine this:
45 minutes a day working on a side hustle or learning a new skill over 365 days a year would equal 16,425 minutes – which works out at 273.75 hours.  

Imagine how much different your life would look by simply spending 45 minutes a day on building your dream life. Let’s break it down some more, that’s only 3% of your whole day. Sounds less scary and more achievable now doesn’t it?

I have compiled a list of 12 questions to ask yourself that I believe may help trigger some new and inspiring thoughts and maybe, just maybe, encourage you to take action, so when a recession does hit, it will not become a personal crisis for you.

The answers that you write for each of the questions will be very helpful no matter what the answer. It will show you what you need to do next. 

1. What would happen if you were to lose your job tomorrow?
   
   
2. Do you have enough money put aside? Aka an Emergency Fund.
   
   
3. Do you have a backup plan? If so, what is it?
   
   
4. What could you do to increase your earning potential? Ask for a raise? Change jobs? 
   
   
5. Could you learn a new skill to add more value?
   
   
6. How many assets & liabilities do you have?
   
   
7. What is your net worth?
   
   
8. Do you have a budget? Click here to download our Free Annual Budget Planner. 
   
   
9. What positive steps could you make today that’ll help create the life you want? Is there a book you could read, or an online course you could take or even register your services on Upwork or Fiverr?
   
   
10. If there was one thing in the whole world that if money wasn’t an issue you would do?
    
    
11. How could you monetise that?
    
    
12. Do you believe you can monetise it?

In Review

Recessions happen whether you like it or not.

Human beings are living longer than ever before. According to the United Nations, in 2019, a resident of the United Kingdom lives on average a total of 81.3 years, so you can guarantee you’re going to live through at least 6 recessions. So you want to be prepared, right?

Whether there is a recession or not, you want to guarantee you are ready for anything and everything. You want to be proactive, not reactive. Proactiveness comes from a place of strength, reactiveness comes from a place of weakness. 

Do yourself a favour and create a solid plan for yourself. 

Do something today, your future self will thank you for. 

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As said by Robert Kiyosaki “Good debt will make you rich, whereas bad debt will make you poor”

Believe it or not, there actually is something called good debt and what you are told by those who say all debt is bad are from those who are simply bad with money. With a little education you can understand the difference between the two. 

How Good Debt Will Make You Rich

Good debt can make you very rich. The rich use debt as leverage. Leverage is using debt to increase the return of an investment. Having a mortgage on a rental property for example, is leverage. 

This may be a controversial thing to say BUT car repayment could be considered as good debt IF you have plenty of passive income coming in. If you haven’t … it goes into the bad debt category. 

What if the interest for a car payment was 9% APR BUT your investments were bringing in a return of 20% a year … that now, becomes good debt. 

Types of Good Debt:

• A real estate investment – as leverage (a mortgage loan). To learn about leverage click here. 
• A business investment – to grow your business
• A personal investment – to advance your skills or knowledge
• A car loan … wait … before you Dave Ramsey evangelist’s come bite my head off, think about this, you buy a used car for £10,000, you use it as transportation to get you to and from work everyday and allows you to live your life. The cost of running and maintaining the car might be more cost effective. 

Good debt can make you richer and richer

How Debt Can Be Helpful

Good debt can increase your credit score. Having zero amount of debt … like ever … will harm your credit score in the long run. If you decide to buy your own house but have never had a credit card before give the banks no evidence that you can pay it back. To avoid a bad credit score,  you can take out a credit card with a £2,500 overdraft and not use it. If you do use it, use it for things like grocery shopping that you have already budgeted for and pay it off straight away. This shows the bank that you are a trustworthy person.

What if you took out a personal loan to invest in the stock market, in a rental property OR in crypto? The interest rate was fixed for 5 years at a rate of 3.9%. Good or bad debt – you can decide for yourself.

In my very early 20’s, I went to get a joint bank account with my then boyfriend, but because I had never had a credit card and had very little credit history, the bank wouldn’t accept me as a new customer. 

I know in today’s climate that sounds mad, but 15 years ago, I guess that’s how it was. 

How Bad Debt Will Make You Poor

What is bad debt? Bad debt are things like student loans, credit and store cards and car payments.

You have bought your dream house, but have no investments or passive income. Now that’s bad debt. You buy your dream house with plenty of passive income … that dream home now becomes good debt. Do you see the difference?

Types of bad debt:

• Borrowing money to pay for things like holidays, shopping sprees, a new TV are all VERY BAD DEBT.  
• PAYDAY LOANS!! Avoid these are all costs. You will have to pay a ridiculous amount of interest back, you will  never be able to pay the loan back and you will wreck your credit score. 

Bad debt will make you poorer and poorer. 

What Can You Do About Bad Debt?

I saved over £200 per month by restructuring debt. A credit card was coming to the end of an interest free rate, so instead of paying the insanely high interest rate of 19.something % APR, I simply found another interest free credit card and paid a 1.9% transfer fee for 29 months. That extra £200 per month is going to be invested and with an average of 8.5% return I should make an extra £204 within the first year with that – BONUS!

You can also use the Debt Snowball Method.

What is the Debt Snowball Method?

A debt snowball was created by Dave Ramsey. It is a strategy where you pay off the smallest to largest debts you have. 

Step 1: List your debts from smallest to largest regardless of interest rate.

Step 2: Make minimum payments on all your debts except the smallest.

Step 3: Pay as much as possible on your smallest debt.

Step 4: Repeat until each debt is paid in full.

Read about Dave Ramsey’s Debt Snowball Method Here 

The LFRE Reverse Debt Snowball Method

I have a different strategy. I would call it the Reverse Debt Snowball. 

Where you:

Step 1: List your debts from highest interest rate to smallest interest rate.  

Step 2: Make minimum payments on all your debts except the largest.

Step 3: Pay as much as possible on your largest debt.

Step 4: Repeat until each debt is paid in full.

I understand Dave Ramsey’s approach however, I would rather pay less interest overall than have small ‘wins’. Because to me, the biggest win is having more money in my pocket.

Useful External Resources

Experian

The Simple Dollar

The Nerd Wallet

Richdad.com

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April Review

After such a ‘bad’ month for our investments in April, I wasn’t particularly looking forward to reviewing our investments for May, that was until I checked out the crypto charts for my investments… It appears my investments have gone from -22.53% to 20.69%, wow what a gain!

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So with regards to our budget we have really stripped it back to basics, as I am on furlough and my partner is waiting for his government grant to come through. We decided to slash it by 20%. But we have increased our grocery budget by 15%. The reason why our grocery budget increased is because we aren’t shopping at the usual stores. We usually get most things from Aldi and Iceland but recently we have shopped at Iceland, Asda and a the corner shop, purely for convenience. But like you know, convenience comes at a price.

Investment Update

Comments on this months investments

Biggest Winner: Cryptocurrency
Biggest Loser: Property Partner

Well, cryptocurrency … what a turn around from last month. I expected my crypto investments to increase because of the up and coming bitcoin halving. There is always a rally leading up to and after the halving – as proven in previous years, I’m hoping bitcoin hits $50,000 this year

My precious metal investments have once again steadily increased in value. Although you never get huge gains from gold or silver, these are the two most stable investments you can make (in my opinion).

As you can see my Property Partner investments haven’t given me any return this month, reasons of which were stated in April Budget & Investment Review.

We received a nice return on our private property investments this month as well, more than it should’ve been to be honest. Mid April we received our monthly statement from our letting agent, with the monthly rent and any management fees deducted. However, upon reviewing the statement I noticed a discrepancy. The agent, without consent from myself or my partner, decided to increase the rent by 2%. I have told my agent for the past 3 years not to increase the rent, and EVERY YEAR they have failed to follow instructions and put the rent up anyway! I have to micromanage everything they do as they failed to get some works completed in time and then they consistently ignore instructions.

I try and be a good landlord and keep the rent at a reasonable amount as I have really good tenants who pay on time and give me no grief. If I kept increasing the rent, greed would end up costing me money long term; pushing my current tenants too far and they could find somewhere else to live, leaving me with an empty property (with bills to pay) or worse, get really bad tenants. ⁣ I’ve once again told them to decrease it back the original amount and apologise to the tenants.

Goal(s) For May

As most of the UK is unable to work and I’m on furloughed, I am going to have a ‘beans on toast’ budget. My beans on toast budget is a basic budget that only includes my mortgage, utilities, groceries and any debt repayments. Things like holidays, hair and beauty appointments and dining out are absolutely unnecessary in this economic climate. Our fuel budget has pretty much decreased by 80% because the only places we are driving to is to and from the grocery store and we still have a good amount available in our budget ready for when we can go back to work and it’s all systems go.

Previous Updates

March 2020 update
February 2020 update
April 2020 update

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Like meditation, there is no right or wrong way to journal. Simply getting all your negative and positive thoughts onto the pages in front of you can release any emotional blockages you may have.

Before I start journaling I feel like I have so many thoughts buzzing around my head. However when I start putting pen to paper, I realise that I have very few thoughts just the same ones rehashed. That’s helpful in itself.

No one will read your journal, so you can write things you wouldn’t say to anyone else, completely uncensored. Remember it’s for your eyes only. 

You can use the journal as a means of catharsis.

Don’t force yourself to write  Write when you feel inspired, otherwise it will become a chore and that defeats the object of journaling.  

Why I Journal

There are so many benefits to journaling, it not only facilitates personal growth but assists in developing a deeper connection with yourself resulting in you having improved mental clarity which allows you to gain insights on yourself and your experiences.  Journaling is very healing for the mind, body and spirit. 

I journal:

1. As a means of catharsis, consciously bringing how I feel into to awareness.
2. To see how far I have progressed. I review and analyse the past 30 days of journaling and see what lessons can be learned.
3. To record daily events for you to review at a later date. This is similar to the above reason however this is just day to day stuff. So much happens in our lives everyday, big and small things and it’s easy to forget these things. To record achievements
4. To set intentions/goals for the week, month year etc.
5. To empty my mind. Sometimes I feel I have that many thoughts, that my head could explode. So simply writing EVERYTHING down until I can no longer write is HUGELY BENEFICIAL.
6. To help improves mental clarity.

For me, blogging is like journaling. Once I have written and published a blog I feel like a sense of peace and relief. 

How To Journal

Choose a notebook and pen that looks beautiful and that you would enjoy writing in. Sit down in a quiet room and write. I like to play classical music, as there has been research that has proven classical music puts you in a heightened emotional state. The same applies when studying for exams (click here for more details on that benefits of listening to classical music)

There are five ways you can journal, they are:

Free Writing.

Write down whatever you want until you no longer have anything to say. Get every thought feeling dream or fear onto those pages and u run out of steam

Timed Journaling. 

Set a timer for 1, 15 or 30 minutes and go for it. Keep writing down whatever you want until the timer goes off

Subjected Journaling.

Each session you can purely focus on feelings, thoughts, emotions, experiences from the day, fears, dreams, goals or intentions for the week

Question Time. 

Ask yourself/the universe a question. Is there something that you would like to know? Write it at the top of your page, and write down the answers given to you from the universe. You may think it’s ridiculous, then write that. Write down everything that comes to mind because once you had recorded all your negative self talk, the truth will come through, if you allow it. A question I like to ask during journaling AND meditating is “What you I need to know?”

Sketchbook Journaling. 

Sketchbook Journaling is drawing how you feel or what you experienced instead of writing words. Words are powerful but so are images, especially the ones you create. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, quite the opposite.

You can keep more than one journal; for health, goals and intentions, purely negative rants, positive rants etc. You get the idea. It’s literally up to you.

Personally, I have a three journals; a personal one, for a mind dump to get all the thoughts buzzing around my head down on paper, a business one where I write all my inspired ideas and plans and a smaller day to day one, that is more bullet journal style that I keep in my handbag everyday.

10 Questions To Ask Yourself When Feeling Unsure or Stuck On What To Journal About:

1. How are you feeling right now?
2. Where are you?
3. What time/date is it?
4. What good things happened today? How do you feel about that?
5. What bad things happened today? How do you feel about that? What is the lesson to be had?
6. What are you grateful for today?
7. What do you wish you could improve about your day?
8. What did you do today to get you closer to your goals?
9. What DO you want to write about?
10. What DON’T you want to write about?

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I wonder how many people have said, when I start earning more money I will start budgeting or start saving? I can imagine quite a few people to be honest. 

I’m going to share my 10 easy ways to save money using your current paycheck.

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Remember even the janitor can leave the rat race and become financially free in Robert Kiyosaki’s Cashflow board game, so there’s no reason why you can’t. It’s just about following some simple strategies: 

1. Budget; Work out all your incoming and outgoing expenses. 
2. Create saving goals
3. Decide what your ‘necessities’ and ‘nice to haves’ are.
4. Review and re-evaluate all your outgoings
5. Open several check and savings accounts 
6. Pay yourself first 
7. Review your Annual Calendar
8. Set yourself No Spend Days or Weeks
9. Use Cashback, Voucher and Money Saving Apps and Websites
10. Observe your behaviour

I have gone into further detail below, so continue reading for some fantastic life and saving hacks. 

Budget!

Workout what money you have coming in and what money you have coming out.

 Download our Annual Budget Template to help you with this step. You can start using a spreadsheet but if you are more comfortable with a pen and a piece of paper then use that. There is no right or wrong way of doing it. I prefer using the spreadsheet as I can play around with the figures and the spreadsheet will instantly update the total amount as I go. You can also use a YNAB or Every Dollar.

Create Savings Goals

What do you want to achieve, financially? Do you want to save £20,000 over the next 5 years to save up for a deposit for a house? Do you want to save some money to take your family to Disney World? 

Once you have figured out your why, you can then break that goal down into bite sized pieces; so you will need to save £333.33 per month for the next 5 years to hit your £20,000 goal. It doesn’t sound so bad when you put it like that, does it?

Decide What Your ‘Necessities’ and ‘Nice To Haves’ Are

In an ideal world, we could afford to live the best lifestyle possible and we don’t have to worry about budgeting, but as it currently stands, we are not million or  billionaires, we must live within our means, which means, we sometimes have to decide what we really need from what we really want. Like we don’t NEED to buy a new outfit every week, or we don’t need to order a takeaway every Friday night, but what we must do is pay for things like rent or mortgage, gas and electric bills, council tax, home insurance and any debt repayments, the ‘necessities.. Anything in the flexible lifestyle category is a ‘nice to have’. 

Review and Re-evaluate All Your Outgoings

 If you only earn £2,500 per month but your current outgoings/savings etc are £3,000 then you must start cutting things down or out. Do you use that gym membership you have been paying for, for the past 6 months? Can you cut down how much you dine out? Can you switch your £40.00 per month phone contract to a SIM ONLY £20.00 per month tariff? Continue reviewing every expense going out until you are within budget.

Check out Look After My Bills, successfully featured on Dragons Den (the UK version of Shark Tank),  they offer a free auto switching service on your energy bills .. forever! They make the switching super easy for you, you can sign up, even if your current deal hasn’t ended. Once your deal has ended, they will automatically find the best deal for you. You’ll never have to think about switching ever again, it’s brilliant.

Open Several Checking and Savings Accounts 

This is something a lot of people on their financial independence journey does. Jordan Page from Fun Cheap or Free recommends having at least 7 different bank accounts… yes that’s at least 7!

For the best currents account deals visit moneysupermarket.com. 

Gone are the days were banks give you money for switching but most banks offer incentives for switching. There are so many banks that will reward you for using their bank. 

Set Up Standing Orders To Savings and Investing Accounts

This is also known as paying yourself first. 

As soon as your paycheck hits your bank, a standing order of 5-15% of that paycheck needs to automatically be sent to your saving and investing accounts. This way you can guarantee you hit your saving and investing goals.

Review Your Annual Calendar

A great way to get ahead is to review your calendar. Write down all social occasions, people’s birthdays, when you car insurance, MOT, car tax etc is due. Don’t forget to include Christmas. These are all called sinking funds.

Set up standing orders to cover your sinking funds and like your savings and investing account(s) you also need another bank account.

Here is a great calendar for you to plan your weeks and months of occasions and bills coming up.  

Set Yourself No Spend Days or Weeks (or years)

Setting yourself no spend days is a great way to save some extra cash. At the beginning of each week review your calendar and decide which days of the week you are going to have a no spend day. Start with a no spend day for guaranteed success, then you can work up to a no spend week or even month. There are thousands of people who do no spend years … I am not one of those people, I could do a no spend week but not a year. It’s too extreme in my opinion. 

Use Cashback, Voucher and Money Saving Apps and Websites

Gosh, there are countless cashback, voucher and saving apps and websites available. Refuse to pay for anything in full, unless you really have to. 

I use apps like Quidco, Topcashback and Honey.

Quidco and Topcashback offer a percentage of your money back via cashback for any of your online purchases. Can you also do it with most of your utility bills and car insurance. I received £25.00 cashback on an annual car insurance policy via Quidco. 

Another great hack is to use company referral programs when possible. I switched energy suppliers when I moved house a few months ago, my dad recommended me to So Energy and we both received £40.00 credit in our accounts. I was going to go with So Energy anyway as they had the best deal on the market and the fact that I could receive money for signing up was simply a delightful bonus. 

I could dedicate a whole article on this topic alone. 

Observe Your Behaviour 

Figure out what triggers you into emotionally spending money and tackle it head on. 

Is your Achilles heel shopping online after a very stressful day at work, or do you order a takeaway after a long hard week? Once you know your triggers you can prepare and plan for when it happens again. 

We often aren’t aware of our triggers until we put our focus and attention onto our actions.

A Little Bonus Tip

A great way to manage your money is by using Dave Ramsey’s Cash Envelope System.

Each envelope represents a category in your budget, for example, you will have  grocery, fuel, beauty and a ‘fun money’ envelopes. This is a very basic but effective way of tracking your spending. 

So there you have it, my 10 ways to easily save money using your current paycheck.

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March Review

 

Well, March ... what a month.

Hands up who found March to be the shittest month (so far)

 

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I'm very fortunate that all I lost this March was a bit of money ... people have lost much more than me, so I am still very grateful for what I have. Luckily my family and friends are well and I pray that they continue to be.

 

I am eternally grateful to my previous self for creating an Emergency Fund, this would be a much more stressful time if I hadn’t created one.

 

I set myself the following goals for March: I sold quite a few unwanted things on eBay and Facebook marketplace, I will use that money to reinvest in Live Full Retire Early. I decided NOT to invest in Wealthsimple until I feel the stock market is more stable. I decided to keep the money in my bank, ready for investment when the world has gone back to ‘normal’. We also decided that putting 5% of our paychecks into the 'refurb' budget wasn’t a good idea. I haven’t worked since 23rd March (and have now been put on Furlough) and my boyfriend finished the following day, so we're trying to be VERY conservative with our spending.

 

In March's update I said " I’m looking forward to a ‘normal’ month. Normal being where there is nothing that affects my boyfriend working and we have no major expenses coming out" well ... I guess we are going to be waiting a while to get back to normal. Over the next few weeks/months I expect the world to get back to normal however, my biggest fear is the state of the economy once all this is over. We are going to have to pay of it ... literally!Any Brits reading this, expect your income tax to increase ... start planning for it now.

 

Lets see how the C word has affected my numbers...

 

Investment Update

 

 

 

 

	Money allocation	Returns last month	Returns in 2020
Cryptocurrency	70.04%	-22.53%	-64.07%
Real Estate - Property Partner	1.18%	-1.18%	-1.09%
Real Estate - Private Rentals	24.65%	-1.21%	-7.76%
Precious Metals	3.50%	6.72%	8.60%

 

 

Debt	Paid back this month	Paid back in 2020
Mortgage	0.36%	0.99%
Credit Cards	4.75%	26.01%
House Loan	0.46%	2.19%
Loans	2.37%	8.89%

 

 

 

Comments on this months investments

 

Biggest Winner: Precious Metals
Biggest Loser: Cryptocurrency

 

Well, so far my crypto investments are performing very poorly and seeing these numbers in black and white doesn't make me feel good at all. That being said, I invest for the long term, I have no intention of selling any of my investments so the loss is only a paper loss not a realised loss.

 

My precious metal investments are clearly the best performing asset of 2020, which isn't a surprise because precious metals are proven to perform the best during a recession.

 

I received an email from Property Partner with an announcement stating that all dividends are going to be suspended for 3 months and will be reviewed on 30th June 2020.

 

The email says " Net income that is earned in the next 3 months will accumulate within each property’s bank balance, for the benefit of that property’s capital reserves and that property’s investors. "

 

I completely understand why they have done this however, the dividend payouts would've come in handy... so for the next few months you don't be seeing any gains (or losses) to my Property Partner returns.

 

Goal(s) For April and May

 

I’m not going to go mad with goal setting for the next month or two, the world is very uncertain and I guess my main goal is to continue to be conservative with our spending and be mindful of every penny I spend, to stick to my budgets and to review and update my budget weekly.

 

10 things you can do to improve your investment and financial situation during lockdown

 

1. Read Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad Book
2. Read Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover
3. Download the Live Full Retire Early Annual Budget Planner
4. Use the above planner to review or create your budget
5. Do your own net worth/investment update. Tag me on instagram @livefullandretireearly
6. Set your financial goals for the next 8 months
7. Read Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill
8. Read The Richest Man in Babylon By George S. Clason
9. Listen to The Sunny Show Podcast by Sunny Lenarduzzi
10. Listen to the Build Your Tribe Podcast by Brock and Chalene Johnson
11. Listen to The Financial Confessions Podcast by The Financial Diet
12. Listen to the Blogging With Leslie Podcast by Leslie Samuel

 

 

Previous Updates

 

March 2020 update
February 2020 update

 

 

 

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I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’m only 10 days into lockdown but it feels like 10 weeks! By day 3 I was starting to get cabin fever and feel immensely trapped and a prisoner in my own home. I can’t believe terms like quarantine, self isolation and social distancing are everyday terms we are using. If feels like how I imaged it to be like when my nan used to tell me stories about living during war time.

I have felt so low and depressed, not really taking care of myself. I’ve been drinking too much caffeine to help me ‘feel better’ and comfort eating too many penguin chocolate bars. 

So, once I became aware of my feelings, I decided to create a list of all the things I can do during lockdown to ensure I stay sane… I have at least another 11 days to go. I’m fully expecting lockdown to continue for another 2-3 months if I’m honest. 

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Meditate,  Yoga or Laughter Yoga

Laughter yoga will no doubt increase your happiness levels and 10-20 minutes of meditation a day will quieten your mind and create stillness within … something we all need no matter what is going on in the world. Check out Yoga with Adriene for over 600 different yoga videos. 

Do Some Colouring

Adult Colouring books is a meditation like activity. It quietens your mind and forces you to be present. I don’t know about you but I a bit of a stationery addict so I just love these crayons 

Go For A 45-60 Minute Walk (or an other form of exercise)

Joe Wicks has done countless at HiiT home workouts on YouTube. 

Create or Review Your Budget

 Creating a plan for your money will help you feel more positive and empowered. It is only when we feel like our money management is out of our control, when we are free stressed about money.

Click Here To Download my  Free Annual Budget Planner 

Do Some Gardening

There are going to be so many beautiful gardens when lockdown is over, I have spent hours in the garden most days and it’s great exercise. I am burning so many calories from gardening alone. I’m shocked.

Start Your Own Podcast

Pick a subject you’re obsessed with give podcasting a go …Here is a free start up guide.

Start A Blog

If you don’t fancy starting a Podcast (even if you do), then blogging is a great way to express yourself and get your message out to the world. Here is a FREE 7 Step Course to Starting Your Blog

Do Some DIY

Check out Serena from thriftdiving.com. She teaches you how to create a beautiful home with DIY thrifty ways. She also has a YouTube channel if your more of a visual learner.

Listen To A Podcast

My current favourite podcast is “Sh**ged Married Annoyed” by Chris and Rosie Ramsey. This is an hour of non-stop laughs. But please note, their podcast isn’t for the faint hearted. 

Play Board or Card Games.

My sister in law is currently staying with us and almost every night after tea we go into the conservatory, put whatever music my boyfriend wants on and we spend hours playing dominoes, uno and dobble. We love it. 

Clean Your House From Top To Bottom

Give your house a Spring clean or do some speed cleaning. 

Read A Book

Use this opportunity to read that pile of books you have on your bookshelf that you just haven’t got around to reading. 

Do A Jigsaw

I just love spending an afternoon with a cup of tea and doing a jigsaw. Nope, I’m not an 80 year old woman, but I do appreciate simple pleasures in my old age. I find jigsaws so therapeutic. 

Decorate Your House

This is my biggest regret. I wish I’d bought tins of paint to decorate my house during lockdown. It would’ve been the perfect opportunity to spruce up the house. 

Do A Suduko or Wordsearch

Another therapeutic activity whilst  also keeping your mind active. 

Have A Virtual Party or Quiz With Your Friends And Family

These make me all warm and fuzzy inside. My best friends’ family are doing daily virtual quizzes. Each member gets to host the quiz and the winning family wins a prize. 

Do A Hair Mask 

Now all non essential businesses are closed down, any hair appointments are now put on hold. But that doesn’t mean that your hair maintenance has to fall at the waist side. Why not do a coconut oil hair treatment and give your hair a boost. I’ve noticed that I wasn’t 100% taking care of myself, so I gave myself a little pamper afternoon, I did the coconut oil deep conditioning treatment and also did one one on my feet, they have been so neglected recently. 

Declutter Your House/Garage/Shed

Now is the perfect time to go through all the stuff you no longer need or want, I have spent a good couple of days decluttering and listing them on Facebook marketplace and eBay. Check out Marie Kondo’s book for tips and inspiration. 

Journal Your Feelings And Experiences.

As you know from previous blog posts, I am a huge fan of journaling. It has so many amazing benefits. Journaling is a great way to release any stress and anxiety that you may be experiencing during this crazy time. Journaling is a proven stress reliever. This is the journal I am currently using. It is beautiful and such good quality. I find writing in this a joy. #journaladdict

Watch YouTube

I have been binge watching all my favourite YouTubers. I find it oddly comforting observing how other people are living their lives during lockdown. 

Have A Shower

Any form of self care during stressful times can get neglected. Simply taking a simple shower and washing the day off you, does wonders for your mind, body and spirit.  

Re-evaluate Your Life and Set Goals.

This sounds a bit of a boring one compared to some of my other suggestions but usually we are so busy in our day to day lives, we don’t have time to stop and reevaluate where we are and what we have achieved. I’m choosing to see what is happening, like the world is hitting the reset button. I don’t believe once all this is over that we will go back to the way it was. How can we? Are you happy with what you have achieved? What would you like to achieve in the next 6-12 months?

Have “Quality Time” With Your Partner. 

Forget Netflix and Chill now it’s Quarantine and Chill. 
(remember to practice safe sex)

Wash Your Car (as well as your hands)

You may not be using your car as much as you would travelling to and from work but washing your car is a great activity to kill a couple of hours of your day. 

Play Computer Games

My boyfriend and I are currently obsessed with the Sega Mega Drive Classics on the Xbox One. The graphics and the sounds remind me of simple times when I was a child. I’m still the undefeated champion of Sonic the Hedgehog.  

Facetime With Friends And Family

Just because we can’t visit our friends and family doesn’t mean we can’t still see them and maintain the relationships. I Facetime my brother (and his family) and my parents almost everyday. 

Sort Out Old Photo Albums

This is something I have done during lockdown. I had several pictures developed around Christmas time but never got around to putting them in frames. Now I have beautiful pictures of my family dotted around the house that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. 

Watch Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+

I can guarantee that subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ have spiked during lockdown. Especially for those who have children.

(by clicking on the Amazon Prime link in this post you will receive 30 days free trial, unlike the 7 day trial advertised on the Amazon website)

5 Extra Tips To Protect Your Mental Health During Lockdown

1. Turn off your phone for at least an hour a day
2. Turn off the news
3. Look for positive news stories 
4. Look for positive corona recovery stories
5. Follow me on Instagram @livefullandretireearly for a daily sprinkle of positivity
6. Follow me on Facebook where I share more positive stories and articles about corona and not corona virus related. 

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Have you ever passed someone in the street and noticed how happy they look. Everything about them, their “vibe”, their walk, their mannerisms and obviously their beaming smile. How wonderful would it be to actually BE that person. 

Enlightenment is holding two conflicting thoughts and still be able to function

The Buddha

We all have this assumption that we will live until we are 100 (or at least I do) but what if that wasn’t true? What if you were only going to live another 10, 20 or even 30 years. Then what? Would you begin to live your life any different? If I was told that I was going to live only 1 more year, you can bet your last penny that I would change the way I live. I would be more spontaneous, experience life and spend more time with loved ones. So … why don’t we do that anyway? It’s that assumption again, it gives us a false sense of security. 

Throughout my happiness research I have found that there are many traits and habits a “happy” person embodies, they are:

They Give Compliments.

There’s no better feeling than receiving a genuine compliment. So why don’t we give them out more often? Focusing on each other’s strengths instead of weaknesses is one step closer to happiness. 

I know people who will gladly point out my weaknesses or things that aren’t quite perfect about me and it makes me feel rubbish. So, when I do receive a compliment, it feels strange, kinda alien. 

How wonderful would it be if we could live in a world full of loving genuine compliments!?!

Live For Today … But Plan Like You’re Going To Live Forever.

Emma Woodhouse

They Practice Acts Of Kindness.

One thing a friend of mine taught me was the write a letter from ”the universe” visit your local library or bookstore and slip it into a book so the next person who rents that book will be gifted with a loving letter. If I was to receive a random loving letter I would be so touched. 

They Choose Their Words Carefully. 

We all know the power of words. Is your glass half full or half empty? Stop complaining and negative self talk. How do you talk about other people? Just for today cut out ALL gossiping. The way I see it, if you and your friends are gossiping about another friend, then it is highly likely that the same friend will gossip to others about you. Once you cut out the gossiping, you will be SO surprised little you have to say – to some friends. This will show you the quality of your friendships and will allow you to work on them and build a deeper connection. 

They Understand The Importance Of Self Care.

Happy people understand that taking care of yourself is a high priority. How can you be there and help other people if you aren’t at full capacity? Imagine you are a cup and what is in the cup is for you, and what you offer others is in your saucer. 

10 examples of self care:

• Moving your body – any form of exercise; dancing, swimming, hiking, running etc. 
• Walking in nature
• Sitting out in the sun and absorbing that vitamin D
• Taking time out to rest and reflect
• Getting enough sleep
• Eating healthy
• Drinking plenty of water
• Having a hot bath or shower
• Meditating 
• Journaling 

They Surround Themselves With Positive, Loving And Accepting People. 

Having the right tribe/community is one of the most important factors to have a happy life. Some peoples love is conditional so knowing you have that love and support no matter is very comforting. I read an article years ago about the level of happiness having one good quality friendship is the equivalent of £50,000. WOWZERS.

They SMILE! 

My favourite smile quote is:

“Use your smile to change the world, don’t let the world change your smile”

Unknown

The words of Nat King Coles SMILE song say it all.

“Smile though your heart is aching

Smile even though it’s breaking

When there are clouds in the sky, you’ll get by

If you smile through your fear and sorrow

Smile and maybe tomorrow

You’ll see the sun come shining through for you

Light up your face with gladness

Hide every trace of sadness

Although a tear may be ever so near

That’s the time you must keep on trying

Smile, what’s the use of crying?

You’ll find that life is still worthwhile

If you just smile

That’s the time you must keep on trying

Smile, what’s the use of crying?

You’ll find that life is still worthwhile

If you just smile”

I listened to these lyrics recently and they just resonated with me SO much. It was like WOW, that was written for me … and I’m sure you feel the same, which is why this song is such a classic.

They Set Boundaries & Learn To Say NO

Setting boundaries involves an element of self-awareness. 

Some people are great at setting boundaries, however other people (including myself at times) struggle to set boundaries with certain individuals. I feel it is easier to set a boundary with a stranger than it is your own family for example. 

If you do not express your feelings to others, you will end up bottling that emotion up which could turn into resentment.

Just because you are asked if you could do something, it doesn’t mean you should or have to. If you have been asked to do something and you are more than capable of doing it, if it doesn’t feel emotionally “right” then listen to your own knowing and say NO.

See the blog post: The Secret To A Happier Life and A Happier YOU. How To Set Boundaries, Learn To Say NO! And Avoid The Yes Man

They Look For The Lessons.

There are lessons in everything. The good experience AND the bad ones and you can grow from each. It can be hard to see the lessons when you are deep in something but they are there. Don’t put pressure on yourself to find them, once any potential chaos or joy has passed, you will be able to see clearly and the lesson may (or may not) be super obvious.

They Keep A Gratitude Journal – As Well As A Regular Journal

Writing a gratitude journal at the end of the day (or first thing in the morning) forces you to shift your way of thinking. So instead of focusing on the negative, you write down what you were grateful for that day. For example; today I am grateful for Liz Green and the wonderful Everyday Magical Community she has set up. I was experiencing some contrast throughout today and I am grateful that I could express how I was feeling free of judgement and I was offered love, support and guidance. You can write one thing a day you are grateful for or as many as possible. I recommend writing 3 things as that REALLY forces you to pay attention to your day without feeling overwhelmed.

Click here to read the blog post: Journal Your Way To Success …. How To Keep A Journal And How It Can Help You Grow, Heal And Flourish. I gave more a detailed explanation and several ways you can journal. I really enjoyed writing it – ironically.

Stop Looking To TV Shows for Life Advice/Guidance.

I have stopped watching soaps altogether. I find watching shows like Hollyoaks, Emmerdale or Coronation Street (UK TV Shows) are SO STRESSFUL and put me into a negative state. About 7 years ago, I observed how a friend of mine used to behave. She LOVED watching all the soaps and looked forward to it at the end of each day, which is great… Until she started living her life like a soap drama. If something in her life appeared to be similar to one that is happening or happened in a soap recently, she would just assume that the situation was the same and react in accordance. Sounds ridiculous right?

So, turn off the TV or change the channel and find something more uplifting – Or watch something more empowering and uplifting.

They Don’t Get Sucked Into Or Involved In Unnecessary Dysfunctional Drama.

Drama gives people so much significance yet is so dysfunctional.

I have walked away from many friendships over the past 8 years as I began to notice the drama that was I was somehow attracting and decided it was time to stop. You can still love and support your friends without being part of their chaotic life. Be aware that you are not forced onto their sinking ship. 

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Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and Warren Buffett haven’t succeeded in every project they have begun. However, that hasn’t stopped them becoming the world’s most successful entrepreneurs.

People go through life jealous of other people’s success, ignoring all the hard work and failures they had to endure to get there. Why struggle through life blindfolded. Simply immerse yourself in whatever industry drives you and the rest, as they say, is history.   

There are certain traits every entrepreneur needs to embrace to ultimately become successful.      

They get comfortable with failing

In every failure, there is a lesson to be learnt. Some entrepreneurs actively go out trying to fail as that is where the lessons are. No one learnt anything by striking gold first time round. If they had to replicate that success, I can almost guarantee they couldn’t strike gold again, as last time they were fumbling along, not knowing what they were doing and BOOM, they somehow struck gold, but for the 2nd time round …. now that requires a bit of skill. A skill that you probably didn’t learn previously.    

They network with like-minded people.

You will notice throughout your financial freedom journey, is that everyone who has an opinion on everything! For example, people who have bought their own house and/or renovated their own house means they know everything there is to know about buying to let – WRONG!! (this really frustrates me) Renovating your own house and purchasing a B2L property are two VERY different things. Investing in B2L property or anything which solely relies on you – to spot the opportunity and take that plunge – will show you who you really are. 

There will be many dark nights of the soul in your journey to master property investing, this is why you need to be careful about what advice you listen to. Only listen to people who are deep in the B2L industry, they will know exactly how you feel and what you are going through as I can almost guarantee that they have felt the same at some point.  

They practice self-discipline

We live in a world where most people want instant gratification, however, this is not a suitable mindset for an investor.    

There was a series of studies on delayed gratification called the Marshmallow Experiment completed at Stanford University by Professor Walter Mischel, were 16 boys and girls were offered a small reward instantly or if they waited 15 minutes they would receive a larger reward or 2 smaller ones. During the experiment, the tester left the room and returned 15 minutes later to see what the child has chosen. Over a series of follow up studies, the researchers found that for the children who waited the 15 minutes for their reward seemed to make better life choices.   

Think of investing like a game of chess. You need to make, relatively small yet important decisions whilst thinking about the next 2-3 moves, sometimes sacrifice a pawn or two, but with calculated strategic decisions you will ultimately win at the financial independence game.

A lot of people that start the financial independence journey have been lead to believe (by who I don’t know) that you can get rich quick, but I ‘d like to ask two very simple questions:
1. How rich you think you can get?
2. How quick do you think it can be?

I can tell you this … There is no such thing as getting rich quick. You may hear it from companies trying to sell you their product. But this is merely a marketing strategy. (If you do know of a proven get rich quick scheme … then please comment below and I will be all over it, LOL)

They get plenty of sleep.

I know everyone says this but there must be some amount of truth in it. It is vital for our health and well being. Studies have shown that it is recommended for an adult aged 18-64 to get 7-9 hours of sleep to be productive. I know from experience, that if I get multiple bad nights sleep, I don’t quite function right. My thinking is delayed and I may very poor decisions.       

They never stop learning

Learning is key to mastering the property investment game, there is ALWAYS something new to learn. Things change, demands and need change and to be a long term successful investor, you need to be on it. There’s a lot to be said about the value of education. 

Be aware, you don’t have to spend tens of thousands on get rich quick schemes (there’s no such thing) you can gain knowledge with a good coach or mentor, reading books, listening to audiobooks, listening to podcasts and using and a lot of information is available free of charge on the internet.    

Are you looking to start a budget? Simply download our FREE Budget Template or sign up to YNAB if you are looking for another alternative.

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It’s always a good code of practice to check and review your budget and your investment portfolio. There have been a lot of changes in the stock market this month due to the Corona Virus … It went crazy high mid-month then dropped all of a sudden towards the end of the month … you will see exactly how it has affected my investments below.

February Review

What can I say about February? Well … financially it didn’t go as planned. Due to the bad weather we experienced in the UK my partner was weathered off at work so he ended up having the last 2 weeks off work (without pay). So that’s 2 tight months we’ve had so far, which if we didn’t prepare for events like we’ve experienced, we would’ve been shitting our pants. But thanks to our ‘safety cushion’ aka our Emergency Fund we haven’t been hugely affected. 

We stayed within all our budgets which has been great. We’ve bearly eaten out as we’ve made some lovely meals at home. We’ve brought the party to us and had friends round.

I had my hair done mid-month (which I budget for in my sinking funds) but from March onwards the cost to get my hair coloured and/or cut has increased by 20% so I’ve had to review our budget and make the relevant increases. One thing I have decided to do is get my hair done every 8 weeks instead of every 6 weeks. 

Oh, due to unforeseen circumstances my boyfriend’s car stopped working, so he had paid to get a new fuse, which got him home from London but the next day when he tried to use it, it stopped working … again. We’ve spent a lot of money on that car over the years, it has been a great car but it is time to say goodbye and scrap it. So, one weekend we nipped to Available Car in Morley and checked out their stock. Their selection was OK, maybe a little expensive, but we didn’t buy anything, it was merely for research purposes. So the next day we nipped into our local BMW garage and we ended up buying a used 5 Series. We got a great deal on it, we’re both chuffed. BUT this is one major expense we hadn’t accounted for, luckily we’d been saving for a while for when the car did give up the ghost. 

I’m looking forward to a ‘normal’ month. Normal being where there is nothing that affects my boyfriend working and we have no major expenses coming out … it has been an expensive few months. Thank God I budget … WELL!

We set a goal to boost our Emergency Fund (we’re 70% there) but due to all the unforeseen expenses stated above, we had to put that goal on hold. We’ve got enough money in the Emergency Fund and we intend on using an end of year bonus to give it a healthy boost. 

Investment Update

Comments on this months investment progress

According to Bullion By Post, Gold had hit an all-time high, so I reviewed our investments and considered selling some the gold and moving that money into an Index Fund to start earning a money dividend. But after having a sanity check conversation with my bestie Chris, we soon realised that Gold wasn’t at an all-time high and it might be best waiting a few more weeks. The stock market is pretty high and it is possible that due to the knock-on effects of the Corona Virus, it could severely affect the stock market. 

Here are some updated charts to show you what I mean.

The US stock market over 348 days was up 24.66%. Then in 9 days, it went down 15.84%
The UK stock market over 323 days was up 9.21%. Then in 42 days, it went down 15.99%
Gold over 354 days was up 31.87%. Then in 4 days, it went down 7.47%

If I had sold my gold when I consulted Chris and moved into an index fund, yes I would’ve made money from the gold capital gains, HOWEVER, if I moved that money into an index fund that day, I would’ve lost a hell of a lot of money. I asked him on Monday 24th February and the very next day the UK and US stock markets began to crash further.

Goal(s) For March & April

I don’t have any known huge expenses due to come out in April We have my sister-in-law and my brothers birthday but that’s all covered in my ‘Gift’ Sinking Fund.

Like I said earlier. Since we bought our new house in December 2019 it has been a VERY expensive few months, there are a lot of repairs and renovations, 70% we have budgeted for and 30% we haven’t. So every month we’re going to put 5% of our budget towards those extra repairs.

I have decided to give Wealthsimple a try and see what their investing platform is like. So I have allocated a small amount each month to see how much my money grows using them. I will let you know in May’s update on my first month’s progress.

I’m going to continue selling unwanted things on eBay and Facebook Marketplace, I have done quite well so far, I’m averaging at a guess, £50.00 per month. I’ll add an extra table or graph next month for where all my side hustle income comes from and then I can tally it up each month and see how much extra I have made over 12 months … is anyone interested in seeing it?

Previous Updates

February 2020 update

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