Budgeting,  Investing

March 2020 Budget & Investment Portfolio Update. Stock Market Crash/Corona Virus Edition šŸ“‰

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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 didnā€™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 thatā€™s 2 tight months weā€™ve had so far, which if we didnā€™t prepare for events like weā€™ve experienced, we wouldā€™ve been shitting our pants. But thanks to our ā€˜safety cushionā€™ aka our Emergency Fund we havenā€™t been hugely affected. 


We stayed within all our budgets which has been great. Weā€™ve bearly eaten out as weā€™ve made some lovely meals at home. Weā€™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 Iā€™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 boyfriendā€™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. Weā€™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 didnā€™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, weā€™re both chuffed. BUT this is one major expense we hadnā€™t accounted for, luckily weā€™d been saving for a while for when the car did give up the ghost. 


Iā€™m looking forward to a ā€˜normalā€™ 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 (weā€™re 70% there) but due to all the unforeseen expenses stated above, we had to put that goal on hold. Weā€™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





Money allocationReturns last monthReturns in 2020
Cryptocurrency74.07%-33.90%-33.90%
Real Estate – Property Partner1.58%0.09%2.18%
Real Estate – Private Rentals21.54%-6.47%-6.47%
Precious Metals2.82%2.01%2.01%



DebtPaid back this monthPaid back in 2020
Mortgage0.18% 0.63%
Credit Cards4.41% 21.26%
House Loan1.00% 1.73%
Loans2.26% 6.52%





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 wasnā€™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 šŸ™ 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, Ā£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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