Part 222

Hello and welcome back to Mortgage Advisor on FIRE.  This week I discuss the reasons why we are working towards FIRE.  Also, some issues with the website, and the usual financial updates.

Site Update

I hope you have had a good week with little to no stress.  My week has been up and down with some good days, and some pretty frustrating incidents as well.  The main source of frustration has been this website, I’m sorry to say.  I’ve been trying to make some changes to the site and what I thought would be a relatively simple job, turned into hours of me staring at my computer uttering expletives.  

If you have tried to access my site during the week you may have experienced outages, or the layout of the site changing, or even the web address looking different.  I think the bulk of those issues are in the past now though, so I can hopefully start making some of the changes I have planned.

I want to go through my previous posts and tidy them up.  There are links in some of my earlier posts to other blogs, sites, and articles that are no longer valid.  I also want to tweak the appearance of some of my pages.  I tried changing to different themes with my site provider, but it didn’t go well.

One of the major issues I’m having relates to the plan I have with my site, and how much it costs.  I think it’s probably best that I provide a bit of context for those who are unfamiliar with running a website.  You have to find a company that will host your site; almost like the digital equivalent of finding a space in town for your shop or cafe.  These hosts will generally have a series of subscriptions for hosting your site; often there is a free version with limited features and storage space, and then increasingly expensive versions that come with extra features, support, and storage.  

Since I made the switch from my old host to my current one in 2021, I’ve been using one of the paid plans, but at the lower end of the spectrum.  I didn’t need anything more comprehensive back then, but as the site has grown and become more popular, I started to feel the need for some of those extra features, and some of that extra storage space.  As my current plan was coming to an end, I figured I’d upgrade a level.  It did not go smoothly.

I ended up spending hours trying to resolve simple issues with the site’s interface, and several features were just not working as they should.  The long and short of it was that I ended up cancelling the upgrade and upgrading again when I was offered a sizable discount.  

I need to think about the long-term future of the blog, however.  It takes time, and money, to run the site and that money could be used to push forward with FIRE.  I enjoy writing the blog, and I’ve made some great friends through it.  It would be a shame to close it down, but if it keeps getting more expensive to run and maintain the site, I might not have much option.

If you enjoy my blog there are things you can do to help promote the site, which in turn leads to more views, and more chance of the site becoming self-sufficient through advertising.  The biggest thing you can do is share the blog on social media.  Shares, for some reason, are the hardest thing to get.  Comments and likes are also great.  Other than that, if you have the means and willingness to help more directly, you can now make donations through the site without having to go through my BMAC page.  You can click on any of the payment buttons and donate.  

Weekly Update

I don’t have much else to report this week personally.  When I’ve not been working, or dealing with the technical issues already described, I’ve been playing with Poppy or helping Oana navigate various bureaucratic mazes.  I think it was Oscar Wilde who said, “The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.”  It can often feel that way in our society.  

We had a disappointing brunch at an independent cafe on Thursday.  We like to try new places, and this one looked very nice.  However, they got our order wrong (and orders on neighbouring tables) and the food itself was poor.  Oana loves Turkish Eggs and when she sees it on the menu, she will often go for it, in much the same way I can’t resist Huevos Rancheros.  Anyway, this place had Turkish Eggs but they were almost inedible.  There was no seasoning, no garlic, or smokey paprika.  This meal should pack a real depth of flavour, but this was a bowl of tinned chopped tomatoes, and some overdone eggs with a hard yolk.  Also, there was no bread whereas good Turkish Eggs will have some nice warm bread that you can use to mop up all the tomato, egg yolk, and yoghurt.  The breakfast waffles I had were equally poor.  We left around two-thirds of the food uneaten.  It wasn’t a cheap meal either; just under £30 for the two plates, a coffee, and an apple juice.  

The biggest and best news of the week is that Oana has agreed to let me buy some more Lego when we eventually have the money to do so.  I see this as a good news story.  Granted, we can’t get any just yet, but I can still dream!  Some room has been made in my home office and I have my eyes on several sets.  Unfortunately, the Rivendell set will not fit in the space we’ve made, but the Viking Village probably will.  I’m waiting for any offers or sales that might come up because Lego is expensive.  The thing about Lego is that you are not simply paying for the little pieces of plastic.  You are paying for the work that went into creating the sets.  I’ve tried designing my own Lego on the computer using the Studio software and it’s very difficult.  You have to have the right brain for it, and it’s just not something I’m strong at.  It’s a bit like the story with Picasso and the napkin, which might be apocryphal but still makes a valid point.  The story is that Picasso was asked to draw something on a napkin by a woman.  Before handing the napkin over, he asked for payment, and he wanted a large sum (a million Francs, IIRC).  The woman was shocked and claimed it only took him a few minutes to draw the piece.  Picasso replied, “It took me decades to draw this in just a few minutes.”

This brings me to a point about money and time, and why there are some jobs you probably should not attempt yourself.  A few years ago I tried to complete a simple repair to a dishwasher.  It did not go well and escalated from a minor job to a complete replacement of the appliance.  There’s a difference between learning how to do something and realising that the juice is just not worth the squeeze.  For example, let’s say that you have a door that needs replacing.  You could spend ages researching it, buying the right equipment, and then battling for hours trying to get the door aligned correctly.  Or, you could call a professional, pay a bit of money, and save your time; the most precious resource you have.

What Am I Doing?

TV: nothing

Audiobook: Nemesis by Jeremy Robinson.

Regular readers of the blog will probably know I’m a big Jeremy Robinson fan.  He’s written many great stories, and some really ambitious series of books, including the epic Infinite Timeline, The Chess Team series, and the Nemesis Saga which was my introduction to JR.  Nemesis is a sort-of-but-not-quite reboot of the Saga, in which a massive kaiju (Nemesis) causes all sorts of chaos.  There’s a TV show in development with Chad Stahelski (the director of the John Wick films) leading the effort.  

I do enjoy Jeremy Robinson’s writing and he’s also a great guy.  He interacts with his fans on social media and he’s one of my friends on Facebook.  If you are a fan of sci-fi, horror, action, and stories that ask some difficult philosophical questions I would recommend you check his work out.  The best place to start is probably Infinite, the first book in the Infinite series, or The Didymous Contingency (where two scientists travel back in time to meet Jesus) or Alter, a book unlike anything else I’ve read, where the main character is lost in the jungle and has to adapt to survive.

Financial Update

Assets

Premium Bonds: £13,150.00. 

Stocks and Shares ISA: £59,520.99. 

Fuck It Fund: £6,000.00.

Pensions: £69,936.28. 

Residential Property Value: £228,116.00. 

BTL Property Value: £147,203.00.

Total Assets: £523,926.27. 

Debts

Residential Mortgage: £173,839.73. 

BTL Mortgage: £104,918.52.

Total Debts: £278,758.25. 

Total Wealth: £245,168.02.

Investment Income in 2023: £624.38 (target £10,000).

Stock prices have been going a little crazy again this week and we’re in that lull between payday and the start of the following month when the mortgage payment is applied to our residential mortgage.  Then, it’s the usual timetable of different payments from investments dropping into my account.  We’ve now received our final rent payment on the BTL and our tenants will be moving out in a couple of weeks.  It will be good to get the property sold and to exit the market.  I just hope that we don’t have any issues with agents or solicitors on our side, or the side of the buyers.  

There are so many examples of businesses just not reading the room, so to speak, when it comes to how they treat customers and their employees.  I’ve spoken with several friends, family, and acquaintances recently who have all expressed similar dissatisfaction with their work-life balance, the daily grind and monotonous routine of “adulting”, and the lack of fulfilment they get from their work.  We’ve somehow arrived at a point, as a society, where the simple act of existing is exhausting and expensive.  

Back in the day, a typical middle-class family (huge generalisation alert) would be a couple, kids, and maybe a dog or cat.  There would be one income, with the other adult taking on the bulk of the household jobs.  This couple would be able to get by, and not have to stress too much about money.  Granted, stress is part of the human condition, but this family dynamic was relatively normal.

In 2024 you can have a couple earning “average” salaries, and they can barely afford to save anything, or afford luxuries.  Consumer debt is major drain on monthly salaries, which just exacerbates the problem; life is just too expensive.  More and more people, at least in my experience, are expressing frustration with the way we do things.  I’m also finding that FIRE, or just FI, is becoming a term that is starting to gain mainstream recognition.  When I started this blog, almost no one had heard of the term.  Now, there’s a good chance that someone I mention it to will have some familiarity with it.

I’ve said if before, but it is worth repeating; FIRE is not about money.  Money is simply the tool.  The point of FIRE is freedom, and time.  It’s about having the freedom and the time to do what matters to you personally.  I’m not one who believes in woo-woo spiritual bullshit, but I firmly believe that our current culture and society is bad for our mental health.  If we are struggling with our mental health, we put that same negativity out there in the world.  I’m not talking about karma or other mystical nonsense.  I’m talking about the little boost you get when the person making your coffee hands it to you with a smile, instead of a grunt.  Or infectious positivity that can spread organically when people are on the same wavelength striving for a shared goal.  It’s not something that can be forced.  It has to grow naturally.  Our whole way of life just doesn’t allow for this, and it’s why myself and many other FIRE enthusiasts want to get off this hamster wheel and start living life, rather than just going through the motions of “adulting”.

That’s all for this week.  If you enjoyed this post, please remember to like, comment, and share.  You can also subscribe to the mailing list.  Donations to the running costs of the site are also gratefully accepted.

Disclaimer

The views and opinions in this blog are my own, and do not represent the views or opinions of my employer, nor should they be considered advice.

If you want personalised financial advice, seek an appropriate professional.  If you are in financial difficulty, seek advice via the resources below:

StepChange

MoneyHelper

Biolink and other links

You can now find all my social media pages by checking out my Biolink:

bio.link/davidscothern.