Hello and welcome back to Mortgage Advisor on FIRE. This week, I discuss the moment of inspiration for FI, bike rides, more Lego, and the concept of time.
Weekly Update
Although I’m not working, I’ve still had a very busy week. On Monday, I went for brunch with a good friend, and it was cool catching up. He’s also following a FI plan, and we do enjoy a good chat about money.
It’s strange in our society that talking about money is often seen as taboo, or as something you don’t discuss in polite company. When you find people you trust, and you can talk about money openly and honestly, it’s liberating.
Lego
The first-ever official Lego Star Trek set was released on Friday. It’s the Enterprise-D from The Next Generation. Naturally, I had to buy it. As it was going to be a popular set, I had to think about how to actually get one in the first wave of sets released.
I joined the queue to visit the Lego website at 23:50 the night before. Yes, there was a queue to visit the site. I was allowed on and had the set-up on screen ready to add to the basket, as you couldn’t until the item was released at 00:00.
So, the clock strikes midnight, and my page refreshes and…. I’m back in the queue.
I wait to get back on, stressing that I’m going to miss out, but thankfully, I manage to order two of the sets and get three GWPs as well. Yes, I ordered the Enterprise twice; one to keep, and one to sell later down the line.
Job Updates
I’ve had a number of offers from mortgage brokers to go and work with them. I’ve finally settled on one, and I’m excited by the opportunity. It’s with a small, but growing, business, and I like their set-up and operating model.
There were two other opportunities I was close to formally accepting. One of them I rejected because I would have needed to set up my own limited company. The more I thought about it, the more I realised it was a path I didn’t want to start down. Setting up and running a limited company, even as an administrative exercise to contract out my services, was more work and effort for not much gain.
Another offer came from a small, family-owned business. I had two interviews, one with each of the two brothers who own the firm. The chats went well, and I made it clear I wanted to start in January. However, in their offer, they indicated they wanted me to start in December. I went back to them about the start date, but didn’t hear back before I received an offer from the business I spoke with some time ago and have since accepted.
Hopefully, it’s smooth sailing from here now and I can get stuck into a new role where I can help people secure the right mortgage and also earn some money.
Bike Rides
This week saw us complete two planned bike rides and two smaller ones for shopping duties. The first was out to Sainsbury’s at Wadsley Bridge, which is a fairly comfortable experience as there are cycle areas and lanes right from Kelham Island to the shop itself; however, riding the length of Penistone Road, albeit smooth, is deceivingly steep! Coming back was a joy, as it hardly required any effort or pedalling, which was a good thing as both of us were quite worn out with the efforts made to get there. It was still a good 10.5km, though, so we were quite pleased with it.
We made another small outing to our local Tesco at Infirmary Road, to pick up our quota of water bottles as our tap tastes awful, even with a filter, and somehow Tesco have now decided although it is ‘a health and safety risk’ to deliver multiple packs of 2L bottles of their own branded still water, if you deign to order alcohol of the same weight or more, they will be more than happy to oblige. So, the task now falls to us to physically carry these every few weeks, despite the ‘health and safety risk’ to ourselves, but, hey ho.
The first of our big rides was via the canal out to Rotherham and back, completing a total of 35km, with a stop at the retail park and Ikea on the way back to pick up some more supplies, namely tealights (because it is actually cheaper to heat our home this way, than pay for electricity – welcome to the UK in 2025). Me being me, I had to do the typical thing and injure myself on the way back from Rotherham.
Just as we were joining the canal in a particularly narrow bit of the path, I had to brush something off my shoulder but, as this meant I had to take one hand off the handle, it swayed my bike slightly, which then dislodged my phone holder off my handlebars so I tried to catch that, meaning my legs were a bit more spread out to balance myself, and, as I have already declared, being the idiot that I am, my top right thigh bumped into a bollard, causing me to yelp in pain and having to stop and untangle myself before I had yet another fall.
Let me point out that although Oana still has top dibs with her fall into the canal water in the summer, I’m not too far behind, given we’ve had a total of two big rides so far, and I’ve managed to sustain two injuries during that time. I feel like I need to keep up my record, but sadly, dear readers, you will be disappointed to know I failed to step up during our ride on Friday evening.
I was worried I wouldn’t be able to go due to my leg still being in a fair bit of pain, but I decided to brave it. We were both looking forward to the ride, as it was one of the monthly glow ones in a group called ‘Sheffield Critical Mass Cycle Rides’ (you can find them on Facebook), and it’s usually a fairly sizeable group, with big speakers latched behind some bikes, most bikes lit up in cool and weird ways, and people will sometimes bring their kids or dogs along, too. It’s never particularly strenuous, and it’s more for the atmosphere, plus cycling in the dark in a group is always good fun.
Two things pissed Oana and me off, though. First, the ridiculously late start time. The Facebook page advertises between 18:45-19:00. We didn’t set off until 19:40.
The second thing that annoyed us was that one of the women fetched her dogs, which she tied up inside pouches on both sides of her pannier rack, but it was evident the dogs weren’t comfortable, as she kept having to stop every few minutes to sort them out. The poor things kept trying to get out of their pouches, and she kept shouting at them. Someone said she kicked them, but I didn’t see this myself.
The fact is, although these rides are fun, it’s not really our scene. Other riders are smoking and drinking before and during the ride, and we don’t do either of those things.
We ended up leaving halfway, and accompanying two young women, who are students in Sheffield, out to Decathlon as they weren’t familiar with the city roads, which meant they could get to Ecclesall more easily, where they live. We will be going again, but perhaps have lower expectations and show up far later than we did this time. We would have stayed out and cycled together, just the two of us, for a bit longer, had it not been for the cold. All in all, we did a solid 12.8km though, so can’t complain.
We have another ride planned out to Sharrow Vale and Chelsea Park tomorrow, although we shall have to see how I fare as I have managed to twinge my back (not from a ride this time) and am in a fair amount of pain. I shall provide you with an update on my anticipated falls in the next blog.
Oh, one final point about the ride. To the person who decided to launch a drink out of their window onto the group as we went by your apartment, I hope your pillow is forever warm on both sides, and may your cuffs forever get wet when washing your hands.
What I’m Doing
Listening: The Art of Explanation by Ros Atkins.
Watching: Train Dreams (Netflix).
Reading: nothing at the moment.
Train Dreams is one of those rare cinematic experiences that lingers long after the credits fade. It’s a slow-burning, contemplative journey; quiet, yet emotionally resonant in a way that’s hard to fully articulate. The film doesn’t rush to explain itself; instead, it invites you to sit with its haunting beauty and absorb the melancholy woven through every frame.
Joel Edgerton delivers a remarkable performance, capturing the inner life of his character with subtle expressions and grounded realism. His portrayal is both restrained and deeply affecting, conveying a sense of yearning and loss that feels utterly authentic. It’s easily one of his standout roles. So much of his performance is communicated through facial expression and body language. It really is a fantastic performance.
The direction deserves equal praise. There’s a confidence in the pacing and storytelling that lets the audience breathe within the film’s world. The cinematography leans into the starkness of the landscape, creating imagery that feels both rugged and dreamlike. Every scene seems purposefully crafted to pull you deeper into its emotional undercurrent. You can pause the film at any point during the runtime, and the still image could be a work of art.
This isn’t a film for those seeking quick payoffs or fast-paced thrills. Instead, it’s a melancholic meditation on life, memory, and the quiet moments that define us. When the final scene gives way to the credits, you’re left staring at the screen, wondering what exactly you’ve just experienced, but knowing it meant something.
Train Dreams isn’t just a film you watch; it’s one you feel, it’s one you experience. And its echo stays with you.
This Week’s Hill To Die On
When you order something for delivery and specify a delivery date, having the delivery earlier than expected can be as frustrating as having it be late. I live in an apartment complex, and we don’t have secure post boxes for anything bigger than 20cm x 20cm x 20cm. If I order something that I know is going to be big, I will arrange delivery for a day I know I will be home. Delivering the package early and then getting salty that I’m not home isn’t a good look. Earlier isn’t always better, especially when the courier then takes the package to a drop-off point, meaning I have to trek halfway across the city to pick up the package.
Financial Update
Assets
Premium Bonds: £23,000.00.
Stocks and Shares ISA: £126,301.95.
Fuck It Fund: £1.60.
Pensions: £109,630.26.
Residential Property Value: £243,430.00.
Total Assets: £502,363.81.
Debts
Residential Mortgage: £174,874.05.
Total Debts: £174,874.05.
Total Wealth: £327,489.76.
The Ocean, the Cosmos, and the Moment Everything Changed
I watched a video about time on a YouTube channel I follow, and like all good science stuff, it’s been rattling around my brain as I try to make sense of it.
When you really consider time, you realise that it’s such a strange thing. We talk about it as if we understand it; seconds, hours, years, all neat and neatly measured. But measurement isn’t understanding. A clock counts movement. A calendar marks change. But time itself? That slips through our fingers like sand pouring through an hourglass.
And nowhere has that felt truer than the night I stood on a ship in the middle of the Norwegian Sea in 2019.
There was no land in sight. Just black water stretching into black sky, the horizon erased completely. I remember leaning over the rail, the cold air stinging my face, the engine’s hum the only reminder that I was still part of something human. And I thought:
What came before this moment? What comes after? Is time fluid, or a series of discrete units? And why does life feel like it’s happening to me rather than because of me?
I didn’t know it then, but that was my Big Bang.
Not a dramatic explosion but more like a silent shift in gravity.
A realisation that I could no longer keep living as if the future would magically sort itself out.
The Universe didn’t wait for permission to begin.
Cosmologists tell us that time started at the Big Bang. Not before it. At it.
No countdown. No “before”. No waiting for conditions to be perfect.
Something, from nothing.
Just a spark and suddenly, possibility.
The expansion of everything.
When I stared into that boundless ocean, I felt something similar. A kind of infinite potential hiding inside a single decision. It was almost as if I could feel the lightbulb flicker to life above my head. One word.
Start.
Start caring about money.
Start thinking about freedom.
Start taking mental health seriously.
Start shaping a life instead of enduring one.
At that moment, time changed for me. Not the clocks, but the direction of my life.
We measure time, but we can’t define it
Ask a physicist what time is, and they’ll tell you what time does. Not what it is.
Time allows change. Time prevents everything from happening at once. Time gives us a “before” and an “after”.
But like the Big Bang, some moments don’t have a “before.” Sometimes, the point where a timeline begins is simply the moment something matters.
That night at sea, I couldn’t see the shore behind me. I couldn’t see the journey ahead. But I knew something had shifted.
My universe had begun expanding.
Every step since has been cosmic.
Stars don’t appear fully formed. They begin as scattered dust; unremarkable, drifting, unnoticed. But slowly, gravity does its quiet work. Tiny particles cling together. A cloud becomes a cluster. A cluster becomes a core. Pressure builds invisibly over lifetimes, until one day fusion ignites. A star is born in a moment that looks sudden, but only because we didn’t see the years spent gathering strength. Progress hides in the dark right up until the instant it shines.
Something, from nothing.
Investing and working towards FIRE is like building a star. Those first investments are like the first clouds of gas coming together. Compound interest works like gravity pulling everything closer, until there is FIRE.
It turns out universes aren’t built in an instant. They grow slowly, then suddenly. Like stars, like investing.
They begin with a moment of clarity in the dark.
And the beautiful truth?
You don’t need to know how time works to make the time you have work for you.
The universe didn’t wait until it understood itself. It just expanded.
So if you’re standing there today looking at a job that drains you, a mortgage that traps you, a future that feels like it’s happening somewhere else, here’s what the cosmos would say:
You don’t need the perfect plan.
You don’t need a clear “before”.
You don’t even need confidence.
You just need a spark.
Start.
Let your universe expand. One choice. One investment. One breath of cold night air over a dark, endless sea.
Time will take it from there.
DISCLAIMER
The views and opinions in this blog are my own, and do not represent the views or opinions of my former, current, or future employers, 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:
Biolink
You can now find all my social media pages by checking out my Biolink:
bio.link/davidscothern.