For the last few years I have set a goal to read/listen to two new books each week (104 per year). I love Audible and since discovering this service I have been able to enjoy many more books that I thought possible. My eyesight is ok, but I have a lot of floaters in my vision, and trying to focus on a page for extended periods of time can trigger headaches. However, I also love the act of reading a physical book. It’s not just about the text you are reading, but the feel of the book in your hands and the spell of the paper itself.
Last year I didn’t quite hit my target of finishing 104 new books. I made it to 83, which I think is still a respectable number. So far in 2021 I am up to 27 books. Here is the list of what I have completed so far.
Leap of Destiny: Not Alone Series – Book 5 by Craig Falconer (audible).*****
Revelations: Not Alone Series – Book 6 by Craig Falconer (audible).*****
A Promised Land by Barack Obama (audible).*****
Elephants on Acid by Alex Boese (audible).**
Electrified Sheep by Alex Boese (audible).**
Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse (audible).**
The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek (audible).***
The Remaining: Book 1 of The Remaining Series by DJ Molles (audible).*
The Asshole Survival Guide by Robert I. Sutton (audible).***
The Luck Factor by Richard Wiseman (audible).***
My Sh*t Therapist by Michelle Thomas (audible).*****
The List by Siobhan Vivian (audible).*
Of Ants and Dinosaurs by Cixin Liu (audible).*****
The Supernova Era by Cixin Liu (audible).***
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (audible).****
A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger (audible).***
Paranormality by Richard Wiseman (audible).****
The Lying Room by Nicci French (book).****
The Pig That Wants to be Eaten by Julian Baggini (audible).***
Rip It Up by Richard Wiseman (audible).***
What If? by Randall Munroe (book).*****
Practice Perfect by Doug Lemov (audible).**
The Perfect Wife by JP Delaney (book).**
Tribe of Mentors by Timothy Ferris (audible).***
The Awakening: Not Alone Series – Book 7 by Craig Falconer (audible).****
Weaponised Lies by Daniel Leviton (book).****
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (book).*****
Now, it is time for some graphs and charts, because… well… why not?
Mean rating of 3.37 so far.
The highlights for 2021 so far have included, My Sh*t Therapist and the Not Alone series. The real low points have been The Remaining and The List. The star of the year so far though, is The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, someone who I’ve become a fan of in recent years. Matt comes from Sheffield, which automatically gives him an advantage over other authors, but what I love about his work is his unflinching, honest and refreshing take on mental health. Matt is a vocal advocate of mental health awareness, being someone who has struggled with severe depression and anxiety. As someone who has also struggled with his mental health, it’s easy for me to spot those authors who write about it from their own experiences when compared to those who have researched it from an outside perspective. I look forward to Matt Haig’s next book.
My Sh*t Therapist was also great, again because I identified with so much of it. The treatment of mental health is a sore subject for many people, and I’ve written before about how ineffectual I have found talking therapies. The most effective help I’ve had has been from reading, not just self-help books but also fiction. I think it reflects on the year that I’ve had that the two best books of the year have been heavily influenced by the discussion around mental health. In The Midnight Library we follow a young woman who has attempted suicide, only to find herself living countless variations of her life. The ideas of parallel universes and repeating one’s life are fascinating. In some ways, it is reminiscent of Replay by Ken Grimwood which also deals with repeating one’s life over and over.
For all the excellent books I’ve read this year, there have been some real disasters as well. The Remaining was so bad that within minutes of finishing the audio book, I could not remember the characters or the plot. It was a waste of time and that’s perhaps the most damning criticism I can give. Normally, even the most badly written books can provide at least one positive, but not this book. It was unoriginal and dull.
Another book I gave one star to was The List. This is partly my fault as I only skimmed the blurb but I was expecting some kind of psychological exploration into high school life. Instead, it was just another by-the-numbers, cliche high school drama. I was bored throughout and none of the characters were interesting enough to be memorable. It was a real effort to push through and finish the book and several times I nearly gave up.
At the moment I am enjoying two books; The Chain by Adrian McKinty and the next book in the Not Alone series on Audible. The former has an interesting and disturbing premise in which the protagonist’s child is abducted and will only be released if she abducts another child. The person who has abducted her child has likewise had their own child abducted and they will only be released once our main character abducts another. Hence, the chain. I’m about a third of the way through it and, whilst I find the writing a little strange at times with unusual turns of phrase standing out against the rest of the prose, the premise is strong enough to keep me engaged.
The Not Alone series is just insane but I’m enjoying it because it’s comfortable. Listening to it is like being reunited with old friends. It’s a nice contrast to some of the more serious books I’ve been reading. For those unfamiliar with the series, it follows a young man called Dan McCarthy who stumbles across proof that the US government is hiding contact with an alien civilization. The series has a sprawling ensemble of characters and the narrator gives a unique voice to each of them. Although the series starts in the US, it ventures across the whole planet and provides a global perspective rather than being Amerocentric.
Hello and welcome back to Mortgage Advisor on FIRE. This week I discuss the collapse of Football Index and look ahead to my second BTL purchase.
Quote of the Week
A few years ago, when I was still gambling, I came across Football Index. This was a betting company dressed up as a stock exchange which traded shares in footballers. Dividends were paid out for player performance and mentions in the media. It sounded like an interesting concept and a different way of gambling. You could either buy shares from the index itself or from other traders. For a while it was a fairly big deal. I couldn’t work out where the money was coming from though. Football Index would take a cut from each trade as their commission, but there seemed to be a lot of dividends paid and although I did not have all the financial information, something just seemed a little off.
As I was interested in this new approach to gambling, I decided to test the waters and made a small deposit. I did some trading here and there, and it was remarkably easy to make money. Where was this money coming from though? When I buy shares, my money goes to the person selling them. A small commission is taken by the Index. However, the numbers did not seem to add up, especially for those who adopted a buy and hold strategy, where they kept players long-term for their dividend income.
I was lucky in that I only ever had a small amount in the Index and when I became even more certain that something was not quite right with it, I pulled my money out.
The Index is fundamentally different to the stock market, although it liked to make comparisons between the two. With the stock market, the market itself does not buy and sell shares in itself. The market is a collection of other businesses. However, in this case Football Index was trading assets it created out of nothing. The Index did not own real shares in players; it owned imaginary shares in players. There was no underlying value here and the Index only held value because people believed it held value.
Like I said earlier, for a time the Index was a big deal and sponsored the shirts of football clubs such as Nottingham Forest and Q.P.R. Following the collapse of Football Index, both clubs have removed the branding from their shirts. Some people were throwing huge sums of money into the Index. In an article on the BBC News site, there are examples of people losing thousands of pounds. A quick trawl through Twitter gives examples of people having portfolios running into six-figures being wiped out.
Why did Football Index fail?
In March the company changed the rules over dividend payments, which changed the cap on payments from 33p per share to 6p per share. This meant that each share a person held in a player had its earning potential slashed, and this lower earning potential hammered the perceived valuation of each share. People started pulling money out of the Index, and the money just dried up. I doubt that the business failed due to this alone. It may be that the business model was unsustainable long-term and that the changing of dividends accelerated the process. I’m sure there is much more to come from this story in the weeks and months ahead, with the only certainty being that a lot of people will lose a lot of money.
Weekly Update
I’ve been struggling with my sleep which has resulted in the past week being a bit of a blur. Between mental exhaustion, lots of coffee and a good amount of painkillers for my ankle, I’m not quite sure where the week has gone. Until we are out of this pandemic there is not much to say about anything. Life is just a constant cycle of work and sleep.
The one item of news that it’s impossible to ignore is the death of Prince Philip. I’m in no way a Royalist and I would love for this country to become a republic, but that does mean I greet this death with any celebration. There are some people out there posting some cringeworthy responses to this death, and it just lacks class. I wasn’t a fan of Philip and there are countless instances in the public record of his dumb behaviour, racist comments and dated gender attitudes. The back-to-back coverage from the BBC following his death is absurd. The BBC has a dedicated news channel, so I don’t see the need to switch all of their channels to coverage of this story. This is not like the days when we had four TV channels. In fact, many people do not watch live TV and instead watch shows via streaming services.
One thing I don’t understand is how people suddenly change their attitudes towards someone who is deceased. The fact that someone has died does not change what they did in life. If someone was a racist, misogynist and elitist snob in life, the fact that they died does not clean the slate.
On the subject of death, we have received our cat’s ashes back following his individual cremation. Sweep’s remains are in a small wooden box with his name engraved on the top. We plan to keep his ashes rather than spreading them anywhere. Sweep was happiest when he was with us, and so with us is where he shall remain. I miss him so much, and still instinctively look for him when I enter a room.
2021 Goals – to be achieved by 31/12/2021
1 – Reduce weight to 92.8kg. (Current weight 120.5kg).
2 – Finish 104 new books. (Current total: 24).
3 – Complete RO3 for my DipFA. (In progress).
4 – Complete RO4 for my DipFA. (Not started).
5 – Complete RO5 for my DipFA. (Not started).
6 – Complete RO6 for my DipFA. (Not started).
I am disappointed that my weight has increased. The fact I’ve hardly been able to walk, and the fact that I comfort eat when stressed means that I’m not surprised, just frustrated. I’ve managed to finish two more books since the last update, and I’ve nearly finished another as I write this. My studies are very much at a standstill. I know I need to get back to them, but I just can’t find the motivation right now.
Financial Update
Assets
Premium Bonds: £325.00 (up £25.00 from last update).
Stocks and Shares ISA: £22,468.33 (up £576.59 from last update).
Fuck It Fund: £150.00 (no change from last update).
Crypto: £339.83 (up £16.11 from last update).
Residential Property Value: £194,909.00 (no change from last update).
Buy-to-Let Property Value: £125,775.00 (no change from last update).
Total Assets: £343,967.16 (up £617.70 from last update).
Debts
Credit Card: £280.64 (up £40.24 from last update).
Residential Mortgage: £140,308.18 (no change from last update).
Buy-to-Let Mortgage: £93,145.49 (no change from last update).
Total Debts: £233,734.51 (up £40.24 from last update).
Total Wealth: £110,232.65 (up £577.46 from last update).
Investment Income in 2021: £215.24 (target £5,000).
My credit card is taking a little punishment as this has been an unexpectedly expensive month. I have cashed in my holding in one of the funds I have in my ISA. This will free up cash to pay off my credit card and to pay off another expense that has arisen. I will have approximately £1,000 left over from the £2,000 that the sale of my holding releases. I will reinvest the remaining funds once the sale clears.
I’ve started looking at possible properties for our second BTL purchase. Our first property cost £124,500, but with Stamp Duty, repair work and other associated fees it has cost us more like £133,000. We don’t plan on buying in the same price bracket, but we can’t drop too low as the rental return decreases drastically when you drop below a certain price point.
By the time of the next post we should have received another rental payment. Also, we should have updated valuations on the BTL and my residence which might open up the possibility of pulling equity out of the properties. This all depends on the valuations increasing, which is by no means certain.
For the last few months I have not been investing as much as I would have liked, as I’ve been supporting my girlfriend who has been out of work. I don’t mind doing this, and I’m not complaining. I only mention this as she may have secured a new job which means I will be able to ramp up my investments moving forward. I really hope she gets the job as I know how frustrating it can be to be out of work, especially in a pandemic where you have to spend most of your time at home.
Please show your support
I spend several hours each week writing this blog and make it freely available to all readers. I do not hide my content behind a paywall. However, maintaining a website incurs costs. If you can afford a small donation, it would be gratefully accepted. Click on the Buy Me A Coffee image to be taken to my supporter page. You can either make a one off donation, or sign up to a monthly subscription. If you can’t make a donation, please share my blog on your social media.
My Instagram is @david_scothern and my Twitter is @advisoronfire. You can also email me at mortgageadvisoronfire@gmail.com.
You can still see Sweep’s Instagram @sweep_the_kelham_island_cat.
Finally, have a look at Darren Scothern’s fantastic blog at darrenscothern.com.
I love memes, much to the frustration of my girlfriend. I will often show her memes and she will simply reply, “you’re dumb” but with a smile on her face. I wouldn’t go as far as to say I’m obsessed with memes, but I do look forward to Tuesday so that I can look at the latest edition of Tolkien Tuesday on Memebase.
Although I look at memes primarily for amusement, they can also be used to convey ideas quickly. In the age of scrolling, people don’t like to read long articles unless it is something they are passionate about. Instead, people like to get quick hits of amusement. It’s fascinating how language develops over time. Centuries ago people would communicate through pictures, which then evolved to written language, but now with the proliferation of emojis it could be argued we are seeing a rapid change to a hybrid style of communication mixing up alphanumeric characters with pictures or gifs. This does not even take into account the feature of “stories” which are a major part of many social media platforms.
So, back to the focus of this post. I want to share a few finance related memes.
The first major lesson I learned when I started my FIRE journey was the need to pay yourself first. To someone who is new to financial education this can be a difficult mindset to adapt to. Paying yourself first is exactly what it sounds like; when you get money the first thing you do is invest some. Then, whatever is left over is what you have to survive on. Obviously, there has to be a reality check. The average person is not going to be able to invest 90% of their salary. However, by paying yourself first it is possible for someone on an average UK salary to invest more than 10% of their salary. Paying yourself first means that you have to learn to budget effectively. If you approach investing from the opposing perspective, you will probably find that your money has a way of being spent on other things. This is why I’m not a fan of waiting until the end of your pay cycle and investing what is left. Money that is not managed tends to disappear. Granted, I earn above the UK average salary, but I managed to invest more than half my salary each month. This is possible because I pay myself first and budget how to spend the rest of my money. I’m not living a miserable, frugal existence. I don’t have kids or a car which are two huge expenses. If I had kids or a car, it would be very difficult to pay myself first. I’m not attacking those people who choose to have children, but unless you are earning a very good wage, you are not likely to achieve FIRE with children much earlier than a normal retirement age.
Some basic research online shows that there are many people who lack an emergency fund to cover an unexpected bill, such as a car repair or replacement of a fridge, for example. Often, these people will turn to credit cards. However, if the person lacked an emergency fund, paying on credit card is just kicking the can down the street. If you can’t pay an unexpected bill, then you may very well struggle to pay the credit card bill when it comes in. This compounds negatively against you and could be the start of a financial crisis.
If you have more money going out than you have coming in, then you are in an unsustainable situation and you should seek help from StepChange or the Citizens Advice Bureau. For some people this is just a stark reality and there is literally no more cloth that can be cut. There are other people who spend more than they have coming in purely because they are awful at budgeting. Some warning signs are when people say things like, “it’s only money” or if you see they have multiple credit cards in their wallet or purse. These people need to sit down and have an honest review of their finances. There is a fantastic book, The Richest Man in Babylon, which goes into the basics of budgeting. Although it is set in the distant past, the lessons taught in the book are timeless.
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This is something that frustrates a lot of people, but there is seemingly no sign of it changing. I get why schools teach the fundamentals of science, maths, language and so on. There is just not enough attention given to how the adult/real world works. In school you are largely sheltered from the brutal, relentless nature of our society. It is one bill after another, and one demand on your time after another. The systems that govern banking, utilities, taxes and tenancy agreements (to name just a few) are a complete mystery to many kids as they leave school. If I was the sort of person who believed in conspiracy theories, it would almost appear as though the system was designed to keep the lower social classes in their place whilst protecting those in the higher, ruling classes. I’ve stated a few times that money is a game, and if you do not learn the rules you will continue to lose at the game of money.
Think back to your childhood to times when money was discussed. Was it discussed openly and without reservation, or a sense of shame or embarrassment? Over the last few years I have spoken to a lot of people about their experiences with money and the stories told are largely the same, in that money was not an acceptable topic of conversation. It is almost like a form of societal indoctrination, in the same way that employers tell workers not to discuss salaries with each other. It’s simple divide and conquer; hammer the point home repeatedly that money is not a suitable, appropriate subject of discussion and eventually people will be conditioned to believe that. Then, those who come from poverty, or the working class, will be deterred from learning the rules of the game which would allow them to climb the socio-economic ladder.
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Another lesson I learned early in my financial education was that you should not use your money to buy luxuries. Instead, you invest your money so that your money works for you. In simple terms, your money makes more money. This return on your money can then be used to buy your luxuries. Let’s look at it another way with an example.
You have a mortgage of £50,000, on which you pay £800 per month. You can afford your mortgage payments without too much of a struggle, but you are eager to pay the mortgage off as soon as you can. You come into some money, say £100,000, from an inheritance. Your first thought is to pay your mortgage off. However, if you do that you will have spent £50,000 that you are not going to get back. Granted, you no longer have to pay your mortgage which saves you £800 per month. If you were to put that £100,000 into a low cost, passive investment returning 5% (a pretty conservative estimate as of today), your £100,000 would earn you £5,000 a year. You could use these proceeds to help pay your mortgage off faster, and when the mortgage is paid off you have preserved your capital. The £5,000 you are earning from the investment from this point on can be used to buy luxuries such as holidays, or a new car, or you can reinvest the income and let it compound over time.
The key to financial independence is building a foundation where your money is making enough money for you to live on. You don’t achieve this by cashing in your investments or depleting your capital reserves. The key is to invest your money so that it works for you. Each pound invested is like a seed that you have planted, which over time will grow into a virtual money tree.
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Supporting Mortgage Advisor on FIRE and Buy Me A Coffee
If you like my content, please consider supporting my writing. I spend several hours each week writing this blog and make it freely available to all readers. I do not hide my content behind a paywall. However, maintaining a website incurs costs. If you can afford a small donation, it would be gratefully accepted. Click on the Buy Me A Coffee image, or use the donate buttons on this site.
Gaining readers is the hardest thing for any blogger to achieve. I enjoy writing this each week and if you are enjoying this content, please take a moment to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Whatsapp or any other social media. Shares are the ultimate sign of success for any blogger. If you have any feedback, comments or questions whether positive or negative, please leave a comment below. If you would like to make a donation to support the running costs of this blog, please use the donation button on the home page.
My Instagram is @david_scothern and my Twitter is @advisoronfire. You can also email me at mortgageadvisoronfire@gmail.com.
You can still see Sweep’s Instagram @sweep_the_kelham_island_cat.
Finally, have a look at Darren Scothern’s blog at darrenscothern.com.
Hello and welcome back to Mortgage Advisor on FIRE. This week I look at the crisis engulfing John Lewis, and retail in general. I also highlight a local musician who has just released his first single. Also, the usual financial updates. First, the Quote of the Week.
Quote of the Week
Retail is ever changing and businesses that stand still, end up going under. The biggest news in retail recently has been the announcement that John Lewis will be closing more stores, or more precisely not reopening stores following the nationwide lockdown to combat Covid-19. One of the stores permanently closing is in my home city, Sheffield. It has, to put it mildly, not gone down too well with the locals.
A few years ago, on a different site, I wrote a blog about the future of John Lewis. At the time, I predicted that John Lewis would disappear from the high street in five-to-ten years. I stand by that prediction. The whole culture and identity of the business seems muddled and confused.
Going back a couple of decades, John Lewis was seen as a prestigious brand that catered to the middle and upper class. They sold quality and offered great service. The partnership had a culture and an identity. However, with the internet becoming an increasing part of daily life and a major competitor to the high street, John Lewis struggled to adapt.
There is one thing that the high street simply cannot compete with internet retailers on; price. The overheads for having an online store are a fraction of what it costs to run a physical store and the associated warehouses. This allows the online retailers to undercut the bricks and mortar shops. Trying to engage in a price war in this way will only lead to decreasing profits. Those decreases lead to management reviews, which ultimately lead to store closures and job losses. This is so backward in thinking that it makes my head hurt.
The Sheffield branch of John Lewis was in dire need of refurbishment.
When I wrote my other blog about John Lewis a few years ago, I proposed a strategy to help them compete once more. The thing is, I don’t think any senior management team would have the courage to try it. My strategy was to forget about competing on price. It also required John Lewis to stop trying to cater to all aspects of society. A business that has a long history of being prestigious should not be trying to compete with businesses that are appealing to a different socio-economic demographic. Go back to core values of the business; good quality, a smaller, but more selective customer base, and excellent service in store.
One of the problems I’ve experienced with John Lewis over the past few years has been absolutely appalling service. Also, there have been a number of times I’ve gone into a store to spend hundreds of pounds on a new television, laptop, or coffee machine. Each time I have left empty handed and spent my money online. The situation plays out in predictable fashion. I’ll use the example of last time I tried to buy a TV from John Lewis.
I went into the store and up to the TV section. The store had at least twenty TVs on display with many of them being slight variations on another model on display. There were no staff visible. After a good ten minutes or so waiting for someone to become available, I ask some basic questions about a few of the models. The staff did not know the answers, as they had been asked to cover the department from another area. Eventually, I find the model number and look the answers up online. I decide on a model I want. I wait more time to get another member of staff’s attention. They discover the TV is not in stock, but I can order online and have it delivered in a few days. I ask about another model. Same story. I leave empty handed and order from Amazon and have the TV delivered the next day.
If you can’t compete on price, you have to compete on service. You have to offer the customer an experience that blows them away. Also, and this might seem like such an obvious point, you have to have the stock for the customer to buy. There is no point having a few dozen items on display if you don’t have room for any stock. Have a smaller range, and make sure you have enough stock of all the items advertised for sale.
My approach for John Lewis would see the available range of products, particularly in the electrical range, being cut back. I would ensure more available stock of each item. Also, I would do the opposite of what many struggling businesses do and hire more staff. I would then make sure those staff had the training to be experts in their field. In retail, if you want to make money, you have to have an item in stock and you have to have someone to complete the transaction for the customer. If you have a shop with no stock, and no staff available to take the payments, then it should come as no surprise that you are making no money.
I feel for the staff that are losing their jobs in retail. Working in that sector is thankless, and extremely stressful. There are some great people who have lost their jobs because of utter incompetence at the higher levels of management. The high street has been decimated with Debenhams, Top Shop and John Lewis (for example) all being hammered because they failed to evolve with the times.
Online shopping is here to stay. It is just so much more convenient. The only businesses that will thrive with a physical presence are those that offer a distinct, unique, expert service in person. Those businesses will need to make going to store an experience.
Weekly Update
I’ve done my ankle again. A few days ago I developed intense pain in my left ankle and shin. It’s severe enough that I wince each time I put weight on that leg. It’s not quite as bad as the problems I had in late 2019 and early 2020, but it’s still painful enough to keep me at home and off my feet as much as possible. I’m convinced that a major part of this is due to me being overweight. I was doing a fair amount of walking and that has probably contributed to this injury. Now, I’m stuck in a position where I’m pissed off but unable to release that stress through physical activity. This is the worst position I can be in, as ultimately I end up comfort eating. It’s a horrible cycle to be stuck in.
Midnight Cartel
A few days ago a friend contacted me to share his debut single which he has been working on with a pair of fellow artists under the group name Midnight Cartel. The single is called Feels Like and my friend explained that during lockdown, the three of them came together to create something upbeat that could be the anthem for people reuniting as we emerge from this pandemic. Although not my typical style of music, I did find myself tapping away to the song and it is very much something that you’ll find yourself humming to yourself later on. Click on the song’s cover art below to have a listen.
I now have a working espresso machine but I’ve had to move it into our spare bedroom which doubles as my office. My girlfriend works in medical translating and interpreting, where she takes part in real-time telephone conversations translating the patient and medical practitioner so that each person can understand the other. It’s intense work and requires a lot of concentration. The only place she can do this work is in our open plan living room and kitchen. The last thing she needs is my espresso machine rumbling away in the background. The fact I now have coffee available all the time is both a positive and negative. I can get coffee without leaving my desk, but it also means I don’t have to leave my desk to get coffee. If you understand, you’ll understand.
On the subject of coffee, I have started receiving a few donations on Buymeacoffee.com. This is great as it helps with the running costs of the site. If donations increase, I may be able to open up new features on the site making it more interactive. I don’t get paid for writing this blog; it’s done in my own free time and the costs of maintaining a blog like this are not cheap. Any donation no matter how small would be appreciated.
Caramel
Why is caramel so hard to make? I can make a caramel for a crumble in my sleep. I tried a slightly different variation for an apple tarte tatin and the caramel crystallized. I tried again with the same result. Attempt three split. Attempt four, which saw me go back to the recipe I know also split. So, I was left with almost a kilo of peeled, cored and quartered apple and some rolled out pastry. I really wanted a tarte tatin as well.
2021 Goals – to be achieved by 31/12/2021
1 – Reduce weight to 92.8kg. (Current weight 118.9kg).
2 – Finish 104 new books. (Current total: 22).
3 – Complete RO3 for my DipFA. (In progress).
4 – Complete RO4 for my DipFA. (Not started).
5 – Complete RO5 for my DipFA. (Not started).
6 – Complete RO6 for my DipFA. (Not started).
I’ve made progress on my reading goal. I read a brilliant book called What If?, which looked at a host of bizarre scientific questions. One example was how high can a human throw an object with the height measured in giraffes. It was completely insane but also very interesting. It helped me look at some scientific problems in a new light and also explained a few concepts that I was not familiar with. For anyone interested in science I would definitely recommend this book.
My DipFA studies are at a standstill. I don’t have the mental energy to start again just yet. The loss of Sweep still stings and I just don’t feel ready. There is so much going on at the moment and I only have so much mental resource. In the past I’ve likened this feeling to the brain being a computer with too many tabs open. Everything runs slowly and you can only resolve the problem by restarting the machine with fewer tabs on the go. Trying to study right now would be like trying to open a new tab on a browser that is frozen.
Financial Update
Assets
Premium Bonds: £300.00 (up £25.00 from last update).
Stocks and Shares ISA: £21,891.74 (up £281.21 from last update).
Fuck It Fund: £150.00 (up £50.00 from last update).
Crypto: £323.72 (up £74.05 from last update).
Residential Property Value: £194,909.00 (no change from last update).
Buy-to-Let Property Value: £125,775.00 (no change from last update).
Total Assets: £343,349.46 (up £430.26 from last update).
Debts
Credit Card: £240.60 (down £9.07 from last update).
Residential Mortgage: £140,308.18 (down £357.31 from last update).
Buy-to-Let Mortgage: £93,145.49 (down £18.01 from last update).
Total Debts: £233,694.27 (down £384.39 from last update).
Total Wealth: £109,655.19 (up £814.65 from last update).
Investment Income in 2021: £215.24 (target £5,000).
My finances are steadily moving in the right direction, but I really want to clear my credit card in full. I had to spend on it to pay for Sweep’s vet bill and cremation, and I also had to buy more coffee for my espresso machine. I should have it paid up when I next get paid.
In the next week or two I should have the next valuations through for my two properties. I’m hopeful they have increased but I’m fearing a decrease. The valuation of the properties is not just about ego, but if they have increased in value I may be able to release funds to put towards more BTLs. The whole investment model depends on releasing equity to put towards new property. The faster this happens, the faster I reach FIRE.
I was thinking about how soon my wealth will reach £200,000. It was not until week 64 that I passed £100,000. I started this blog with £53,840, so I accumulated roughly £720 wealth per week. Hopefully, I will reach £200,000 before 100 weeks have passed, but that is not based on anything other than 100 weeks being a milestone of sorts.
Supporting Mortgage Advisor on FIRE and Buy Me A Coffee
If you like my content, please consider supporting my writing. I spend several hours each week writing this blog and make it freely available to all readers. I do not hide my content behind a paywall. However, maintaining a website incurs costs. If you can afford a small donation, it would be gratefully accepted. Click on the Buy Me A Coffee image, or use the donate buttons on this site.
Gaining readers is the hardest thing for any blogger to achieve. I enjoy writing this each week and if you are enjoying this content, please take a moment to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Whatsapp or any other social media. Shares are the ultimate sign of success for any blogger. If you have any feedback, comments or questions whether positive or negative, please leave a comment below. If you would like to make a donation to support the running costs of this blog, please use the donation button on the home page.
My Instagram is @david_scothern and my Twitter is @advisoronfire. You can also email me at mortgageadvisoronfire@gmail.com.
You can still see Sweep’s Instagram @sweep_the_kelham_island_cat.
Finally, have a look at Darren Scothern’s blog at darrenscothern.com.
Hello and welcome back to Mortgage Advisor on FIRE. This week I pay tribute to Sweep, my elderly cat, my best friend, who passed away this week.
Quote of the Week
I don’t even know where to start, so I’m just going to type and see where this goes. I have a rough idea of what I want to say but it feels like words are inadequate to express the loss I feel.
Sweep was already an old cat when we first met him. Estimates of his exact age varied, but we suspected he was approximately 16-years-old on 09/12/18 when we adopted him. We later discovered he would have been 15 at this point. My girlfriend wanted to get a cat as a surprise for me, but the cat was literally let out of the bag early. We travelled to Chesterfield to see Sweep and fill out the paperwork for us to adopt him from Cat Protection. We had a trip to Romania planned, so we arranged to pick Sweep up on our return two weeks later.
The car journey home with Sweep was great. He let out a few meows but was fairly calm. We brought him to our apartment and let him out to explore. He wandered around both bedrooms, and both bathrooms sniffing at everything. He ventured into the kitchen and living room, taking his time to map out his new home. Within just a few hours he was sleeping in my girlfriend’s lap.
Sweep had the best temperament of any animal I’ve known. He was so relaxed and chilled out. He was affectionate and loving. It took him a little bit of time to warm up to me, and the first time he sat in my lap I was smiling so hard my face hurt.
We had said that we would let Sweep have free reign of the apartment, but that we would not let him on the bed. The first night when we went to sleep, we heard an unusual wheezing sound. We turned on the reading lamp and he was curled up next to the bed snoring away. We grinned for ages as we just stared at this amazing cat we had already fallen madly in love with. Within a few nights the rule about the bed was forgotten about and Sweep would sleep on the bed with us, either curled up at the bottom, or on one of our pillows above our head.
I could write an entire book about Sweep, but for now I’m just going to focus on a few things to give you an insight into his personality.
Sweep and the balcony
He loved to sit out in the sun on our balcony. We have a top floor apartment overlooking a river, with plenty of ducks, kingfishers and a few herons. Sweep could not jump, so there was no concern about him escaping the balcony. He would sit on one of the chairs and just watch the world go by. In the spring and summer months, I would wake up and find him sprawled in the sun, or sitting on a plant. It was the best way to start the day and it was impossible to not look at him and smile.
Coming Home for Lunch
Before the pandemic I was based in an office not far from home. From locking my front door to sitting at my dest, it was a fifteen-minute walk. For my lunch I would come home to spend time with my best bud. He would be meowing at the door as he heard it unlock, and then I’d feed him and we would lie down together. He would spend the next few minutes rubbing his face against mine, or licking my head. Then, I would have to say goodbye for a couple of hours until I finished for the day.
Sweep and Brownie
In our living room we have an L-shaped sofa and a cuddler chair. I sprawl out in the cuddler, my girlfriend takes the horizontal side of the sofa and Sweep owned the section that sticks out. It was where his toys, cushions and blankets were kept. Sweep did not like normal cat beds and instead preferred to sleep on blankets, covers, jumpers or his favourite teddy bear, Brownie.
Brownie was originally something my girlfriend bought for her own use, as it’s actually a hot water bottle with a soft cover in the shape of a sloth. When the hot water bottle was filled, Sweep would happily spread out across and just snooze for hours at a time.
Christmas
When we put the Christmas tree up, Sweep loved to pose next to it. I think he knew how photogenic he was. He would step up the unit the tree rested on and then sit next to it, or find a way of crawling underneath it to rest.
For Christmas in 2019, I spent time alone with Sweep as my girlfriend was visiting her family. During that time we really bonded. I couldn’t sleep in the bed as Sweep was wondering where his Mommy was and he was really restless walking between the living room and bedroom meowing. So, I did the only sane thing and slept on the sofa next to him.
Sweep and his toys
Sweep loved his soft teddy bears and we made sure he always had plenty of friends to sit with, or snooze with. Like everything he did, seeing Sweep curled up with these toys just brought an instant smile to your face.
Sweep and I
I have had the worst twelve months of my life. A lot has happened and regular readers will have seen how my mental health has really suffered over the last year. Throughout all of that, Sweep was a rock for me. His love and affection was unconditional. The times I would lie down with him, or just sit with him, and he would come and give me little headbutts or rub his face against mine, he was letting me know he was there. My girlfriend often said he would purr just at the sight of me, but it was a two way street. Just the sight of my best bud made me instantly happier.
Towards the end of 2020, Sweep started to get very bloated. We had known for some time he was suffering with heart failure, and he was on medication for it. The vets did not know for sure whether the bloating was fluid collecting due to the heart failure or if it was a tumour. The tests needed to get a firm diagnosis would have been invasive and stressful for him, and neither us nor the vet thought it would be a good move to investigate further. As the vet stated, even if we knew for certain what the issue was, there was nothing we could do to cure him. It was just a case of making his remaining time as happy as possible.
We thought we were going to lose Sweep just before Christmas 2020, but the medication he was taking helped him and he seemed to make a little recovery as we entered 2021. However, in the last few weeks he started to deteriorate rapidly. He got much, much bigger. Towards the end of the previous week we noticed he was not able to defecate, and I suspected his bloating was blocking his intestines. We took him to the vet where they performed an enema and sent us home with stronger laxatives (he had been taking a mild one for some time already). That was on Monday morning. Sweep was eating normally throughout and would normally go in his litter box once a day, more or less like clockwork. Monday afternoon, Tuesday and Wednesday morning came and went and he only managed a tiny pellet. He was visibly struggling to move. He would have to walk across the living room in a couple of stages, stopping to rest part way. For the last week or so, he did not venture into the bedroom and he spent almost all of his time in his blankets on the sofa. His whole demeanor changed. It was time.
Prior to all of this, just over a week ago, I had been lying on the bed and Sweep came to join me. I was on my right side with my right arm stretched out. Sweep rested his face on my outstretched arm and snuggled into me. I used my left arm to wrap around his body and we dozed for around an hour. It felt like a goodbye. It was like we were both trying to soak up the love we had for each other; like we wanted to hold on to that feeling; that connection, so that when he passed we would both have something to cling to. More than anything, I want to go back to that moment.
My girlfriend took this photo of us snoozing together. I knew at this point, that the end was near.
We arranged to go to the vet on Thursday at 16:00 to put Sweep to sleep. That night we slept in the living room with him, so that he would not spend his last night alone. For lunch, we made his favourite; cod fish fingers. We would cook them in the oven and then remove all the breadcrumbs before flaking up the fish and serving it to him. He would always know when the fish was being cooked and would stand behind us in the kitchen as we prepared the cod. We would keep turning around and he would meow loudly to tell us to hurry up with the fish. That afternoon, I could hardly cut the fish up because I was shaking so much. I could barely see anything as I was crying so hard. I managed to prepare the meal for him, and we served him on his spot on the sofa.
At the vet, we held on to Sweep’s head as the injection took hold. We felt his body go limp as he peacefully fell asleep. We told him how much we loved him and it is some comfort that he passed away peacefully, with the last thing he saw and heard being the two people who loved him more than anything.
Sweep was not just a cat, or a pet. He was family. He was my best friend. He was a constant source of love, affection and comfort. He would make me laugh and smile. The hole he has left behind is huge. There is no love more pure than that between an animal and a person. I want to be the person that Sweep thought I was. That is perhaps the best way to honour his memory and to thank him for all the strength he gave me.
I miss you, bud.
A painting I commissioned from artist Laura Slade as a birthday present for my girlfriend.
Weekly Update
2021 Goals – to be achieved by 31/12/2021
1 – Reduce weight to 92.8kg. (Current weight 118.9kg).
2 – Finish 104 new books. (Current total: 19).
3 – Complete RO3 for my DipFA. (In progress).
4 – Complete RO4 for my DipFA. (Not started).
5 – Complete RO5 for my DipFA. (Not started).
6 – Complete RO6 for my DipFA. (Not started).
Financial Update
Assets
Premium Bonds: £275.00 (no change from last update).
Stocks and Shares ISA: £21,610.53 (up £468.11 from last update).
Fuck It Fund: £100.00 (no change from last update).
Crypto: £249.67 (down £28.28 from last update).
Residential Property Value: £194,909.00 (no change from last update).
Buy-to-Let Property Value: £125,775.00 (no change from last update).
Total Assets: £342,919.20 (up £439.83 from last update).
Debts
Credit Card: £249.67 (up £249.67 from last update).
Residential Mortgage: £140,665.49 (no change from last update).
Buy-to-Let Mortgage: £93,163.50 (no change from last update).
Total Debts: £234,078.66 (up £249.67 from last update).
Total Wealth: £108,840.54 (up £190.16 from last update).
Investment Income in 2021: £215.24 (target £5,000).
We finally received our first payment of rent from the BTL, although it was not a full month’s rent as part of the rent was held by the agent for some minor repair work.
We are getting increasingly frustrated with the agent as every time we deal with them, it’s a different person and there appears to be no internal communication between the different people working at the agency.
At the start of the week I was contacted by a new person at the agency who explained there is a damp issue that has been reported by the tenant. I asked if this was the same issue that was reported some time ago, that we are in the process of dealing with. He didn’t know. It turns out to be a new issue, but it’s taken several phone calls and emails just to get to this point. I got a little bit annoyed and explained that I took the agents on because I wanted to be hands off. However, since employing this agency I feel I have done more work than if I had managed the property myself because most of the work has been correcting their mistakes and clearing up their confusion because of their own internal mix ups.
As soon as we have resolved the remaining bits of repair work we will be switching agents. They have been utterly and completely clueless.
Thank you for reading this week and I hope you have gained an insight into my friend, Sweep.
Supporting Mortgage Advisor on FIRE and Buy Me A Coffee
If you like my content, please consider supporting my writing. I spend several hours each week writing this blog and make it freely available to all readers. I do not hide my content behind a paywall. However, maintaining a website incurs costs. If you can afford a small donation, it would be gratefully accepted. Click on the Buy Me A Coffee image, or use the donate buttons on this site.
Gaining readers is the hardest thing for any blogger to achieve. I enjoy writing this each week and if you are enjoying this content, please take a moment to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Whatsapp or any other social media. Shares are the ultimate sign of success for any blogger. If you have any feedback, comments or questions whether positive or negative, please leave a comment below. If you would like to make a donation to support the running costs of this blog, please use the donation button on the home page.
My Instagram is @david_scothern and my Twitter is @advisoronfire. You can also email me at mortgageadvisoronfire@gmail.com.
You can still see Sweep’s Instagram @sweep_the_kelham_island_cat.
Finally, have a look at Darren Scothern’s blog at darrenscothern.com.
Hello and welcome back to Mortgage Advisor on FIRE A shortened version of the blog this week as I have not been feeling great following my first Covid vaccination.
Quote of the Week
It’s been a while since I talked about the definition of FIRE. Financial independence is all about having enough income from assets you own or control so that you do not have to exchange your time for money. There are different levels of FIRE, and many different names given to them such, as financial freedom, financial stability, financial opulence, Lean FIRE, Fat FIRE and several more.
The first step for anyone wanting to be financially independent is to achieve financial security, or Lean FIRE. The generally accepted definition of Lean FIRE or financial security is that your basic living costs are covered by income from your assets. The income will pay for all the basic costs of living but no more than that. The reality is that most people in this situation will probably still have to work to pay for luxuries. Achieving Lean FIRE means that even if you leave your job, you still have all your basic expenses covered. My Lean FIRE number is around £1,000pcm.
For me, Lean FIRE is not the end game but rather the first milestone on my journey. Ultimately, I want financial freedom. This means I can do what I want, when I want, within realistic restrictions. My current standard of living is a good basis for comparison with little debt, and the ability to go on several holidays a year. If I could maintain this standard of living purely from income from assets, I would be delighted. My Fat FIRE number is £1,500-£2,000pcm. The more income I achieve, the more holidays I can take.
When I hit the figure for Lean FIRE, or even Fat FIRE, it does not mean that I will definitely give up paid work. It means that I will have the choice about whether to work. It means I will have the power to say no to any work I don’t want to do. That’s what financial freedom is; it’s not the freedom to buy whatever you want. It’s the freedom to spend your time how you want.
Weekly Update
I had my first dose of the vaccine this week, the AstraZeneca version. The organisation at the Sheffield Arena was fantastic and the way that this vaccine roll out has been handled should be a source of national pride. However, it does not balance the scales with respect to all the incompetence and dodgy dealings from the Tory government that have led to the needless deaths of thousands of people.
After having my vaccine I felt fine until about half an hour after. Then I started feeling a little cold and developed a mild headache. I spent the afternoon relaxing but then at around 10pm I started shivering and shaking pretty violently. I was shaking so bad that I could not hold on to anything like my phone or a strip of paracetamol. My whole body was just out of control and I think I pulled a muscle in my back. I was having cold sweats and feeling dizzy and faint. In many ways it was like a migraine but without the skull crushing headache. Another unusual side effect was that my whole body was tingling a little bit like pins and needles but not exactly. Also, all my skin is sore. Anything that touches me, even my clothes, is slightly irritating. It’s all very strange.
Despite all this, I am grateful to have received the vaccine. These are just temporary side effects, and many vaccines have side effects. I was not sure whether to mention these side effects because I do not want to put anyone off having the vaccine. However, I thought it important to make people aware that these side effects are to be expected and that they will only last a short time.
2021 Goals – to be achieved by 31/12/2021
1 – Reduce weight to 92.8kg.
2 – Finish 104 new books.
3 – Complete RO3 for my DipFA.
4 – Complete RO4 for my DipFA.
5 – Complete RO5 for my DipFA.
6 – Complete RO6 for my DipFA.
I have finished The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, the sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale. It was a good story and well written, but it just seemed to lack something that stopped it from being a great book. I’m not sure what that missing piece is, but it does feel like a little something was lacking.
I’ve moved my exam back a week for RO3 because I’ve not kept up with the revision schedule. This is in large part due to how I’ve felt with the vaccine. It cost me a few days of study so I felt it wise to give myself some breathing space.
The Owlstalk weight loss challenge is still ongoing and you can donate here:
Premium Bonds: £275.00 (up £125.00 from last update).
Stocks and Shares ISA: £21,142.42 (up £9.19 from last update).
Fuck It Fund: £100.00 (up £60.00 from last update).
Crypto: £277.95 (up £157.48 from last update).
Residential Property Value: £194,909.00 (no change from last update).
Buy-to-Let Property Value: £125,775.00 (no change from last update).
Total Assets: £342,479.37 (up £351.67 from last update).
Debts
Credit Card: £0.00 (no change from last update).
Residential Mortgage: £140,665.49 (no change from last update).
Buy-to-Let Mortgage: £93,163.50 (no change from last update).
Total Debts: £233,828.99 (no change from last update).
Total Wealth: £108,650.38 (up £351.67 from last update).
Investment Income in 2021: £4.14 (target £5,000).
Not a huge amount of change this week with the stock market being pretty stagnant. My monthly subscription into my ISA will not take place for another two weeks, with my mortgages being paid around the same time. The biggest development is that I should be seeing my first instalment of rent from my BTL early next week.
That’s all for this week. Apologies for the shortness of the post this week. The next post will be back to normal.
Supporting Mortgage Advisor on FIRE and Buy Me A Coffee
If you like my content, please consider supporting my writing. I spend several hours each week writing this blog and make it freely available to all readers. I do not hide my content behind a paywall. However, maintaining a website incurs costs. If you can afford a small donation, it would be gratefully accepted. Click on the Buy Me A Coffee image, or use the donate buttons on this site.
Gaining readers is the hardest thing for any blogger to achieve. I enjoy writing this each week and if you are enjoying this content, please take a moment to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Whatsapp or any other social media. Shares are the ultimate sign of success for any blogger. If you have any feedback, comments or questions whether positive or negative, please leave a comment below. If you would like to make a donation to support the running costs of this blog, please use the donation button on the home page.
My Instagram is @david_scothern and my Twitter is @advisoronfire. You can also email me at mortgageadvisoronfire@gmail.com.
Also, please check out my cat’s Instagram @sweep_the_kelham_island_cat
Finally, have a look at Darren Scothern’s blog at darrenscothern.com.
When I started this blog the intention was to have a purely financial focus. I wanted to write about my journey from being an employee of a large corporation to someone who was financially independent. I came to realise that the “what” and the “how” were not the only factors here. The “why” was also important.
As my blog evolved I have written more frequently about my mental health. Regular readers will know that back in 2020 I had something of a mental breakdown. I don’t want to go into the specifics of what triggered this; think of it as a lot of separate things with one specific event being the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The point is that my “why” is my mental health. That is the point I’ve come to realise in the last year. For a long time I had dealt with stress, anxiety and depression through a series of coping mechanisms whether that was getting engrossed in computer games, books, exercise or gambling. I have a tendency to throw myself into projects and then get burned out as they become less an outlet for relaxation and more an obsession, or in the case of gambling, an addiction.
On March 15th I celebrated 600 days since I placed my last bet. This is the longest I have gone without gambling since I first placed a bet in 2007. It’s a good feeling. I am still angry at myself for how much money I wasted in those years, but I console myself in the knowledge that it could have been much, much worse. I did not get into serious debt to fund my gambling, and I came out the other side with a better understanding of the industry and the futility of the act of gambling.
My struggles and experiences over the years have been hidden from the world through other coping mechanisms, with one typical example being my general sarcastic attitude. I tend to use humour as a defence mechanism or when I’m nervous.
There is a term I have recently become aware of in respect of mental health; masking. This is where a person hides their true feelings behind a mask of other feelings they are essentially faking. We all do this from time to time; for example pretending to be happy with a gift that is utter rubbish, or pretending to like your co-worker. The thing that differentiates this type of masking, to the type of masking that I’m going to talk about, is that pretending to be happy with a gift you don’t like is a fairly easy thing to do. You don’t have to pretend for long, and it does not cause a lot of mental strain. The same applies to pretending to like a co-worker you see for a few minutes at the office each day. It might cause some stress, but it is infrequent and you can remove yourself from the situation quite easily. Masking mental health is an entirely different animal though.
I first came across the term masking in regards to autism and the ways that autistic people mask their symptoms. Autism is a developmental disorder, although the exact definition is the subject of heated debate. There is also a lack of consensus over the causes and accepted symptoms of autism. There is a quote regarding autism, that if “you meet one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.” This quote explains that every autistic person is different, with a unique combination of symptoms. I have learned a lot about autism this past year.
Some of you will know that my father was diagnosed as autistic a few months ago. This came after a long period where he knew he was autistic but just needed the official diagnosis. We both suspect that there have been other instances of autism further up the family tree.
When I had my breakdown last year, it was suggested that I might be autistic. I have looked back over my life and armed with more knowledge about the symptoms and effects of autism, I think this could be a possibility. I am waiting for a formal assessment, but although this was requested a few months ago, the waiting list still has a few more months to run.
For a long time I have masked thoughts, feelings and behaviours. I’ve never felt fully at ease with myself in social situations. Many people I’ve developed a relationship with, be it romantic, platonic or professional have said something along the lines of “you’re actually pretty sound” or “I thought you were an asshole”. Some still think I’m an asshole, but that’s ok; I know I am at times. The point is, I don’t make a good first impression. I often look angry, but that is just my face. I also have bad eyesight and have to furrow my brow to concentrate on what I’m looking at. I have been told this makes me look like an eagle.
One of these is a majestic being, beloved by many and the other is an eagle cuddly toy.
In recent months I have been thinking a lot about my school years, in particular secondary school and sixth form. For a while, I thought I was happy. I had a large group of friends and had a succession of girlfriends. I was playing regularly for the school football team and competing in the school athletics team. I always felt like the outsider on the inside of my friendship group though. I used to put this down to the fact that all my friends lived on one side of the city, and I lived on the other side. They had all known each other for a long time before, having come from the same group of primary schools, whereas I had come from a different school. It was around this time that I started to notice the first signs of my declining mental health.
I did the expected thing and went to university where I was removed from my familiar surroundings and established friends and support networks. It did not go well. I lasted a few weeks into the second year before dropping out. I just could not cope mentally. It was a bad idea to go to university at that time. I just was not mentally right for it. I came home, and got a job working for Natwest who were unbelievably shit. I lasted about six months before getting a job with Norwich Union Healthcare who were great. I really enjoyed my time working there. It was a good office and an interesting job. The people were great and although I left in 2007 I am still in touch with a few people from the office. The company treated me well and it was a tough decision to leave the job and go back to university, but I felt like I needed to finish what I had started.
My mental health was mostly fine at UCLan. I did very well with my studies and made some great friends. I met my girlfriend there and thirteen years later we are still together. In October 2009 I had a mini mental health crisis. I hid it from almost everyone but I was a complete wreck. I do not know how I managed to drag myself through it, but I did. I worked my ass off and completed my dissertation, for which I was awarded a first. This is one of my proudest achievements.
Looking back, I should have stayed on and completed a masters but at the time I felt like I needed a break from studying. Hindsight is great but ultimately unhelpful. I finally settled on my current employer in 2011 and they have been extremely supportive regarding my physical and mental health problems. It’s almost as if my body was an older iPhone model that Apple decided to stop supporting. One problem after another has hit me since I turned 30. I came to realise that there was no way I could continue working in a typical workplace until my 60s. It just could not happen.
As my physical and mental health has deteriorated and my medical history started to resemble a sixty-year-old’s (an actual quote from one of my doctors) I believed that there must be something linking all these problems. The chances of an otherwise fit and healthy man in his thirties coming down with so many different and unrelated problems was extremely unlikely. When I started looking into autism in more detail, I realised that autism is associated with a vast range of other health problems. Establishing a causal relationship is often difficult but simply having something that links many of my health problems has taken a weight off my mind.
Conditions Comorbid to Autism
– Anxiety ✅
– Depression ✅
– IBS ✅
– Sleep disorders ✅
– Tinnitus ✅
– Vitamin deficiencies ✅
– Joint pain ✅
There are also theories around other health conditions being linked to autism, such as thyroid and neuroimmune problems, both of which I experience.
Maybe I am autistic. Maybe I’m not. I personally believe I will be diagnosed as autistic when I eventually have my assessment. The people close to me that I’ve discussed this with also believe I am autistic. It doesn’t bother me. I’m not beating myself up about the possibility of being autistic. If anything, it will be something of a relief to have an answer as to why I feel the way I do. It will help answer why I have always felt like an outsider and why I’ve often felt a sense of unreality or detachment about life.
I need to get to FIRE as soon as possible. I honestly believe that my health depends on it. The stress I feel at having to work a “normal” job is not sustainable. It’s difficult to explain just how mentally exhausting masking can be, but now I realise that is what I’ve been doing for most of my life. This probably explains why I have so many headaches and migraines.
Some of this may come across as a “first world problem” with some people thinking autism is a new, trendy thing. It’s not. Autism has been around for a long time and the way autistic people have been treated is horrific. Just look up how Nazi Germany treated autistics, for example.
I’m not in any danger of suicide, despite my nihilistic approach to life. Many autistics are at risk though, and many do succumb to the struggle of living in a neurotypical world that is fundamentally designed against autistics.
As a people we need to realise that a one-size-fits-all approach to life is not helpful to anyone. At the same time, the practicalities of existing in an interconnected society mean some standardisation is necessary. The key is to find a balance that supports neurotypical and neurodiverse people.
So I’m not really sure how to wrap this up. This post, or something like it, has been on my mind for a while. I didn’t know whether it was something I should make public or not, but there is so much misinformation and misunderstanding out there about autism. Although there are many factors that prompted me to write this, a major part of my decision to post this was the disgusting behaviour of Sia, and the film she made called Music. I’m not going to talk much about it, because everything that needs to be said has been by people much more eloquent and informed than I. I will just say two things; the film is hated by almost everyone I’ve spoken with who has real life experience with autism. The second point is that the movie has 8% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time I write this.
If I am autistic, and I suspect I probably am, it does not change who I am. It does help explain my past though, and that explanation helps inform my future.
Thanks for reading this extra post and in the next part of Mortgage Advisor on FIRE I will talk about the numbers involved in the different levels of financial independence.
If you have enjoyed this post, or others from Mortgage Advisor on FIRE, please consider supporting the site by clicking on the Buy Me A Coffee links and making a small donation towards the running costs of the site.
Hello and welcome back to Mortgage Advisor on F.I.R.E. This week I will be talking about suicide and suicidal thoughts, in addition to male on female violence. The following content may not be suitable for all readers.
Quote of the Week
There has been a lot of talk recently about suicide, in the wake of the interview with Meghan Markle. As always when suicide is discussed by celebrities you get the same ignorant comments from people, such as, “what do they have to feel depressed about?” This is a dangerous and ignorant line of thought.
Suicide is not just the end result of someone feeling a bit down. It is complicated and sensitive in nature, and even if you think someone might be lying about having suicidal thoughts it does not do anyone any good for you to voice the opinion that you think they are lying.
Let’s assume that you bump into a colleague at work at the vending machine. You are talking about the Meghan Markle interview and your colleague comments on how Meghan had talked about suicidal thoughts. You respond with a scoff and state your opinion that she was just lying for attention. Your colleague gets their drink and walks back to their desk. You did not know that your colleague was suffering with severe depression and suicidal thoughts. That evening, they take their own life.
The situation could have played out differently. Your colleague could have commented on the suicidal thoughts Meghan had mentioned, and you could have responded with something like, “it just goes to show that anyone can be struggling.” Later that night, your colleague reaches out to you and opens up about their depression and suicidal thoughts.
Basically, if you don’t have something supportive to say about suicide, it’s probably best not to say anything at all. You never know who is struggling with their own thoughts, and if you talk about how you think someone is just making up things for attention, you are declaring to the world that you are not receptive to people talking about their mental health.
I know, and have known, several people who have spoken with me in confidence about their suicidal thoughts. I think it’s probably more common than most people realise. Many of these people have stated the only thing keeping them from acting out their thoughts is a feeling of connection or obligation to the people they know and care about. You might be the reason someone is alive, just by being you. Don’t be an asshole and say things like “suicide is wrong” or “suicide is selfish”. If someone gets to that point, they are in a state of crisis and they need to know that you will not judge them. Be supportive. Be kind. You never know what is going on inside another person’s mind.
Weekly Update
It’s been one of those weeks which seems to have both dragged and flashed past at the same time. I’ve also spent most of the week with a headache and neckache. I have absolutely no complaints about the way my health has been handled by my employer; they have been fantastic. The thing is, I’m finding it harder and harder to get through the days of work. I think part of this is due to my own mental health and also just the fact that I’ve been doing this job for a decade. I need something to change and I’m hoping that my DipFA studies will open up some doors for me until I achieve FIRE.
The news about Sarah Everard is tragic and horrific, and if it turns out that a police officer is responsible for her death it could cause a huge amount of social unrest.
Male on female violence is a problem, as is misogyny in general. Yes, there are other forms of violence and men can be victims too, but that’s not the point here. Just like Black Lives Matter does not state anywhere that other lives do not matter, just because we acknowledge that male on female violence is a problem it does not mean other forms of violence are irrelevant.
There was a post online a while ago, where the question was asked of women, “what would you do if men had a 9pm curfew?” The answers should be a source of shame for men everywhere. The link to the story on BBC is below, but a quick google search will bring the story up on other sites too:
The hashtag “curfewformen” has been trending recently and although I get the sentiment, I don’t think it’s a helpful suggestion. Assuming for a moment that all men had to stick to a curfew, what about the military, police, doctors, firefighters and so on? Well, you could say there would be an exception for police officers. However, the lead suspect in the murder of Sarah Everard was a police officer. The solution to a social wrong cannot be another social wrong.
I have some ideas about how to make the world safer for women, but unfortunately none of the ideas are flashy or exciting. There needs to be more street lighting. There needs to be better public transport. There needs to be more police on the streets. Also, I would install panic stations throughout our towns and cities. The idea is that anyone can go to one of these stations and push a button, and bright lights would light up the area, CCTV would cover the station from several angles and it would immediately connect the person through to a security office.
In an ideal world, no one would have to think about how to contact the emergency services discreetly but we don’t live in an ideal world. I’ve placed a link below to the Apple support pages which show how you can secretly call the emergency services. I would suggest if you have an iPhone that you review that information. If you have another make of smartphone, research the equivalent settings.
Also, there is an app that I’ve seen people recommend, although I have not tested it out. The app is called Hollieguard and it is designed to alert chosen contacts if you are in danger. I would suggest researching this app, or equivalent ones.
2021 Goals – to be achieved by 31/12/2021
1 – Reduce weight to 92.8kg.
2 – Finish 104 new books.
3 – Complete RO3 for my DipFA.
4 – Complete RO4 for my DipFA.
5 – Complete RO5 for my DipFA.
6 – Complete RO6 for my DipFA.
I finished book fourteen of my reading challenge this week, which was The Supernova Era by Cixin Liu. I’m a big fan of Liu’s work, but this was his weakest book. I was not surprised to learn it was one of his earlier works either. The premise is that a nearby star goes supernova and the resulting radiation kills all adults on Earth. It is left to the children to rebuild. The book started well, but I felt it lost its way around the halfway point. There were plot threads introduced and then seemingly forgotten about. It was a confusing book and, if I’m being really harsh, read like it was written by children.
Financial Update
Assets
Premium Bonds: £150.00 (no change from last update).
Stocks and Shares ISA: £21,133.23 (up £679.29 from last update).
Fuck It Fund: £40.00 (down £60.00 from last update).
Crypto: £120.47 (up £10.30 from last update).
Residential Property Value: £194,909.00 (no change from last update).
Buy-to-Let Property Value: £125,775.00 (no change from last update).
Total Assets: £342,127.70 (up £629.59 from last update).
Debts
Credit Card: £0.00 (no change from last update).
Residential Mortgage: £140,665.49 (no change from last update).
Buy-to-Let Mortgage: £93,163.50 (no change from last update).
Total Debts: £233,828.99 (no change from last update).
Total Wealth: £108,298.71 (up £629.59 from last update).
Investment Income in 2021: £4.14 (target £5,000).
A few points to note this week in that my ISA increased in value, as did my crypto balance. I had to use some of my Fuck It Fund to avoid putting a balance on my credit card. With my partner not having a regular income, and with various expenses relating to the BTL cropping up, it has been difficult to accurately budget. This has meant I’ve had to dip into my reserves more than I would have liked. Hopefully this situation will stabilise now that the BTL has a tenant and the initial set of costs have been covered.
I have also signed up for a SIPP (Self Invested Personal Pension). This is a way of me thinking ahead to when I eventually leave my employer. When that happens I will transfer my pension to this SIPP so that I can manage the underlying investments myself. I will also invest a little into the pension each month, as another strand to my eventual financial independence. As this is a very long-term investment, I will not be counting it as part of the regular financial update.
Supporting Mortgage Advisor on FIRE and Buy Me A Coffee
If you like my content, please consider supporting my writing. I spend several hours each week writing this blog and make it freely available to all readers. I do not hide my content behind a paywall. However, maintaining a website incurs costs. If you can afford a small donation, it would be gratefully accepted. Click on the Buy Me A Coffee image, or use the donate buttons on this site.
Gaining readers is the hardest thing for any blogger to achieve. I enjoy writing this each week and if you are enjoying this content, please take a moment to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Whatsapp or any other social media. Shares are the ultimate sign of success for any blogger. If you have any feedback, comments or questions whether positive or negative, please leave a comment below. If you would like to make a donation to support the running costs of this blog, please use the donation button on the home page.
My Instagram is @david_scothern and my Twitter is @advisoronfire. You can also email me at mortgageadvisoronfire@gmail.com.
Also, please check out my cat’s Instagram @sweep_the_kelham_island_cat
Finally, have a look at Darren Scothern’s blog at darrenscothern.com.
Hello and welcome back to Mortgage Advisor on F.I.R.E. This week I vent a little as I discuss poor customer service with a related update regarding my BTL that is extremely frustrating. Also, news on a group weight loss challenge for charity.
Quote of the Week
I have had my fill of dealing with awful customer service. In recent weeks I have had terrible experiences with E.ON, John Lewis, Nespresso, Trading212, Lewis Wadsworth (now Linley and Simpson) and my old bank account provider. I now dread each interaction with a business because I expect it to go wrong. The thing is, it should not be as hard as it is.
E.ON have been absolutely awful. Our electric meter is in a communal room on the ground floor of our apartment block. We are on the top floor. This means that the distance between our apartment and the meter room is too great for a smart meter display to work. Our traditional meter was broken over a year ago and we have not been able to get a replacement. Each time an appointment is arranged from E.ON, they manage to get it wrong. We tried for a fourth time, a few weeks ago, to arrange a new meter installation. I explained that access had to be arranged through our management company and that there was no parking, and so the engineer would need to park down the street and walk a couple of hundred meters. I was told that the engineer would not need access to the property itself and would just swap the meter over in the meter room.
The appointment comes around and the engineer knocks on our door asking to use our bathroom. I refuse. We made a decision to not let anyone in our apartment unless absolutely necessary. It sucks when you need a bathroom, but everything about this pandemic sucks. The engineer then said he needed to come in anyway to test our sockets. I explained we were told this would not be necessary. The engineer refused to complete the work without carrying out this step. As such, the appointment did not go ahead.
Calling E.ON is a stressful experience at the best of times. Wait times are insanely long and then when I do get through, the department I need to speak to is not working. I am frequently promised callbacks which do not happen. Then, out of the blue I receive emails and text messages apologising for appointments not going ahead on dates I did not arrange. From top to bottom, they seem set up to frustrate customers.
Something else that really makes me angry about customer service is how when you call a company, you can guarantee they will have a series of recorded messages telling you that you can find answers to common questions on their website. You would have to have been living under a rock for years to not try looking on the company website first before calling. If you are calling, it is precisely because you could not find your answer. I don’t think businesses realise how much this attitude damages their brand. Customers do not want to hear thirty minutes of recorded messages saying you can find answers online. It’s even more frustrating when you go on their website as a result of that message, have a live chat and are then told you have to call up to deal with that query.
None of this compares to the experience I have had dealing with my old bank account provider though. They are utterly and completely incompetent. I have been lied to and had my calls terminated because their agents did not want to deal with my complaint, which was that funds had been sent to my old account. Every person I spoke with told me a different story about what needed to happen to get the money. It took one agent over an hour to register my complaint, which was then logged incorrectly. It has so far taken over four hours on the phone and I am no closer to a resolution. Compared to my current bank provider, Starling, it is like night and day.
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Weekly Update
Now that I am back working full time hours, I feel that there is little to update people on. Life is just a simple routine of work, eat and sleep with a (un)healthy amount of TV watching in between. I have been binging a show called This Is Us on Amazon Prime which is really good. It’s a family drama taking place across different times with a non-linear style. The cast is great and the script is fantastic. It is also a show that deals with addiction and mental illness in a realistic way, with no punches pulled.
For over a decade I have been a member of Owlstalk, a Sheffield Wednesday forum, and a group of us have decided to lose weight to raise money for Sheffield Hospitals Charity. We have a Just Giving page (link below) and have, at time of writing, raised over £100 in less than a day. We are hoping to lose at least 100kg between us over the next ten weeks. If you have any spare cash, please consider a donation to our cause.
There was one funny incident this week when I had a cold call from a UK number, but when I answered it was clear the caller was based somewhere in India. The man was very pleasant but completely oblivious. See the image below for an overview of what happened.
2021 Goals – to be achieved by 31/12/2021
1 – Reduce weight to 92.8kg.
2 – Finish 104 new books.
3 – Complete RO3 for my DipFA.
4 – Complete RO4 for my DipFA.
5 – Complete RO5 for my DipFA.
6 – Complete RO6 for my DipFA.
I have not made any real progress with the weight loss, but I hope that this charity fundraising and the fact I am accountable to others will help motivate me going forward.
My reading list is up to thirteen new books for 2021. The latest book was Of Ants and Dinosaurs by Cixin Liu. I have read a few of Liu’s books now and he is a fantastic author. His imagination is incredible and the Three Body Problem trilogy is one of the finest sci-fi works of all time. Of Ants and Dinosaurs was completely, utterly, batshit crazy but I loved it. The book tells the story of the evolution of rivalling dinosaur and ant civilisations on Earth millions of years ago. I can’t say more than that without spoiling it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
RO3 is almost finished, or at least the first run through the textbook is. As much as Liu’s book was enjoyable, RO3 is dull. My exam is booked in towards the end of the month so I am pretty much on track.
Financial Update
Assets
Premium Bonds: £150.00 (no change from last update).
Stocks and Shares ISA: £20,453.94 (up £474.42 from last update).
Fuck It Fund: £100.00 (up £10.00 from last update).
Crypto: £110.17 (up £32.09 from last update).
Residential Property Value: £194,909.00 (no change from last update).
Buy-to-Let Property Value: £125,775.00 (no change from last update).
Total Assets: £341,498.11 (up £516.51 from last update).
Debts
Credit Card: £0.00 (no change from last update).
Residential Mortgage: £140,665.49 (down £361.00 from last update).
Buy-to-Let Mortgage: £93,163.50 (down £35.57 from last update).
Total Debts: £233,828.99 (down £396.57 from last update).
Total Wealth: £107,669.12 (up £913.08 from last update).
Investment Income in 2021: £4.14 (target £5,000).
It’s always a nice feeling when the assets go up and the debts come down. My ISA has stabilised above £20,000 for the first time since I started this project. The next milestone is to get my total wealth to £200,000. If property values increase over the next few months, this will help in pushing me forward but ultimately the figure for wealth is hypothetical as it depends on someone actually buying the property for that amount.
BTL Update
I have been getting increasingly frustrated with our letting agent, Lewis Wadsworth, this past week. Every time they have contacted us to request money for a repair or a fee for letting, we have paid them promptly. However, it seems that each time we interact with their accounts team a different person is involved. There has been some confusion over what charges still need to be paid, and some disagreement over what we have already paid. So, I went to them with a simple request; provide a full breakdown of all charges and payments since we signed them up as agents. Somehow, they have managed to get this request wrong four times. You can only ask the same question so many times, getting a different response each time, before you start doubting your own sanity. The way their accounts team have handled the payments is just bizarre. An example; assume you are asked for £100 and then a few days later £200. You pay £100 and then £200. However, they allocate the £100 payment to the £200 invoice and the £200 payment to the £100 invoice. Then, you have one person saying you owe £100 and another person saying you have paid £100 too much. This is the sort of crap we are having to deal with. It is extremely annoying when you are paying an agent to manage the property, and you feel like you are having to manage the agent instead.
We are still in dispute with the agent about the current financial position and we have not received any rent yet, as they are claiming there are outstanding invoices that the first rental payment will be retained to cover. It is not that I have an issue with paying what needs to be paid, but rather I have an issue with confused and contradictory communications from the agent. I have this tendency to assume that other people have a basic level of competence when it comes to doing their job. I think this is why I am so often disappointed with the service I receive.
Supporting Mortgage Advisor on FIRE and Buy Me A Coffee
If you like my content, please consider supporting my writing. I spend several hours each week writing this blog and make it freely available to all readers. I do not hide my content behind a paywall. However, maintaining a website incurs costs. If you can afford a small donation, it would be gratefully accepted. Click on the Buy Me A Coffee image, or use the donate buttons on this site.
Gaining readers is the hardest thing for any blogger to achieve. I enjoy writing this each week and if you are enjoying this content, please take a moment to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Whatsapp or any other social media. Shares are the ultimate sign of success for any blogger. If you have any feedback, comments or questions whether positive or negative, please leave a comment below. If you would like to make a donation to support the running costs of this blog, please use the donation button on the home page.
My Instagram is @david_scothern and my Twitter is @advisoronfire. You can also email me at mortgageadvisoronfire@gmail.com.
Also, please check out my cat’s Instagram @sweep_the_kelham_island_cat
Finally, have a look at Darren Scothern’s blog at darrenscothern.com.
Hello and welcome back to Mortgage Advisor on F.I.R.E. This week I talk about social media, and discuss whether anyone has a right to censor what other people post. Also, another significant update on my BTL.
Social media has become so interwoven with life that it is becoming increasingly difficult to separate one’s physical life with their digital life. Some sites offer a degree of anonymity, like Reddit, whilst others are more transparent, like Facebook. I do not actually like Facebook, or Twitter, but I use them out of necessity. Apart from sharing content, like this blog or memes, the vast majority of what I share is just blatant shitposting. Most people get this, but some do not. I really do not care. The thing with social media is that you can choose who you want to follow or unfollow. There are a fair few people who I am connected with on social media but who I have unfollowed because their content annoys me. I understand they are entitled to post what they want and if I do not like it or agree, I will generally just move on with my day. I will sometimes challenge what I see as dangerous propaganda or unhealthy opinions, such as those arguing against vaccines. This is the exception though, and not the rule. My rule of thumb; your profile, your choice.
A few days ago I posted that I like it when people publicly declare their intention to not have the Covid vaccine, because it is nice to know who is stupid. I honestly believe that unless there is a legitimate medical issue, you should have the vaccine. If you choose not to do so, then you are a dumbass. The world is in the midst of a horrific pandemic and the world has pumped so much time, energy, money and knowledge into creating these vaccines. There may be some side effects but that is the case for pretty much every vaccine out there. The vaccines are not a hundred percent effective, but that is the same for every other vaccine out there. Just because something is not perfect, it does not mean you just ignore it. There is a whole logical fallacy named after this principle; the Nirvana Fallacy. If you have your own opinion, that is completely fine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. However, this should not be mistaken as being the same as believing that all opinions are equally valid. If you want a medical opinion, you speak to a medical expert. If you want a financial opinion, you speak to a finance expert. If you want an opinion on the Covid vaccines, you do not listen to your mate down the pub who spends his time driving buses, in the same way that you would not approach a doctor for their opinion on the state of public transport.
I do not know the first thing about how these vaccines were created. I mean, I know a little bit here and there, but I put my trust in the scientific method and in the fact that the overwhelming majority of doctors, nurses, scientists and lab workers know what they are doing. I do this in the same way I put my trust in an airline pilot to safely fly me from one place to another, or in a chef to cook me a safe, tasty meal. We all put our trust in other people on a daily basis, whether that is on drivers to stop at a red light, or for people to just behave in a civilised manner. Yet despite all this, some people have this, frankly bizarre, distrust of modern medicine.
So, back to my post on Facebook. It sparked quite the debate and I was finding it good fun. A few people got involved but then it seemed to take a somewhat nasty turn. Several of my readers will know that I have had a really bad year. My tolerance for bullshit is almost zero. I use social media how I want to use it, and I let people use theirs how they see fit. If you do not like what I post, then you have several choices; unfriend, unfollow or keep on scrolling. I deleted the post that caused this latest shitstorm as a gesture to one specific person. Moving forward though, I am not going to censor my social media. This is not a knee jerk reaction to what happened this last week, but the cumulative build up of me getting increasingly frustrated at having to placate other people. I have no patience left for that anymore. None. Zero. Zilch.
Weekly Update
I will be so happy when this pandemic is over. Every week just seems to be the same with nothing to look forward to. I want to go on holiday, but at this point I would settle for sitting in a cafe with a good coffee. This week saw me complete my first full week at work following my phased return. I am now back at full time hours and I do not think Sweep is too happy with me. I finished my shift at 18:00 the other day and he could not wait to get some attention.
There is not really much else to report and I suspect that is the same for most people up and down the country.
2021 Goals – to be achieved by 31/12/2021
1 – Reduce weight to 92.8kg.
2 – Finish 104 new books.
3 – Complete RO3 for my DipFA.
4 – Complete RO4 for my DipFA.
5 – Complete RO5 for my DipFA.
6 – Complete RO6 for my DipFA.
I lost a little bit of weight this week, and I have now finished twelve books. The last book I finished was The List by Siobhan Vivian. I bought it, and over a dozen other books, during an Audible sale. I did not look too closely at the books and just went a bit click happy. This book was disappointing, but I am still glad I gave it a try. It was a book about a high school where a list is published each year of the attractive and unattractive girls. I thought it was going to be more psychological but it was actually just high school drama by the numbers, and not that interesting.
I am almost halfway through my first read through of the RO3 textbook. To say it is dull would be an insult to dullness. This is possibly the most boring thing I have ever read. The first read through is the hardest though, and once I finish the book I can start looking at practice questions and then drill down into the areas I am weakest on.
Financial Update
Assets
Premium Bonds: £150.00 (no change from last update).
Stocks and Shares ISA: £19,979.52 (up £163.78 from last update).
Fuck It Fund: £90.00 (down £110.00 from last update).
Crypto: £78.08 (up £17.44 from last update).
Residential Property Value: £194,909.00 (no change from last update).
Buy-to-Let Property Value: £125,775.00 (no change from last update).
Total Assets: £340,981.60 (up £71.22 from last update).
Debts
Credit Card: £0.00 (no change from last update).
Residential Mortgage: £141,026.49 (no change from last update).
Buy-to-Let Mortgage: £93,199.07 (no change from last update).
Total Debts: £234,225.56 (no change from last update).
Total Wealth: £106,756.04 (up £71.22 from last update).
Investment Income in 2021: £4.14 (target £5,000).
I had to dip into my Fuck It Fund this week to account for the mortgage payment on the BTL that is due on Monday. Apart from that, there has not been much change in my financial position. There has been the usual change in my ISA and in the value of the cryptocurrency I am invested in, but that is just the usual day-to-day movement one expects.
I am thinking of setting up another investment pot by opening a SIPP. I have a respectable pension pot through my employer, but I do not plan on being there forever and when I do leave I will transfer my pension to a platform which gives me more control. I will discuss this in more detail when I have made a definite decision.
BTL Update
Our tenants moved in on Friday and we should get our first instalment of rent from the agent early next week. It has been a hell of a long road to this point, but it has finally happened – we have a tenanted BTL.
The aim now is to secure a second property before the summer is up. This will be dependent on the pandemic, but I am confident we can get a second and third property over the line by the end of the year.
Supporting Mortgage Advisor on FIRE and Buy Me A Coffee
If you like my content, please consider supporting my writing. I spend several hours each week writing this blog and make it freely available to all readers. I do not hide my content behind a paywall. However, maintaining a website incurs costs. If you can afford a small donation, it would be gratefully accepted. Click on the Buy Me A Coffee image, or use the donate buttons on this site.
Gaining readers is the hardest thing for any blogger to achieve. I enjoy writing this each week and if you are enjoying this content, please take a moment to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Whatsapp or any other social media. Shares are the ultimate sign of success for any blogger. If you have any feedback, comments or questions whether positive or negative, please leave a comment below. If you would like to make a donation to support the running costs of this blog, please use the donation button on the home page.
My Instagram is @david_scothern and my Twitter is @advisoronfire. You can also email me at mortgageadvisoronfire@gmail.com.
Also, please check out my cat’s Instagram @sweep_the_kelham_island_cat
Finally, have a look at Darren Scothern’s blog at darrenscothern.com.
