Hi all and welcome to a New Year! 2022 was a doozy: it saw us spend an extended period of time in the USA, so that P could spend time with his family; most importantly his Dad, before he passed away. It saw me job hunting (properly) for the first time in a long time. The last job I got via applications & interviews was back in 2012. Every job I’ve had since then has been through my...
I’ve recently started using Obsidian, and wanted to share my initial thoughts on this interesting note taking tool. Why start using Obsidian? One of my ‘projects’ I wanted to carry out during my sabbatical was a digital de-clutter and tidy up. I started with photos: I had over 20,000 photographs stored in my cloud photo account, most of them quick snapshots of food or things I...
I’m currently on a sabbatical: spending three months in the USA with my in-laws. I’m extremely lucky to be able to leave my job knowing I have the savings to cover us while we prioritise family. However, I am mindful that I need to line something up for when I return to the UK and as such I’ve been poking around job websites and trying to figure out what’s next. Job...
Transitions are inevitable in life. From the moment we emerge squalling into the world to the moment we shuffle off this mortal coil, we are faced with times of growth and change. Some changes are sudden and devastating; the death of a close friend or loved one or the sudden loss of a job. These whip through our life with the force of a hurricane, leaving grief in its wake. Other transitions are...
Head to any personal finance blog or forum, and you’re likely to discover that one of the first things you’ll be told to do is keep a budget. Now, if you’re up to your ears in debt and struggling to pay your bills on time, the benefits of creating a budget are obvious (though likely also depressing!) But what if you’re earning enough to coast by? Why should you keep a...
I came up with the following five steps to financial freedom. This isn’t a new approach – most financial gurus will advise you follow the same steps, though the emphasis on each step might be different. Why would you want to aim for financial freedom? Well, even if you love your job and enjoy going to work, financial freedom will remove a lot of stress from your life. You won’t...
In January I dropped my smartphone. It cracked the screen and rendered it unusable. Super irritating, but I don’t need my phone right? I don’t have a phone contract, and had bought my smartphone outright a couple of years ago. I did a quick bit of research and discovered decent smartphones had become pretty expensive. Unable to justify the expense for a new phone, I borrowed an old...
My next few posts are dedicated to sleep. Why? Because sleep is fundamental to achieving almost everything else. Without good quality sleep we are less productive, more stressed, less energetic and more irritable. High quality sleep is important for losing weight and building strength. It’s essential for sensible decision making and the ability to focus. And it’s key to willpower. So...
It’s the time of year when gyms fill up and cake sales nosedive. The single most common New Years Resolution is to lose weight – with related resolutions around exercising more and eating healthier following on its heels. Unfortunately, by February, the cake sales are back up, the gyms have emptied, and we all feel faintly guilty. According to Forbes, just 8% of New Years Resolutions...
This week we have something a bit different! As October comes to a close, so does my month of money. I’ll let you know how I did in a few days, once I total everything up. But, after that, I’ll be taking a break from writing about personal finance and writing about other things. However, some of you may want to know even more about budgeting, saving money and getting your personal...
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