August 2016 Progress Report

Each month this year I’m trying to round up all the most important personal finance happenings going on here.

There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, many personal finance bloggers talk an awful lot about abstract concepts, or their tips to save money, but very few give you the raw, personal view of applying these ideas.

Secondly, reporting back monthly helps to keep me accountable and moving in the right direction – heading ever closer to my goals.

Lastly, I hope that these updates serve as inspiration for others. As I’ve discussed before, my financial life has been through incredible peaks and troughs. In the past I’ve taken on jobs I hate just to make ends meet, I’ve wallowed in tens of thousands of pounds worth of debt, and worried how I’m ever going to pay that outstanding bill.

But with dedication and hard work I have come through the other side. Now I’m busy trying to take the next steps – likely buying a house and starting my own business to increase my income further.

These updates therefore help to chart a very real journey. You, dear reader, get to see the good and the bad. You get to watch my savings going up, but at the same time to hear about the issues and problems that arise on the journey.

In truth, the road to financial freedom is never easy. There are always set-backs. One day you’re proudly patting yourself on the back for saving a few hundred dollars, and the next you’re blowing it on getting your tired old car fixed. Despite all that effort, its all too easy (and common) to return back to zero time and again.

The key is to keep trying. To never give up.

So in these reports I try to be as honest as possible. I discuss what went well – as well as what didn’t. You already know that I’ve spent a lot of money on keeping my car safe and legal – costs that I was hoping I wouldn’t have to worry about this year. As a result we’ve fallen a little behind our goal – but I’m still pushing through, as you’ll see.

So, with that explanation out of the way – what did the month of August bring…?

Goals Update

Possibly the most important part of these monthly progress reports is how we’re moving towards the big, burly goals that I set myself right back in January. So how are things moving along?

Project 10K

This is the real biggie. The primary goal of 2016. Every else is supplementary to this one giant goal. In short, I’m trying to save a total of £10,000 in a single year – ontop of my other savings – to put towards a house deposit.

While I expect to grow this figure even more next year, in theory this £10,000 represents a huge milestone in my financial life. It also means options – and that’s the single biggest reason for this financial journey of mine.

£10,000 is a 5% deposit on a £200,000 house (if I so choose). Or it’s the money needed to set up a franchise to increase my income. Or it’s just a nestegg for the future.

However you cut it, it’s a nice “chunk of change” that can (will) make a big difference to my current situation.

So how did we do?

According to my maths, saving £10,000 in a single year means saving £833 per month. There’s no denying thats a lot of money.

By the end of August, therefore, the target was £6,667. Last month I reported that we were about £1,000 behind our target – after a number of unfortunate expenses cropped up in the Spring. But I also said I had a number of plans to help remedy this.

Primarily, my plans were:

Affiliate Income – I have some outstanding affiliate income sitting in a number of accounts. As of right now that amounts to roughly $750. We’ll call that £500 roughly. I want to let that grow for another month or two before cashing it out – giving me a considerable extra bonus towards my goal.

Matched Betting – Well, it finally happened. After researching and learning about matched betting for several weeks, I finally took the plunge in August. I’ll be honest – I know nothing about betting and nothing about sport, so it wasn’t an easy start. All told, it took me 11 days to make my very first bet. So far, I’ve only had one bet go south, and the rest have all made a small profit.

It’s very much early days, and I opted to start with a small initial bank, and grow it naturally from there. But the reality is that I have made some money from it. Quite how much I will reveal in a few weeks time when I reach the end of my first month doing it. So far, though, so good.

So, with a target of £6,667 how are we doing – and have we made up any progress from last month?

Last month we hit £5,000, so I obviously haven’t managed to save £1,667 in that time, but I still feel like we’re moving in the right direction.

Right now the balance sits at £5,900.

While that’s still a little behind my target, we’re making up ground! From £1,000 behind last month, we’re now just £767 behind. When you factor in the £500 or so of affiliate commissions I plan to cash in over the next month or two we’re within a hairs breadth of my target!

How exciting!

After several months of struggling, things finally seem to be turning around.

So what are my predictions between now and Christmas?

Well, there’s good news and bad here.

Firstly, the “bad” news. The next month or two are likely to be quite expensive for me. I have a number of birthdays, a weekend away with my girlfriend, and family coming down for a week. All of these things will cost money.

I also have holiday booked in November. While I’d prefer to do nothing – to conserve funds – my poor girlfriend has been more than patient with our lack of holidays for the last 5+ years. As a result I do feel that we need to do something in that time, for both our sakes.

So, expenses are expected to go up considerably for a month or two. This is frustrating as we’re getting so close to the end of the challenge!

On the upside, I am pleased to say that I just landed a payraise at work, which should offset some of this additional spending.

So am I confident that I’ll hit my goal? Right now, the answer is “no”. I’m certainly going to be doing everything I can to achieve it, but only time will tell.

New Blog

My second goal this year has been to resurrect an old, unloved blog of mine and start kicking it up a notch. The goal is to grow this asset in my spare time, as an additional source of future revenue.

Right now, the site isn’t monetized in any way – but that’s the plan. By October/November I plan to add a few ads here and there in time for Christmas, hoping to take advantage of the holiday shopping season. Now, in truth, I don’t expect it to make much at all, as traffic is still very low.

The good news is that traffic is growing at an astonishing rate now.

Last month I reported a 16% increase.

This month the news has been even better, with an increase of almost 50%!

After a fair amount of work, things are starting to get exciting!

It’s always nice to see your efforts paying off, and I have some more exciting plans for September that should push this even higher!

Start a New Blog

A new goal that I discussed last month was the launch of a second, brand new blog.

Why?

Well, the first blog is very limited in terms of audience size. While its based on a subject I’m passionate about, and should be able to earn some income, I don’t expect it to be a big earner.

While thinking about how to keep myself busy without spending money I realized that launching a blog specifically in a niche where there is lots of traffic and plenty of monetization opportunities seemed like a great one.

So, last month I talked about my idea. I also said that by this report I hoped the site would be up and running.

I’m pleased to say that this is indeed the result.

I have 20 or so articles written right now. The site launched a few weeks ago and the first couple of articles have been published.

These days it takes 3-6 months before a new site really starts to generate any serious search engine traffic, so I’m not focusing 100% of my energies on it. Right now, I’m just publishing a new article or two each week, and letting the blog “settle” in Google’s eyes.

Come early 2017 I plan to really start kicking that site up a notch. For now, however, it’s really just an investment in next year’s income.

In short, though, I have indeed hit my goal, and the site is slowly moving along in the right direction.

Top Posts

Each month I share the articles that really speak to me as an individual. These I publish to my social media profiles at Twitter, Facebook and, where suitable, Pinterest.

Then, I like to track which articles have got the most attention from you ladies and gents. It’s always interesting to see what draws the most engagement, and sharing the top posts from the personal finance blogosphere is a great way to both thank the bloggers in question and to help any news readers of Frugality Magazine to find some supplementary reading material.

Here are the top articles I shared over the last month:

• Frugal Home Hacks that Save us Hundreds Per Month
• How one family paid off $100,000 in debt and lived well on one income
• 5 Reasons I’m No Longer In A Hurry To Buy My Own Home
• Frugality Is Not Deferred Spending
• 4 Ways to Boost Your Savings Account Each Day
• Here’s What Happens When You Don’t Have a Budget
• You’re Closer to Retirement Than You Think
• At Peace with Being ‘Cheap’
• Could This Be Why You’re Still Stuck in Debt?
• 6 Reasons You Need To Start Saving Money Today

That’s it for this month folks!

Keep your eyes peeled in the coming weeks, as I’m going to be talking about my first tentative steps into matched betting as a side hustle, and also talking about the steps I follow to set up a brand new profit-pulling blog from scratch.

It’s going to be an exciting month!