Aussie Firebug

Financial Independence Retire Early

Such an incredibly busy month June turned out to be and the next few months coming up are gonna be even busier!

This update is two weeks late because I’ve honestly just not had the time to sit down and put it together. I’ve been juggling work, traveling, tax admin work for five different things (personal return, trust return, Aussie Firebug return for the money made through this site and my UK company returns which also includes a personal one), organizing our big Euro summer trip which starts next week and enjoying our new city 😅

So if you’ve sent me an email during the last 3-6 months please known I’m not ignoring you and that I’ll eventually get around to replying to you when I get a minute!

With that said…

A few biggish things happened in June.

I officially quit my job back in Australia!

I didn’t quit back in January when I left on this trip because I always felt like it was unnecessary. I had long service leave and I knew there was a very good chance of them giving me 12 months off with some unpaid leave.

I was hedging my bets against the very real possibility that we wouldn’t like it over here and wanted to move back. Some of our friends went through a very similar experience where they moved to London and it wasn’t what they imagined so they came home.

But the funny thing is that having that job to come home to was a bit of a mental blocker for me and our future plans. We’re well on track that working for money will become optional within a few years and as good as the job was, it’s not where my passions lie and I’d like to try something new when I get back to Australia.

Even just a wondering thought about the possibilities for next year was often met with the anxiety of knowing I’d have to return to my job.

But the beauty of FIRE is that it gives you options and you no longer have to make every decision based around money. Money works for you, not that other way around!

I thought long and hard about it and concluded that ultimately the job was holding me back from doing exactly what I wanted to do.

Resigning from a perfectly good job in my home town that may not come up for grabs again for a decade (low job opportunities for my line of work in the country) sounds insane to most people (including my mum).

But I knew I’d made the right decision straight after calling my boss as I was hit with the ultimate wave of freedom, excitement, and nervousness.

It’s extremely liberating not knowing what the future holds. Playing it safe can be boring sometimes and we’ve been playing it safe for as long as I can remember. Time to get adventurous for a while 😎

So these monthly updates have now turned into a part-time travel blog of late haha.

And keeping up with that tradition, we traveled to the land of the Scots in June. Here are some of the places we visited.

Yes. That’s Haggis flavored chips. Delightful too I might add

Arthur’s Seat

Edinburgh was absolutely amazing with breathtaking scenery and the city is stunning! I don’t have the photos to do it justice but it just feels so badass walking around it. Very old and has a great grunge feel to it.

I was sort of expecting London to feel how Edinburgh felt. But London to me is a very new modern city, I believe this is partly because of the big fire that burnt down half the city in 1666 so maybe the streets don’t feel so old but Endinborught just had that old school vibe that made it special.

We also hit up Glasgow but I can’t say it was that special especially considering we just came from Edinburgh (the Glasgow locals would kill someone for saying that lol).

It was a short trip but we loved Scotland and will be back!

Net Worth Update

Huge month for the old NW which can mainly be contributed to three big factors.

The first is that I received all my entitlements (basically the rest of my leave that was owed) when I quit my job which turned out to be around $10k.

The second was that the markets had a very good month bringing it around $8k.

And lastly, I received my first full month contracting paycheck 🤑. Would you believe that it took almost 2 months to be paid at my current contract because there was a bit of a process with the payroll system and getting me on it?

The other thing that cannot be overstated was how much expenses I was reimbursed with that paycheck. I’ve been paying for all my work expenses like accommodation at the client site, meals, travel, etc. the entire time which amounted to close £2.5K. So my invoice had my rate PLUS all the stuff which turned it into quite a decent amount of cashola that hit the account.

I currently owe a heap of tax though (which is paid quarterly in the UK I believe) so it’s not as much as it seems… But still, it was a nice bump to hit the account.

It still tripped me out that I didn’t get paid for almost two months and had to pay for everything during that time. I mean, we had the spare cash thankfully, but not everyone could have done that. If you’re thinking about doing contract work make sure you have AT LEAST 6 months of living expenses.

Bring on $700K 👊

Properties

No changes in the properties this month.

Property 1 was sold in August 2018

 

*DISCLAIMER*
Various data sources (RP data, Domain.com etc.) are used in combination of what similar surrounding properties were sold for to calculate an estimate. This is an official Commonwealth bank estimate and one which they use to approve loans.

ETFs/LICs

And the Aussie Bull run continues!

I have no idea what the future holds, but I do find it interesting that nearly every single economist/part-time financial guru out there was calling the next recession back in December. I thought it was heading that was for sure as well!

But as we have learned time and time again. No one knows what’s around the corner and I have found it to be extremely relaxing just sticking to our routine of investing once a month and not caring what the markets are doing. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t really had a chance and it’s and it’s something I think less and less about anyways these days.

Networth

 

Download My Networth Sheet

Download my personal spreadsheet I use to calculate my net worth each month

GET IT 
Australian FIRE Calculator
Send it!
close-link
Get Calculator!
Get FREE Aussie Firebug updates, tips and tricks, and exclusive content!
Subscribe
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
close-link
Download My Networth Sheet

Download my personal spreadsheet I use to calculate my net worth each month

GET IT 
close-link
Subscribe
Subscribe

Stay Connected!

Join others who get FREE Aussie Firebug updates, tips and tricks, and exclusive content!
SUBSCRIBE
close-link