If you’re new to Budget Breakaway, once a month I write a post reviewing my goals from the previous month, logging my financial progress and laying down some new goals for the current month. I’ve been doing this for two reasons:
- To document my journey towards financial freedom and share the activities I undertake to get me there
- To hold myself accountable – by sharing my goals with you guys it makes me much more likely to achieve them!
Big News In April
What a month! We’ve been busy getting ready as we’re moving house in two days – very exciting! Our current tenancy is due to expire with no option to renew so we are moving out of shared accommodation and Fi & I are getting a rented terraced house of our very own! I often forget how much of a headache it is shifting all of the bills, and addresses to a new property but I’ll be glad when it’s all done and we can settle in to our new home.
March has certainly been the most costly month of the year. I’ve spent a total of £650 on my car (petrol, tax, MOT, full-service, insurance); which is an enormous dent in the wallet but as I commute to work this unfortunately has to be done. We have also had to pay out our tenant fees for the new house and a whopping £200 each on a gas and electric bill (6 month total, never doing that again!). As the new house is half furnished we have also had to source some furniture and appliances which total around £130 each.
Despite all of this coming at once I’ve kept my fingers out of the emergency fund and been as frugal as can be to keep on track!
One Courageous Cause…
Over the past few months, my nephew has been raising money Leukemia and Lymphoma research and recruited me to give him some help. So, using my limited skillset I am looking to do one backflip for every £1 that is donated to his Just Giving page. So far I’m committed to 150 backflips which will be filmed on the night of Friday 9th May. If you fancy helping me in an amazing cause, please leave a small donation to the link below and leave the word ‘BACKFLIPS’ in your message:
www.justgiving.com/judith-womble
April 2014 Goals Review
Here’s a review of my goals from April; the side hustles have gone very well but unfortunately my other two have struggled a little.
Read the Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris – Failed
They say a good book is one you can get stuck into, however, I actually like a book that can make you stop, think and apply the principles to your own life. I’m half way in to the Four Hour Work Week and this reason is certainly why I haven’t finished it yet; every time I get to the end of a chapter I want to put pen to paper and adjust some of my own life decisions. I could have easily finished the book by yesterday but I am getting so much out of it that I didn’t want to rush through and miss anything – watch this space for the review!
Generate £230 in Side Hustle Income – £236/£230 – Complete!
Very happy with my progress this month; I have been working on building an e-commerce store for a friend and it is almost finished and ready to be set live! There is still plenty of marketing and SEO to be done once this is live so I’m hoping to keep up the side hustle momentum with this in May. I have also done two days coaching this month which amounts for the rest.
Web Design – £200
Coaching Parkour – £36
Deposit £487.50 into Cash ISA Emergency Fund – Failed
This was going to be the final payment to fill my emergency fund but unfortunately with the cost of car maintenance, moving and bills I haven’t deposited anything into the account this month. Next month I’ll be back with a vengeance!
Goals for May 2014
I try to raise the bar a little each month if I’ve achieved my goals but I’m aware that May has some big costs including a larger rent payment, Fi’s birthday and a deposit on the house. Despite this I’m still going to be aiming high, so here are my goals for May 2014:
Read & Review The Four Hour Work Week
I still have half of this book to finish and I’m very much looking forward to reading the rest. So far, I’ve pulled some great ideas about future online businesses, and got some good challenges to try out on outsourcing platforms in the near future. Hoping to get this finished my mid next week – keep your eyes peeled for the review!
Read & Review The Four Hour Body
Fi surprised me this month by giving me Tim’s other book The Four Hour Body. Fitness is high on my agenda in May and this enormous book will be a great help in pushing me to train a little harder and smarter to achieve my personal fitness goals and keep my mind clear at work and during the side hustles!
Generate £240 in Side Hustle Income
As I have just achieved my side-hustle goal in April I’m hoping to continue this success in May and have added an extra £10 to the target. I haven’t been very proactive in chasing any leads for my current side hustles so this month I am also looking to allocate 2 nights to reach out and bring some more work my way.
Deposit £487.50 into Cash ISA
As there was no progress on this goal in April I am trying it again. This will be the final deposit that will fill my emergency fund which is the next financial milestone for me since clearing my debt!
I’m looking forward to the rest of May but it’s clear there’s plenty of work to do. I’m going to have to get real disciplined and make the most of the few hours that are left at the end of each working day!
Those are my goals for May 2014, what do you have planned?
Pretty good month all round by the looks of things! I know what you mean about a really good book that has lots of ideas and actionable advice in it. Early Retirement Extreme is a similar book (recommend it if you haven’t read it already). I think I read that far too quickly and could do with going back through it with a notepad and pen, and making some notes.
Thanks! ERE looks right up my street I’ll be putting that on my book wish list!
Hi Joe,
Great post. I fully agree that achieving financial freedom is not only about cutting down your expenses but also generating side income through extra efforts like yourselves.
Look forward to reading your future posts.
Kind Regards
Raj
Hey Raj,
Thanks for stopping by! Certainly right there, you can only get so far on a working mans salary!
What a good start of a fresh graduate like you! Keep it up. I know you can achieve more. As I can see, so far, you are doing very great.
Thanks Hannah! This year has been great, the occasional costly month but good progress so far. Thanks for stopping by!
Seems like a solid month for you guys! As long as you burn both ends of the same candle, reduce expense and increase income you will do just fine. Thanks for sharing your update.
Thanks, I’m hoping the side hustles will begin to make a stronger appearance in the coming months. Thanks for stopping by!
[…] another month has flown by and I find myself sitting here with so much to tell you! In last month’s financial update I was planning my fundraising activity for Leukemia and Lymphoma research. Since then I am proud to […]