June has come to an end which means it’s time to have a close look at how my money has been flowing, how much I managed to save plus other updates.

My lifestyle is becoming so simple that I don’t even know what to write about on these savings reports anymore, hah…

I am still keeping my job, which I am grateful for. I work from both home and office alternatively, I try to limit physical social contact with others, exercise daily and carrying on with what’s becoming the new normal.

So, no major changes yet.

No holidays abroad

Besides the easing of the lockdown restrictions in the UK and most parts of Europe, we took the decision to not travel abroad in July and August, not even to Spain, so I guess I will have to wait a few more months before I can get to eat a real paella instead of something like that (No, I don’t eat this, it’s just a joke!).

The risk of suffering a second wave of infections is increasing as I write. I certainly don’t want to give any chance to the possibility of ending up having to isolate in Spain.

Embracing the beauty of minimalism

Minimalism is the title of 2020’s summer song for us, and you know what?

We are lovin’ it!

As our expenses are the lowest they’ve ever been, it makes me wonder how much is enough, how much is needed to be content.

The most fulfilling aspects of life such as love, health and well-being cost little to no money. If you think about it, these are all things that can’t be borrowed from the bank.

So, one of the habits we often practise now is going out for walks and hikes.

Going out for walks during the lockdown
We took some more pictures from our walks. See Instagram

We have always enjoyed going out for walks but it’s certainly something that’s becoming a habit thanks to the stricter lockdown we had in April.

It only costs the wear of your trainers, it relaxes you and allows you to spend quality time with others. A perfect combination.

That’s how we are embracing the beauty of minimalism 😀

House hunting

This part is a bit more stressful. We are hunting a non-existing house. For several reasons, it’s becoming challenging to find the right home over here down south!

We have a purchasing limit of 200K, but with that money, the most you can get is leasehold flats. I’ve been reading a lot more about how the property business works in the UK and, honestly, it does not excite me.

Doing some research I found a couple of interesting articles. This one shows how even some freeholders need to face obscure charges to developers and management companies following a nasty small print in their property deeds. And this one arguing how charges and ground rents can double every ten years in leasehold properties, making it difficult to sell at a later stage. The comments on the article don’t encourage to buy either.

A lack of understanding or missing an important point is what makes a home become a painful liability, and that’s not what we are after, although I must say, I am personally getting a bit frustrated of not finding the right home.

This is the current property market activity outlook in the area we would like to buy:

Property market activity Zoopla
According to Zoopla, no properties were sold during the last three months. Prices decrease almost 3%

So, I guess that if we can’t find something now, then when?

Income, Expenses & Savings Rate

It has been another good month in terms of savings!

In fact, I’ve hit a new savings records. 😀

This is an overview chart of my income, expenses and savings rate so far:

Income expenses and savings rate June 2020

My total net income in June was £2,605.9 (2,872 EUR), which is slightly higher than usual as I got a bonus.

My expenses: £638.9.

I was able to save £1967, which results in a whopping savings rate of 75.5%, way above my 50% target!

Monthly Cash Flow Sankey Diagram

Breaking it down into categories, this is how my cash has flown during June in Pound Sterlings (£):

Income and expenses Sankey diagram Jun-20

Income

June brought me another free share into my Trading212 Invest account. So, thanks to whoever used my referral link to join the platform.

If you reside in The UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria or The Netherlands and want to get a free share worth Up £/€ 100 please consider using this link:

https://www.trading212.com/invite/tqd3H

Bank interest comes from my bank account with TSB, which pays 1.5% gross interest on balances up to £1500 and my emergency fund as a form of easy access saving account at Marcus which pays 1.05%.

I was not sure what to do with that £450 bonus, so I asked my Twitter followers what they would do with it and that was the result:

So, that’s exactly what I did. I put it all in my global tracker ETF. Although it’s a “Shame” that I won’t be able to practice balconing in Ibiza this year.

Expenses

I paid the standard £450 on rent and bills.

I spent £119.6 on the supermarket. As Covid-19 cases get lower we are back to our normal favourite supermarket: Lidl.

Transport includes fuel and car taxes.

Restaurant includes a couple of yummy ice creams we bought to combat the heatwave! 🙂

Services includes blog expenses and others.

Another easy month in terms of tracking expenses. Love it!

Goals

Time to have a look at how I am keeping on with my 2020 goals. As Peter Drucker said 40 years ago, what gets measured gets improved.

Some of my goals aren’t monthly measurable, but some others are. I’ve built a simple table to display the progress.

June goals

Goals June 2020 one million journey

May goals (comparison purpose)

Goals May 2020 one million journey

Overall, it’s been another good month for my goals.

  • I put on half a kilo (Damn it! I knew those ice creams wouldn’t do any good to me!).
  • Resting heart rate is below 60 BMP, as I keep running and exercising on a daily basis. ?
  • I am above the 10k daily steps target having walked more than 1.82 million steps! ?
  • On track with my reading goals. Finished “Your Money Or Your Life”. I highly recommend reading this book. It makes you wonder about important facts such as how much is enough for you (your crosspoint) and the purpose of work. I like the way the book encourages the reader to take action by calculating your networth and tracking your income, expenses and investment income. ?
  • Doing well on blog posting, let’s keep it going! ?

Currently reading “The Magic Of Thinking Big” ( another classic) which I am taking as self-help confidence book, so another goal I’ll be thumping up soon.

That was it. Stay safe amigos and …

¡Hasta la vista babies! 😉