Fully equipped with a nice pair of sunglasses, +50 SPF suncream on my bald patch and lying on a deckchair on the beach next to a fridge full of beers while reading a good book in the shade of an umbrella is how I was picturing myself to be somewhere around this time.

But this picture has become twisted, and I can’t see travelling to Spain anytime soon. I normally try to avoid flying during the high holiday season as prices are much higher, but does the high season actually exist anymore? Will people travel this summer?

Speaking with some colleagues, they would not travel anywhere even if the lockdown restrictions were to be lifted, so I may have a chance to get cheap flights and do a longer stay. Return flights to BCN from Gatwick stay around £100 at the moment. I could purchase them now but who knows what will happen by then!

So, I am pretty much mentalizing with the idea that I may need to spend the whole summer in the UK, which sounds terrifying but the weather is treating us well so far, hopefully, it will continue though! My bald patch wants to be tan, not white! 😛

I don’t know if these uncommon sunny times come from improved breathing of our planet, but I know a thing that is totally breathing better these days!

My bank account!

Income, Expenses & Savings Rate

My bank account feels like my lungs felt just 11 months ago. Obviously, It can’t stop smoking completely, as there will always be some bills to pay but what a month in savings it’s been!

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

Income, expenses and savings rate chart

My total net income in April was £2,145.37 (2,467 EUR) and my expenses were as small as £618.2.

I was able to save £1545.3, which results in a savings rate of 71.4% Mamma Mia! 😀

So, that means that approximately 30% of my income is tied for my basic needs, which I think is a great achievement, as housing is considered expensive in the UK. I don’t think I can beat that percentage anytime soon.

Some more good news is that I finally crossed that grey target line of 50% average savings rate (the orange line crossing the grey). I know I am a nerd, and I am fine with that! 😛

My portfolio growth looks rubbish but can’t say the same about the savings rate chart. I am loving the upward trend.

Monthly Cash Flow Sankey Diagram

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

Cash Flow Sankey Diagram April 2020

Income

In April I got £0 as affiliate income and a National Grid free share from Trading 212 worth £9.56.

Thank you to whoever used my link to join the platform (Remember this is only for The UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria or The Netherlands residents).

Bank interest comes from my bank account with TSB, which pays 3% gross interest on balances up to £1500.

Expenses

Rent and bills remain fixed at £450.

I spent £115.17 (£215 last month) on groceries. I had to double-check the numbers twice as there’s a noticeable difference compared to last month. It’s been shocking to me, but that tells me I was spending about £100 a month on ‘unnecessary’ things. We live near a small Tesco where I purchased some treats such as desserts, drinks or others. These local stores offer products at a premium price, but did not expect I spent so much on it!

That’s another fact I should add to my covid-19 eye-opener list.

Transport includes fuel expense. I use Forkari less but I still filled up the tank as I could not resist the low oil prices. I expect that would last me the whole month of May.

Services blog expenses and others: £22.29. I even stopped renewing my Giffgaff Goodybag as I manage to do everything online.

An easy month in terms of expenses!

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.

April goals

Goals march 2020 one million journey

March goals (comparison purpose)

Goals march 2020 one million journey

Overall, it’s been s good month for my goals. I am having fewer treats as chocolate biscuits or similar unhealthy stuff and keep with the habit of running nearly every day. That’s helped me to lose almost 1 kg, improved my heart resting rate and catch up with my daily goals. Awesome.

When I work from home I chose to go for a run during the midday, this way I can keep myself more awake, active and productive during the afternoon. I am trying to be as productive as I can while working from home so my boss misses my productivity after the lockdown. Anyone who’s read the “4 hours workweek” by Tim Ferris will know what I am trying to accomplish here.

Currently reading “Happy Money” by Ken Honda. It’s a piece of cake to read, but enjoying the Japanese point of view about money. There’s interesting content about money personality types, so I may do some research on this topic and write a post as I found it psychologically fascinating.

Giveaway

To celebrate I reached my 50% average savings rate I am doing a giveaway to one of my readers for free. The biography book of Elon Musk posted to your doorway for free.

If you’d like to take part just leave a comment down below I will pick someone randomly.

The winner will be revealed on my portfolio update on Sunday 10th of May.

That was it. Stay safe amigos.