Friends, welcome to another Spanglish savings report, this time being for October 2020.
? I hope everyone had a great spooky Halloween? ?
As every month, I like to sit down and do my homework, which basically consists of doing the following:
- Track all my income and expenses using my personalized spreadsheet tracker on Google Sheets. (remember that blog subscribers can have it for free, just get in touch with me and request your copy).
- Check how I am getting on with my goals for 2020.
- Documented all on a blog post.
This is my personal method to keep an eye on what happens with my money, and most importantly, to get into the habit of doing it periodically, in this case being on a monthly basis.
Albeit I have always been a vivid saver and kept my balance sheet in a healthy condition, this exercise has helped me to improve a bit more.
But something I’ve been pondering about recently is to skip the third point looking forward to next year. I wonder whether doing that will distort the habit I’ve built during 2020, or I will do fine without it.
Table of Contents
October in a nutshell
October was a less overwhelming month. I enjoyed a week off work that I spent to get away from the 3D designing engineering world. During that week I updated my net worth numbers for the third quarter and wrote my first blog post in Spanish, which I enjoyed writing very much.
I was lucky and had the chance to enjoy two lovely sunny days, which were not only ideal to enjoy some time outdoors, but also to go out for a restaurant meal, enjoy coffee shops and purchase some new clothing. It does feel good to go out and support the local business after all the trouble caused by the first lockdown. It’s a shame that these will be all closed down again and continue damaging so many small businesses. Imagine being a restaurant owner right now, It must be a challenging time. I would not like to be in their shoes.
My girlfriend went back to work in October. Just when everything seemed to slowly be getting back to normal, a new national lockdown has just been introduced. The good point is that she will have time to continue working on a new online project she started during the first lockdown. Fingers crossed she will be able to finish it this time.
Income, Expenses & Savings Rate
As per 2020 coronavirus standards, October was another good month in terms of savings.
This is the general overview of my income and expenses so far in 2020:
My total income in October was £2,581.71 (2861.93 EUR).
Expenses: £994.43 (1102.37 EUR)
I was able to save £1,587.28, which results in a savings rate of 61.5%. This is slightly below my average saving rate of 66.1% for the current year. My goal is to maintain the average above 50%, so things keep looking good on this side.
Monthly Cash Flow Sankey Diagram
Breaking it down into categories, this is a graphical representation of how my cash has flown during October in Pound Sterling (£):
Income
October brought me another three free shares worth £33.93 into my Trading212 Invest account. So, many many thanks again for using my referral link to join the platform.
In July I wrote a short article to explain how to get started with Trading 212 and get a free share worth up £/EUR 100. So, check it out if it sounds like something interesting to you.
Interests come from checking accounts, bonds and my P2P investments. In October I switched my bank account from TSB, which stops paying interests, to HSBC Bank. Albeit this account won’t pay me any interests, it should cash me in £125 thanks to the switching deal. It’s the first time I switch accounts since I moved here 6 years ago. To my surprise, the switching process was smooth and simple. In Spain, switching accounts is a big pain in the ass!
Dividends this month came mostly from my ETF’s held in my Vanguard S&S ISA account.
Expenses
Rent and bills summed up £650 this month instead of the normal £450 as October held five Fridays instead of four.
I spent £189 at the supermarket, which is slightly above the normal average. In order to help my girlfriend save more money, I started paying a higher percentage. Before we had a 50/50 split, now I pay the 60% while she pays 40%. I also pay a bit more on rent and bills for the same reasons.
Transport this month includes car taxes and fuel.
Services include blog expenses, phone and Disney+ to entertain the kid (me).
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.
October goals (comparison purpose)
September goals (comparison purpose)
Overall, I am doing pretty well with my goals, I am pleased as punched! 😀
- I managed to lose 3kg this month! Yes! ? The reason is actually simple. My girlfriend stopped making cakes after she started to work again… But that’s probably going to change in November as she will be back at home for at least 4 weeks following the latest introduced restrictions.
- Resting heart rate stays at 58 BMP, as I keep running and exercising on a daily basis. I am Bueno 😀 ?
- I am above the 10k daily steps target having walked more than 2.78 million steps! I am very Bueno 😀 ?
- I am still on track with my reading goals ?. In October, I finished reading The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and started Atomic Habits by James Clear. I think this is the correct reading order. Charles’ book deeps into the science of habits. It’s an interesting read if you are a bit of a nerd like me, but it’s not a practical guide to improve your habits. James’ book is more useful as self-improvement and to get you started. If I had to choose one, I’d definitely go for James’. I can really be a life-changing book!
- Only 2 posts left to the 40. ?
That was it. Hope your month was ok?
I hope you all stay safe during this second wave / lockdown.