Thoughts and reflections from the past week or so from my own financial independence campaign.

Progress on my goals

Boat plan

Approaching two weeks since we moved aboard and despite the winter it’s pretty good living.

I have a bigger post on this, but I want to add more photos of the actual boat and as I type this there’s crap everywhere, so it can wait until we’ve tidied up.

Taking my own lunches to work

This stalled, but there’s a reason: as a consequence of the recent storms, the Channel Islands had been without food supplies for a week or so.

Don’t worry, we’re not dying of hunger. It’s not that dramatic. It just means that getting food suitable for a lunchbox has been difficult.

If I was a pro, I’d cook in bulk and take leftovers to work. However, boat pans are smaller than the pans we had on land, so “leftovers” aren’t a common thing.

First investments into new regime made!

The first payments are in my Lloyds Sharedealing Account.

Hooray!

I’ll say this about Lloyds: their software sucks. I’ve put in £1,950 (this month’s payment plus what I had left from last year’s budget) and because the investment into one of the funds is in progress I have an account balance of either £2,350 or £400, depending on which screen I look at.

Come on guys, it’s the basics.

I can see why their platform fees are so low.

Distractions and detours

Consultancy?

I had a very interesting chat with an insurance broker this week.

The loose idea is that I’m being paid around 25% of what I bill clients and my fixed costs are really low with the boat. So, what if I was to do my job as a freelancer/ consultant?

I only need something like 30% of my present wage to live comfortably, with my savings rate being as high as it is and the effect of tax allowances. So, if I brought in 1/12th of the work I bring in for the firm, I should be fairly comfortable.

And if I keep working long days and bring in the same amount of money for myself as I do for my firm, I could be investing something like 5x the rate I invest now. FIRE would be in, erm, two years.

So I’m going to explore that. I don’t know whether I’ll pursue it or not, but it’s definitely worth a look.

Current reading

I’m currently reading two books from the library on starting a consultancy business, as part of the bit above. They’re… OK.

I’ll update if there’s anything interesting to add, but the first one reads like the naffest textbook to a tedious course that you wish you hadn’t paid money to attend.

Netflix film

This week, we saw the remake of Mortal Kombat. It’s actually not bad! Not life-changing good, but worth a cheeky watch if you’re not willing to commit brainpower to anything more cerebral.

Non-FIRE goals

My guitar rock god quest (AKA learning to play)

I can, sort of, remember the first position major and minor arpeggios, but I stall at the second position.

There’s definitely a short-cut here, but I’m not there yet.

Jesus of Suburbia is going well. It’s far from performance ready, but I can now play along with the backing track and get most of it right first time, so I’m happy with that.

Fitness

Ran to work three times this week, getting the bus back.

It’s nice to get the fitness in early. Turns out that while it’s 5.2km in a straight line, it’s 4.2miles of running when you factor in the route deviations.

Not exactly God Tier fitness, but enough that I can do it every day if I have to without too much pain in my legs.

I’ve just been packing my work kit into a backpack and jogging at a comfortable pace. The route is mainly flat with a few small rises and falls, so very much a case of switching off and enjoying sunrise over the islands.

Long term, I need to sort my bicycle out and cycle to and from work. My backpack isn’t the best for jogging with. For now though, it’s totally fine to jog to work and catch the bus back.

One of the ironies of the Channel Islands is that while they are tiny and should be easily cycled, the islanders love their cars. This turns the islands into commuter hell between 0750-0900 each weekday. Jogging and cycling to work is actually quicker than getting the bus or driving in, and it’s not even close.

Final thoughts

Boat life is more than liveable. Investing has started well. Taking my meals to work is stumbling, but that’s life on an island I suppose. Overall, pretty good start on my goals this year.

The self-employment thing is a big pull. I’ve been toying with it for ages – I’m comfortable accepting risk and making tough calls, I’d like to benefit from that on my own business. I’m going to investigate some more and see if it has legs.

My financial independence campaign continues!