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

Progress on my goals

Dead car clutch being neglected

Yeah we’re just delaying the inevitable now. I’d like to say I’ve made progress, but quite clearly that would be lying.

Probably going to kick the can down the road for one more week and then panic and rush to solve the problem. I mean, I could be sensible… but that’s hard.

Self-employment/ start-up dreams

Excellent news! I don’t need to rent a permanent office!

The Solicitor’s Regulatory Authority replied and said that if I operate through a personal services company to the start-up, it’s the office of the start-up that I have to put on their register and not my practice address.

Which means that I don’t need to drop £15k on office space to join this start-up, I just need to get a personal services company incorporated!

In England, that’s dead easy and you can do it yourself. However, I live offshore in a boat. I can’t incorporate a company without going through a licensed provider anyway, and on top of that I can’t have a company with the registered office address of a boat. Needs a more permanent address.

So this week I spoke to a service provider who is going to incorporate my company and host the “registered office”/ be a “resident agent” for it. The service is going to come in at around £4k, give or take, which is a lot cheaper than a serviced office on this island.

That means I can rent a hot desk for about £600 a year, since my client is OK with that… because they’re a start-up and that’s how they work.

First big client!

Oh yeah! And I have also landed our first big client despite still being with my old employer.

So yeah, strong start eh? It’s exciting! If we get more than three clients of this size on the books the business is a success; and if we get more than five I’m better off than I was in a law firm.

All I wanted was a bit more freedom and it’s looking like this might be my strongest play yet.

Digital nomad setup

After persevering with my old Linux laptop and Libre Office, I’ve come to the conclusion that this is just going to be a lot faster to invest a new laptop and use the Microsoft Office suite that I’m already intimately familiar with than to try to learn Libre Office and risk disappointing clients with my poor formatting of reports.

I’ve had a look around, and I’m probably going to spend far too much on a MacBook, because then my phone and iPad sync up as a single suite and I will be able to work remotely, digital-nomad style, using the new start-up’s Office 365 subscription. Pricey, but I’m going to be better off hunting down more clients than trying to cut corners and avoid a simple laptop purchase.

I thought about using the iPad alone for this to start with, because I have a keyboard cover and stuff, but when I tried a demo MacBook I realised that you do just need a full interface sometimes. Being able to have parallel windows open so you can copy details across is important when you’re doing legal stuff and risk reporting. I also understand that I can connect the iPad to the MacBook as a second screen, so I can set up a pretty decent portable office from just a regular backpack. That appeals to me.

Distractions and detours

Holiday planning

Campervan is booked, flights are booked, and we have a hotel for the final night.

Next steps are to sort out an international driving licence and book a hiking slot so we can hike up a volcano.

So keen right now!

Lurgies

I’ve had a stonking cold all week and it’s only just starting to shift now. Haven’t been in the mood to do any exercise, I keep coughing when I try to, but because of that I’m also feeling super grumpy because I haven’t exercised properly.

Boo!

I reckon it’ll have gone in a couple of days.

Non-FIRE goals

My guitar rock god quest (AKA learning to play)

My teacher wants me to spend a bit more time on unusual chord progressions, technique work, and improvisation. I’m at the point now where I’m starting to hit the limits of what I can do with the skills I have, so I need to stretch out and learn some new skills.

I’m feeling pretty good about my playing now. I barely ever remember songs off by heart, but when I have the tablature in front of me I can pick stuff back up reasonably quickly and it sounds like someone playing guitar, albeit with a lot of errors, rather than someone playing with a guitar badly. That’s pretty cool.

Fitness

Basically haven’t bothered. I have however dropped my calorie intake down consciously to account for that, except for the fact we’re having a takeaway pizza for dinner tonight…

…OK OK, I know, I’ve fallen off the wagon.

To be fair my base fitness is always quite reasonable. Getting 8,000-10,000 steps in every day isn’t a big ask when you have a dog to walk and you’re walking part of the way to work.

It’s something. Not gains, but it’s a mitigation.

Final thoughts

Really need to sort that car thing out!

In happier news, the self-employment / start-up dream is coming together. It’s gonna work, I can feel it!

[He says now before the real rollercoaster begins]

And our winter holiday is sorted!

This stinking cold can bugger off now so I can get back into fitness and then go and enjoy my adventures. That’d be cool.

My financial independence campaign continues!