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

Progress on my goals

Potential business is progressing

I heard back from the insurance broker and the cost of setting up the business is more affordable than first thought.

There’s still a way to go before this becomes a reality, but it’s the first major hurdle down.

but this means I’m saving in cash now

Having advised a lot of startups in my short legal career, I’m well aware that what kills most businesses is having a cash buffer for the initial setup.

When a business fails, it’s often because the founder can’t wait for the cash flow to come in.

I’ve temporarily stopped investing entirely and will save in cash for the next 3-6 months to build that buffer. I don’t want to touch any capital that I’ve already invested into equity funds if I can possibly help it, so this should tide me over for set-up costs and the first few months.

Bitcoin is doing well – maybe too well

Despite the flak I’ve had about it over the couple of years of this blog, I’ve been quite open about being involved with different crypto strategies and purchases.

Anyone who has been on the internet or read a paper will be aware that crypto is on another price discovery spree.

Well, the effect is that I’m way overbalanced on my exposure to digital assets.

The plan is to wait until the Bitcoin halving next month, which typically has been the kick off for its cyclical price growth spurt, and cash out a good 50% of the present holdings.

If I get the potential business off the ground, I’ll use the liquidated cash for living expenses. If I don’t, I’ll rebalance most of it into my investment account.

Distractions and detours

We’re housesitting

We’ve been housesitting this week. It’s cool because the dog hasn’t gotten on the boat yet, so we’re chilling with him again.

Living on dry land comes with the nice conveniences of having a proper shower in your living accommodation and a bigger kitchen space. Those are pretty cool.

I prefer living on the boat!

Hey, the convenience is nice, but the boat does some things better:

  • I get a better night’s sleep in my bunk than I get from a bed
  • Heating a boat up is really quick
  • Cleaning a house is a big job, but hoovering a boat and wiping the surfaces is about 15 minutes of work
  • Our bottled gas hob is a lot better than the electric hob we’re using now

We’ve been living on the boat for two and a half months over the winter, so I’m surprised that I’ve adapted to that so quickly. It’s colon though: even if living aboard right now doesn’t work out, I’m very confident that this is where my FI life leads.

Went to see Dune Part II at the cinema

Dune Part I was incredible, so I had high hopes for this second instalment.

The cinematography was brilliant and if you’re going to see it then this is a film that needs big screens and big sound systems to really carry it through.

Story-wise, it was so-so. A lot of attempts were made to keep certain bits of it true to the book, but after the first hour (which was brilliant) the film kind of devolved into a series of tenuously connected scenes. Lots of the world-building of the book had to take a back seat, but I didn’t think this helped understand why Paul Atreides/ Timothy Chalomet suddenly u-turns his approach for the final sequence of the film.

Overall, great for a weekend trip to the cinema, but probably not going out of my way to watch it again.

Non-FIRE goals

My guitar rock god quest (AKA learning to play)

We’ve returned to attack Don’t Look Back in Anger by Oasis again.

Now that my skills have developed and I can on a good day produce actual music, this has been easier to get to grips with. It’s an ongoing project.

I’m also learning Layla by Eric Clapton/ Derek and the Dominoes while using Don’t Look Back in Anger as an ongoing project.

Oh yeah – I’ve managed to get Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit pretty much down now. The rhythmic guitar part feels awesome to play and it’s actually a very simple song after the tricky intro.

I think it’s coming up a year since I started learning. I’m really happy with that progress, it’s brilliant!

Fitness

Fitness has taken a back seat while we’re housesitting. This has been due to combination of:

  • The house is a 20 minutes walk to work; and
  • Work is taking up most of my daylight hours.

I’ve managed to get a lunchtime run of a little over 5 miles in, some resistance training with CrossFit bands and a load of dog walks. OK, but not really good.

On the plus side, have kept a reasonably clean diet this week. That’s hard for me because I have one hell of a sweet tooth!

Final thoughts

The business progress is exciting!

I don’t know for sure that this is the business opportunity that I think it could be. I guess that without a leap of faith at some point I’ll never know.

The big appeal for me is that I value my independence. I really like taking control of my life when I can.

I mean, that’s what this whole financial independence campaign is about for me: I want to be more self-reliant and free to take my own decisions.

So it has been a good week!

My financial independence campaign continues!