Savings Journey: September 2018 THE BEGINNING!
Updated: Feb 22, 2019
September was an awesome month for savings! I've been tracking my savings rate for three years now, and this was the third highest month for savings, but it was even better than that! Two of my payments for my side hustles, music and writing for The National, haven't come through yet, and if I had included those, it would have been the second highest month. My savings rate was a gorgeous 67% even without the payments due. I saved well over 11,100 AED, over $3,000!
One thing I wanted to make sure of this month is that I didn't succumb to my natural tendencies to be a home body and save money just by not going out or being social. Those two tendencies dovetail quite effectively with my love of tv and video games, so I have to be aware and make an effort to do stuff. Self-knowledge is a powerful tool, so in order to overcome my natural tendencies I went out at least three times a week and tried to do at least one social thing on every weekend day. I swam a lot more, hung out with friends, played some music, and got involved with planning a great social event for the local Financial Independence group, SimpliFI.
The other big news is that I'm now a regular Personal Finance columnist for the biggest English daily newspaper in the UAE, The National! They liked my first column and asked me to contribute every other week. I already have a few written, the next should come out this week. I have now successfully monetized all my hobbies! So, thank you to The National for this opportunity to spread the FI word!
Next month should be awesome, perhaps the most lucrative month in my life due to a whole bunch of music gigs (then again, it depends on when they pay) plus money for writing plus my raise at work. If my side gigs pay on time, I could be adding an extra 50% to my paycheck this month! Let's see how that plays out!
All in all, this could be the best paid (school) year of my life. That should mean a lot more money into my investments, lots more cash employees working towards my future. Fingers crossed!
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