From the UK to Australia, the desire to build a comfortable financial future is a pretty common goal. But navigating the world of investing can feel daunting, especially when you’re just starting out or making the big shift to retirement. This short guide takes a look the fundamentals of investing, explains some of the jargon and hopefully, takes away some of the confusion that often prevents people from taking the first step. What types of investments are there? Investment assets come in all shapes and sizes – the most common of which include shares, bonds, managed funds and property. What’s ..read more

Here is a breakdown of my income for March. Interest $200.46 Dividends $19.12 Job $1296.43 Bank Bonus $94 Cashback $25 Ebay $32.13 Surveys $105.22 Amazon Merch/KDP $6.52 Stock Sale $77.33 Door Dash $80.92 Total $1937.13 March was a decent month for income. Dividend income came in at $19.12. Interest income was $200.46. Moving my money to a higher earning account paid off. I will try to keep my spare cash invested in T-bills or similar earning accounts to keep my interest earning high. I received $25 in cash back. I made $80.92 from Door Dash. It isn’t a big earner in ..read more

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for March. Household $102.15 Mortgage/Apt $115 Utilities $189.60 Entertainment $17.27 Transportation $97.25 Food $110.71 Visa $94.04 Health $0 Travel $260.10 Support $115 Total $1101.12 March’s expenses were quite reasonable. Entertainment expense was for one month Amazon Prime subscription, one month Hulu, and one month Max. Rent was $115 for our apartment in Chiang Mai. My transportation expense consisted of $97.25 for gas. My food expense was $110.71. That is divided between $33.82 for groceries and $76.89 for restaurants. This is ..read more

I have set three goals to achieve in 2024. I’ll review my progress towards the goals monthly. This is the second review. My first goal is to add $10,000 to my savings. I made a little progress on this last month. I intend to eventually use most of these savings to max out my IRA for the year. For now, I’m keeping the money in a cash account in case I have unexpected large expenses with my wife’s visa and bringing her to the U.S. My second goal is to lose weight. I did manage to lose six pounds in January, but I gained it all back in February. I have gained even more weight since then. It is ea ..read more

Here is a breakdown of my income for February. Interest $131.69 Dividends $22.67 Job $755.58 Class Action $1.19 Cashback $38.05 Ebay $115.01 Surveys $49.85 Tax Refunds $644 Stock Sale $633.59 Total $2391.63 February was a decent month for income. Dividend income came in at $22.67. Interest income was $131.69. I received $38.05 in cash back. I made $1.19 from a random class action payment. My state and federal tax refunds totaled $644. My job income was $755.58. That was for one week of work. I’ll get another paycheck later this week and hopefully will have more work thi ..read more

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for February. Household $21.07 Mortgage/Apt $115 Utilities $122.95 Entertainment $13.27 Transportation $451.03 Food $99 Visa $130.17 Health $455.20 Travel $107.35 Support $115 Total $1630.04 February’s expenses were once again a little high. Entertainment expense was for one month Amazon Prime subscription, one month Hulu, one month of Paramount Plus and a lottery ticket. Rent was $115 for our apartment in Chiang Mai. My transportation expense consisted of $341 for six months of car insurance, $57.04 for an oil change, and $52.99 for ..read more

I have set three goals to achieve in 2024. I’ll review my progress towards the goals monthly. This is the first review. My first goal is to add $10,000 to my savings. I haven’t made any progress on this goal. I’m hoping that I will find a job this month and be able to make at least a small contribution to my savings to get this goals started. My second goal is to lose weight. I did manage to lose six pounds in January. I’m satisfied with that progress. I’ve gone backwards so far this month, but I feel confident I can get back on track and make more progress on this goal My third goal is to run ..read more

Here is a breakdown of my income for January. Interest $1219.34 Dividends $20.17 Bank Bonus $100 Class Action $7.70 Amazon Merch $4.15 Ebay $0 Surveys $0 Total $1351.36 January was an ok month for income considering I didn’t have any job income all month. Dividend income came in at $20.17. Interest income was $1219.34. This was much larger than normal due to cashing in a couple of I-bonds. I received $100 from a bank bonus. I made $7.70 from a random class action payment. I made $4.15 from Amazon Merch. I hope I will have some job income this month and am able to increase m ..read more

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for January. Household $469.81 Mortgage/Apt $115 Utilities $114.38 Entertainment $23.86 Transportation $1.71 Food $259.65 Phone $9.95 Health $129.39 Travel $428.07 Support $115 Total $1666.82 January’s expenses were a little high, mainly due to having to pay my annual bar fee of $410. Entertainment expense was for one month Amazon Prime subscription, one month Hulu, one month of Peacock and a visit to the movies. Rent was $115 for our apartment in Chiang Mai. My transportation expense was only $1.71 for a couple of songthaew rides. M ..read more

Here is a breakdown of my income for December. Interest $174.51 Dividends $20.47 Job $22.09 Cash Back $9.60 Amazon Merch $0 Mystery Shop $220 Ebay $0 Other Selling $22.42 Surveys $39.47 Total $508.56 December was not a good income month since I was in Thailand and unavailable for work most of the month. Dividend income came in at $20.47. Interest income was $174.51. I received $9.60 in cash back. I made $22.09 in job income. That was the payout of my PTO. I’ll try to line up a job for when I return to the U.S. Since I won’t get back until January 29th, I won’t get paid ..read more