A new month means it is time again to update The Ultimate Dream Fund again, as I continue our journey to early retirement. The Ultimate Dream Fund is named because it is our dream to retire early, and we need the funds to make that happen! One day, this fund will provide us with the money to live on when we leave our 9-5 jobs and time will be all ours. That’s the biggest motivator for achieving our goal.
I’m going to post updates on our fund for two reasons; one, so that I can show that living a frugal lifestyle means that we can retire earlier than we should do and still live a good life on the journey, and two; to keep me motivated for the long haul. This journey is going to take us a long time, but it’ll be worth it in the end. This plan also includes us being mortgage free, so that our monthly outgoings are reduced and manageable.
March marks the eleventh month of doing these updates, so we should be making some good progress by now. It definitely is going much slower that I would have liked, though I suppose that it was going to be inevitable at this point in time. This is the fifth month of having my stocks and shares ISA, which I’ve moved some more money into during the month. I’m looking forward to the moment when the snowball starts! I know that slow and steady wins the race, but it seems like our progress is slowing a bit too much, though we are in a better position than many, so I should be pleased at the same time. Once I am back at work and earning some more money, this should start to pick up again.
Related post: I’ve Started To Invest – Finally!
Related post: My Investing Journey So Far
As of March 31st, our Ultimate Dream Fund looks like this:
That overall is an increase of £247.59 for the month of March, which I’ll admit isn’t great at all. I must admit I’m disappointed in that number, and disappointed in myself that I’m not doing better. It is slowly creeping upwards, though we are far from having our first year of early retirement saved. In our budgets, we’re aiming to save £18,000 per year for early retirement, though obviously if we can save more than that, we won’t complain! But, in my projections for where we need to be at certain points to be able to meet our aim, we’re way off course at the moment. And the more behind we get, the more difficult it’s going to be to catch up. But, what’s life without a little challenge?! If I want us to meet our long term aims, I need to start bringing in more money; If you would like to work with me, please check out my Hire Me/Advertise tab!
Finally, here is the progress of the fund since it began in June:
How was March for your savings/investing targets? Are you still on track?
I think you are being harsh on yourself – think of it another way… if you didn’t start this blog and the ultimate dream fund 11 months ago… you wouldn’t have £6251.09.
Incomes from my experience go up and down in life, wages for me anyway… have actually declined over the last couple of years which makes it harder to get to the ‘financially independence’ that I crave.
Just keep in there, keep taking the small steps so when you do earn a bit more cash, your ‘frugal muscles’ are strong and you won’t lapse into ‘I have tons more cash, lets buy a car syndrome!’ 🙂
I like that other way of thinking, thanks for pointing that out 🙂
You are doing great! That’s a lot of money saved in only 11 months despite you are living on one wage. That is amazing.
I have noticed that you have said the same things compared to last month’s update. You still need to enjoy life whilst saving and that’s where the balance gets difficult. I love your blog!
Thank you; I think we are doing well even though it seems slow at times. Thanks for stoping by!
Great post ! I think that you should be cheered at having already saved so much and perhaps not have a target each month if it means you will be feeling let down ! Good luck and thanks for the great blog !
Thank you for stopping by and commenting! I think I can be a bit harsh on myself at times, but love having targets to meet 🙂
I think even a little progress is progress. Great goal by the way! We are working towards leaving our jobs as well. I like that you are choosing to post about this. I think it will give others the incentive to be consistent with their goals. Great update!
You’ve come a long way since June, well done! It looks like you have a clear goal and good motivation, don’t worry about a little setback. They will happen.
I love the name ‘Dream Fund’ by the way.
I’m still on track, but I know I’m about to head into a period of making only really small gains and it can definitely get a little depressing. You’ll get through it though!
Wow, don’t be so hard on yourself! Saving over £6k while on maternity leave is no mean feat so good for you!
Thank you 🙂
It’s normal to have good months and bad months. Cut yourself some slack 🙂