I know I say this every month, but I swear this comes round more quickly as the year goes on. After last month’s exciting milestone, it seems more important than ever to appreciate the slow and steady approach. We can see the impact of our spending in our saving habits. At the end of each month I can clearly see how we are inching towards our goal. Yes, there is a long way to go still, but it’s going! The first few years of this journey are always going to be the hardest, as it takes time to build momentum.
As I’ve said previously, our 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. Being able to spend our time with our family is what we’re doing this for; there’s nothing more meaningful to us than that. I keep reading about people who have managed to retire early already and it’s very interesting to see what they choose to spend their time doing. I cannot wait until we get to share things like that too ? but, I do need to remind myself to enjoy the present too. However, with one toddler running around all day and another boy on the way, there’s no danger of that at the moment!
I continue 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. Secondly, 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. Also, when I feel like I’m not doing enough, I look back at the posts and see how far we have come ?
I have been looking at increasing my online income, so that I can save a bigger amount each month towards our early retirement dream. I have recently began a very exciting course by another UK personal finance blogger about earning an income online – as Emma has built up a six figure empire – and I’m learning so much on it. If you want to have a look and perhaps start your own online earning journey, have a look at her course here.
The dividend income we received in September has already been reinvested so that it is working hard for us. A post will be up tomorrow about what we received; it’s lower than August but still building nice. Again, that’s another slow and steady approach. It all adds up 🙂 Receiving dividends throughout the month means that I get multiple small pay checks each month. For doing nothing! I still love the dividend investing approach. Over time, the percentage reinvested will increase and so the amount needed to be saved from income will decrease, or we’ll be able to speed up the process! All of this is within my stocks and shares ISA which is with Hargreaves Lansdown. It is very easy to use and I’d definitely recommend them.
As of September 30th, our Ultimate Dream Fund looks like this:
Creeping towards the £20k mark saved 🙂 I feel pleased with that! I know that it is slow progress, but it’s progress in the right direction. We’re into Year 2 being saved of our early retirement. I need to keep that in mind when the going gets tough. The Ultimate Dream Fund has increased by £1,138.93 during the month and I put in just over £800 so that’s fantastic. If only that happened every month!
Finally, here is the progress since I started the Ultimate Dream Fund in June 2015:
How was September for your savings/investing targets?
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Great job on that dividend income! Isn’t it exciting to see how your money continues to grow with these good habits? :3
It really is exciting!