#100 Rekindled Motivation

I lost track of managing our money.

Thinking about the cause of this, I concluded it was because we had moved from a re-active "we need to clear this debt" to a pro-active "how do we now generate wealth" which, it seems, was a demotivator. Sadly.

Last year, in 2019 

1. I stopped updating this blog - which serves mainly as a way for me to organise my thoughts and make more conscious decisions - and f
2. I stopped tracking all spend 
3. I only sporadically updated where our money was and how it was doing
4. I believe we became too easy with having available money and probably allowed lifestyle inflation to hack away at the financial opportunity our previous hard work in paying off all debt had provided us. 

What's changed to bring me back?

The wife and I have started to discuss quite significant possible changes in the future. A bigger house, another(4th) child, which would require a new car and I have been mildly considering a new job.

And I've realised we are wasting the opportunity to grow our wealth, by simply being happy we have no debt.

I spent much of 2019 convinced I was going to follow my child-hood dream and get on the BTL property ladder, but by the end of the year, countless hours research and a trip to Manchester I have decided it is not the best thing for us right out, and it probably wont be for a long while without sector changes.

With the talk of potential big changes and realization that, without BTL, I had no plan for how to make our money work for us and create wealth I have become motivated again to spend time on our personal finances.

Where are we now in financial terms?

• Monthly spending, I've lost track of this. Our mindest has shifted to spending more and need to get back on top of that
• We have £5k put aside for emergency savings
• Our annual family summer holiday is effectively paid for each year by a rolling holiday saving fund using my work sharesave. 
• We have £2k in stocks savings - mainly through company sharesave
• Pension value is up to £54k
• We have no debt excluding our mortgage
• Our mortgage is £347k

My current salary is £82k

How do I feel?

Really happy we have no debt.

Really happy we have a structured approach to pay for our summer holidays.

I'm happy with the pension contributions.

I'm happy with the amount we have put aside for emergency savings. This is the largest safety net we've ever had in this regards.

I'm disappointed we withdrew our small holding in global index funds and currently have £0 invested.

I'm disappointed that I have lost track of our monthly spending.

I feel like we are missing an opportunity by not investing in index funds for my children now.

What's the priority?

1. February onwards, monthly spend and money data needs to be updated and reported on here
2. Set goals to have achieved by end of 2020
3. Start investing in Global Index Fund personally
4. Set-up monthly investment in Global Index Fund for all 3 kids
5. Find joy in finances again with dividend investing
6. Simplify the process of updating spend or keeping track of money
7. Back date Aug 2019 >Dec 2019 monthly spend so that I have a complete picture for comparison for the full 2019 year