Review of November 2016

Review of October 2016

In October, the difference between my assets (only my bankroll is counted here, not my house,car and other minor assets) and liabilities went down from -15411€ to -19086€ for 04.11.2016.

In other words 3675€ down from last month.

Bad month. Looking back I see that there wasn't much to do. But I didn't acknowledge that and carried on as usual. Also there were some losses and big expenses. 

Now I downsized on amount of bets. No point in chasing bets when there is no value. Also I will rather earn less but be more reliable.

My eyesight problem is gone. The doctor changed my dioptrics and gave me lower dioptrics with blue light filter for computer work. Relief is huge, lesson learned.

I invested some bankroll money in small studio which I will rent out. It was very good opportunity and it will be my first income producing asset.

Music stopped in my betting so for November my goal is to break even. 

Review of September

After September, the difference between my assets (only my bankroll is counted here, not my house,car and other minor assets) and liabilities went up from -19519€ to -15411€ for 03.10.2016.

In other words 4108€ up from last month.

That was a good part but now comes the explanation:) This good result did not come from my work but because I downsized on my car. 

My work savings are actually negative, -290€ for September.

The reason for this is a combination of few things. Family problems, issue with eyesight, weak sport markets and bet voided are culprits. For first two reasons I could not work as much as I would like to and I traveled a lot. Also goal for September was too high (3061€) because historically fall and beginning of winter used to be worst months for me.

September problems spilled in October but now, as of 9 of October at least the biggest problem is solved.

From a higher perspective the most important thing should be that I actually increased my assets and also decreased liabilities. I used my car equity for paying out part of my debt (2000€) and buying some investment gold (1oz).
My favorite investment is 16 books about betting and taking chances which are on their way to me. Cannot wait to read some of it!
The rest I added to my bank which is currently 31 200€. I have another 7900€ of available short term credit.

The goal for October will be to gain some ground and to save at least 1500€. I will do my best.

Review of last month

August was a special month for me.

Difference between my assets (only my bankroll is counted here, not my house,car and other minor assets) and liabilities went up from -22300€ to -19519€ for 31.8.2016.
In other words 2781€ saved in last month and 60% difference between July and August in savings!
August is best month of this year hands down.

As of 31.8 my bankroll is 29181€ and I have another 7900€ which I can use anytime I need(for an interest).

Another notable stats:
Amount saved is about 10% of my bank. This would give me 120% in savings at this rate yearly.
My overall earnings for August were actually much higher, 4980€, so I spent 2200€ last month mainly on utility bills, insurance, gas and food.
So my return on assets (ROA) for August was 17%.

To be earning 5000€ monthly feels very good. Especially when I look back where I was just 2 years ago.
After 15 days I had already 2000€ saved and I saw myself touching 4000€ in savings at the end. But it didn't happen maybe just because I pushed myself too hard and was getting too far ahead.

I always want to think how rare it is on larger scale. I would say around 80% of western world is below this number and probably 97% of the entire world population.

So for next month of September my goal is to save just 10% more than in August so 3061€ is the number. After all if I would increase my savings by 10% each moth for next 12 months, in August 2017 I would be saving 8730€ monthly!

My goal for a year 2016 was to save up 15000€. To achieve this one I need around 6000€ more saved till the end of the year. That means 1500€ saved for each remaining month.
When do you think I will reach it?

August 2016 update

Things went rather well since the last post on 15th of June.
Difference between my assets (only my bankroll is counted here, not my house,car and other minor assets) and liabilities went up from -24900€ to -22300€ for 31.7.2016
In other words 2600€ saved in 45 days or savings rate of 1733€ monthly!
Then between June and July I spent 11 days on holidays with my family which not only meant irregular expense of 1600€ but also I really worked only around 30 days.
July was also the 5th month in a row in which I saved money.
So considering my last years performance where I was consistently losing money year after year this is truly great and deserved turnaround!
Goal for this year was to save at least 15000€ and if I will keep up with current earnings and savings rates I should get there.

Another important (most important) story of last 45 days is my health problems are almost solved. I have an irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
What was helping me with digestion was HCL betaine hydrochloric acid which is just a stomach acid and some enzymes for food digestion like pancreatin.
Levels of HCL I was taking was alarming - 4 to 5 (2600 to 3250mg) capsules with every main meal and results were still sketchy.
But on Tuesday last week I had particularly bad andpainful digestion problem after just drinking 4 cups of earl grey tea. I've done some searching and found about FODMAP diet. And man, what a relief that was!
Following this diet I feel so much better. I don't need almost any stomach acid, when I take more than half a capsule I get serious heartburn.I also barely use enzymes.
It is interesting there is a connection between this diet and stomach acid production. If somebody can shed a light on this I will gladly listen.

Third important thing is I have found an opportunity outside the whole gambling,betting industry. It will require some cash, modest doses of my time but should provide good rates of return. It's still fresh and I personally didn't obtain any return on it but I saw first hand how it's done.
I will dedicate some time for it and let's see if it can provide.

Main challenge now is not to get healthy, not finding a way to black numbers but be looking for opportunities and keep growing with same humility and dedication as when I was burning money month in month out.

So what happened since October 2015?

October, November and December were bad months. At work I was struggling again. October I finished with 600€ less than at the start of the month. In November I broke even but I started to have health issues and worked 30% less. In December I lost another 900€ and my health problem was at worst.

Terrible period. But I tried new things and a few of them showed promise.
January was break even month. In February I have lost 500€. That was last bad month. Since then things got better. March, April and May I cumulatively increased my bank by 3700€.
I do mistakes from time to time. There was one mistake which went my way and I got 800€ from that. But even without that mistake, it is still almost 1000€/month saved.
In brutto the numbers are even better. I had a lot of expenses and invested in new tools (PC, display, smart phone etc.)  and well being of my family.

What is even better this improvement is systematic!
Firstly in May I remortgaged my debt which not only decreased interest and amount of monthly payment but also drastically increased my bank. As of 13.6.2016 my bank is 27070€. This kind of money makes my work much easier! Also I have access to another 6350€ available anytime in case I need them.
Interest I pay on debt went down from 10% to 2.8% and monthly payment from 480€ to 265€. There is still opportunity for shedding 65€ monthly and bringing interest to 1.8% p.a.

Secondly, I have now great working strategies. Nobody can tell how long they will be around but I would say this opportunity will last a year maybe more.

My overall debt is also lower.
In October I was 26000€ under water. Now it's 24900€.
So, let's roll!

Summer, autumn 2015 summary

This will be the post where I summarize where I was at in October 2015 for future reference. I wrote this on October 9th 2015 but didn't publish somehow. Shortly I will post a second part about the time since October 2015 till now, June 2016:

 

Regarding my work and bankroll - July was great, best month of the year for me, August was also great about 70% of July profit. I saved and increased my betting bank by about 3 500€ in those two months.

I was stagnating in September, earned less, had bigger expenditures and finished with bank smaller by couple of hundred €s than at the beginning of the month. 

My bank is currently at 13 800€, highest it was this year. I owe 23 800€ at average interest of 10% so I am still 9 800€ underwater. But now because of my work and various strategies I learned, the trend is positive and upward. It is much better position than have a bank of 23 800€ and be losing money.

Till the end of the year I want to save & pay out at least 4000€ of the worst debt and that will bring my interest rate I pay for credit to 7%. I will be happy with that interest for next year and my creditor is happy with that too.

* 

so this was written in October 15. It's correct except the mortgage debt is missing. Including mortgage, debt wasn't 23800€ but 39800€ so I was 26000€ underwater at the time.I will account for this debt in future calculations, as I have refinanced my debt completely with new mortgage. But I will not put my residential property in credit because its value is not clearly determined and it´s not an investment. But it´s safe to say it has much higher value than my mortgage debt. So bank is happy and me too because of very low interest, considering all circumstances.