“Ultimately we know deeply that the other side of every fear is freedom” Marilyn Ferguson
Again sorry for the long hiatus in posting in this blog, I have not forgotten, I just got overwhelmed with various responsibilities. I am hoping that going forward I will be able to write more frequently.
We are now in the fourth quarter of the year – actually its almost ending, so I would like to do a review of where I stand versus the financial goals that I set at the beginning of the year. Again, I am very much focused on building a Kenyan Equity portfolio for now based on cash flow or dividends earned. Then I also want to eliminate my credit card debt as a priority and anyways my net asset value is now firmly in positive territory so I no longer need to be so afraid. I have also calculated the savings in interest charges is huge – why should I continue to spend so much on interest? in a year total interest expense can come to 300,000/- obviously it will not be eliminated completely next year because it could take me the whole year to repay but from 2018 that expense will be zero. Then I can think about purchasing a car even on a little credit.
So here goes – 2016 goals:
- Save a five month emergency fund. CANCELLED. As I said earlier, I won’t focus on an emergency fund for now because I do have a credit card that I could use in case of an emergency.
- Blog more regularly and consistently. BARELY COMPLETE. On this one I have done terribly having only posted only 8 blog posts so far this year. I will aim to do better for the rest of the year and beyond.
- Make an effort to sell all the unnecessary items that I own. 0% COMPLETE. I still have made zero effort on this one.
- Buy into a pension fund for my future retirement. 0% CANCELLED. I want to focus on my own share portfolio
- Top up my SACCO to 1 million shillings. CANCELLED. I have closed this account as its serving me no purpose as I am a net saver and for emergency expenses I can rely on my credit card for now until I have emergency savings
- Not to use any credit and if I do to pay it back immediately. SUCCESS. I have been good on this – as long as I do not shop for unnecessary items then usually there is no danger, and I am totally done with shopping as I have adopted a minimalist philosophy
- Keep better track of my expenses by entering the expenses every few days and also keep track of my net worth on a monthly basis. SO SO. I do keep track of my expenses but not very tightly and I am tracking my monthly net worth change without fail.
Reduce my credit card debt by £1,000. more than 100% done on this one and I plan to pay back even moreEarn $1,000 in passive income.122% complete. A large dividend checked in just at the end of October and I was even able to stay without touching most of my salary.- Make a sale for my business by July 30th. FAIL. I am not sure when I will make the first sale as progress is being made but very very slowly, its just been so hard for me to find the extra time. I however have to push myself on this one as its extremely important to push and start this business as soon as possible
I think I wrote a few too many goals and for next year they will be fewer and more realistic. Focus is really building my share portfolio and paying back my credit card and looking for alternative sources of income which is this new business that I am starting.
Happy investing!
Financial Independance in Africa 