It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe … Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance. Let’s get right to it this week’s commentary … There are only three ways to meet the unpaid bills of a nation. The first is taxation. The second is repudiation. The third is inflation. — Herbert Hoover The […]

These spending diaries are a way for me to be more cognizant of my spending. They’re also a peek into my daily life for those who care. For those who are new, my style of “spending” is a little convoluted. I have two checking accounts. I keep the majority of my money in the secondary account, transferring $280 a week into the main account. But I charge everything to the card to maximize rewards. As […]

Real estate doesn’t need to follow the 1% rule to provide an acceptable investment return. Discussing exceptions and a word of caution. Today’s Classic is republished from White Coat Investor. You can see the original here. Enjoy!   Many direct real estate investors like to use the 1% rule for screening properties for possible purchase for rental income. The idea is that if the monthly rent is not 1% of the price of the property, it isn’t a […]

After writing a post suggesting that a 1-2% portfolio allocation to Bitcoin might not be completely ridiculous. I reviewed my own position and decided I was a bit underweight.  So I set about increasing my exposure, by about £50k. First port of call, the ETF. But I can’t buy it in my ISA for reasons known only to dull bureaucrats, and there’s no spare cash in my SIPP.  I’ll have to go the old-school Coinbase […]

Editor: As many of you are aware if you’re a long time reader, I wrote a book! It’s call The Physician Philosopher’s Guide to Personal Finance: The 20% of Personal Finance Doctors Need to Know to Get 80% of the Results. Now I’m sure you’ve heard me encourage you to read it (I wouldn’t have wrote it if I didn’t believe in what it says), but if you need another opinion, Leif from Physician on […]

6 Months In  How much does a baby cost if you’re frugal? It’s really easy to spend a fortune, but we found it hard to find examples of those who are more careful with their money.  The Big Issue  Money can be up there with the biggest worries for new parents. Baby costs are often cited as a reason why couples decide not to have children.   This is understandable considering the commercialisation of anything baby-related. There are endless gadgets and fashion statements out there for new parents. Clever marketing teams are tasked with guilt-tripping you into buying their products. You’re led to believe that if you don’t buy the latest gadgets your baby will be left behind!  Falling for this ethos, many of our peers greeted the news of our impending baby with statements like:  Say goodbye to all of your money then!  As we’re a frugal pair, we wanted to disprove these predictions of our financial downfall! We were determined to make sure Baby Way didn’t drain our accounts, while also making sure he didn’t miss out.   In reality, a baby needs very little. Most of their basic needs can be met for very little cost, or even free.  So How Did We Get On?  As our little man has just turned 6 months, we thought it would be a good benchmark to assess our baby costs so far. If you’re considering having kids yourself, we hope this can be a really useful guide for how much to allow.  Below is the table with all costs incurred to date.   We’ve been very lucky with family and friends gifting/loaning many items to us. We appreciate not everybody will be in this position, so we’ve included a column for what we would have spent otherwise!  CategoryCost to UsNotesCost Without HelpNotes Baby Clothes£0Lots as gifts, mostly second hand£30Facebook marketplace is awash with bargains Pregnancy Vitamin Tablets£8£8 Antenatal Class£80Hypno-birthing£80 Cot£80Aldi bed-side crib£80 Nappies£100Second hand reusable nappies£100 Pram£0Free!!£0See explanation below Car Seat£0Free from a friend£200See explanation below Bambalino Stretchy Wrap£5Baby carrier for £5 off Facebook!£5 Books£27Various books, bought second hand£27 Baby Scan Photo£5£5 Baby Bath£5Second hand£5 Yoga£21£21 Reusable Post-partum Pads£25£25 Baby Bed Sheets£30£30 Second Hand Baby Sleeping Bags£20£20 Yoga/Birthing Ball£13£13 Second Hand Baby Clothes£25£25 Breastfeeding Cream£17£17 Breastfeeding Bras£3We used an M&S voucher!£33 Perineal Ice Packs£19Pain relief!£19 Tablets/Vitamins£100We went a bit far here – could have been much cheaper!£100 Baby Thank You Cards£26£26 Baby Classes£180Various classes/courses both online and in person£180 Birth Certificates£22£22 Baby Carrier£11£11 Baby Cups£14£14 High Chair£0Christmas present£45From Aldi Finger Puppets£9£9 Cheeky Wipes£15For weaning£15 Weaning Bibs£32£32 Total£892£1,197

When my friends Jonathan and Brad came up for the idea for a “FIRE” podcast, they went with the name Choose FI. Not Choose FIRE. Choose FI. You see, financial independence is a status that gives one a tremendous amount of clout and flexibility. When you’ve chosen and achieved FI, you have the options to do so many things, and one of those is to retire early. But you certainly don’t have to. After all, […]

My Sweet Retirement SPH REIT 1QFY2021 Updates SPH REIT has provided their key business and operational updates for 1QFY2021 on 13th January 2021. Gross revenue was S$66.6 million which is an increase of 10.8% year-on-year, largely attributed to Westfield Marion’s contribution of S$12.8 million. The Gross revenue from its Singapore assets decreased by 11.3% y-o-y to S$49.7m, largely attributed to the rental […] SPH REIT 1QFY2021 Updates My Sweet Retirement