June might have been the most challenging month of the year so far and unsurprisingly, my expenses reflected that - it was just all over the place.
I won’t go into all the details, but I did want to share where I’m at, how I’m getting back up, and what my investment progress looks like. Because yes, even while growing an investment portfolio, life is still happening.
The portfolio keeps moving, the bills still come out, and somehow you still have to decide what kind of life you’re building.
I did a mid-year money reset...
It also turned into a necessary reflection of where I’m at and where I want to go. The changes that happened over the past few weeks forced me to make decisions for myself, which in hindsight might actually be a good thing.
One book that’s stayed with me is Die With Zero. The whole idea is that the goal of life isn’t to die with the most money. It’s to maximise net fulfilment. And there are certain experiences that make more sense in certain seasons of life. For example, if bungee jumping was on my life bucket list, it’s probably not something I’d choose to do when I’m 80. But in my 20s? Sure.
"We all have at least the potential to make more money in the future, we can never go back and recapture time that is now gone. So it makes no sense to let opportunities pass us by for fear of squandering our money. Squandering our lives should be a much greater worry.”
- Bill Perkins
That’s what I’ve been thinking about lately. What do I actually want to experience in my 20s? Travelling. Moving out. Meeting new people. Career pivot. Maybe even a working holiday at some point - living and working in another country for 6 months to a year. I’ve lived in the same city my whole life, and lately I’ve been craving some kind of change. Not because I think a new place will magically make life better, but because I’ve been in the same scene for a little too long now. Sometimes I wonder what kind of person I'd be in a completely different environment!
I wanted to share this part because the road to building wealth isn’t always linear. If I followed a fixed course and optimised every decision around reaching $100k as fast as possible, I probably would get there faster. But I might also miss out on experiences that matter to me while I’m still in the season of life where they’re available. So I’m trying to strike a balance. Building wealth matters to me. But living a life I’m excited by matters too.
June Portfolio update:
~$57,385 💸
Assuming the market stays level, I have just over $40k left to reach my first $100k invested. If I want to hit that goal by March 2027, that would mean investing +$5k per month from here, assuming no gains. With the amount currently coming in every month, investing $5k consistently isn’t exactly realistic. So what’s the plan? Most of the opportunities I’ve been getting lately have been inbound. I haven’t been as proactive as I was at the start of this journey.
How I plan to move forward
June was a bit of a hiccup, but I’m ready to get back on track. For this next season, I’m prioritising more outreach, pitching myself to more freelance clients, and doing more UGC work, which I actually enjoy. I just need to find brands that feel aligned. Something I’m learning is that there’s a lot of money in the creator economy, but you have to choose wisely when it comes to the brands you say yes to. Of course money is important. But the quality of the money matters too. Anyway, that’s the [late] June update. I’ll be back with a July update sharing my portfolio as well as income updates!
We'll see if my portfolio is up another $5k by then.
Thanks for tuning in.
Until next time,
