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Summary of August
Bondora returned 169,25€ (-29,91€ less than last month)
Twino returned 117,99€ (-1,57€ less than last month)
Swaper returned 62,32€ (+18,55€ more than last month)
Robocash returned 21,21€ (+17,04€ more than last month)
Mintos returned 11,89€ (-0,07€ less than last month)
Crowdestate returned 0,00€ (I expected a repayment of €9.26 on 31.08.2017 but it has has been rescheduled to 01.09.2017)
This gives me a total of 382,66€ (+4,04€ more than last month)
which equals 12,75% of my first goal (+0,13% more than last month)
Small design update
I recently made a few small changes to the site design. Income history now has it’s own page and the front page is limited to 3 posts. I also added a visual progress bar that shows my progress towards financial freedom. The design is more simple now and you should be able to get a quicker overview without too much information presented at once. I hope you like it!
Bondora
I don’t have much positive to say about Bondora at the moment. Too many loans go into default and they even try to make the recovering statistics look better by tinkering with the numbers. I wrote about this on the official Bondora facebook page, if you are interested you can read about it here. If you are not currently involved in Bondora, don’t invest. Better opportunities with lower risk is available elsewhere.
Mintos
Mintos have been adding a lot of new loan providers lately (see the complete list of loan providers here). Furthermore, several existing loan providers expanded into new countries, so there is a large supply of loans for the time being. At lot of those loans with 13% and buyback guarantee at the moment.
Mintos just announced that ID Finance will be offering loans in EUR with 16% interest rate and buyback guarantee. I have never seen buyback loans with more than 14% interest rate so that is quite exciting. Remember to update your Auto-Invest feature to include new loan providers and new countries!
Twino
The slightly smaller return on Twino the last 2 months is caused by two things. Lower interest rates and fewer loans available which have led to a little bit of cash drag. I’m glad Twino announced they are adding to the loan volume in the upcoming months. The interest rate stays at max. 11% for now.
Robocash and Swaper
Robocash and Swaper are my favorites at the moment. Both of them offer a flawless investing experience. 14% interest rate with buyback guarantee, no cash drag and no need for manual investing. Doesn’t get much better than that!
Tough decisions that REALLY matters
Some expenses matter more than others when you want to reach financial freedom as soon as possible. Be sure to get the big ones right.
I own a Audi S6 4,2 Avant from 2002. I bought it 6 years ago when we had our first child. It’s a nice and big car with good room for a baby carriage in the trunk. It’s an expensive car to maintain and drive though. During those 6 years, it has cost me about 800€ every month just to own and drive it. The acquiring cost and the depreciation in value comes on top of this.
2 months ago the automatic gear box went into emergency mode because of some unknown error. It has not been possible to determine the cause of the error without taking the gear box apart. It would cost at least 5.000€ to make the car run again so I have decided to get rid of this expensive luxury sofa on wheels. I really like the car so it has been a tough decision.
Mind games
Getting rid of the old car is one thing… Buying a new car is an equally tough decision to make. When you are used to luxury it’s very hard to mentally accept something significantly inferior. I have no need for a big luxury car . 90% of the trips we make are less than 10 km and we don’t use baby carriages anymore. But still, my mind tries to rationalize why I should buy a new equally expensive car. How stupid is that?! I’m not fooling myself this time. I have a goal and a dream that is stronger than my temporary need for pleasure. If it’s a choice between a nice car and financial freedom, I’d take financial freedom any day!
New car
I don’t wan’t to live without a car, that would be too big of a step to take. Instead, I decided to buy a 1 year old micro car – a Peugeot 108 with no accessories what so ever. It’s a very boring car with only one up side: It’s cheap! I’m estimating the expenses to be around 250€ every month, compared to the 800€ I have been paying for the Audi. That’s another 550€ I can invest every month!
Real estate
I started searching for real estate a year ago and I’m still looking for the right property to get started. I have been viewing a few houses and apartments in August. It’s hard to find something at a bargain price that doesn’t need too much maintenance. The last apartment I looked at was very moist and had mold on the walls. Not something I’m interested in, especially not when renting out. The last thing I want is a lawsuit from a tenant.
I just found a property with 3 apartments at a reasonable price (182.000€). Showcasing is scheduled for next week. I really want to get started so let’s hope this will be my first property!
Where will my spare money go in September?
Unfortunately, I will not have any spare cash to invest in September. The new car will cost me 6.000€ which means I need to sell some of my stocks as well to afford it. However, I do see the new car as an investment as well. The 6.000€ will have a ROI (return of investment) of only 11 months (550€ x 11). That’s actually pretty good!
Have you been looking through your largest expenses lately? What did you sacrifice for the greater good? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
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