Money Talk

Hey Reader,

I've been man down since our last chat.

Flu'd up to the max, but I managed to make it down to Devon, where I'm writing this overlooking the coastline with a hot mug of tea and a bacon sarnie.

My partner and I try to do something every January.

We've gone from Barbados to the Philippines to the Peak District, but this year it's our favourite spot in North Devon.

I firmly believe cabin fever and monotonous routines can wreak havoc with our lives.

And I find that having some time away from your every day gives you a sense of purpose and perspective which you'll never get in the same four walls.

What does this have to with money Sammie? Well, let me explain...

💰 Sinking Funds 💰

Getting away is great, but it's never for free unless you're one of those influenzas doing those holding-hand shots on a white sandy beach (you know the ones).

So, how do you make sure you can afford to get away each year?

Sure you could just pay for it if your paycheck allows you to do that, but, many others can't just afford it off the cuff and even so, I like to make it easy for myself by spreading the load.

Sinking funds are essentially that. Every month my partner and I pay a set amount into our joint account.

If you don't have a partner, don't worry this still works.

Then we have 4 pots that we allocate a set amount to. Holiday, new house fund, emergency fund and Christmas.

These could be for anything and you could just have one or two.

We use Monzo so each of our pots earns interest too and then when we need the money we've got a big chunk of it ready to go.

That's the idea of sinking funds. It's all about easing the load.

🤔 Time to think 🤔

The other great thing about getting away is giving yourself a reset.

Up the Gains became a fully-fledged business idea on a beach in January in Barbados 4 years ago.

Just having the time to think about where you're going, what your plans are and what you're going to do about it is SO powerful.

For example, I'm using this time away to think about new products to help you guys out.

My partner, who is joining the Couch to 5 Grand passive income course, has used some of the time to brainstorm digital product ideas whilst we walk our little bulldog Archie - who may or may not be the subject!

It's all about making some time to do something else and probably the most important thing is having something to look forward to.

🕰️ Using time to your advantage 🕰️

For those who can't get away right now, use the time you do have to your advantage.

This is going to be weekends or evenings for most of you guys.

1,440 minutes in a day - I'm sure you can find 60 of them to work on a passion project.

So, with that in mind, that's what I've created for you - a side hustle that you can do in a niche you're already passionate about with 60 minutes a day.

It's called Couch to 5 Grand and it's open for pre-launch right now until midnight tomorrow night!

That's when the price will be going up quite a bit - so don't miss out.

Interested? You can find out more here.

If not, have a cracking weekend people.

Cheers,

Sammie

P.S. 1440 minutes a day, 180 spent scrolling, 120 watching Netflix, 60 minutes on TikTok - that's 104 days a year. You don't lack time. You lack focus.