March was a very interesting month. My financial/wealth goals haven’t really progressed due to the COVID-19 pandemic… well, that isn’t entirely true. I am continuing to invest, and so while there is this market decline, it’s great news for long-term investors (which includes myself). I made progress across a number of my other goals, some more so than others. For descriptive information for each of my goals, check out my Goals for 2020 post.

Financial/Wealth

1. Reach a net worth of $100,000
   • Currently at $31,222.67, a decrease of 14.1% throughout March. My drawbacks have been my super and investment accounts due to the market decline because of the Coronavirus. While it pains me to see my net worth go lower, it’s very understandable. I expect this to increase once the fear of the pandemic lessens.
2. Grow my Australian investment portfolio to $70,000
   • Currently at $40,356.22, which has declined throughout March. This hasn’t decreased much due to me investing when I can. According to Self Wealth, from the start of the year, my portfolio is at -14.09% compared to the Australian market’s -24.05%. So it’s been going quite well!
   • I use Self Wealth for my main Australian portfolio, due to its very low brokerage fee. If you sign up using my link, you and I will receive 5 free trades 🙂 – more than happy to discuss investing and get you started if you are interested in long term wealth creation! https://secure.selfwealth.com.au/Registration/Plan/5/zRml4
3. Save/invest at least 50% of my income
   • In March, I saved 56.21% of my take-home income, which was basically directly invested (apart from starting an emergency fun, which I should have had anyway). Really happy about this! See below for a run down of my spending in March:

My car costs have decreased very much so from last month due to not driving my car due to the recall. I have been cycling in pretty much every day (which is free, mostly). I’ve been sharing my partners car, so fuel has definitely been less, as well as just less driving due to everything being closed. All in all, a very good month! Groceries are quite high, due to following a meal plan (less pasta and rice) as well as shopping at a smaller grocery (Supabahn, similar to IGA).

Health/Wellbeing

1. Lower body fat to 15%
   • I have been following the Anytime Fitness 8 Week Challenge to help with losing body fat. Unfortunately, the scanner at Westfield Belconnen is closed due to the Coronavirus… So I’m unsure exactly where I’m at. I would estimate at around 17-18% though! Can’t wait to scan and see where I’m at, but it might be another few months before that.
2. Increase lean muscle mass
   • As mentioned above, the scanner is closed so I can’t measure this. I was at 65kg lean mass in February.
3. Increase strength across major lifts
   • Reassessing at the start of July. Strength is being maintained.

Happiness/Other

1. Expand PedalPay (www.pedalpay.com.au)
   • I am still at 4 stores in total for PedalPay (3 cafes and 1 bike store). Due to everything closing down for a while, it’s going to be difficult gaining interest for this. I will continue to post on social media and raise awareness (although admittedly I’ve been lacking with this). Check out PedalPay on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
2. Expand Nathan Challenges Life
   • In March, I posted 2 videos on my YouTube channel: Coronavirus Isolation Home Workout and No Complaining for 30 Days. Check them out and let me know what you think!
   • I have a number of video scripts to write and record. There will definitely be videos released in April, so stay tuned.
   • I created an account on Fiverr to offer my services with helping people achieve their goals, as well as providing voice overs for videos. You can see my gigs here.
   • I’ve been posting regularly on social media, check me out on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
3. Reduce single-use plastics and non-recycled products
   • Due to following my own meal plan for the Anytime Fitness 8 Week Challenge, I have only bought snacks and random items on occassion, which has limited the amount of packaging, as my meals are usually very vegetable heavy.
   • We have been visiting a small local store for filling up our dishwashing liquid and spray and wipe, which has been really cheap and easy.
4. Reduce consumption of added sugar in foods and drinks
   • As mentioned above, due to following my meal plan, I have rarely eaten anything with added sugar. When I have bought energy drinks as a one off, I have opted for the no-sugar option.
5. Wake up at 5am every day
   • As mentioned last month, I haven’t continued this. It was really good for the first 30 days of 2020, and I occasionally get up at 5/5:15 when I want to get some stuff finished off. I’ll be removing this goal from this list from here on.
6. Read 25 books
   • In March, I finished reading Purple Cow by Seth Godin and You Were Born Rich by Bob Proctor. Only two books this month as I’ve been cycling into work almost every day, and I can’t really listen to audiobooks because the traffic is so loud.
   • Currently reading Sell or Be Sold by Grant Cardone.
   • This brings my current total of finished books to 9. Still making my way through What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School by Mark McCormack and Tribe of Mentors by Tim Ferriss. I find it quite difficult to read physical books, which is why I have been using Audible so much.

Excited to see how April turns out! Lots of things to keep working on and progressing.

See you again at the next update in May.

Nathan