What will you read in my April 2020 monthly report? We will go into major life updates, April expenses, April passive + side hustle income, and April goals.
It’s strange how much has changed in a couple of months.
March was the month where many countries installed a travel ban and a lot of countries went in (partial) quarantine. That persisted through April, meaning that the entire month of April was quiet.
Everything is regulated and it seems people are getting used to it. Keep your distance from others, don’t visit friends or family, and keep at it for a while longer.
The thing with these kinds of situations is that I appreciate my friends, family, and regular life even more. Going with public transport or visiting friends is a luxury I didn’t know I had.
Quarantine life makes sure there is nothing too exciting, except for the market disruptions that we keep hearing again and again.
Personal Update
On the personal side, I have started my job and it’s great to be working. I never would have thought that I would be so happy to work again.
In April I had plenty of time to work on the blog, which is also a great luxury. I’ve enjoyed learning more and more about blogging and putting my knowledge into practice.
All the insecurity in the current market makes sure that I want to keep at my current financial freedom plan!
I want to have complete freedom, do whatever I want, and when I want it.
Over the last couple of months, my investment strategy has slowly changed. From a portfolio aimed at peer-to-peer lending, I have transitioned into focusing on the stock market and dividend investing.
I will be financially free when my passive income is more than €1000 monthly. That is a great thing to strive for!
Highlights of April:
💸 Expenses of €581
👉 80% savings rate
🌟Passive income of €230
💰 Side hustle income of €127
April Expenses
In March we saw a big stock market drop and many reacted to that. In April the market went up again, however not back to February 2020 levels. The state of the economy suggests the markets could be a whole lot lower.
Is now a good time to invest? That’s a very relevant question to ask.
No crazy expenses in April.
April gives me a monthly savings rate of 80%, which I’m very happy with. My goal for 2020 is to have a savings rate of 75%. Currently, I’m well above that with 78%.
April Income
Here is a breakdown of income per source:
| Source | Income | Annual Return |
|---|---|---|
| Blog | €116 | |
| Cashback Groceries | €2 | |
| Crowdestor | €9 | 2.37% |
| Dividends | €191 | 1.82% |
| Reselling | €11 | |
| EstateGuru | €7 | 7.25% |
| Funding Circle | €4 | 6.57% |
| Mintos | €19 | 10.72% |
| Reinvest24 | €1 | 6.98% |
| Total | €359 | P2P: 3.37% |
Let’s get into my passive income, side hustle income, and my other income for the month.
April Passive Income
Every month I try to grow my passive income. Passive income means that you’re making money while you’re sleeping. Putting in little effort and getting recurring income. My peer-to-peer loans and quarterly dividends are my main sources at the moment.
My current strategy is to reinvest the returns from my peer-to-peer portfolio in the stock market.
Note that I’m not a financial advisor and I’m not giving you any financial advice. I’m only telling you what steps I’m taking.
In April I got a total of €230 passive income for the month.
Here is a breakdown of all my passive income sources:
The biggest part of my portfolio is coming from peer-to-peer lending or crowdlending, which means higher risk and higher return.
The Peer-to-Peer Lending Market
The peer-to-peer got hit hard by the coronavirus. Many countries have put laws in place that indicate companies don’t have to pay their loans back in the upcoming three months.
What will happen with the peer-to-peer lending market? I have no idea. I still have trust in the market and I will continue investing. At this moment, I will keep a balanced approach and wait until the market calms down again before reinvesting more capital into the market.
This is a great time to see how the different lending platforms react to the crisis.
I was aware of this risk in peer-to-peer lending and I want to be open to you about all the possible scenarios at this point.
To summarize:
- Grupeer has stopped all payments to investors for the foreseeable future. There has been no communication from the Grupeer side, plus people never received their withdrawal from the platform on their bank account. At this point, it is likely Grupeer could be a scam. You can read their statement here. If you want to participate in current legal action, fill out this form.
- Crowdestor is pausing all payments for the upcoming two months so that lenders have time to get their finances in order. If companies can still continue to pay, they will investigate that and continue with payment. In April, Crowdestor has continued payment for a dozen of projects. I have received money for a couple of projects myself – Crowdestor will continue to release projects that are able to pay. This is a good sign in my opinion.
- EstateGuru and Reinvest24 have continued to pay.
Crowdestor
Portfolio Value: €4,357.63
Average Interest Rate: 2.37%
Passive Income: €8.62
Crowdestor paused all payments in March, for three months. In this way, lenders have time to get their finances in order and can evaluate their situation.
In April, Crowdestor has further investigated the status of the different companies and continue the payment on a dozen projects. This is a good sign for me. It means that they are working together with the different companies to have the best outcome for all parties involved.
I wasn’t expecting payment in April, despite that, I got a couple of euros. Better than nothing right!
I currently invested €4357, which has yielded me €9. That’s 2.37% interest for April, let’s hope that picks up again.
Check out my Crowdestor review 🔥 for more detailed info.
Open An Account At CrowdestorMintos
Portfolio Value: €2,134.54
Average Interest Rate: 10.72%
Passive Income: €19.07
Mintos is currently one of the biggest peer-to-peer platforms in Europe, which makes it a good platform to start if you want to start building up your passive income streams.
Mintos is still a good place to invest IF you are careful. Only select the loan originators that have a great rating. They are solid and will be generally safer than a loan originator with a low rating. Mintos has daily updates on what are the outstanding amounts per loan originator, to keep you up to date with how they are doing.
I currently have €2,135 invested with Mintos. That gave me €19 passive income in April, which is a 10.72% average annual interest rate.
🔥If you’re not using Mintos yet, check it out. You can read detailed Mintos review here or you can sign up directly.
When you sign up with Mintos using my link, you get a 0.5% extra return on any investments made within the first 90 days!
Try Mintos NowEstateGuru
Portfolio Value: €1,124
Average Interest Rate: 7.25%
Passive Income: €6.79
EstateGuru is my addition to diversify my portfolio and get more into real estate investing.
I have added some money to my portfolio. I enjoy investing with EstateGuru and like to have the extra security of collateral on my investments.
Currently, I have €1,124 invested in EstateGuru, with a €6.79 return.
🔥 April promotion: if you sign up using this link, you get a 1% cashback bonus for 90 days!
Join EstateGuru Today >>Funding Circle
Portfolio Value: €775.85
Average Interest Rate: 6.57%
Passive Income: €4.25
Funding Circle was my first crowdlending experience, back in 2018. It is not my favorite platform but I’m patiently sitting out the loans that I have invested in. There is no early exit option.
All the other platforms I mentioned have a far greater risk-reward ratio, so I would recommend checking them out instead.
🔥 If you’re interested in real estate crowdfunding, I have a list of platforms that I recommend here.
Reinvest24
Portfolio Value: €98
Average Interest Rate: 6.98%
Passive Income: €0.57
In October I started investing with Reinvest24, a real estate investment platform that allows me to invest relatively low amounts.
The thing about Reinvest24 is that they give you yield on your investment, just as if you’re receiving rental income. On top of that, property gains will be calculated on top of that when a property is sold.
At the moment, I get a 6.98% yield. Plus, when they’re selling the property, I get another 5% yearly capital growth gains. This will bring my total return on almost 12% annually!
🔥 For the entire month of May, Reinvest24 gives 2% cashback if you invest at least €500 on the platform. If you want to give Reinvest24 a try, sign up here or check out my complete review here!
Open An Account At Reinvest24April Goals
Here they are:
- Move daily – PASS! Every day before lunchtime we go out on a 30-minute walk. It’s a great way to be outside, get some fresh air, and move your body throughout the day. It helps me get back to focusing.
- Read one book – PASS! I’ve started a couple of books, finished only one of them. I Will Teach You To Be Rich. Any other great book suggestions? Let me know below!
- Work ahead 2 weeks in posts – PASS! The day is there that I made this goal. In April I had plenty of time to write and to work on posts. I’m upping my SEO game and trying to rank higher in Google as well, we’ll see in a couple of months whether or not it’s working.
April Goals
- Move daily
- Read two books
- Work out 3x per week
- Work ahead 4 weeks in posts
How was your April? Let me know below!
Marjolein is a financial consultant who has built over €4,000 monthly passive income and saves over 70% of her income. Read Radicals’ inspiring story, from stuck in the 9-to-5 to loving life. Feel free to send Radical a message at the bottom of this page
Great to see these amazing savings! You sure are on the right path to FI! Regarding the P2P investments, I always felt the risk was not worth the reward with them. There is too much inherent risk both from the loans themselves and the platforms. I would actually compare P2P to high yield bonds. In my books, both are not investment grade material.
Just my 2 cents as P2P seems to have exploded in Europe in the past few years.
Cheers and hope things will get better soon.
Wow 581 Euros on expenses is so low, well done on that.
Glad to hear you managed to find a job during these days, it definitely must be reassuring!
I am also shifting my P2P investments to stocks or dividends. Same as you, I also hold some trust on the industry but I rather see how things are going before taking any final decision.
Stay safe! 🙂
Thanks for your kind words! Yes with regards to P2P they can be a great investment but I highly underestimate the power of panic & uncertainty in this regard. When there are no regulations and no guarantees what else can they fall back on when things don’t go well? That’s why I think regulation would be the thing that will transform the industry and make it worthwhile to invest. I’d rather wait until that happens before I put any significant funds in the market!
Thank you Tony! Yes I’d rather not take any more hits in my P2P portfolio. I still believe that it is a great way to make money – but I think regulation would help to mature the sector and have the scammers filtered out. Honestly, I don’t mind losing money if a loan originator goes bankrupt or a loan can’t pay me back anymore. That’s part of the risk. What I don’t like is platforms disappearing from the face of the earth and having that uncertainty. This turned into a mini-rant lol, oops!
Either way, fun to see we’re on the same page and let’s wait & see what will happen going forward!
Great rate of savings, I did my homework on mine but I’m miles behind you 🙂 I need to try harder! My investing approach is somewhat similar to yours but since I find my portfolio far too risky I withdraw straight to the bank at the moment. Find shares very unpredictable and see plenty of bankruptcies ahead, dividends will nose dive for a while too. Companies hold on to cash to survive, I think a bit further ahead will be best time to pick the strongest. Moving funds to estate investors makes more sense instead of short term loans as projects take usually around a year and hopefully by than some sort of normality returns. Stay safe and continue to motivate!
Hi Marcin, thanks for your kind words! My investment strategy has changed over the past months, more towards stock and less toward P2P. With stocks I don’t buy individual stocks, but rather ETFs (exchange traded funds) – the particular ETF I invest in has over 3,900 worldwide companies in it. That’s why I’m not too worried about the individual bankruptcies, the entire stock market may be lower for a while but I’m positive it will pick up a few months or years from now. Stay safe!
I’m amazed at how low you’ve kept your expenses! Great job! Do you have a breakdown of your expenses in another post I can check out? Would love to know more 🙂 Anyway, it sounds like you’re on a great trajectory to achieve FIRE. Excited for you and your journey!
Hi Liz, thanks for your comment! My earlier monthly updates showed my expenses, perhaps I should put them back in place for my May update! Either way, you can find my yearly 2019 expenses breakdown here – please note that I did travel 4 months in 2019. I’m paying around €350 per month rent and don’t have a car, which helps a lot.