FTSE 100 is down below 6,000 again. Surely not too much of a surprise after several months of lockdown, furlough, business loans and so on.
LM portfolio as at 31/07/2020:
| Code | Sector | Date Bought | Cost | Value | Gain/Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LM009 LM009-2 |
Gas, Water & Multiutilities | 05/02/2019 04/02/2020 |
£2020 | £1990 | (1.74%) |
| LM012 LM012-2 |
Real Estate Investment Trusts | 20/05/2019 28/11/2019 |
£2030 | £2350 | 15.42% |
| LM023 | ETF | 19/05/2020 | £1020 | £1050 | 2.99% |
| LM024 LM024-2 |
ETC | 01/06/2020 23/06/2020 |
£2030 | £2110 | 4.08% |
| LM025 | ETC | 08/07/2020 | £1030 | £1000 | (2.41%) |
Last week's failure to record the portfolio's value is still making me feel a little annoyed. Usually I will sit down for ten minutes on a Saturday morning and do all my checks then take a screenshot of all the current positions in my brokerage account.
From this screenshot I will create the weekly update and fill in my spreadsheet of weekly values.
However, on Saturday I neglected this task and then on Sunday, well, let's just say I wasn't in much of a state to do anything except perhaps mope and feel sorry for myself. Yes, despite my best efforts to "take it easy" on Saturday night, we had friends around and I enjoyed several beers. And a few shots. And some fine single malt.
First thing Sunday morning I didn't feel too bad but the hangover crept up on me and by midday I was nauseous with a headache and very tired.
On top of feeling like death-warmed-up I also had a feeling of great disappointment in myself. I was wasting yet another day because I couldn't leave it at just one or two beers. When it's my weekend to have my daughter I feel even worse as I don't want her to see me in these pathetic hungover states.
A vicious Sunday hangover has been my default state on the last two weekends when my child was with me. That means the last two out of three Sundays I've been sick as a dog.
To be fair, both times she did have a great time on the Saturday as we had people round with kids for her to play with.
But this can't continue.
I've had around 25 years of binge drinking and it's obvious that the bad times now outweigh the good by a large margin. Drinking for just a few hours results in far more hours of painful recovery that has no reliable method of treatment except time.
Just this week I finished reading a book called "The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober" and there are several great points made by the author scattered throughout. She quit drinking full-stop as she was a 9/10 on the addicted scale. I'd say I'm probably 2/10 on that scale but these repeated incidents of Sunday illness are pushing me to the point of seriously considering a blanket ban on drink.
I especially like the idea of going to a party, staying sober and then leaving around midnight so I can get a good night's sleep and make full use of the next day. Midnight's likely the tipping point at a party - all of the "fun" has happened by then and the vast majority of the messiness comes after. You do an "Irish Goodbye" - duck out without saying farewell - at 12, still healthy and happy then wake the next day to a clear head and full memory of the previous day.
Sounds great!
I'll just have to remember this the next time someone puts an ice cold bottle of beer in my hand...