Better know a Blogger: Featuring Sir Budget.

The financial blogging community is a pretty tight knit group. Although I’m new to the blogging side of things, I’ve been an audience member for over 5 years, reading people’s stories, learning from them, and following their financial journeys.  There are probably 30+ people I have been following for years, who I could tell you their investing styles, what stocks they own, and perhaps even their average dividend income just off the top of my head.  What I couldn’t do however is tell you a little more about the people behind the portfolio’s…which is what inspired me to reach out to a few of my favourites, and try  to get to know them better.

I hope you have been enjoying the previous interviews.  You can view them on my blogroll page HERE

Welcome to the 10th “Better Know A Blogger”!

Today I will be featuring Sir Budget

Sir Budget, is one of the few international bloggers I follow.  He lives in a small town in Germany, and also one of the younger bloggers in this series.

Without further ado…I’d like to introduce you to Sir Budget

Name: Sir Budget

Age: 27

Where do you live:  Small town close to Stuttgart, Germany

Tell me something awesome about your city:  Well, it’s not just the city but the region Swabia is known for its frugal people. A good place to live in as a financial blogger 😉 And well, Stuttgart is the home of Mercedes and Porsche. So, we can build good and expensive cars 😉

What do you do for a living:  I’m a freelance iOS and web developer

Are you married:   No

Do you have any Kids? Pets:   We have no kids yet, but we plan to have them later. We have a dog called Lucky

Website: www.budgetlikeasir.com

Twitter:  @BudgetLikeASir

Why do you blog:  I want to share the stuff I’ve learned from several finance books with my readers, so they will have success and build a richer life. Ultimately, they won’t make the mistakes I did and be able to handle money in a reasonable way. For me, that doesn’t mean being super frugal. Money is there to spend it. But you need to have a balance between your short-, mid-, and long-term goals!

In your opinion, what is the best thing you’ve ever published:  My post about perpetual dividend raisers: https://budgetlikeasir.com/2017/12/15/perpetual-dividend-raisers-can-make-rich/

 

Why do you invest/What is your ultimate financial goal:  I’m a fan of dreaming big and reaching for the stars. So, my goal is to build an incredibly large passive income, like 5-10k per month (right now I’m at 11€/month).

When did you start investing: During my final year of studies in 2016. I was 25 at that time and bought my first ETF

How long until you will be financially free (wont NEED to work): Well, I just started working full-time in January of this year. So, I have quite a long way to go. But I plan to reach financial independence in the next 8-10 years.

What % of your salary do you invest/save each year:   I can’t really answer that right now as I’ve started freelancing just a few months ago. Therefore, my income, as well as my expenses (we also moved out of our parents’ places in March and bought our first car in May), vary dramatically. I would say usually 10-15% for investing and then 10% is saved for months without freelancing projects, another 10% for my emergency fund, and lastly 5-8% into other savings accounts for short- and mid-term goals. But in good months, I put another 10-20% in my savings accounts. I also have to add that I don’t exclude the costs of social security (~10%) from the base value. If you take that away my savings rate should be higher. So, let’s say 40-75% usually.

Do you invest in funds or individual stocks & why:  I started investing in index funds as suggested by Ramit Sethi in his great book ‘I Will Teach You To Be Rich’. However, as soon as I’ve discovered dividend growth investing, I’ve switched my investing style to buy solid perpetual dividend raisers. Therefore, individual stocks. I prefer it that way as I have more influence on what stocks are bought/sold. I also love the monthly income that those stocks produce. However, for the average person, I would still recommend buying funds.

If I gave you $10,000 right now to invest in 1 stock – what would you pick & why:  That’s a good question. Usually, I would split it up into several stocks. As I’ve received dollars from you, I would buy a US company and I really like Realty Income as they have such an amazing dividend growth streak (I think more than 80 consecutive quarterly dividend raises). Their payout ratio is a little bit too high, but I believe that the management is able to handle that after more than 20 consecutive years of quarterly dividend raises.

What was your biggest financial fuck up: Handing over nearly 20k to a Suisse bank to buy mutual funds and don’t know anything about the stock market. I don’t know if their performance was good or not, but it was in 2008 or 2009. Yes, when the financial crisis was happening. After a few months and losing 2.000,00€ I took my money out and it was just gone. So many mistakes were made there. First, you shouldn’t invest without knowing at least a little bit what you are doing. Second, mutual funds are mostly a bad idea and underperform the market often. Lastly, you should never sell when the prices drop. You should better buy low, sell high. Or how Warren Buffett said: ‘Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful’.
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Is there a God:  Yes, I believe there is a god, but I don’t think that you have to go to the church on a weekly basis to do good in his eyes. I just pray a few times a week and try to help others when I can and improve this world somehow.

When you die, what is 1 thing you hope people think of/remember you for:  I want them to be remembered as loyal and faithful. I think that’s a skill that we, as a society, are about to lose. It’s now normal that politicians lie. Deadlines for projects aren’t met most of the time. People tend to be late for appointments. Having debts is just how it is and sometimes are not paid back. In relationships, folks say one thing but do the complete opposite. It’s true for small and big things. Machines get more and more reliable and at the same time, we are losing that. At least, that’s what I’ve noticed.

Do you vote? Who did you last vote for: Yes, I do. I voted for our German chancellor

What do you think the next big technological advance will be:  Hmm, I don’t know if this still counts but I would say self-driving cars will become standard and then the imagination starts. How about reading books and newspapers with a head-up-display (HUD) on your windshield?

What is the single biggest threat to humanity:  The human itself. We keep on doing things that we should know they are not good for us, the planet, and the society. But well, I’m also scared of artificial intelligence.

What are you most proud of & why: Mrs. Budget. I made the most beautiful, lovely, loyal, breathtaking, and astonishing girl on this planet becoming my better half

If you knew you only had 1 year to live – how would you spend it: Spend as much time with my family as possible and guarantee that everyone is taking care of. So that includes that I would continue to work to improve their situation.

What is one thing most people don’t do – but everybody SHOULD do to make the world a better place:  “As one person I cannot change the world, but I can change the world of one person.” – Paul Shane Spear. Starting small is a great thing and every action makes a difference. One small monthly donation or volunteering can mean a lot to others and improve the world. If every single person makes the world a little bit better by their actions, we would have a much better planet to live on.
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Favorite Movie:  The Boss Baby

Favorite TV Show:  Family Guy

Favorite book:  The Richest Man in Babylon

First Job:  Paperyboy

Have you ever been fired:   No

Which website do you spend the most time on:  Amazon

Favorite Cocktail: Vodka Redbull*

*Editors Note* See I told you he was young

Favorite Beer:  Shocker! The German guy doesn’t drink beer at all

Favorite Sports Team: Pittsburgh Steelers

Have you ever been arrested?  No

Dogs or Cats:  Dogs

Does your spouse read your blog: Sure

Best restaurant in your city: Santa Lucia

How often do you check your portfolio (be honest):  Daily

How often do you check your website stats (be honest):  Weekly

**Bonus question submitted by my wife (I asked her what ONE question I should ask):

What do you put on your hotdog: Weenie, roasted onions, ketchup, mayonnaise, pickles

Thanks for reading.  I hope you enjoyed this series as much as I enjoyed putting it together and learning about everyone.  If you’d like to be featured, let me know.