April was followed up by another great month in May. Whilst there were no holidays away, the 2 bank holidays meant that there was enough fun to be had.
Football
As usual I will start off on the football front, but this will not be the case going forward!
I managed to get back for my final game of the season after my holiday. We lost (who cares by this point) but it was nice to have our final night out with the boys before I pack it up.
Ironically my final match of the season was against a lot of my teammates on a Saturday. Bragging rights were up for grab and maybe more needle in the game than was expected. Love the boys but there are one or two who believe they’re too good for our team on Saturday, so there was no way I wanted to allow that ego to extend any further by allowing them to lay a smackdown on us. Thankfully age overcome beauty with the Brexit tactics on top of some good football being played. Up the old boys!
Onto the professional football, the best part of the season is definitely the playoffs! After the blistering form in 2025, Charlton had their semi final legs against Wycombe. If you haven’t seen it I’d suggest not bothering viewing any highlights over 5 minutes in total as they were 2 truly dreadful games. Despite this the atmosphere was amazing and we were on our way to Wembley, meeting fellow Londoners Leyton Orient after the impressively knocked out Stockport.
Despite my lack of moderation when it comes to alcohol at times, I’ve never actually one to enjoy getting drunk for a football match. Losing your voice and not remembering the match has never appealed to me. That especially for this game as going to Wembley with your club is a truly special moment. With all that said, there was only really the goal to remember from the match, with it being another defensive masterclass from the Addicks, sending us back to the CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!
I went to the Sunderland Play Off in 2019 and whilst this game didn’t have the dramatic end like in 2019, the afterparty was brilliant. We ended up in Boxpark where the Charlton fans and players were both celebrating to the feelgood tunes of Shakira et al (Waka Waka still blaring in the head).
Shout out to Alex Gilbert as he was loving life, despite being a loan player. By the looks of it you wouldn’t want to have a drinking competition with Alex Mitchell either, unless you’re a top LAD like myself….
Life Updates
Other goings on in May was a lovely weekend in Canterbury, birthdays, catch ups, a return to cricket and the biggest news from the month, my Working Holiday Visa to Australia has been approved!
I’ve been wanting to go much almost immediately since I landed back in the UK over 7 year ago now. Blimey that’s gone quick. However, the ‘need‘ to go back has waned with the improvement in my career, personal life and finances over the last 2ish years, so now I’m not escaping anything. I’m still looking forward to it and have the excitement, it’s just knowing how I’ve changed as a person and understanding it will be a different experience to when I was there in my early 20s.
It will be interesting to see how the financial independence journey goes during this Working Holiday. In a way the delay has helped my finances as I’ve been holding off moving and buying a car waiting for the time to come and get out there again. Last time I blew through my savings and if it was to occur again to would hit harder now being in my 30s.
Then there has been an internal debate regarding have I just wasted some of my best years waiting to go back only to find out it’s not what I actually wanted: Time will tell.
Finance Update
With the markets picking back up in May, my investments have gone back in an upwards direction. Although, the weak USD is holding back the level of gains.
Cash is low this month after paying out on my visa, 2 bank holidays and paying for some stag stuff in July. The interest on my savings account has gone down by an entire 100 basis points since November, so not missing a whole lot in interest from the lack of cash. Will be looking to find a new provider soon. Whilst the bank rate has gone down by 50 basis points, the extra 50 reduction is an absolute libertyyyyyy. Hang your head in shame Vanquis!
Figures
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