Midsummer should be in full swing in July, but summer prefers to take a breather. While the temperatures outside were rather cool for most of July, which fortunately didn't keep me from swimming and hiking, it was hot in the depot. Time for a look back.

Overall performance

In July, the portfolio made a significant leap upwards, possibly due to further crypto adoption, good labor market data, robust quarterly reports and a further decline in inflation in a positive environment. The big icing on the cake is of course the continued incoming cash flow from dividends and distributions. My key performance indicators are:

• TTWROR (month of July): +3.82 % (previous month: +0.19 %)
• TTWROR (since inception): +72,72 %
• IZF (month of July): +46.14 % (previous month: 2.47 %)
• IZF (since inception): +10,87 %
• Delta: +€2,468.62
• Absolute change: +€3,677.52

Performance & volume

Size of individual share positions by volume in the overall portfolio:

• Share: Share of total portfolio in % (securities account)
• $AVGO (-2.1%) 2.98 % (main share portfolio)
• $NFLX (+0.16%) 1.92 % (main share portfolio)
• $WMT (-1.37%) 1.72 % (main share portfolio)
• $FAST (-0.26%) 1.64 % (main share portfolio)
• $SAP (-0.92%) 1.49 % (main share portfolio)

Smallest individual share positions by volume in the overall portfolio:

• Share: Share of total portfolio in % (custody account)
• $SHEL (-0.21%) : 0.44 % (crypto follow-on portfolio)
• $NOVO B (+0.65%) 0.45 % (main share portfolio)
• $HSBA (-0.81%) 0.53 % (crypto follow-on portfolio)
• $GIS (-0.77%) 0.60 % (main share portfolio)
• $TGT (-1.63%) 0.64 % (main share portfolio)

Top-performing individual stocks

• Share: Performance since first purchase % (securities account)
• $AVGO (-2.1%) +299 % (main share portfolio)
• $NFLX (+0.16%) +174 % (main share portfolio)
• $FAST (-0.26%) +86 % (main share portfolio)
• $SAP (-0.92%) : +83 % (main share portfolio)
• $MAIN (-1.49%) +82 % (main share portfolio)

Flop performer individual shares

• Share: Performance since first purchase % (securities account)
• $GIS (-0.77%) -33 % (main share portfolio)
• $TGT (-1.63%) -30 % (main share portfolio)
• $NOVO B (+0.65%) -27 % (main share portfolio)
• $UPS (-0.08%) -24 % (main share portfolio)
• $CPB (-0.64%) -23 % (main share portfolio)

Asset allocation

My asset allocation is as follows:

• ETFs: 38.3 %
• Equities: 59.0 %
• Crypto: 2.60%
• P2P: less than 0.01%

Investments and subsequent purchases

Here is a small overview of what I have invested via savings plans according to my fixed planning.

• Planned savings plan amount from the fixed net salary: €1,030
• Planned savings plan amount from the fixed net salary, incl. reinvested dividends: €1,140
• Savings ratio of the savings plans to the fixed net salary: 49.75

In addition, there were the following additional investments from returns, refunds, cashback, etc. as one-off savings plans/repurchases:

• Repurchases/one-off savings plans as cashback annuities from refunds: € 70.77
• Subsequent purchases from other surpluses: € 135.00
• Automatically reinvested dividends by brokers: € 4.04 (Function is only activated for an old custody account, as I control the reinvestment myself)

Additional purchases were made:

• Number of additional purchases: 3
• 61.96 € for $SPYD (-0.76%)
• 
  58.00 € for $GGRP (-0.35%)
• 
  90.00 € for $JEGP (-0.36%)

If you want to know how my cashback pension tops up my share and ETF pension, please let me know.

Passive income from dividends

My income from dividends amounted to € 222.47 (€ 93.27 in the same month last year). This corresponds to an increase of +138,52 % compared to the same month last year. The following are further key figures on the distributions:

• Number of dividend payments: 28
• Number of payment days: 12 days
• Average dividend per payment: € 7.95
• average dividend per payment day: € 18.54

The top payers are:

• $ISPA (-1.08%)
• 
  $VWRL (-0.36%)
• 
  $VHYL (-0.23%)

My passive income from dividends (and some interest) mathematically covered 27.12% of my expenses in the month under review.

Crypto performance

My crypto investments have also moved:

• Monthly performance portfolio: +9.49
• Performance since inception: +114.72 %
• Proportion of holdings for which the tax holding period has expired: 98.55%. Accordingly, there was one subsequent purchase in the month under review $ADA (+3.1%) ).
• Crypto share of the total portfolio: 2.60 %

Crypto remains exciting for me. Due to many external influences (ETF inflows, treasury companies, Genius and Clarity Act, ...), the question arises as to whether the cycle theory is beginning to falter. Or not? Will it be different this time?

Performance comparison: portfolio vs. benchmarks

A comparison of my portfolio with two important ETFs shows:

• TTWROR (current month): +3,28 %
• Vanguard FTSE All World Dist ETF: +5.23 %
• Vanguard S&P 500 Dist ETF: +6.41 %

Outlook and conclusion

Crypto remains exciting for me. Due to many external influences (ETF inflows, treasury companies, Genius and Clarity Act, ...), the question arises as to whether the cycle theory is beginning to falter. Or not? Will it be different this time?

👉 You want my review as an Instagram post?

Then follow me on Instagram:

📲 In addition to the portfolio and budget review, you'll also find regular posts there: @frugalfreisein

👉 How was your July at the depot? Do you have any tops & flops to report?

Leave your thoughts in the comments!

In my opinion, Target will only continue to go downhill, hence the shift to Trade Desk.

Tranche 1 of 3.

35x at 45,60€ $TTD (+2.02%)

The start of summer in June combined sport and leisure for me. By that I mean swimming, hiking, running and sport at home. Apart from the incoming dividends, I hardly noticed anything on the stock market. It was not the strongest distribution month due to the postponement of three distributions, but it was still a very strong one. Time for a review.

Overall performance

The portfolio tended to tread water in June, but that is no cause for concern. Bit by bit, it is fighting its way out of the lows of the customs conflict. And cash flow continues to be generated by distributions to the clearing accounts. The key performance indicators are:

• TTWROR (month of May): +0.19 %
• TTWROR (since inception): +65,45 %
• IZF (month of May): +2.47 %
• IZF (since inception): +10,21 %
• Delta: +€148.63
• Absolute change: +1,173.63 €

Share allocation & performance

Which shares performed particularly well in June? Which are at the top and which at the bottom of the rankings? Which were the biggest losers?

Size of individual share positions by volume

• Share: Share of total portfolio in % (securities account)
• $AVGO (-2.1%) 2.78 % (main share portfolio)
• $NFLX (+0.16%) 2.20 % (main share portfolio)
• $WMT (-1.37%) 1.71 % (main share portfolio)
• $SAP (-0.92%) 1.59 % (main share portfolio)
• $FAST (-0.26%) 1.55 % (main share portfolio)

Smallest individual share positions by volume:

• Share: Share of total portfolio in % (securities account)
• $SHEL (-0.21%) 0.44 % (crypto follow-on portfolio)
• $HSBA (-0.81%) 0.54 % (crypto follow-on portfolio)
• $TGT (-1.63%) 0.62 % (main share portfolio)
• $GIS (-0.77%) 0.63 % (main share portfolio)
• $CPB (-0.64%) 0.64 % (main share portfolio)

Top-performing individual shares

• Share: Performance since first purchase % (securities account)
• $AVGO (-2.1%) : +261 % (main share portfolio)
• $NFLX (+0.16%) : +198 % (main share portfolio)
• $SAP (-0.92%) +106 % (main share portfolio)
• $WMT (-1.37%) : +68 % (main share portfolio)
• $RSG (-0.35%) +47 % (main share portfolio)

Flop performer individual shares

• Share: Performance since first purchase % (securities account)
• $DHR (-0.17%) -57 % (main share portfolio)
• $CPB (-0.64%) -42 % (main share portfolio)
• $TGT (-1.63%) -37 % (main share portfolio)
• $GIS (-0.77%) -36 % (main share portfolio)
• $NKE (+0.39%) -30 % (main share portfolio)

ETFs vs. shares

The breakdown of ETFs vs. shares across all portfolios is 38.7% to 61.3%. This differs from the breakdown of my ETFs to equities savings plans (43% to 57%). Equities have performed better, which is due to the fact that I also include high-dividend ETFs in the ETFs.

Investments and additional purchases

Here is a brief overview of what I have invested in savings plans according to my fixed planning.

• Planned savings plan amount from the fixed net salary: €1,030
• Planned savings plan amount from the fixed net salary, with reinvested dividends: €1,140
• Savings ratio of the savings plans to the fixed net salary: 49.75

In addition, there were the following additional investments from returns, refunds, cashback, etc. as one-off savings plans/repurchases:

• Subsequent purchases/one-off savings plans as cashback annuity from refunds: € 32.32
• Automatically reinvested dividend by broker: € 7.25 (Function is only activated for an old custody account, as I want to control the reinvestment myself)

Additional purchases were made from other surpluses:

• Number of additional purchases: 2
• 25.00 € for $FGEQ (-0.69%)

There were no additional purchases from the components of my cashback pension (e.g. reimbursements from health insurance premiums, insurance premiums, shopping vouchers, etc.) this month.

If you would like to know how my cashback pension supplements my equity and ETF pension, please let me know.

Passive income from dividends

My income from dividends amounted to € 152.30 (€ 179.04 in the same month last year). This corresponds to an increase of -14.94 % compared to the same month last year. The following is further key data on the distributions:

• Number of dividend payments: 31
• Number of payment days: 15 days
• Average dividend per payment: € 4.91
• average dividend per payday: € 10.15

The top payers are:

• $VNA (-0.83%)
• 
  $ARCC (-1.49%)
• 
  $TDIV (+0.12%)

My passive income from dividends (and some interest) mathematically covered 15.91% of my expenses in the month under review.

Crypto performance

My crypto investments also moved a little:

• Monthly performance portfolio: +3.81 %
• Performance since inception: +79.49 %
• Proportion of holdings for which the tax holding period has expired: 100%. This means that there have been no additional purchases for over a year.
• Crypto share of the total portfolio: 2.19 %

I find the topic exciting, but it is very underrepresented in my overall portfolio due to my passive income strategy. The first profits have already been realized and more will definitely follow. For me, crypto is a lever to turn play money into even more play money, which is then put into the solid distributors to make the income snowball grow bigger and bigger. New accumulation will take place in the coming bear market.

Performance comparison: portfolio vs. benchmarks

A comparison of my portfolio with two important ETFs shows:

• TTWROR (current month): +0.19 %
• $VWRL (-0.36%) : +0.39 %
• $VUSA (-0.78%) : +1.24 %

Outlook and conclusion

I'm using the summer, which has already begun, not only for hiking, but also for city trips for my "non-financial" TikTok and Insta channel. I can often be found at one of the lakes near Leipzig, which were once created from the open-cast mining pits of the brown coal era. It's nice that the lunar landscapes have become a local recreation area. That's why I'm less active at the moment. That will certainly change again in the fall.

For now, I'm just enjoying life, and my money continues to work stubbornly and steadily for me in the background. Current events in the world and in politics don't interest me in the slightest. As I write this review, the first third of the summer will soon be over.

👉 You want my review as an Instagram post?

Then follow me on Instagram:

📲 You'll find regular posts there as well as the portfolio and budget review: @frugalfreisein

How did your June at the depot go? Do you have any tops & flops to share? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Hi Getquin Community,

Here is my portfolio as a student. I started in September 2022, but only really started in 2023 and 2024. Happy to rate on a friendly level.

About my savings plans:

• $D6RM (-0.11%) Deka DividenenStrategie - €100 per month.
• $CSPX (-0.78%) Ishares S&P 500 - 50 €/month
• $VWCE (-0.54%) Vanduard FTSE All World - 50 €/month
• $BRK.B (-0.93%) Berkshire Hathaway B - €50/month
• $SMEA (-0.14%) Ishares MSCI Europe 50 €/month
• $VHYL (-0.23%) Vanguard FTSE High Div. - €25/month

Further Deka savings plans have been capped, as I no longer wish to save in my Deka investments in the long term (possibly complete sale).

I would like to reduce my portfolio in the future. In other words, I want to divest myself of assets at the lower end. In return, I want to keep the ETFs and individual other stocks (e.g. $MUV2 (+0.02%) , $AMZN (-0.55%) , $AAPL (-1.19%) ) should continue to grow.

I am also toying with the idea of investing in an emerging markets ETF. My choice would have been the classic $EIMI (-0.29%) would have been the classic choice.

I have already invested in a crypto-boker (Bitavo - please give me your opinion) and will buy at the next opportunity (under USD 100,000). $BTC (+0.24%) buy.

Should be removed from the portfolio:

• $TGT (-1.63%) Target
• $NKE (+0.39%) Nike
• $D6RF (-0.67%) Deka Umweltinvest
• $DEDG (-0.08%) Deka Artificial Intelligence

My main trading brokers are TradeRepublic, Scalable and Deka.

I would be very happy about constructive criticism, suggestions and of course praise ;)

BEFORE: I have completely revised my portfolio review. There are now even more in-depth figures to see and I have greatly reduced the body text. Only my introduction is a little more detailed. The visual overview on Instagram has also been completely revamped. There is also a budget review, which I am not publishing here as a post. However, I have included a few key figures from this one in the portfolio review.

I am very happy about likes here at GQ and on both IG posts, as the complete renewal has cost me a lot of nerves and time. 🙃 If you also want to know how my personal finances have developed, I'd like to refer you to my personal budget review on Instagram.

In future, I will publish my detailed assessments on individual topics that were previously part of the review (such as crypto cycles or my succession strategy for crypto) separately in individual posts on GQ. Perhaps as a kind of supplementary post.

Are you missing important key figures or do you have suggestions for optimization? Constructive suggestions are always welcome.

For me, May was characterized by calm and composure, because I kept the noise of the markets and US trade policy away from me. I can do no more than simply buy more. I like to refer here to the stoic way of thinking, which focuses on prioritizing what you can influence. And that is my personal development. So that meant doing sport (at home with YouTube cardio and strength, abs, core, running), stockpiling Instagram posts so that I have some breathing space in the summer and delving deeper into the topic of AI. And the tax return was also completed. Meanwhile, dividends have been stable with the second strongest month ever, which was April. Time for a deep dive into my figures.

Overall performance

My portfolio performed well in May. Bit by bit, we are fighting our way up from the tariff lows. The key performance indicators are

• TTWROR (month of May): +4.83 %
• TTWROR (since inception): +65.84 %
• IZF (month of May): +74.24 %
• IZF (since inception): +9.94 %
• Delta: +€3,368.39
• Absolute change: +4,486.96 €

Share allocation & performance

Which shares performed particularly well in May? Which are at the top of the chain and which at the bottom? Which were the biggest losers?

Size of individual share positions by volume

Share: Share of total portfolio in % (portfolio)

• $AVGO (-2.1%) : 2,71 % (main share portfolio)
• $NFLX (+0.16%) : 2,12 % (main share portfolio)
• $WMT (-1.37%) : 1,83 % (main share portfolio)
• $SAP (-0.92%) : 1,69 % (main share portfolio)
• $FAST (-0.26%) : 1,59 % (main share portfolio)

Smallest individual share positions by volume:

Share: Share of total portfolio in % (securities account)

• $SHEL (-0.21%) : 0,44 % (crypto follow-on portfolio)
• $HSBA (-0.81%) : 0,54 % (crypto follow-on portfolio)
• $TGT (-1.63%) : 0,62 % (main share portfolio)
• 
  $DHR (-0.17%) : 0,66 % (main share deposit)
• 
  $NKE (+0.39%) : 0,67 % (main share portfolio)

Top-performing individual shares

Share: Performance since first purchase % (securities account)

• $AVGO (-2.1%) : +245 % (main share portfolio)
• $NFLX (+0.16%) : +190 % (main share portfolio)
• $SAP (-0.92%) : +108% (main share portfolio)
• $WMT (-1.37%) : +79% % (main share portfolio)
• $RSG (-0.35%) : +60 % (main share portfolio)

Flop performer individual stocks

Share: Performance since first purchase % (securities account)

• $DHR (-0.17%) : -58 % (main share portfolio)
• $TGT (-1.63%) : -40 % (main share portfolio)
• $NKE (+0.39%) : -39 % (main share portfolio)
• $CPB (-0.64%) : -34 % (main share portfolio)
• $UPS (-0.08%) : -30 % (main share portfolio)

ETFs vs. shares

The breakdown of ETFs vs. shares across all portfolios is 38.8% to 61.2%. This differs slightly from the breakdown of my ETFs to equities savings plans (43% to 57%).

Investments and subsequent purchases

Here is a small overview of what I have invested via savings plans according to my fixed planning.

• Planned savings plan amount from the fixed net salary: €1,030
• Planned savings plan amount from the fixed net salary, with reinvested dividends: €1,140
• Savings ratio of the savings plans to the fixed net salary: 49.75

In addition, there were the following additional investments from returns, refunds, cashback, etc. as one-off savings plans/repurchases:

• Subsequent purchases as a cashback annuity from refunds: € 70.50
• Dividend automatically reinvested by broker: € 2.99

Additional purchases: as one-off savings plans as part of my cashback pension, reinvested discounts from previous grocery and drugstore purchases and a refund from the health insurance bonus program.

• Number of additional purchases: 2
• 30.00 € for $JEGP (-0.36%)
• 
  40.50 € for $GGRP (-0.35%)

If you want to know how my cashback pension tops up the share and ETF pension, please let me know.

Passive income from dividends

My income from dividends amounted to € 163.13 (€ 89.68 in the same month last year). This corresponds to an increase of +42.32 % compared to the same month last year. The following is further key data on the distributions:

• Number of dividend payments: 11
• Number of payment days: 21 days
• Average dividend per payment: € 14.83
• average dividend per payment day: € 7.72

The top payers are:

• $DHL (+0.1%)
• 
  $IMEU (-0.07%)
• 
  $IWDP (-0.2%)

My passive income from dividends (and some interest) mathematically covered 21.08% of my expenses in the month under review.

Crypto performance

My crypto investments also moved a little:

• Monthly performance portfolio: +0.72%
• Performance since inception: +70.90%
• Proportion of holdings for which the tax holding period has expired: 100%. This means that there have been no additional purchases for over a year.
• Crypto share of the total portfolio: 2.23%

I find the topic exciting, but it is very underrepresented in my overall portfolio due to my strategy. Profits have long since been realized, my focus here has long been elsewhere. Accumulation will take place in the coming bear market.

Performance comparison: portfolio vs. benchmarks

A comparison of my portfolio with two important ETFs shows:

• TTWROR (current month): +4.83%
• $VWRL (-0.36%) +6.10%
• $VUSA (-0.78%) : +6.89%

Outlook and conclusion

According to the tax estimate, I can expect a tax refund. When this arrives, part of it will be donated and the rest will of course be reinvested. May was also a no-spend month for me and, as a convinced frugalist, this went off without a hitch. I was able to reflect more closely on my spending behavior and even found further potential despite my basic low spend attitude. Now I'm preparing a Hartz IV/citizen's allowance experiment for at least 3-4 months (or more) for the second half of the year. Simply because I feel like challenging myself. My planned expenses and provisions according to the budget only just exceed my theoretical entitlement to citizen's allowance. More info coming soon on Instagram. After March and April, I was again able to record expenses of less than €1,000 per month in May. This will change in June due to a large annual insurance premium, but maybe I'll be lucky and stay at a maximum of €1,100 to €1,200. As in the previous months, I will continue to use the early summer in June for hiking, swimming and day trips.

👉 You want my review as an Instagram post?

Then follow me on Instagram:

📲 As well as the depot and budget review, there's also: @frugalfreisein

• One-pagers and carousel posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on topics such as wealth accumulation, frugalism and minimalism
• more story insights in the future
• Mindset, motivation & money-saving life hacks for your own journey

How was your May at the depot? Do you have any tops & flops to share? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Numerous exciting quarterly figures are due this week. Particularly in focus: Palo Alto Networks ($PANW (+1.91%)), Snowflake ($SNOW (+1.68%)), Target ($TGT (-1.63%)), Intuit ($INTU (+0.34%)), Workday ($WDAY (+0.77%)), Deckers Outdoor ($DECK (-0.8%)) and BJ's Wholesale ($BJ (+0.28%)).

⸻

📅 Monday (19.05.)

- Trip.com ($TCOM)

- ZIM Integrated Shipping ($ZIM)

- 8x8 ($EGHT)

- Gilat Satellite ($GILT)

- Agilysys ($AGYS)

- Compugen ($CGEN)

- Transcat ($TRNS)

📅 Tuesday (20.05.)

- Palo Alto Networks ($PANW)

- Bilibili ($BILI)

- Tuya ($TUYA)

- Modine ($MOD)

- Toll Brothers ($TOL)

- Viking Holdings ($VIK)

- Amer Sports ($AS)

- Arbe Robotics ($ARBE)

- XPeng ($XPEV)

- Full Truck Alliance ($YMM)

- XP Inc ($XP)

📅 Wednesday (21.05.)

- Target ($TGT)

- TJX Companies ($TJX)

- Baidu ($BIDU)

- Medtronic ($MDT)

- Wix.com ($WIX)

- Urban Outfitters ($URBN)

- Domo ($DOMO)

- American Superconductor ($AMSC)

- Qifu Technology ($QFIN)

📅 Thursday (22.05.)

- Analog Devices ($ADI)

- BJ's Wholesale ($BJ)

- Deckers Outdoor ($DECK)

- Autodesk ($ADSK)

- Intuit ($INTU)

- Workday ($WDAY)

- Ross Stores ($ROST)

- Advance Auto Parts ($AAP)

- Lightspeed Commerce ($LSPD)

- TD Bank ($TD)

- Keysight Technologies ($KEYS)

📅 Friday (23.05.)

- Booz Allen Hamilton ($BAH)

🔗 Full overview: earningswhispers.com/calendar

AHEAD: Starting next month, my Instagram monthly recaps will only show the most important facts and figures on the slides of the Instagram post. The detailed text version will appear here on getquin. This makes it easier to absorb the information and makes the Instagram posts clearer.

I will divide the monthly review into a portfolio update and a review for private finances. I could also create a separate review for dividends and reinvestments. My aim is to motivate people to take responsibility for their own finances and to build up their wealth. The whole thing is based on my experience reports from my personal everyday financial life, tailored to the respective target group for each sub-post. Let's see how well I succeed.

Here is the last All-In-One post.

While many have continued to panic about Trump, I think I have understood that the whole tariff issue is only intended to depress the markets so that the USA can refinance itself at much lower interest rates when a good USD 7 trillion of the USD 36 trillion of national debt matures this year. That's why I preferred to keep on hiking, while the portfolio rewarded me with plenty of dividends for the month.

I present the following points for the past month of April 2025:

➡️ SHARES

➡️ ETFS

➡️ DISTRIBUTIONS

➡️ AFTER-PURCHASES

➡️ CASHBACK

➡️ P2P CREDITS

➡️ CRYPTO

➡️ AND OTHER?

➡️ OUTLOOK

➡️ Shares

So the second of April was the aforementioned day of liberation. And it was indeed one, the day of liberation from the excessive overvaluations in US equities. Unfortunately, there was also other collateral damage, but in the end there will be none, as it is all just book losses.

The trap in the US government budget that I would like to briefly point out is the national debt to GDP ratio of 123%, as of March 2025. In Germany, it is around 63%. This is stiflingly high and means that economic output is not enough to keep the national debt in check! Therefore new new "money" has to be printed for refinancing. And this money reaches us through asset price inflation. The illustration is, of course, highly simplified, but that is why we invest.

A look at my portfolio shows me that my individual shares $NFLX (+0.16%) my previous class leader $AVGO (-2.1%) has at least just caught up in terms of performance. Nevertheless, Broadcom remains the largest position in terms of volume. Who knows for how much longer?

Netflix's performance has recovered to +184%, Broadcom's is +182%. I'm watching the spectacle, but I'm letting the savings plans continue. Nothing more will be done here, as Beate Sander once said: the horses stay in the stable. Behind the two draught horses $WMT (-1.37%) 3rd place in terms of volume and $SAP (-0.92%) in 3rd place in terms of performance with +110%. In the last review, I reported that the waste disposal service provider $RSG (-0.35%) had risen steadily. It is now losing a few places again, but rising $V (-0.58%) and $MA (-0.68%) are rising together and both are already knocking on the door of the top 5 from the outside. The performance of both is similar and decent with +44%/+42%.

As always, the last places in the main stock portfolio are occupied by the same suspects. $NKE (+0.39%) , $TGT (-1.63%) and $HTGC (-0.79%) are the smallest positions. In terms of performance, Nike and Target are the worst performers at -40%.$DHR (-0.17%) as well. But that leaves me cold. In the current macro situation, this is hardly to be expected otherwise. The "neighbor indicator" fits, because most of the shoes on their doorstep (larger family) are Nike shoes. I'm thinking about adjusting my savings plans so that these values receive a higher proportion of my net salary.

➡️ ETFs

The impact of Trump's tariff policy was also clearly felt in the prices of my ETFs in April, leading to significant losses. It is important to remain calm in such volatile times and continue to invest strategically. Such phases are part and parcel of long-term asset accumulation.

➡️ Distributions

In April, I was pleased to receive 19 distributions on 8 payout days. This additional income stream is a valuable addition to my normal earned income, for which I am very grateful. I recommend everyone to build up this kind of additional income in order to become more financially independent from their traditional main job.

Traditionally, April is not a low-distribution month for me. This time, however, the distributions from my three large ETFs were not paid out at the end of March but in April, which distorted the distributions for both months. This effect made April the second-highest distribution month since I started investing. Otherwise, April is always slightly below the distributions of March.

➡️ Additional purchases

From the refunds below, I bought two one-off savings plans on the $GGRP (-0.35%) and $JEGP (-0.36%) executed. I would have liked to buy more, but I still don't want to touch the nest egg or reserves.

➡️ Cashback

In April, I received a cashback on my electricity bill and a travel allowance from my employer. Part of this was used to pre-finance future expenses and to top up sinking funds, while the other part was invested in an old portfolio via the aforementioned one-off savings plans.

➡️ P2P loans

With Mintos, there were no interest or redemption payments. I always withdraw incoming funds with availability. How are you doing with P2P? Are you also withdrawing from the investment?

➡️ Crypto

April was also a very volatile month for crypto investors. The unrest caused by Trump's tariff policy depressed crypto prices, similar to March. However, prices gradually recovered, indicating that the money supply is already increasing again. This is happening through new debt being purchased in the form of government bonds by the FED, which is essentially the equivalent of 'printing' money. Historically, the $BTC (+0.24%) usually follows this development with a delay of just over 10 weeks, as it is strongly correlated to the money supply at 90%.

I am following the whole thing with interest. My preferred theory of cryptocycles still fits in with the current trend. We are moving back towards 100K and I expect a bullish crossover in Bitcoin. The limit orders are still in the market, even if it will be a long time before they trigger. Of course, I hope that the "normal" bear market will then resume. In a few months' time, we will know whether we will have seen another clear double top in the current bull market.

Here are two key figures from my crypto wallets: monthly performance: +5.5%, performance since the beginning: +56%.

➡️ And what else?

I'm continuing to delve deeper into the use of LLMs and am currently working on my prompting technique. The posts on my Instagram channel that I have published since March have been created with the help of AI, I have used AI to give me ideas for image generation, to have them created naturally and many of the quotes are also AI-generated. I use several LLMs and see significant differences in the outputs. This makes it more diverse and even allows me to merge multiple results. The models are also learning my writing style better and better, with longer generated texts you can still clearly read the generic, but I myself understand better and better how I can use the new technology to improve my productivity instead of letting it replace me. This also applies to my job.

As in the previous month, I am also focusing much more intensively on the topic of nutrition. I avoid added sugar as much as possible. So there was no chocolate bunny for me at Easter and I'm not hungry for chocolate or other sweets. That's a real miracle.

I've also increased my weekly exercise routine once again and am paying close attention to how my body is coping. Instead of two weight training sessions at home, I now do three, instead of three running sessions a week I do a lot and every morning I do some general fitness/cardio and core exercises for my stomach to warm up. The clear aim is to continue building muscle and strengthening my heart health. And I enjoy it, even though the temperature in my apartment has already risen towards 25° Celsius on some days.

I've been hiking twice in Saxon Switzerland, once just under and once over 30 km. On hiking days, I like to leave at 4 a.m. on the first Saxonia Express train. In the fall and early spring, this is even the perfect time to enjoy the sunrise on the sandstone cliffs. For me personally, this is pure healing for the soul and a real quality of life. I can enjoy it without depressing thoughts in my head because I know that my finances are in order and running on autopilot.

➡️ Outlook

May will be a no-spend month for me, simply because I feel like taking on the next challenge. Later in the year, I want to start a Hartz IV/citizen's allowance experiment. I should be able to do this most of the time, as my expenses in March and April were both under €1,000. I'm already looking forward to the evaluation at the end of the challenge.

Links:

Social media links can be found in my profile, also feel free to check out the Instagram version of my review.

I finally made my first purchase 😍

The company has rarely been available at such a low price and also pays a fat dividend.

What do you think?