September didn’t arrive with a bang this year. No grand adventures, no big leaps forward, just… a lot of sleep. It was, quite frankly, the month of illness. The whole family caught the bug in some form or another, and the days blurred together with extra naps, cups of tea, and the kind of slow recovery that feels like wading through treacle.
And yet — in the middle of all that tiredness, life kept moving. The evenings began to draw in, the air sharpened, and the light shifted towards autumn. The laundry still dried out on the balcony (just warm enough, thank you September), and despite the slower pace, the numbers ticked upward on my path to financial independence.
Sometimes that’s the beauty of this journey: progress keeps happening even when you’re on pause.
September in Numbers
Here’s where things stand at the end of the month:
| Starting Balance | Added | Growth | Closing Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| £18,444 | £650 | £1,817 | £20,911 |
That’s a solid jump of £2,467 in total, with just £650 of that being my own contributions. The rest came from growth doing its quiet, background thing. No fireworks on my end — just letting the market churn along while I focused on tissues, naps, and recovery.
The Month of Illness and Rest
Illness isn’t glamorous, and in our case, it was a family affair. One after the other, we took turns being knocked out, which meant lots of sleep and very little in the way of productivity.
Normally, I like my monthly updates to be a reflection on both progress and life’s energy. But this September, energy was in short supply. And maybe that’s the reminder I needed: that wealth, in all its forms, isn’t just about what’s in the ISA. Health is wealth, rest is wealth, even an uninterrupted night’s sleep is wealth when you’ve got little ones in the house.
Sometimes financial independence feels like an active sprint. This month, it was more of a gentle shuffle under a blanket, hoping the kettle would boil itself.
Tiny Luxuries and Exploding Fanta
Even in slow, snotty, sleepy months, there are still tiny luxuries. Mine came in the form of a limited-edition 49p Fanta, a random treasure plucked off the shelf. It did, however, decide to explode the moment I opened it. I was left sticky, slightly bemused, and still quietly delighted. Worth it.
The other? A fancy square of chocolate — pistachio and caramel, wrapped in paper instead of plastic, as if it were whispering, “See, I’m posh.”
Neither of these cost much. Both of them brightened the month. And both reminded me that the financial independence journey isn’t just about the grand future vision of freedom. It’s about noticing, and occasionally laughing at, the silly and small treats along the way.
Gratitude for Slowness
The shorter evenings brought a kind of quiet rhythm. We were indoors more, resting more, and even though September wasn’t full of action, I found gratitude in the smallest things. The laundry dried out on the balcony — a tiny miracle for anyone who’s wrestled damp clothes and radiators in colder months.
And here’s the unexpected gift of slowing down: progress still happened. The investments grew. The numbers climbed. I barely lifted a finger beyond setting up my contributions, and yet the account balance shifted noticeably.
It’s an odd kind of comfort, isn’t it? That even in your “off” months, the systems you’ve set up keep quietly doing the work. It’s a reminder that this journey doesn’t always need our full energy — sometimes it thrives in the background while we rest.
Looking Ahead to October
October already feels like a fresh start. The plan is simple: to be well again, to feel energy return, and to enjoy autumn properly.
I’m looking forward to taking the little one out on autumn walks, crunching through leaves, pointing out the trees as they turn gold and rust. I want to notice the shift in seasons, not just in the numbers, but in the air and the light and the little routines that carry us through.
Because yes, financial independence is about the numbers climbing. But it’s also about making sure we’re well enough — in health, in heart, in spirit — to actually enjoy the life we’re building.
Gentle Questions for the Road
As September reminded me, life doesn’t always ask if it’s a convenient time to slow down. Sometimes illness sweeps through, or energy dips, and you’re forced to rest whether you like it or not. But in those pauses, other things emerge: gratitude, tiny luxuries, the comfort of systems ticking along in the background.
So as the season shifts, I’ll leave you with a few questions to take with you:
- What small comfort or tiny luxury brightened your September?
- How do you remind yourself to slow down when life forces you to pause?
- What seasonal rituals help you feel grounded as the days shorten?
Progress happens in many forms — not all of them show up in a spreadsheet. Sometimes, growth looks like a balance rising. Other times, it looks like laundry drying on the balcony, or a sticky Fanta can, or the simple relief of a family slowly recovering together.