Learn to control money but do not allow it to control you

MaryMurphy

Hi Firewalker,

I've been following your thread for a while now so I thought I'd pop by and say hi I am really pleased to hear you can already see how far you've come, it can be very rewarding and and motivating.

Best of luck with your journey.

MMx

Firewalker

Operation ‘camping’ was successfully completed at lunch time today. What a weekend! I suspect that like some other friends on here I am finding the child inside and letting go. This, of course, means that I am allowing myself to enjoy simple pleasures and to feel so alive and attuned with things around me as I have not done for a long time. Good time was had all around – little boy was particularly pleased and spend two days outside playing with his friends.

We arrived at the campsite on Friday evening and after a short but intense struggle with putting the tent up (and ending up reading the instructions) my second ever night in a tent began. The first time I was about nine years old and after only one night my mum and I moved into the villa of a friend. My second night in a tent was a bit more successful in that I did not find the nearest B&B but I did not have much sleep either – next morning it transpired that all adults had a sleepless night. After breakfast, the whole group went for a long walk – beautiful scenery. It might have been the walk but my third night in a tent was much better – fell asleep feeling happy and contented and woke up this morning and 8.40. Not bad, not bad at all...

I did enjoy the weekend. This once again confirms that we should not let our-selves make strong statements easily. Several months ago I would not have even considered going; today I am sitting here, feeling tired but calm. Suppose the nice weather and the fact that there were showers helped but still...

And the whole thing was rather MSE – it did cost £30 for two nights, a bit of petrol and the food, and ice-cream at the end of the walk. But last week we spend on food £30 altogether (and this includes the stuff we took camping). Please do not be alarmed I have not taken to starving my family – the low food bill only means that we have become much better using all the frozen meat, meals and other stuff we have. Partly because we made an inventory of the freezer so now know what meat we have and plan the weekly menus around that.

Now off to watch something and after that intend to go to sleep in our very large, comfortable and warm bed.

And the saying for today is:

“To make a million, start with $900,000.” – Morton Shulman

Firewalker

williamD1964

Well done on all accounts. Have made up my mind to get to work on saving for a tent set up for next year. The kids will be six years old in November so old enough to at least be control. Glad the inner girl is emerging - must be contagious! Bags pack ready for holiday. Keeping the faith with all my friends

Firewalker

William,

have great time on your holiday - relax, it is all good. As to the tent - we got ours for £59.99 from Aldi and it is a four person good one.

Firewalker

ninky_2

if you head north to scotland you can even save on campsite fees as wild camping is allowed (withing certain guildelines). take a solar shower with you and plenty of water or be near a river) and you might even get a warm shower.

Firewalker

During the last couple of weeks I have been thinking rather obsessively about the other side to controlling money, namely increasing one’s income. This has, obviously, been cropping up in other posts and some people have managed miracles as a combination between lowering expenditure and increasing income. Also the advice on this website about increasing income is really good. Why am I getting back to this matter again and again?

I suppose it is because I believe that, just like with reducing expenditure, in increasing income different things will work for different people. Ebay, for instance, is not likely to work for everybody but even if it did the supply of things to sell is limited (except if one becomes a trader which is a different case). Surveys, clicks etc. do generate income but the decision regarding these, as Ninky pointed out sometime ago, is conditional on the cost of one’s time. If your time is costly it is probably not a good idea to spend much of it doing surveys. Time is also a factor in a decision to get a second job – most people have to work very long hours in their first job; and in the present economic situation I suspect second jobs will become harder to come by.

The point, though, is that most ways to increase one’s income would be appropriate for some but completely off the mark for most. I happen to believe that everyone can “increase their cloth” and in relatively enjoyable and non harming ways. Will be sharing some ideas about this one during the next couple of weeks!

Now I have to go, I am afraid, and pack – off to Brussels tomorrow early in the morning. Will have two difficult days of talking and presenting to politicians and bureaucrats but I love it really. Just that tent or decent hotel, I can’t sleep the first night so get really tired. And OH will have to put some colour on my hair - defeating the aging process is a top priority.


Firewalker

debbiedeejay

Firewalker - glad the camping went well - if its any consolation I didn't get a lot of sleep under canvas this weekend either - but that was due to my dog being very inconsiderate and thinking it was time to get up and go for walkies at 5am - which I did each morning!

But like you the scenery and time to think was magical - and then when everyone was up after breakfast I had 40 winks back in the tent!

I still feel exhausted but happy though:)

Spent quality time with family,mine though are teenage daughters - no computers no interuptions (or at least too many) from phone calls no TV - absolutely brilliant!And they enjoyed it too!

Take care & have a good week-

Firewalker

Thanks Debbie,

glad to hear your camping trip went well as well. Absolutely right about the technology - no TV was heaven. There is something so primal about sitting around a fire and just talking and having a beer.

Have a good week yourself.

Firewalker

Firewalker

Good evening! I am just back from Brussels and feel absolutely shattered. Yesterday had a really early start – got on a plain at 8.20, then meetings all day, dinner with colleagues (which is nice but rather tiring, I find) and the evening ended with me working well into the night – till about 2 a.m. – on a presentation. Today spend long time in a meeting some of the time presenting to and trying to entertain a large number of statisticians and European Commission bureaucrats.

That the hotel was a dump did not help much – one can get it dramatically wrong with hotels in Brussels, particularly in the centre. Let me put it this way – I doubt the room was vacuumed or dusted in the last month or so and although it looked like the bedding had been changed I won’t put money on it. To top it all my room was in the attic so part of the night it was cold and in early morning when the sun came out it became uncomfortably hot.

This hotel is called the Mozart – interesting place. The building is like a labyrinth – I got lost repeatedly trying to find my room. And it is old – the walls were colourful tiles and decoration. The rest was so kitsch that it was beautiful. Among the copies of paintings of old masters there were posters of Barak Obama with his slogan – Yes we can (the place was run by African people). All in all interesting though not very hygienic...

And finally, I would like to tell you that it seems the Secret is working for me – it is small things like not having to wait for a bus any longer. But the best thing is the positive thinking which make one feel happy and relaxed – long it last. And let the good times roll...

Firewalker

Firewalker

It seems that destiny is interfering with my intentions in small and charming ways. I already shared my intention to focus on thinking about ways to control income – remember, I started this tread as a way to sort out my think about controlling money. But before I managed to get very far I started reading a book that I do find rather interesting but its premise has very serious implications about spending and controlling expenditure. But all in good time...

First, I would like to share what I have been thinking about controlling income – and apologies if to some this sounds basic. In this diary one of my objectives is to get to basics and to question and rationalise most assumptions by which I have been living for a long time. This is what I did with expenditure – questioning the assumptions helps me change them, and the behaviour that accompanies them.

There are three principal ways to generate income (as in ‘incomings’ as opposed to outgoings). These are: social security and insurance, selling our labour and creating assets. Social security and insurance are a special case and kick in when one hits hard times. There are two points that need to be made here, though: a) at the level of society it is important to maintain the welfare state; and b) at personal level it is very important to have adequate insurance. How does this relate to me?

Well, I have never ever used social security of any kind – even when I had little boy I went back to work after the eleven weeks that my employer allowed and did not use statutory leave. As to insurance, we are insured – but what I am thinking is that we are not insured for critical illness and disability but only for life. Apparently, it is much more likely to become disabled than to die. Something to consider... Ok, more about this tomorrow!

Now about the book! It is entitled “Predictably irrational” and the author is Dan Ariely. It is about ‘behavioural economics’ and these guys have conducted some interesting experiments. Some of these are about spending.

Will have to finish this tomorrow – a friend rang and it is late.

Firewalker