Jwil's sorting the debt, the body, the house, the garden and everything else diary!

peaceandfreedom

jwil wrote: »

For every book I list on amazon, there are probably 8 more that aren't worth listing so they just go to boot sale. It's generally the more obscure authors that I find are worth it. Many of my books are bought by the 2nd hand booksellers, so it's probably a good idea to try the chap in Bath - I know which one you are talking about having visited his stall many a time

Oh boy, Jwil, you have a LOT of books!!!:rotfl:

I have decided that from now on I am not selling anything on amazon that does not yield at least £3 profit after postage. Even that is too low but I need the money at the moment. Trouble is, that the nearest post office is in the next village so really it's not worth it if the profit is going to be piddly small.

On the plus side, I may have talked myself into some work today and I have been asked to quote for other work, so things are looking up. We have also managed to find a way to fund some home improvements that are badly badly needed, without borrowing the money, so that's good news. :T

Off to bed, I'm knackered, see y'all tomorrow.

peaceandfreedom

jwil wrote: »

The other day as well, I decided to sort out my spare change coke bottle. I left the coppers and 5ps in there, but took out the spare change to put in a different money box so I can rob it in an emergency. Anyway, the £2 coins, and bits of silver came to a total of £130! So I have used that for my car tax, and didn't have to put it on the CC after all :j

Very cool, well done! :T

I taxed my car today as well, did it online. Mine is only £115, I think the cost is based on emissions these days, not sure. Anyway, happy with that cost, was briefly tempted to tax it for just 6 months and then thought , nah, it's dearer that way in the long run - I know I'll still have the car in 6 months (I'll probably still have it in six years).

DedicatedDFW

Hi all!

Jwil - am sure you are having a lovely time on your hols now i've never been to cornwall but always wanted to go! We've just booked a holiday - over half of it was saved for and OH has picked up the remainder of the bill. Worryingly this means i'll now need to source spending money :eek: But although i can make OH understand i don't have money to book a hols without that raising too many questions if i said i have £0, nada, nothing then there would be problems Actually though i do have money, in a way - i have 1 long term savings account, 1 medium term savings account and 1 short term savings account which have money paid into them each month. The good thing is with these is that i can't access them - well if i really needed to i guess i could cancel them but then i could lose some money and its not worth it to me to do that. Also feels good knowing i've a little bit of money saved and i'm hoping to use these to pay down the mortgage once they reach the end of the terms.

Hi peaceandfreedom - that's a good idea making sure that selling the books isn't costing you anything in petrol. Are you self-employed then - if you don't mind me asking? Just as you said you've been asked to quote for work which all sounds very exciting to me

peaceandfreedom

DedicatedDFW wrote: »

Hi peaceandfreedom - that's a good idea making sure that selling the books isn't costing you anything in petrol. Are you self-employed then - if you don't mind me asking? Just as you said you've been asked to quote for work which all sounds very exciting to me

Yes, I work in IT. Times are hard for the freelancer these days but to be honest the chances of me getting an actual employed-job these days are very slim as I would be considered too old (mid-forties).

I don't want a job anyway, I like being self-employed. I had a brief taste of employment a year ago and I hated it - having to ask for time off when I needed to do something, loads of different people bossing you about, company politics, sniping among employees - nope, no thanks, can't be doing with that.

But I do need money, have earned very little lately and things are tough but I am making progress slowly but surely. I am very good at what I do, but you have to work hard to demonstrate that.

jwil

peaceandfreedom wrote: »

Oh boy, Jwil, you have a LOT of books!!!:rotfl:

Erm... yes I do

peaceandfreedom wrote: »

I have decided that from now on I am not selling anything on amazon that does not yield at least £3 profit after postage. Even that is too low but I need the money at the moment. Trouble is, that the nearest post office is in the next village so really it's not worth it if the profit is going to be piddly small.

That makes sense. I'm lucky in that I'm very close to the post office and the sorting office so I will list something on amazon if I can make more than I would at a boot sale. It wouldn't be worth it if I had to make a special trip though.

peaceandfreedom wrote: »

On the plus side, I may have talked myself into some work today and I have been asked to quote for other work, so things are looking up. We have also managed to find a way to fund some home improvements that are badly badly needed, without borrowing the money, so that's good news. :T

Off to bed, I'm knackered, see y'all tomorrow.

Great news about the work though, well done! :T

jwil

peaceandfreedom wrote: »

Very cool, well done! :T

I taxed my car today as well, did it online. Mine is only £115, I think the cost is based on emissions these days, not sure. Anyway, happy with that cost, was briefly tempted to tax it for just 6 months and then thought , nah, it's dearer that way in the long run - I know I'll still have the car in 6 months (I'll probably still have it in six years).

Yes, I think modern cars are done on emissions, but mine is a bit too old so still has a standard tax rate. I thought about 6 months too, but it will just need doing around Christmas so it's not worth it.

jwil

DedicatedDFW wrote: »

Hi all!

Jwil - am sure you are having a lovely time on your hols now i've never been to cornwall but always wanted to go! We've just booked a holiday - over half of it was saved for and OH has picked up the remainder of the bill. Worryingly this means i'll now need to source spending money :eek: But although i can make OH understand i don't have money to book a hols without that raising too many questions if i said i have £0, nada, nothing then there would be problems Actually though i do have money, in a way - i have 1 long term savings account, 1 medium term savings account and 1 short term savings account which have money paid into them each month. The good thing is with these is that i can't access them - well if i really needed to i guess i could cancel them but then i could lose some money and its not worth it to me to do that. Also feels good knowing i've a little bit of money saved and i'm hoping to use these to pay down the mortgage once they reach the end of the terms.

Hi peaceandfreedom - that's a good idea making sure that selling the books isn't costing you anything in petrol. Are you self-employed then - if you don't mind me asking? Just as you said you've been asked to quote for work which all sounds very exciting to me

Yes and no it was good. It was nice to be away, but the hassle with the van kind of spoils it somewhat.

jwil

peaceandfreedom wrote: »

Yes, I work in IT. Times are hard for the freelancer these days but to be honest the chances of me getting an actual employed-job these days are very slim as I would be considered too old (mid-forties).

I don't want a job anyway, I like being self-employed. I had a brief taste of employment a year ago and I hated it - having to ask for time off when I needed to do something, loads of different people bossing you about, company politics, sniping among employees - nope, no thanks, can't be doing with that.

But I do need money, have earned very little lately and things are tough but I am making progress slowly but surely. I am very good at what I do, but you have to work hard to demonstrate that.

I would love to be self employed, for all those reasons you list above!

jwil

Back now, I am so shattered today! Not doing much at all.

We did have a nice weekend away, but it was tempered with van troubles again, so could have been better.

We wound up with:
2 RAC call outs, two visits from a mobile mechanic, umpteen bump starts, a new battery (£120), and abandoning the van at the garage for a new starter motor on the way home. £45 in taxi fares :eek:

The usual debate was had many a time over whether it's worth our while keeping the van, but DH (quite rightly) says that in real terms, it has saved us an awful lot more than it has cost us. The number of nights we have spent away in it, (many of them free, when we were in Scotland), and the number of times we have used it instead of paying for van hire while we were clearing the house, means that we have saved a lot more than we have spent on it. It's no fun though, breaking down.

In theory though, there is not a lot more else that can go wrong as nearly everything has been replaced. Everything this weekend related to the starter motor and the battery. The starter motor has seriously been bodged apparently, so it is a miracle it has lasted the 5 years we've had the van!

jwil

I have sold a few items on ebay and a book on amazon, so pleased with that and will sort out the figures soon.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!