Millionaire Challenge

tinktay84

wow LL news of your Dad is amazing.Fingers crossed the further tests back this up :-) :-)

Yes having my new 'office manager' has made a MASSIVE difference.
Something ive been trying to sort out for almost 2 years - she did in 1 phone call! Madness but in a good way.

lessonlearned

tinktay84 wrote: »

Yes having my new 'office manager' has made a MASSIVE difference.
Something ive been trying to sort out for almost 2 years - she did in 1 phone call! Madness but in a good way.

Sounds like you've found a treasure.

Still got my "frozen shoulder" so still not able to do much, very frustrating.

Karmacat

LL, sorry, I didn't see the wonderful news about your dad, got caught up in reporting the spam ... very glad to hear this news, it has to be checked, of course, but its a great step forward.

Karmacat

Quite excited here - I thought this day would go really badly, Virgin Media had a nationwide problem, I couldn't get online. Passed the time by integrating two sets of bookmarks - I did a load of local research on cats last year, around cat sitting and catteries - and then Virgin solved the issue by midday at the latest. So, I've been checking the trading - system still works - and written the first editorial on a current news issue for moggies. Still not published, but I need to build up content.

lessonlearned

Good morning all

Karma - good to see you managed to use your down time productively.

As you know I've had a bit of downtime myself this week due to my shoulder problem and have had to have some enforced rest. I too have used the time wisely, rereading some of my finance books and my trusty tax guide:rotfl:

Anyway, as a result I thought I would set myself a new game/challenge to keep me motivated and on track and hopefully boost profits.

Why not join me. Post up your ideas so I can pick your brains. :rotfl:

Anyway the game plan is to do something each day to improve finances and increase profits. For one week I will do just one extra small thing each day to give my money making enterprise a little "ooomph".;)

I've made a start already.

Today, in order to boost my interest earnings I have moved my money around and opened a new savings account. I will do a couple more this week.

I do most of my banking online so moving money around is dead easy. I have also moved money into my current account so that I won't get overdrawn when I pay the month end bills. Why incur charges and interest payments when you don't have to.

You may remember I had a nice little windfall of £200 last week. Rather than spend it on say clothes or treats I have decided to er hem "invest" it. This will be my stake for matched betting.

I made a start yesterday, made a couple of silly mistakes and wasted some of my stake money so it will probably take me a little longer to start making proper profits. I'm finding it a bit of a steep learning curve, mainly because I don't have very good computer skills and do daft things like hitting the wrong button..:rotfl:

I know some of you have been very successful with MB so I thought it was time I dipped my toe in the water.

A bit of good news. Had an onsite meeting with my builder friend who is going to help us project manage the renos.

Apparently DS1's "Money Pit" isn't nearly as bad as I had feared. A bit of a relief - I was getting a bit concerned we had bitten off more than we could chew and that we were going to get our fingers burned.

I was beginning to question my judgement in buying the house in the first place. Every time I looked at it all I could see was ££££ signs. My builder told me it just looks worse than it really is. I guess sometimes you just need to keep a little faith and trust in your own judgement.

Still awaiting survey of "The Flipper" Can't wait to get started now. Just got to be patient a little longer. Trouble with property as a way of making money is it all takes time.....

Anyway hope you are all well and making lots of progres.

Karmacat

LL, I did a lot of matched betting at one stage - its brilliant, but I'd really advise doing some "paper trades", like with spreadbetting, first - I took weeks to understand it, and even so, I was regularly posting to ask questions. Which I often had to rephrase, as I didn't understand the answers even though I have a business finance qualification.

The other thing I did at first, once I was "live", was to set the match up maybe 3 days in advance - you don't get the best deals, but you do get to go back the next day and check it through, to see that you've actually done it right. It takes a long time to learn thoroughly.

Good idea for a challenge tho! I want to join in, and do what you're doing, move money around to take care of what interest rate I'm getting, I know that one of my ISAs has expired its best rate deal, and that means a fair amount of interest is not being won by me.

Mind you, I'm hopeful that in the first quarter of 2014, my interest rate on my French mortgage will go down even further - its re-assessed every 3 months, and is currently at 1.5% - but since the ECB put the base rate down by 0.25%, my mortgage rate might go down by that too. Its not fixed, but I'm hoping.

Okay, thinking about your challenge - yep, I'll join from tomorrow. Thanks!

M0ney

I've just come across this one, I'd love to be able to make a million in my lifetime. I'm 28 at the moment and earn ~£45k/yr.

My current assets are (to the nearest £100);

Zopa £500
Shares £1,500
Pension £9,000
Savings £4,000
Property equity £14,200

My mortgage has 19 years left and £67k outstanding although I plan on paying this off much sooner.

lessonlearned

Hi MOney - welcome. That's a cracking start for a 28 year old.

If I had shown your good sense when I was that age I would be a multi-millionaire by now. I was daft and stupid, but hey I had fun!

Twice I have been quite comfortable and twice I've been as poor as a church mouse. Thankfully both times when I lost money it was due to circumstances beyond my control and not just my innate stupidity. With a bit of skill, and a bit of luck and a lot of work I was able to rebuild my finances each time. Still rebuilding after the second disaster (husband's ill health).

It just takes time.

At 28 you have oodles of time...

Kayalana99

Hey guys,

I'll reply properly when I get chance to but before it gets lost,

LL - Just wondering what books you are reading? always looking for a good find.

lessonlearned

Currently reading "The Rules of Wealth" by Richard Templar. He has done a series of Rules books - easy to read and you can dip in and out of them.

I've also been dipping into a couple of tax guides to help me work out each stage of my "Master Plan". This time round I am tax planning before I make money, not trying to do it retrospectively.

I have learned - yes the hard way - that good tax planning is a vital part of building up and keeping wealth.

As my signature says - "Lesson Learned". I don't intend to make the same mistake twice.

I buy the guides published by the Tax Cafe (Amazon) about £25.

They are quite easy to understand, much easier than trying to plough your way through the HMRC website. Well, if I can get the gist of them then anyone can. There's a series of them designed for different types of businesses and whether or not you are a sole trader or a limited company. They won't replace having a good accountant of course but they are a great starting point in helping you plan.

I've also been dipping into some of my design and property developing books, getting lots of ideas. I have quite a stash and often refer to them. I know it's a bit nerdy but I just love poring over architectural drawings and house plans.

I also enjoy reading good biographies of people who interest me. Not just business people but also sports people, actors, political leaders. Some of them are really inspiring. I tend to borrow those from the library though rather than buy them. Getting a bit tight fisted these days. :rotfl: