Millionaire Challenge

lessonlearned

Today's little gem from my daily quotations calendar.

"Never fail because you are too lazy to work":rotfl:

Hit a significant hiccup with the plastering on property 2. Was hoping to get away with a bit of patching, repairing and skimming - no such luck.

The plaster work has completely blown, plus there is some very nasty bodge work on a couple of the ceilings. The ceilings have had to come down and the plaster taken back to brick. Thank goodness for my little labourer - he's worked like a demon.

Two bedrooms, the kitchen and the hall, landing and staircase - we're looking at around £3k. Plus of course skip hire and my labourer's costs - another £500 or so, then of course we will need to replace all the skirting boards etc.

There goes the budget. Grr!!!!

I may as well take this opportunity to add some good quality acoustic and thermal insulation - it's a Victorian mid terraced property - so it will reduce bills and ensure there is no noise from neighbours. Always a plus. both for our own use and when we come to sell.

Trouble is we've reached the point of no return now - we can't put anything "on hold". We have to plough on and finish what we started.

DS2 definitely needs to do a plastering course for our future projects.

It's a good job I have a decent contingency fund and we don't need to borrow. Just got to make sure we smash the ceiling price for that particular street when we come to sell. I'll have to make sure that my "designer flourishes" and finishing touches are done on a shoestring so we can claw back some of the overspend.

Ah well - no-one said making that £1m was going to be easy.

lessonlearned

Today's little diary gem…..

"Be ready to contribute a 'let's make it happen' attitude".

Yep - we can do that ……..

This morning I got cracking and hit the phones, co-ordinated the work plan for next week, got the trades organised, ordered the skip.

I've even taken the bull by the horns and booked a hair appt for tomorrow. Not before time I look like a scarecrow. :eek:

Firing on all cylinders today, so time for some breakfast and then I will attend to my little plant nursery.

BTW - I'm getting good at this delegating m'larky. My car was filthy so I paid to have it cleaned yesterday - not very MSE I know but I hate that job. :rotfl:

What I really need is another pair of hands……..

YoungBusinessman

Will be giving my van a wee valet shortly before the football comes on. Need to relax a bit today after a very hectic week where I worked just shy of 70 hours in 5 days. Will be reaping the rewards come payday Friday with my biggest pay of the year. Just hope I can put a chunk of it into savings straight away and speed on towards my £12k goal for the year. Creeping away from £2k and we are into month 5!! So I'm miles behind but summer will help me catch up with a weather depending job. I get 3 weeks off in July, paid holidays so will try and line up a few jobs of my own for then as the money will go straight to savings.

Property around here the same as mine seems to be going for £8,000 more than what we paid in dec 2012 so that's promising. Overpaid £4k last year, we hope to do the same again this year(which will mean even If I hit £12k savings I won't end year on that but at least we will be knocking this mortgage down from 17 years to under 15!!) when took out mortgage at 21 the end date was 20 years later at 41, now it's down to 38, I want to keep bringing it closer!! Addicted to all things money!!

tinktay84

Hi everyone. I'm currently sat in a club house on a caravan site.
It's my sons 9th birthday on Monday so have come camping overnight tonight as a treat for him. He had no idea!
I planned it a while back but as you all know my circumstances have changed so I'm now camping with my son, 3 of his friends and my 4 yr old daughter...no other adults!!!!!
Some say mad some say brave. I've had a great time so far, as have the kids as it's a fab site with everything you could need for kids...it's only now I'm sat in the club with pretty much everyone else on the site that I'm feeling the 'lone adult' situation but I'm keeping positive, my 'next door neighbours' have been looking after me and have invited me for a glass of wine once kids are asleep (so about 4am haha)

Signed my house back over so me and kids moving back in on 1st June...bit worried about bills BUT again I'm not dwelling, I'm focussing on getting what I can paid off before then so I've got a little leeway

I've paid for our little holiday in July so again, a bit of a treat to look forward to without the worry of finding money.

We are mega busy as per and have even taken on ANOTHER apprentice so that's us back to a team of 4 decorators, a plasterer, a sales lady and 2 cleaners!
Oh and I've been nominated for another blooming award!AND invited to be on the interview panel at a local youth group that is putting together a team of young people to work on a renovation project..showing them skills in construction and giving them a foot in the door to the industry..I'm truly honoured as I can't express enough my anger at the government telling young people there is no hope and no jobs...I am living proof that there are jobs...I've taken 2 people off job seekers, and 2 that were made redundant...and my new girl reminded me a lot of me...she was trying her best to get an apprenticeship but as she worked 11hrs a week she would have had to pay for a college course if she didn't find a placement...£1500 a year for the course!!!! Shocking.people that want to better themselves get stung
I took a huge hit financially but as I say I am being as positive as I can be and every day that passes is a bit of healing.
Pom feeling really positive for the future, especially after quoting for a job on a million pound penthouse in the city centre last week!
I really do understand the true meaning of money doesn't buy you happiness now...but I would much rather have been sat in a Ferrari crying than a Citroen c1 haha

Hope you are all well!

troglodyte

Tink you are doing so well at staying positive, Glad your worth has been recognised!

Buffythedebtslayer

Love reading your updates LL and Tink bloody marvellous xX

lessonlearned

Hi Everyone

Tink - Glad to see you back on track, great about getting your house back. You'll feel much better when you are back in your "nest" once more. Well done on the award :T:T

Hope you get the job on the million pound pad!!! (And lots of referrals of course …….)

I agree there is work to be had but the government schemes don't make it easy for folk to train up. DS2 will have to self fund for any construction courses he does.

YBM - good to see you are managing to start saving again, you should forge ahead now that the better weather is with us.

Have spent all today covered in brick and plaster dust helping DS1 - same again tomorrow. And it's a bliddy bank holiday…...Back breaking work and I'm absolutely filthy.

Whoever thinks they might have a go at property developing because it seems glamourous and money for old rope would be in for a shock:rotfl:

I'm off to see OH now but he won't mind me looking like an old bag lady. Bless him.

Trying to spend as much time as I can with him now. Nothing I can put my finger on but I get the feeling that his condition is definitely on the downward spiral now, so I want to be with him as much as possible.

I don't think he's quite on the "final furlong" just yet but he is now well into Stage 4 of his illness…… He get's very tired and sleeps a lot now, communication is exhausting for both of us so we often just sit quietly holding hands whilst watching the box. I sometimes take a book to read whilst he naps and I also have my yoga mat and a set of hand weights in his room, so I've no excuse for not exercising…...:rotfl:

Not tonight though - I'm done for……….

Bye for now X

lessonlearned

Helllllp!!!!

I need someone to give me a pep talk and a morale boost.

You know the old saying "The darkest hour is before dawn".

Well it may not be my darkest hour - I've been through much worse. However, "dawn" seems like a long way off at the moment.

Skip arrived yesterday and the labourer decided to walk. I was depending on him to give us a helping hand to clear the house and fill the skip. As it is he's left the upstairs in a shocking state.

What is it with (some) people these days - you give them a job and they let you down. This was a young man who, for all sorts of reasons, is practically unemployable. I gave him a chance - only casual to start with but I could have put plenty of work his way and maybe even taken him on full time at some point. Oh well his loss…..

It is just so frustrating. In the meantime DS2 and I have been left in the lurch - again. Tried helping DS2 load the skip but wasn't much use to him really. This morning my back is killing me. Poor DS2 was struggling because he has problems with a wisdom tooth.

This of course was on DS2's day off. He's been working full time and working on the house for months in his "spare time" now and although he's a young and fit 27 year old I can see he is getting very tired.

And then you get lazy good for nothing eejits who complain that property developers and landlords have it cushy. :mad::mad:

If they could see my sons working their socks off, rarely having any kind of day off and if they tried living with our aching backs they would see the reality…….

Rant over :rotfl:

Another lovely day here - at least the weather is on our side. A bit of container gardening but I really will have to rest a bit today so that I can help out this evening.

I haven't seen my parents in over a week, it's mums birthday on Friday, I've got more paperwork to do for them, and just to make matters worse I snapped at my poor OH last night because I couldn't understand what he was trying to tell me. He doesn't hold it against me but I feel so guilty:(

I will make sure I spend lots of time with him today.

Ah well - feel a bit better now that I've got that lot off my chest.

Going to try and do some yoga and sort my back out and try not to aggravate it today. Pilates on Friday should help and I have a physio appt book for next week.

So until then I will just have to try and pace myself and keep my eye on the prize…..

It will be worth it in the end.

PS - Just been over to see OH - he's asleep again. Had a bit of a heart to heart with one of the senior nurses and she agreed that it looks as if his body is "winding down", that it seems as if he just can't "be bothered any more".

I guess they know all the signs, how these things pan out etc.

We've no idea how long - it could be months yet but at least he is comfortable.
I will toddle over again after lunch and see if I can catch him awake.

Right time to pot up some seedlings.

lessonlearned

lessonlearned wrote: »

……...and just to make matters worse I snapped at my poor OH last night because I couldn't understand what he was trying to tell me. He doesn't hold it against me but I feel so guilty:(

Thought I'd share this with you……

Managed to spare an hour or so with OH whilst he was awake.

I apologised for snapping at him last evening. I explained that, after my little temper tantrum, he had fallen asleep before I had had time to grovel. He just laughed it off. He knows full well I don't "do" grovelling.:rotfl:

Anyway DS2 and I managed to crack on this evening - clearing up and loading the skip. Thankfully I found some lighter items to sort and lift so at least I was more help today.

So all in all the day ended better than it started.

All's well that ends well.

Celebrated with fish and chips and an episode of "Game of Thrones" the boys had recorded for me.

We will get there……….;)

tinktay84

well if anyone deserves an off day its you! You are usually the one boosting the rest of us so feel free to get it all off your chest at us, we are certainly here to help.
I totally agree that some people have no idea about real life and waste opportunities that are thrown at them.
I spend so much time telling people there is work out there and to ignore the government & press who are scaremongering young people into giving up on life before they even start.
So sorry to hear your labourer walked, I take it there was no explanation or reasons?
Its frustrating especially when you can see where it could lead to....
Im sure OH understands you are under immense pressure (though you may pretend you are fine!) and possibly feels as frustrated himself though cant express it the same way. Im sure he is true to his word at not being upset, I think your guilt is probably more to do with not being able to fix EVERYTHING for everyone rather than guilt at snapping. Im sure you don't make a habit of it.
Our new apprentice is fab, she is really getting stuck in - w etoo have been brick dust and soot covered this week after removing a fireplace for a customer..its now bricked up with a vent ready for the plasterer to come in and board and reskim.
Im not ready to take it on myself (plastering) but with us having a plasterer on board its easy enough to dish it out to her.
We are on the hunt for a female gas engineer and our local paper will be running another piece about our newest expansion and our hunt for a gas engineer. its hard trying to recruit as we cant specify female as its sexism so by doing this article it shows the company as an all female team, shows we are recruiting but doesn't specify we want female trades.
we pretty much have the million pound property in the bag, just a few niggles with the interior designers but they are minor.
More quotes today and tomorrow and we are looking at being booked up until july!!
now im not using energy worrying about 'husband' and his antics im using it on my business and future which, I know sounds clich! but it really is making a huge difference,
the shift in energy is amazing and it has shown me how much ebergy I was putting into trying to fix something that I hadn't broken..the best I can describe it is that I was trying to pick up sand with a fork....it was never going to work.
still niggles regards that department but I honestly can say, for the majority, I have now shut that part of my life off and am working forward.The only things that make me sad now is the thought of the future I saw, not of him though, just the future. I can now see the future pretty much the same but instead of 'husband' there is a space...maybe one that will be filled by someone else, maybe one that is there for me amd the kids to grow into and fill ourselves/ either way I can now see past 'right now'
24 days until I get my house back...eeeek
im going with being a millionaire by 40..... I will have a range rover or equivalent for my birthday next year where I am choosing to turn 30 properly instead of the disaster of 30 I had this year.
ah well, Robbie Williams might pull through and marry me eventually......
p.s. fish and chips has made me hungry even though I had home made chips with tandoori chicken that I had marinating for 2 days mmmm..ive become a good little chef


OOOh I forgot camping was absolutely BRILL!Bar the sitting on my own in clubhouse bit..my son said it was his best birthday ever and I got mega brownie points off all his friends and im now the cool mum that goes camping