Millionaire Challenge

lessonlearned

Tink - so good to hear all your fab news. Fantastic progress.

Keeping fingers crossed you get that big project. Piccies please - unless of course you have to sign a confidentiality agreement….;)

I love the comment about your OH as "picking up sand with a fork". A friend of mine who had similar problems with her OH used to say about her husband that "it was like dragging a dead horse behind me". :rotfl:

As you know my OH is my second husband. My first husband was a nice enough man - a bit of a stuffed shirt and old for his years. (I think he was born middle aged). He was a bit of a dead horse too!! He hated it whenever I had one of my "bright ideas" as he put it. He would talk down to me, patronise me and shake my confidence until I gave up defeated before I had even begun. At one point he tried to stop me even painting a bit of emulsion on a wall - he said I was incapable.

Ha - he got me wrong. Wonder what he would think if he could see me now wielding a chain saw with gay abandon or swinging a sledge hammer.

OH on the other hand has always been encouraging and supportive, always egging me on and challenging me to stretch myself and achieve better and greater things. He encouraged me to dream and more importantly how to work out how to make my dreams come true.

He even encouraged me to go university when I was 40 despite knowing full well that my school days were an unmitigated disaster. He just had faith in me and backed me in even my wildest schemes.

That's the kind of encouragement and support you need from a spouse or partner, someone who is always on your side and who will always be there for you - through the bad times as well as the good times.

I'm sure that one day you'll meet Mr Wonderful.

In the meantime just enjoy your freedom to be your own person. You are setting such a good example to your kids and of course they think you are cool.

My kids (and their mates) think I'm cool. I must admit I'm vain enough to like being considered 'cool" even if I'm now an old crone.

My aim is to be an "eccentric millionaire". :rotfl:

And yes definitely treat yourself to that Range Rover for your "proper 30th birthday". You will have earned it.

I shall be 63 soon and I usually get cash from both my parents and OH's father. I also found out today that I have a credit balance of £136 on a credit card that I had forgotten about. I feel a trip to the jewellers might be in order in time for my birthday.

OH would approve, he was always buying me little bits and bobs. I trained him well - I taught him my golden rule "the smaller the box the better the gift".:D

One year the little box contained the keys to a fab little Mini - it was my pride and joy until some damned fool ran into the back of me.

My DS2 has his heart set on a Range Rover too.

PS Robbie Williams ??? Sounds good to me.

Chris Hemsworth is my guy…….6'3" of gorgeousness. Pity he's the same age as my son………Ouch.

Perhaps I'd better stick with Liam Neeson - yep I like 'em tall…...

troglodyte

LL these things are sent to try us, as they say. In the long term this little glitch will seem like nothing. Of course right now its a big setback though. There must be other people out there who will be happy to do some labouring on a short-term job, if you can find someone.

As for OH, it is difficult to be extra-nice all the time, of course sometimes you react in the 'normal' way, it's only natural and I'm sure he understands. For your own good though, I recommend trying not to snap. My Mum died suddenly 3 years ago. The night before she died she called me and I can't really remember what I said. Then she snapped at my Dad and he gave her a nasty reply (totally understandable) and went to bed. When he got up in the morning she was dead. Afterwards he felt really terrible about that and it preyed on his mind, so if possible try not to say anything nasty just in case it's the last time.

Tink I love the idea of a postponed 30th, it will be great I'm sure. Well done on putting husband behind you and moving forward.

tinktay84

Good evening!
Laughing away at your post LL...
last night I went on a 'girls night out' I relaly wasn't looking forward to it as im not an 'out round town' kind of girl and hate the money wasted on it but was determine I wouldn't dodge it as its another part of the healing and moving on process I suppose.
It was with people I have met on my plastering course (there are more women than men) so all new people to me really but I had such a giggle and felt so good.We had a good old dance and laughed so hard my stomach hurts - definitely the medicine I need.
I received compliments and even had a drink bought for me which is all new to me. Ive NEVER had men give me compliments out of the blue and certainly never had one offer to buy me a drink!
And to top it off I spent £9!
I think my 30th are really going to suit me as I have felt 30 for a long time so im now growing into it.
Im a little mor confident now, I think growing up and recent events have made me toughen up but also the amount of people that keep telling me im strong is helping.
Great news on the work front..we got the penthouse AND another apartment as well.We are now booked up until july - even with our new apprentice working as hard and as fast as she does.

lessonlearned

Hey Everyone

What'yall got planned for this week.;)

I need to get some serious shopping done, order the kitchen and appliances, floor coverings etc.

Had a mega busy weekend - DS2 had to work so DS1 and I set to and finished stripping out the flipper, loaded the skip, had a good clean up. We worked like demons but we both really enjoyed it - rolling up our sleeves and getting filthy. :rotfl:

The pilates is definitely paying dividends. I've been doing it for about 3 months now and despite all the gruelling physical work this weekend my back is just fine. I could not have done this a couple of months ago. I'm definitely getting stronger and fitter.

Tink - Glad you enjoyed your night out - it will do you good to get out and about and have some fun. I'm out with "the girls" tomorrow. It's actually a meeting of the Book Club but we do meet in the pub!!! And we do discuss the book for a little while.:D

Great news about the work - sounds like a really fun project.

I often think about the kind of retirement property I ought to live in when I'm too old and decrepit for a traditional house. I really fancy a swanky penthouse in a nice city location with river views and a roof top garden. I shall just have to work hard. I shall be 63 soon, can I do this by the time I'm 70. I'm going to take a stab at it.

I read something the other day which I found interesting.

Apparently 97% of people who read self help books don't take any action. Only 3% get off their derrieres and get cracking.

That has to be good news for those of us who are having a go, for as Shakespeare tells us in King Lear - "Nothing will come from nothing".

In other words it's up to us.

tinktay84

I have to admit, I was against apartments etc and branded them the new tower blocks but with poor soundproofing.
I am being swayed a little now im seeing more and more. A few months back I seriously considered getting me and the kids set up in one as I thought us all being on 1 level at all times would be better with me being alone with them but now im, getting my house back I can see that the way our house is laid out works better for us. My son has his bedroom on a floor to himself and now hes getting bigger he feels that is his independence so doesn't try and have independence elsewhere (ie going alone to places) I do try and push a bit of independence on him so hes not naïve but im happy that he isn't pushing it for himself! Hes still my baby


great news on all the progress you are making, sounds like youre really going all guns blazing even with DS2 at work.
also great news on the yoga!
Ive had to stop bootcamp and boxing for now as im physically exhausted from all the manual work but have been making an effort to try and get the odd swim in here and there. I did a bootcamp, walked 3 miles to the swimming pool, swam a mile and walked the 3 miles home with shopping the other week which kick started me and ive swam around half a mile a few times just to keep me going. And all my dancing and laughing on Saturday has lost me some weight too!
I love the idea of socialising in pubs as a relaxed thing - im not an out on the town kind of gal, im more of a quiz night gal or as you say, a book club that turns into a drink and a book club haha. I do enjoy watching bands as well so rather be doing that than just getting drunk for the sake of it.
I cant really say much about work as its pretty much the same story BUSY BUSY BUSY. New apprentice is still brilliant, 2 other girls still brilliant, sales/office manager brilliant, plasterer and cleaners brilliant! haha
I get my house back 3 weeks today and go away 10 weeks today so im now keeping my head down and trying to get the pennies in because my household bills will be BIG! Its going to be hard taking the full financial weight BUT worth it.You know I like a challenge.
We got a new tutor at college and one of my first comments to him was that im a trainee millionaire and he has also commented that ill be running a full construction firm soon. He seems to be on my wavelength so going to try and glean what advice and info I can from him. My old tutors from my decorating days are brilliant and im in contact with 3 of them for if I ever have a problem. All 3 of them will phone me if I send them a message asking for advice which is above and beyond really but they must be able to see how hard im working :-)

lessonlearned

Glad to hear things are going so well and what fabulous mentors your tutors have turned out to be. And how fantastic that you are building such a good team around you.

I too am slowly building a good team of trusted tradespeople, mentors and advisors, a fab mortgage broker and a great solicitor.

Some good news this end - kitchen cabinets being delivered tomorrow, appliances on Thursday - looks like we might have a working kitchen by the weekend. Wahoo.

Just the bedrooms to plaster and then I can think about moving in. Aiming to finish my contract here on June 23rd - don't want to spend any more on rent than I have to.

I'm not bothered if the decorating/carpets/final fix joinery isn't complete. I can put up with that. The sooner I can start saving some money on my living expenses the better. Same with DS2.

I need to replenish the bank account….The renos have cost rather more than I had hoped for so it's a good job I didn't go for a third property - I would definitely have been over-extended.

My way might be a bit slow and a bit too cautious but although I have seriously depleted my savings at least I haven't had to borrow or get into debt again. I still have a cushion should I ever need it - so not quite broke yet.

The last thing I wanted was to risk going bust before I had even got off the ground.;)

Another little bit of good news - just received a note from my lady who is selling for me. She has managed to shift most of my stuff. Not a fortune but better than nowt. I will dig out another batch for her to have a go at.

I did try and have another go at Matched Betting last week. Sadly it's not for me. I just can't get to grips with it and I can't say that I enjoyed it much. I made a small amount - got my stake money back but that's about it.

I found it very time consuming (me being thick!!!) so I'll just have to try my hand at something else.

Not long now till you get your house back - bet you will feel much happier then. Sounds like we will both be moving in June.

Definitely a good idea to keep up with some fitness regime. It's good for mental wellbeing as well as keeping physically fit. For me it's essential - it stops me from seizing up.:o

In my old house we had a mini gym set up in our garage - aiming to do the same in each of our properties, i.e. in DS1's workshop and DS2's cellar. I just can't be bothered with joining a gym - it's too time consuming. I'd rather have my own set up to use whenever it suits me. It's a pity we can't stretch to a pool though - one day perhaps …….:rotfl:

G'night all

lessonlearned

Good morning all

Took OH to see his consultant yesterday. We had "the conversation". Timescales - months not years.

I knew what was coming but even so having it spelt out by the consultant was hard. OH knows and I've told the family. Very difficult.

So for the time being all money making activities will go on the back burner for now, apart from finishing the flipper. I shall move into the flipper because it's only a ten minute drive from the nursing home and we shall take it from there.

So we won't be selling or buying any more properties for the time being and won't be taking on any more renovation projects.

The boys and I will just concentrate on spending time with OH, and helping with end of life care when the time comes. We can move him to a hospice or the nursing home will provide end of life care. OH is happy to remain where he is and I am confident they will provide good care for him. The staff all know him and are very fond of him. The boys and I can come and go whenever we like and they can provide a bed for me whenever I need one.

Needless to say I'm feeling a bit fragile today so it will be a quiet one.

I probably won't post much for a while but I will keep reading your news and I will be cheering you on from the sidelines, offering my tuppence worth every so often.

Bye for now. Good luck with your enterprises.

droopsnoot

Good luck, hope all goes as smoothly as it can for you.

troglodyte

So sorry to hear the news LL. Even when you know what's coming, it still hits you to have it spelled out like that. I hope you can make the most of the time without worrying too much about the other projects. We'll all be thinking of you both.

al6n

Hello all.

Let me start by saying I've been following this thread for a while now, reading a page now and then and planning to join in when I reached the end. I've finally got to the end and its at such a bad time, I'm terribly sorry for you LL. I don't know how you are coping the way that you seem to be but please keep your spirit up as best you can.

I'm joining this thread for the chance to talk with some like minded people and to give me a reason to stop and write things down and keep myself accountable.

I'm 26 and I'd like to retire by age 50 worth at least a million. A hell of a lot can happen in 24 years and it will have to if that is going to be possible.

My partner isn't as interested in all this as I am but thats due to her not feeling that it's possible, as I've seen in the past when we start making moves in the right direction it will help her motivation a great deal.

Neither of us have any great skills or education and we are both low earners but I still feel that we're in a good position to start chasing that first million. The main reasons for that being that we're starting out with a positive net worth and that there's 24 years to play with, although I will be hoping to get there earlier. A million probably wont even be that much by then!

I'm self employed and work is quite up and down for me, I will regularly work none stop for several days profiting several hundred pounds to then have no or very little work on for a few days or longer effectively losing money in that period due to overheads. In my down time I have always watched tv and played computer games, that clearly has to stop and I have to find something more productive to fit into my quiet times, I'll be on the look out for any potential little sideline earners.

My OH's job is far more stable, she's been doing the same mon-fri min wage job for 10 years now, there will never be any career progression. We are hoping to have a couple of little ones in the not too distant future and she plans become a stay at home mum for at least a few years when we get to that point. I think she's at least earned that and I really hope it's something we can make a reality.

We bought our first house last October. We paid 124k and have a mortgage of 89k. I estimate it's value to be around the same as we paid for it judging by other houses in the area, the previous owners did pay over 130k for it in 2008 but I think that was over the odds. It's the traditional first time buyers tiny 2 bed semi. We were planning to make overpayments on the mortgage from the outset and have so far not managed to make a single one but we are spending what spare money we have on improvements (improvements that we didn't think were needed prior to buying, you live, you learn). I'm midway through my first ever DIY project completely gutting the bathroom and starting from scratch, it's one hell of a learning curve but lately I've started to see the importance of being able to do these things to save a life time of extra expense, we're waiting for the plaster to dry at the moment, that was the one bit I didn't attempt to do myself, as it's our only bathroom we're staying up the road with my parents while I take my time with it. I'm certainly not sentimental and I just see this house as a stepping stone, my OH see's it more as a home but she still appreciates that we'll have to trade up when the time calls for it.

My inspiration for this comes from looking at my parents and everthing they've achieved coming from where they started. Maybe inspiration is the wrong word, it's where my belief that I can achieve my goals comes from. They are nowhere near millionares but they've acheived a hell of a lot. I'll talk more about them in future probably.


"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"
I'm going to try to set myself one or more short term goals when I post with the aim usually to achieve them before my next post.

1. Get a good deal on a new printer/all in one combo
I've had my current one for as long as I can remember, in fact I can't remember where it came from but the last couple of weeks it has started jamming loads and smudging all the words down the right hand side of the page, I can't put up with it as paperwork that I have to print and show to customers is crucial to my job. I have a few spare ink cartridges so hopefully I can find one that takes the same ink.

2. Get a new 0% balance transfer credit card
I owe £1100 on a 0% credit card, the 0% period is due to expire soon. It is our only debt and we could stretch to pay it off if we had to but it would be more convenient to keep it on interest free if possible.

3. Carry out at least one job alone
I worked alone for a while, in my line of work this is not practical so a few years ago I took on an assistant, he gets paid on a per job basis so he doesn't cost me anything when I'm not earning anything. Lately though due to a change in the industry there are certain jobs that I can do alone but I've still been utilizing the help. He has other sources of income so I wont feel bad about cutting him out on the odd job here and there. It wont make a huge impact on my year but it certainly isn't a good financial move to keep paying for uneccessary help.



Thats me done for now, I look forward to hearing from you all.