Millionaire Challenge

Kayalana99

Exams are over....feel like a weight of my mind although I don't find out if I passed one for 6 weeks and I think theirs a higher chance of fail then a pass...whilst I think overall I understood what I was doing it was not straight forward exam you had to save files all over the place and fill in a word document and have sage up and I am more thinking I will fail on not saving something right (in fact one file I saved in the wrong format so I lost that right their and then.)

So not looking good...I felt sick to my stomach and had a banging headache so I didn't go back and check over everything , I perhaps could of recreated the file I didn't save properly. It was basically down to lack of sleep and the heat. (I havn't slept well at all this week some nights I've been getting up at mid night to do orders just out of boredom)

Thank you LL ~ I've had a good talk with my friends but I was just getting so stressed out with it all but the venue we were most interested in but kept ignoring us got back to us and said 'Yes you are still booked in' (we never actually booked with them just went to view and asked for a price for food which we never got!) so I think we are going to go ahead after all but just use an outside caterer who is lovely.

Caz ~ Many thanks HAVE to do my research on this today, when you say it cost you £250 to courier it to you does it arrive in England and then you just pay for it when it's delivered?

From the guy "ship method usually by sea,as the total weight approx 75kg total of 5000pcs."

I included import and vat, I think it should still be worth it if postage is quite high if I order in a higher bulk..

Need to sit down with my figures again.
Today
1) Research Site / figures
2) Look into AAT level 3 (Move onto the A13? )
3) eBAYYYYY I forgot to post yesterday despite going out of my way to do them the night before...

cazmanian_minx

Okay, so it's a total weight of 150kg? Have they offered you free shipping by sea? Watch out for that, as they'll often either only send it to the sea port and then you'll suddenly have to arrange customs clearance and onwards transport very fast (or you'll get charged port storage fees) or their onwards carrier in this country will ring you asking you to pay a per box fee before they'll deliver it.

If I've got an order under 100kg I arrange the courier myself via an amalgamation service - www.wedelivertheworld.co.uk - TNT 7 day service usually works out cheapest for me, but I'm in the Highlands, so I get surcharged quite a lot You basically arrange a day for pick up with your supplier, get the sizes and weights of the boxes, book the courier and forward the barcodes, labels and other paperwork they email to you to your supplier to attach to the boxes. You pay up front for the transport and then pay the courier separately for the VAT and duty. UPS requires you to give the delivery driver a cheque, TNT send you an invoice for payment within 30 days.

If it's over 100kg and I'm not in a hurry, I use a freight forwarder - Chris Veale at Shippo (formerly Headland Freight) http://www.shippo.co.uk/ has done all my large imports for the past five or six years and is absolutely superb, I can't recommend him highly enough. Again, once you have the weights and sizes of the boxes, contact him for a quote. He will need to know if the terms are Ex-Works (i.e. they have to collect from the factory) or FOB (Free On Board, the supplier will deliver to the port). Chris can also arrange air freight if you need it faster and at some times of year there's only £70-£100 difference in price for a 150kg order, but the air freight will be about five weeks faster.

Hope that helps a bit

betterlife

i did a order a few years ago from china, order was around £300, shipping another £260 then a few weeks after it arrived the courier company sent me an £80 customs bill ! didnt expect that.

Kayalana99

Yup not going to be worth it by the looks of it ~ bubble burst.

If I order 5000 it cost me £300(without delivery import etc) and I need to get them to my door for under £550 for it to be worth selling them on....that said I do use them for my current business but only just got though my first thousand...will def be cheaper to order direct but with eBay fees and paypal fees not worth selling them on in bulk basically and obv I'd have to spend more up front + storage.

I'll see how I get on, I started of just selling product 1 really well ~ but now product 2 (the china order) is selling better then product 1 in 'single' orders where I get more bulk orders from product 1...

I would of hoped that I would be selling more single orders of product one AND bulk orders but it seems to have died down loads...

But product 2 is doing a lot better then it was, so maybe when it comes to order my next 1000 (I just had a new one delivered) I could consider it. It would have to get to my door for MAX £950 for it not to be worth it (to use myself) on a £300 order.

Sorry I hope that makes sense. I wasn't 100% sure on the box sizes but I used that site for under 100k (it was 75k total) and it came up at £550 as lowest!

ETA: Still some hope left my Dad used to know a 'China import lady' and he is tracking her down though his friends for me...so it's worth asking isn't it? She might know someone who could do them cheaper and the best/cheapest ways to import but I am not holding my head in the clouds as I was when I first went on about it!!

lessonlearned

Still here. Still living a nomadic existence - commuting between prop 2 and the bungalow and living out of carrier bags…..Who said property developing was either easy or glamourous.

Bedrooms finally plastered and mist coated - just the hall etc now - hopefully tomorrow and we're done. Then a massive clear up this weekend and then I can move in properly.

The garden is looking really pretty now. My next door neighbour stuck her head over the fence and said how nice it was looking. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve for finishing touches but they will have to wait for now because I want to concentrate on the inside of the house and get on with some furniture projects.

Still decluttering as I go and now have a several boxes for selling on - some to the auction house and some to my "lady wot sells for me". Hopefully I can make a few shekels.

My lease expires on the bungalow on 22nd July so no more rent payments so other than the budget for decoration and the final bits and pieces I have hopefully stopped spending and can now start salting some cash away.

I'm going to aim to save at least £600 per month from my passive income, preferably nearer to £850 or so if I'm extra careful.

Then I just need to look at earning some more. I'd really like to have £1K a month going into savings but that might be a bit ambitious for the moment given all the restrictions on my time.

I still have a lot to do helping my dad and of course trying to spend lots of time with OH.

He is struggling with the Nursing Home food - very bland and boring - so I have also started supplementing his diet cooking him special meals. He has to have everything pureed because of swallowing difficulties so again it's quite time consuming.

Looking after OH and mum and dad does take up chunks of time and
I'm afraid it is also both tiring and emotionally draining. Not much time or energy left for money making or starting another business just yet. I have several ideas buzzing around but now is not the time to implement them. They can wait.

Kaya - well done on the exams - you've done so well pulling all that in. Don't worry too much about your grades, as long as you've passed that's all that really matters.

I've no experience either importing or exporting goods so I'm following your progress there with interest.

Hope you are all well and making lots of money…...

troglodyte

LL I really don't know how you cope looking after everyone all at the same time, you really are amazing. I just hope you have a bit of time and energy left for yourself.
Also I would love to see your garden with its little finishing touches!

I was interested to read what you had to say about marriage too. I agree that a marriage contract is far more than just a piece of paper but is a very important legal agreement, but unlike other contracts you don't actually get to find out exactly what you are agreeing to before signing. It was because of all the legal implications that I have not married, it seems far too dangerous to me, all too easy for a divorce to take away everything you worked hard for over the years!

ms_night_ryder

Kaya, ship is the cheapest way to import from china, maybe look at the cheapest way for it to be cleared, that's where the money is charged.

LL glad your o.k, your husband and parents are deffo more important than money making, good luck with everything.

I haven't posted much as I was waiting to get paid, I paid off a bit of 1 bill and have today made arrangements to get back in credit, will be sending some letters and cheques tomorrow, but I need to wait to be paid again, which should be next week, then I can pay off a few more.

lessonlearned

Yes marriage is not something to be entered into lightly - you do need to have your eyes wide open.

I was guilty of going into my first marriage with rose tinted spectacles - second time around I was a bit wiser………

When I married first time the expectation was that you lived with your parents until marriage. "Living in sin" was frowned upon. Thankfully we've come a long way since then. At least now you get to "Try Before You Buy". :rotfl:

Re the "looking after everyone at the same time".

It is a bit of a juggling act and yes I do get tired and if I'm honest a bit fed up with it all at times. However, without sounding like Little Miss Goody Two Shoes there is a certain satisfaction in knowing that you can put your hand on your heart and say you've done your best. There can be no regrets or "If only I had done this or that".

Having said that it would be nice to have more hours in the day. There is so much I still want to do. As I am now 63 I do sometimes wonder how many "good" years I have left and whether or not I will manage to fit it all in.

Maybe I should make a start on my bucket list. :rotfl:

One of my next projects - when I have a bit of time - is to try and get a bit more techno savvy.

I have bought a domain name and I do intend to set up my own little website. I've been taking pictures of our renovations - using my er-hem new all singing all dancing I-Pad so hopefully I will be able to start putting up piccies at some point.

I've bought an I-Pad for Seniors book and my DS2 is also patiently teaching me a few moves…… I'll get there.

So much to learn, so much to do and so little time.

troglodyte

LL I know exactly what you mean about having no regrets, that was exactly how I felt about my parents. My Mum refused any offer of help (she would say 'no' before I even finished the sentence) but I did the best I could to help in any way that I could sneak in and I made my mind up that even if she was nasty to me I would just stay calm and let it all wash over me and carry on as though things were normal. After she died my Dad was more accepting of help and we did things together and had some fun in those last years. It wasn't easy either as they were a long way away, aged 87 and 93, and I also have two young children, but I'm sure I did the best I could and I would have done more if they had allowed me to.

lessonlearned

It's good that you got to have some fun times with your dad in his final years.

My sister managed to take my dad out for the day last Sunday and he spent the day watching his granddaughter (my niece) compete in a show with her pony. He told me how much he had enjoyed the day and how it had been months since he had a "day off".

I have recently spent a lot of time sorting out his finances. Yesterday he rang me to tell me that a nice big cheque had arrived in his bank as a result of my efforts. I told him he could thank me by taking me out to lunch…..

I'm aiming to take him out one day next week - somewhere nice for lunch and then maybe a potter round a garden centre.

I've totally missed out on any final "quality time" with mum because her dementia has taken hold so quickly. Hopefully I will manage some time with Dad before it's too late. It's hard though because I also visit OH every day.

I spend so much time driving between nursing homes I have now dug out my Italian language CD's.

I am aiming for a holiday in Italy one of these fine days…...;)