Millionaire Challenge

Smiley87

Thanks for the advice Minxy. I've just found out that I'm eligible for a card at Costco which is a wholesalers so hopefully I can save some money buying in bulk.

Started the epic clear out and have some items on ebay and have cleared a good few hundred books already and have been given a decent price for them. That money will be heading to the House Fund.

I was always putting in Super Unleaded fuel in my car too and now, after reading an article on here, I'll switch to normal Unleaded for four out of five tankfulls. Starting small but it's a start at least

Broken_Biscuits

Did anyone read the Sunday Times today? Says 1 in 65 in the UK are now millionaires. I think the majority will be millionaires due to property values and may even be cash poor.

I think by the time I get there perhaps inflation will mean everyone is a millionaire. £4 pint of milk anyone?

How did everyone get on with the market crash/correction? Was all a bit of a non event in the end. For me as a newish investor it was my first real wobble. I reacted as I should, I think, although I did find my behaviour a little odd... For the week that my funds took a battering I just completely stopped consuming, like it would make a difference some how. I usually bus home from work and started walking home. I usually grab a sandwich in town and started making my own and filling up on the free soup and chocomilks in the drinks vendor (they arnt that nice!) cut my spending back to about 50p to a quid a day! At its worst I "lost" more than I earn in a month in a few days off my funds values. It's 95% back now and I did invest more than double what I usually buy so I was buying at much lower prices. Pulled some money from my repayments on the p2p lending to fund these extra purchases.

Will top up a few more of my defensive investments over the next year in case we have a proper crash any time soon. Commercial property, bonds and p2p.

Talking of p2p, I mentioned abundance generation previously, a wind and solar backing loan opportunity. They currently have an offer on. Whatever you put in now until the end of September will get an additional 2% added to your account.. Just in case anyone was interested.

Hope you are all enjoying the bank holiday weekend

lessonlearned

Good morning everyone

Minxy - yes ive discovered MArie Kondo and my drawers are now fully Kondoed........;) going to have another go in the kitchen and bathroom today. She says to do it all in one go but I find I have to keep revisiting rooms and having another go. I think Decluttering is addictive........

Cas - love your blog......i shall be a regular reader....it all looks lovely and I'm sure you will make a beautiful home. Re business ideas I will get my thinking cap on. I'm guessing that there are quite a few restrictions on what you can And can't do. The tractor sounds like fun.

Many moons ago my first husband bought a plot of land in Orkney. The plan was we were going to build a house. We divorced and I let him buy me out. Never did find out what he did with the land.

Biscuits - glad the market blips last week didn't affect you too badly, I guess only time will tell whether there is more to come. Ive spread my savings around to comply with the bank guarantees so should be ok should there be another slide. I still like to keep a dollop of cash just in case.

I also have a fair bit of gold and jewellery now. In the longer term im not sure what to do with it but it's not taking up much room so I'll hang on for now. I also found a few rare old coins and some stamps among my mums and my husband's treasures. I will get them valued and decide.

Smiley - you've made a great start there. I'm a great Costco fan too....although i have to be very disciplined when I visit - I could go crazy in There. :rotfl:

Well done Making a start on the clear out. I still have a lot of stuff to get rid off. A mixture of selling and donating for me.

Well another month gone......time to set some new goals.

I doubt that I will be able to save much this month, it's going to be a heavy one. it's also going to be very busy......I have a to do list as long as my arm .........

Ps don't know where the little face on the header.came from. Must have clicked something by mistake.

Karmacat

minxy-x wrote: »

Karma
Funny you mention talking about your book alot on another thread, I was reading a thread a while back in another topic, and thought it was so similar to you, then I checked the name and it was you!

Now I'm definitely going to shut up :eek: :rotfl:

cazmanian_minx wrote: »

The 10 acres is split into 5 fields, one big 5-acre field next door but one to me and then four fields of about 1.2 acres each, three around the house and one down on the point. I'll have to use them in compliance with crofting law, which means some kind of agricultural use - unfortunately I can't get away with filling them with horses, much as I'd like to! I get away with having my two by growing vegetables, which is a permitted crofting activity, but horses are considered leisure unless I was breeding Highlands or Eriskays to raise as working hill ponies. So I'm going to be getting some sheep - I've asked one of my neighbours if she'll teach me about foot trimming, worming, ear-tagging, lambing and general handling etc. etc. in return for some free labour, which she's agreed to. Nearly everyone round here has North Country Cheviots, but I quite fancy having Shetlands, they're supposed to have fantastic fleeces for home-spinning and they're smaller than NCCs, which hopefully will mean I can handle them more easily (used to help my neighbours at shearing every year and trying to get an NCC ewe through the race that really doesn't want to go is knackering!)

The other thing I'll be doing is making hay (Mr Minx is over the moon about this, because it means he can have a tractor :rotfl:). This year they took 14 large round bales off the four smaller fields and that's in a year where hay yields have been absolutely rubbish because of the weather, plus those fields haven't had any other fertiliser than sheep droppings applied for years. 14 large rounds is about 165 small square, which is just about exactly what I'll need to keep my two horses and a small flock of sheep through the winter, so it'll save me £495 a year buying in from elsewhere plus four trips to collect them (about another £80 in fuel). It'll take about 10 years to pay back on an old tractor and haymaking equipment though

I've been trying to come up with other income-producing ideas that will fit in with the house project - so far I've come up with:

1. Blogging about it (I think I'm allowed to put the link in because it's not selling anything? http://househoarder.com/ ) I'm planning to do vlogs of the refurbishment on YouTube as well.
2. Get some of my photographs done as canvases, hang them in the house, set up on Redbubble and leave business cards for guests to take away, letting them know they can order the artwork.
3. In a similar vein, take a great picture of the house once it's done, get it printed as a postcard and leave a stack in the house free for guests to send to friends, having set up a website for the house and put the URL on the back of the card.

Anyone got any other ideas for side-income??

I love questions like that :j

1. the wool from the sheep - if you're going to spin it yourself, what are you going to make? If its small stuff, you could sell that too. Or even blankets, or felted stuff, it goes for a mint :beer:

2. sell little chunks of wool in kits - ready to spin, or already spun.

3. have a think of how to publicise your blog - facebook, pinterest? (I'm learning too ).

4. Your own veg - do people sell deli-style jars of potted this that and the other up there? Per kilo, it's really profitable, though the time might make it a non starter.

5. I've just been realising that renting out a room occasionally via air bnb could be a really good idea. Less work than a B&B, and you can choose your times.

6. Selling plants to tourists, or on ebay? Depends if you've got something that propagates easily - alchemilla and strawberries grow like weeds around here.

cazmanian_minx

lessonlearned wrote: »

Good morning everyone

Minxy - yes ive discovered MArie Kondo and my drawers are now fully Kondoed........;) going to have another go in the kitchen and bathroom today. She says to do it all in one go but I find I have to keep revisiting rooms and having another go. I think Decluttering is addictive........

Cas - love your blog......i shall be a regular reader....it all looks lovely and I'm sure you will make a beautiful home. Re business ideas I will get my thinking cap on. I'm guessing that there are quite a few restrictions on what you can And can't do. The tractor sounds like fun.

Many moons ago my first husband bought a plot of land in Orkney. The plan was we were going to build a house. We divorced and I let him buy me out. Never did find out what he did with the land.

I love Marie Kondo! I'm not getting through the house very quickly, to be fair, but all the clothes have remained tidy and folded since November last year, which is an absolute miracle :rotfl: Glad you like the blog, thank you for looking Yes, I am restricted to crofting activities on croft land - this is mainly breeding sheep and cattle to sell onto lowland farms for fattening and finishing, but horticulture, growing fodder, forestry, woodland management, renewable energy and tourism are all permitted, I believe. Though with the row still going on about the second wind farm on the other side of the hill, I think renewables is definitely out as an option

There's a quarter-acre house site on Orkney advertised in the back of last month's Build-It magazine (or possibly Homebuilder and Renovator, not sure which), asking £95,000, which is....optimistic - wonder if it's him?? :rotfl:

Karmacat wrote: »

I love questions like that :j

1. the wool from the sheep - if you're going to spin it yourself, what are you going to make? If its small stuff, you could sell that too. Or even blankets, or felted stuff, it goes for a mint :beer:

2. sell little chunks of wool in kits - ready to spin, or already spun.

3. have a think of how to publicise your blog - facebook, pinterest? (I'm learning too ).

4. Your own veg - do people sell deli-style jars of potted this that and the other up there? Per kilo, it's really profitable, though the time might make it a non starter.

5. I've just been realising that renting out a room occasionally via air bnb could be a really good idea. Less work than a B&B, and you can choose your times.

6. Selling plants to tourists, or on ebay? Depends if you've got something that propagates easily - alchemilla and strawberries grow like weeds around here.

1. The one time I had a go with a spinning wheel I was RUBBISH, but my cousin on Orkney reckons she can teach me, even if I end up just drop-spinning Given I'm only going to have a small flock (one croft has a souming of 20, the other of 30, so I can only put a total of 50 onto the common grazings and I doubt I'll have that many, to be honest!), I was thinking about giving them all names and selling knitted scarves and hats that come with a little leaflet saying 'Your hat came from [name of sheep]' with a picture of the ewe in question.

2. Round here, a whole raw Shetland fleece sells for about £5, so I'm probably better off spinning it and making it up, unless I can find a cost-effective way of doing small amounts on eBay.

3. Work in progress Must sit down this week and get some content on the newly-registered Twitter and Instagram accounts, register a Facebook page and think of a variant of the name to register on Pinterest.

4. Sadly not, we're not really a deli-type area. About a year ago there was an agricultural building and 12 acres about 3 miles away for sale that would have made a fantastic pick-your-own site, but these fields are too far from the main road for that to work (and the only ones it would work on are the ones that get cut for hay, which I want to keep as hay/grazing).

5. Well, we're going to rent out the whole house. I suppose we could do AirBnB in the one we're planning to build, but Mr Minx isn't particularly keen on the idea. We could have done it in the separate annexe that I work in here, but he'd rather not.

6. A possibility, but I need to be really careful not to take trade off my friend a few miles up the coast who has a self-service plant business (and a polytunnel, so hers are always going to be further on than mine!).

Thanks for all the ideas :beer::beer:

Kayalana99

Random but I want to learn how to spin now !! Hope it goes well for you I don't really have any ideas this time around to contribute..

September Goals...

Well I've *somehow* convinced my OH to give up alcohol and takeaways for the month on the promise that we will use the money to go away for the weekend in Oct.

Takeaways are actually more about me though...we are getting worse another reason for the diet going to pot. This week alone we have been to toby carvery, mc donalds breakfast and a Chinese...he is drinking quite heavily compared to other months and is probably spending easy £5 a night. Coupled with a £20-60 a week takeaway bill (it's actually scary when you put it like that but £30 + £12 + 20 this week alone I reckon between us both we could save £200 by doing this...so fingers crossed.

I said drinking wise we might have odd night off as we are going to a late BBQ next Sat and 12th Sept we have a party to go to...so we've agreed were going to stick to it unless it's a social event.. and takeaways won't be affected.

So diet starts tomorrow for whole of Sept.

I've also joined a 100 day goal business bakery thing...sounds interesting but I'm not really sure of the details, you pick one goal and you've got 100 days to get their and they support you along the way. I've signed up and it starts tomorrow but I can't really see anywhere to get started so expecting an e-mail tomorrow? Worth perhaps a google if it sounds intriguing.

My goal is to get my first £300 full day wedding booking by the 100th day. It's hard to measure but if I work towards making myself look more professional..website etc and ways of advertising ..building up other portfolios such as engagement shoots outside of weddings to hopefully the charge per wedding can be justified. I do think it's pushing boat out but what is a goal if we don't? And if the goal is only £200 it won't be so motivating..if nothing else it will make me a solid foundation.

To September...may this month be less merry and more frugal but in exchange for the future...!! I'll drink to that...oh wait.

lessonlearned

Cas. Blimey £95k for a quarter acre plot in Orkney. We paid £400 for half an acre in 1973. Perhaps I should have held out...........

Second thoughts - I was just glad to get a divorce and regain my freedom, even if it meant parting with the land.

He was a nice enough man - just not the right man......:rotfl:

Anyway Im still sitting on the land I share with my sister. No planning permission at present but who knows.

Re - money making ........

Do you have outbuildings, barns etc. - would the development council consider them being converted to craft workshops/galleries etc.

We have several little artist and craft workshop complexes around here. In fact the council even run one in one of the city's parks. Local artisans or artists rent them and produce their wares, selling them on site. They always seem busy and well patronised.

They make great tourist attractions and are often a "destination" In their own right so they dont rely on passing trade and a high footfall. Some of them even have people arriving by the coach load as part of organised tours.

The beauty is they help to keep traditional crafts alive whilst also supporting local small businesses in country areas and providing employment.

cazmanian_minx

lessonlearned wrote: »

Cas. Blimey £95k for a quarter acre plot in Orkney. We paid £400 for half an acre in 1973. Perhaps I should have held out...........

Second thoughts - I was just glad to get a divorce and regain my freedom, even if it meant parting with the land.

He was a nice enough man - just not the right man......:rotfl:

Anyway Im still sitting on the land I share with my sister. No planning permission at present but who knows.

Re - money making ........

Do you have outbuildings, barns etc. - would the development council consider them being converted to craft workshops/galleries etc.

We have several little artist and craft workshop complexes around here. In fact the council even run one in one of the city's parks. Local artisans or artists rent them and produce their wares, selling them on site. They always seem busy and well patronised.

They make great tourist attractions and are often a "destination" In their own right so they dont rely on passing trade and a high footfall. Some of them even have people arriving by the coach load as part of organised tours.

The beauty is they help to keep traditional crafts alive whilst also supporting local small businesses in country areas and providing employment.

There are a couple of small byres, but they're attached to the house - I doubt you'd get planning permission for anything like that, though, as the village road is single track with only a couple of passing places and there's no parking unless it's on people's driveways. There's a craft village right out west at Balnakiel (if anyone saw the Cocoa Mountain chocolate shop on Dragon's Den a couple of weeks ago, that's where they are) but it's never very busy, ditto the craft shop and cafe near Tongue.

lessonlearned

Ah hadn't realised its "splendid isolation", narrow approach road etc.

given it's glorious views, total peace and quiet, about a yoga/well being retreat kind of thing, using the Byres as exercise or meditation rooms, maybe a treatment room for complimentary therapies And massage.

Ideal for stressed out city folk......

Karmacat

1. The one time I had a go with a spinning wheel I was RUBBISH, but my cousin on Orkney reckons she can teach me, even if I end up just drop-spinning Given I'm only going to have a small flock (one croft has a souming of 20, the other of 30, so I can only put a total of 50 onto the common grazings and I doubt I'll have that many, to be honest!), I was thinking about giving them all names and selling knitted scarves and hats that come with a little leaflet saying 'Your hat came from [name of sheep]' with a picture of the ewe in question.

Your idea is great :j see, thats Value Added stuff that doesn't actually cost *you* anything apart from the label, which you'd need to have in any case

2. Round here, a whole raw Shetland fleece sells for about £5, so I'm probably better off spinning it and making it up, unless I can find a cost-effective way of doing small amounts on eBay.

Spinning kits for newbies

5. Well, we're going to rent out the whole house. I suppose we could do AirBnB in the one we're planning to build, but Mr Minx isn't particularly keen on the idea. We could have done it in the separate annexe that I work in here, but he'd rather not.

It has to be sustainable, absolutely.

6. A possibility, but I need to be really careful not to take trade off my friend a few miles up the coast who has a self-service plant business (and a polytunnel, so hers are always going to be further on than mine!).

Thats fair enough - so how about *complementing* her stuff?

lessonlearned wrote: »

Ah hadn't realised its "splendid isolation", narrow approach road etc.

given it's glorious views, total peace and quiet, about a yoga/well being retreat kind of thing, using the Byres as exercise or meditation rooms, maybe a treatment room for complimentary therapies And massage.

Ideal for stressed out city folk......

The isolation can be a selling point for some things. A distant rellie by marriage has a place in Tuscany which was a ruin when she bought it - she's a sculptor, and loved the light out there. She camped there, basically, and got the young, strong rellies to go out tehre and do it up, and now its an Artists Retreat, I kid you not. She publicises it on facebook, and other places too I'm sure, but thats the only one that I've seen.