Millionaire Challenge

lessonlearned

Well....good week last week.

Discovered I was £135 in credit on my credit card.......(don't know how I managed that) and made £175 selling unwanted stuff.

Every little helps. . Just got to see if my premium bonds do anything this month..

Oh and my new investments have yielded just over 3 per cent in a month.

Obviously that level of growth is not guaranteed and it could be a different story next month but when you think that most cash ISAs pay around half a per cent PER ANNUM then someone is making big profits from our savings .......and it is not the saver!!!

Glorious day here - a little taste of summer.

Fire up those barbies.......and have a great weekend.

parsniphead

Thank you minxy and lessons learned for the kind comments.

I have dipped in and out of this thread since its been running and found it interesting but perhaps unreachable.

Perhaps I should have a little more faith. If you don't try then......you may be seeing more of me but first I may have a little read again.

lessonlearned

Parsniphead.......Given my advanced age it is doubtful that I will make a million.

Although never say never.:rotfl:

So I set my target for £300k within 10 years.

I think reaching £1m is actually easily doable if you start early enough, say in your 20s or early 30s.

If you feel that a figure of £1m is just too daunting then set yourself a target with which you feel more comfortable.

But whatever you do, don't give up on your dreams.

Life is too short to settle for anything less than being the best you can be.

Yes life sends us curve balls and difficulties to overcome - no one escapes Scott free, no one leads a totally charmed life.

Its entirely up to us to surmount the obstacles in our path. No one else can do it for us.

We can look for advice, accept help or a leg up when it's offered, maybe get a mentor but ultimately it's down to us.

We sink or swim by own efforts.

parsniphead

Too true lessonslearned.

Im happy to have a roof over my head and food in my belly. Even when im having a grumpy moment. This has passed by the way. I have to be positive to help DS on his journey. But to have something extra to smooth lifes path is good too. At 46, for a while longer anyway, I'm happy to aim for a million and achieve what i can. But first i need to pay of debt.

I will be following and cheering you all on.:T

Chesapeake

Evening all, glad to hear all your news and hello to the new posters

I really enjoyed reading the posts after Andy's, I come from a middle class background where we had very little money due to a large family (5 kids) but never really went without food etc. I got a good private education due to scholarships and I worked to earn my own pocket money from the age of 10. I spent 3.5yrs working for £3ph to pay for a rugby tour to New Zealand, £4.20ph for 2yrs to pay for my first motorbike etc...

I was interested by the degree comments a few pages ago, I have a specialist engineering degree (mining!) which can command serious salaries overseas (six figures after 12 months) but has limited utility in the UK. I decided not to follow a career in mining and started my own business instead which went bust in December and I walked away with just an empty overdraft and five figures of personally guaranteed debt. The process of earning my degree was far more important than the degree itself although my fees were only £1,250 pa, I got an academic scholarship and I worked multiple jobs in the holidays to pay my own way. My degree and the 4yrs at uni taught me an awful lot that I used to run my business and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I am earning what most people would consider to be a decent salary but it is not covering my debt repayments and leaves nothing for emergency fund etc. I have staked the next few years of my life and my professional reputation on making an offer to my current employer and if it pays off then I will hopefully be in a comfortable position in the next 12 months. If not then I will be tramping the roads in my 16yr old car to drum up enough consultancy work to pay the bills.

Broken_Biscuits

AndyBlue1975 wrote: »

I think this is a very elitist and class defining thread. Fair play to you all but a lot of us aren't so fortunate and struggle with everyday reality problems such as keeping an old car on the road, etc. I am not after ruffling feathers, but i just think this thread subconsciously rubs people's nose in it. Especially when you try all your life for the simple dreams then get dealt curveballs. I will get off my soap box now and put my pitchfork away.
Of course curiosity got the better of me so i caused my own jealousy!!!

Andy, if you (or any of the lurkers) think there is no way out of the situation you are in, why not post a bit of Information about yourself to see what suggestions the collective here can come up with? The fact that you are looking through a forum about money saving suggests you already have an interest in making changes, so all is not lost. Personally I think most (everyone?) Can change their financial circumstances in just 7 years with the right mindset.

I started life "poor" and currently earn less than the UK average wage yet fully expect to be a millionaire and retire before the majority of my peers due to my mindset and current saving rate. I think most of the regulars here are similar. A positive mindset, the willingness to learn and the bravery to put plans into place are more likely to be of benefit to you than a trust fund. Unless it was a bottomless pit of money some poor life choices could mean soon the money was gone and you would be back to the original problems.

I personally don't believe the class system exists as it used to. Everyone born in the UK or any developed country has the ability to write their own future and change their prospects in one generation now.

Luckystepho

Sorry been a bit missing in action- I had to have surgery on an infected cyst and am having to have it dressed daily as the wound has been left open to heal from the inside out and having the general anaesthetic has knocked me out more than I thought!

I think that often people don't like reading threads like this as it makes them think about their own shortcomings and it's far easier to knock other people and think 'it's alright for them' instead of taking a good hard look at their own life!

All of us on this thread and the newbies who join are all prepared to put in the work to change and keep an open mind about the possibilities, even if we don't attain that millionaire status we will still be in a much better position than if we had just given up and never tried!

One of my properties has become vacant and apparently needs some refurbishment work- which I am not in a position to do right now so I am considering selling this one and paying down my credit card and car loan plus keeping a little back as an emergency fund... this would also free up some cash each month that could be invested.

Hope everyone is enjoying the lovely weather!

Kayalana99

Oh no wishing you a speedy recovery!!

Sounds like a good move with the propery although could consider getting a handy man in to sort it? My dad never sells a house whilst someone is in it (I would say without good reason but I don't think he has ever had to) so if it's something to consider whilst it's vacant it will be a good time for you.

Great points people and people do just tend to bury themselves in the sand. I've been a bit down about money this evening but I've done worse case possible situation (without Hubbie losing his job which isn't really at risk) and I need to stop being so paranoid...we have plenty of left over income after bills are taken out (well enough to not have to worry) even if we do suffer a slight drop in income from this tax year. I need to take a deep breath and just manage our spare money a bit better. On a postive note I've never been more focused to lose weight, I've lost about half a stone over last 2 weeks and because of the savings in takeaways I've been able to treat the kids a bit more and buy some bits round the house (Using my weekly allowance we give each other so nothing out of savings) and on top of this my energy levels have shot through the roof and I just feel so postive ATM (Apart from this evening to be fair over money typically lol). There are more benefits to being fit and healthy then just being 'thin' but I still have a long way to go yet.

I may have some really life changing news in the next couple of weeks, I won't dwell on the details because it may or may not happen but Hubbie has gone for a job that is out of area and has a good chance of getting it as it's in-house and his boss is speaking in the right ears to get him into it...should find out sooner rather then later though as I belive the job starts in May although sometimes these things do get pushed back.

He also asked for a pay rise and the boss put him in for a decent raise but it has to be accepted by his bosses, so even if he doesn't get the job - fingers crossed this year we'll be slightly better off regardless.

Luckystepho

Thanks Kaya, it has knocked me back more than I thought - the property apparently needs a new kitchen and bathroom as well as redecorating and new carpets throughout. From previous repairs I know that the boiler and fire are obselete and on their way out (boiler feeds fire so both would need replacing) and thanks to extensive repairs needed to both properties over the past couple of years I don't have the funds to do this.
Well done on your weight loss, and all the best to your hubbie re the new job or promotion- could be a very exciting change for you!

cazmanian_minx

Taking a bit of a step forward here - if we can get the finance sorted, we're buying another house. As far as I can figure out, if we pull it off, we'll have houses and land worth in the region of £650,000 with borrowings of £445,000, so that's a fifth of the way there