Millionaire Challenge

Muhren

A little update from me. I have paid the full £4000 into this years LISA, just waiting for the bonus now. I have also set up a new S&S ISA for this year and paid in £2500, I am going to transfer last years holding over to the new platform as they have lower fees.

I have upped my pension contribution to 36% through my employer as this is done through salary sacrifice, but this has meant I will be paying less into my ISA each month. Our payrise is still being negotiated at work (never gets agreed on time, it will be back dated though). I have a new company car, and although it is still towards the lower end of the scale, it is still costing me more than the last car I had.

With all that considered I am on track to get to a NAV of £250k by the end of the year, hopefully more, maybe even £255k but we will have to see.

El8482

I also believe that you should not just SAVE money... better think how to earn more)))

lessonlearned

Good morning everyone......good to catch up with you all and good see some new faces.

Kay....lovely upbeat post. You sound happy and focussed. Glad you are enjoying your new life as a singleton. Having a truly great and happy relationship is wonderful (I still miss my late husband) but if it really doesn't work then it's better to travel solo. Just enjoy the dating and have a bit of fun, but I agree if you find the dates boring then do something else. .

Muhren......you are doing really well. Great progress.

Well I'm as busy as ever, working on the house and garden, improving my health and fitness, losing the extra weight, spending lots of time with my grandson, getting out and about, having fun. It's been nearly 5 years now since my husband died and I'm rebuilding a new life at last.

Moneywise doing ok. Keeping to budget with the house renovations and still working on the sideline hustles. All is good. It's a work in progress.

Looking forward to a great summer.

KONG

Mrs_Arthur_Crown wrote: »

Not mad at all! Even if you don't reach the million, by trying you will end up with considerably more money than you started with. I haven't read all of this post but as it seems to have started in 2011 it would be interesting to see how the OP got on.


I'm not a millionaire yet but I will always tell myself I am getting there. When I bought my first house (with a mortgage) I set a challenge of being financially independent by the time I was 40 and thus able to become self-employed (rather than retire). I was actually 44 when I achieved financial independence. My challenge began in the late 1980s, when, interest rates on savings were much higher and climbing (as were mortgage rates) and I was also financially lucky later on with timing regarding a house sale, a period of renting, and a subsequent house purchase. There were a few "windfalls" from "free" shares as well. With a determination to be "rich", a bit of frugality and the help of an "Aussie-style" mortgage I was able to pay off the mortgage early.


Now that "FIRE" is a thing, I so wish that I had had a crystal ball when I embarked on my challenge. I could have made a million by writing a book on how to achieve financial independence (yes, a book - there was no internet for blogging with then). I was squirreling up to half of my income each month before some of these FIRE bloggers were even born. Hey ho!!!!!!

I probably couldn't achieved financial independence without the guidance of a financial adviser almost from Day One. He had advised on the mortgage, life insurance and pension and I was quite interested in what he had to say and indeed in what a financial adviser actually did. I hadn't actually come across financial advisers before but I took a slight career change, and ended up working for a lot of rather wealthy people. In general conversation I became aware that they were only able to maximise their (high) incomes with advice from professionals so I stuck with it even though I wasn't on a high income and neither did I have tens of thousands in savings and investments. I moved house a couple of times, and thus changed financial advisers. It was just pot luck that I have now ended up with one who seems to have a crystal ball.

As I say, I am not a millionaire yet, and quite possibly won't be now as my son has just reached the age of profligacy (his teens), and my husband is currently not working, but there's always the chance of a win on the Premium Bonds and I will never take my eye off the financial ball.

This is really good reading. Glad to hear that it worked out for you. And yes, you need some luck today, but that's is only a small %, because the idea and drive needs to be behind it.

Kayalana99

Hi Guys,

I can't believe how dead it is on here. I have to admit I'm not checking it at all lately. Things have been so crazy lately and my exam is 2 weeks away....then I'm literally going to have 4 months of nothing to do!!

I can already feel my mind whirling and tbh it's hard to focus on studying because in back of my head I'm trying to plan my next move...but it's coming on nicely. Nearly finished with my project due 6th June so a little time to spare, then my exam is 10th June so crossing all fingers and just trying to pull this all together as I need to get the project in to focus on the exam.

It's so annoying as I've been looking at finances and my Dad is sat on money right now literally happy to lend me for B2L but I've had to go down the UC route being a single parent working part-time and by having a B2L I would lose the benefits and not be able to afford to live.

I've worked out that I need around £100 a day (or 36k a year) to live just comfortably - it sounds a lot (in eyes of just living comfortably anyway) but if I am working full-time that's £6k+ gone in just childcare alone.

It's annoying but I feel I either need to find a business that makes me a bucket load of money, or move in with someone to be financially independent ...which obviously gets rid of the point !! lol

There is some lee-way in that figure and based on my costs now, for example if I was self-employed and didn't need childcare (depending on what I was doing) I could save 6k in CC & 3-4k in transport and parking costs alone... but I have to admit I like going out to work. I've been considering getting back into my photography but have to admit it would be a move based on finances and juggling wedding photography, my job, my degree, my kids....etc...yeeee.

For now, I'm going to have a look at a few business ideas anyway and perhaps consider going full-time. It won't help with the B2L thing but what can I do?! Even if I can find a business to make me 36k+ a year, it's not going to happen over night!!

lessonlearned

Yes it's very quiet on here.

Kay.....good luck with the exams and your project.

You are right, living costs, childcare, commuting etc really does add up. You have got a lot on your plate right now but maybe once you have got your degree under your belt you will start to see a clearer path.

Well I've not done much to add to the coffers this month.....in fact quite the reverse, I have had rather a spendy month. Had a minor car accident so settled that myself rather than claim on my insurance. Also had to have pest control out for a tree bees nest.

And no time to make any money because I have been on (unpaid) granny duty. I don't mind though because it helps my son and DIL. It's only for a few months until my grandson starts nursery and it is saving them shedloads of cash on childcare. Then I can get back to my own plans.

In the meantime I have used any spare time wisely.....I continue to lose weight and get fitter. 2 stones down. . And I have been concentrating on the garden. It's looking much better. I am doing that first before the rest of the internal renovations so that it will have time to mature and become a nice selling feature.

Other than that nothing much happening here.

jennypennysaver

lessonlearned wrote: »

Good morning everyone......good to catch up with you all and good see some new faces.

Kay....lovely upbeat post. You sound happy and focussed. Glad you are enjoying your new life as a singleton. Having a truly great and happy relationship is wonderful (I still miss my late husband) but if it really doesn't work then it's better to travel solo. Just enjoy the dating and have a bit of fun, but I agree if you find the dates boring then do something else. .

Muhren......you are doing really well. Great progress.

Well I'm as busy as ever, working on the house and garden, improving my health and fitness, losing the extra weight, spending lots of time with my grandson, getting out and about, having fun. It's been nearly 5 years now since my husband died and I'm rebuilding a new life at last.

Moneywise doing ok. Keeping to budget with the house renovations and still working on the sideline hustles. All is good. It's a work in progress.

Looking forward to a great summer.

Hi everyone. You'll be able to tell from my signature that I've not been on in a while lol!

But I've been getting so frustrated and this is an inspirational thread although it could take some time to read all the posts. I'm 50 this September and have gone back to working as a secretary full time now my children and step daughter are growing up but I'm never going to earn much more than I do now and will probably never be able to retire either! How many of you peeps are in this position?

Anyway #lesson learned - can I ask you what your sideline hustles are please?

lessonlearned

Jenny. At the moment my main one is buying and selling antiques and bric a brac. Nothing too expensive so I don’t make huge profits. I sometimes think I ought to push the boat out a bit and go for really high end items but tbh I’m not really in a position to make large investments because most of my capital is currently tied up in the house renovation and I don’t really want to borrow. So I keep things fairly small scale and low key. I don’t make a fortune. I am thinking of adding vintage clothing.

My late husband and I used to do a lot of vintage fairs but since he died I haven’t really done as much. I Think it takes 2 people to run a stall. Well it’s certainly much easier.

I am also a qualified beauty therapist and masseuse and I am considering setting up from home - just a couple of days a week maybe next winter but I need to crack on with the house first.

I have tried several sidelines over the years But not all of them have been financially rewarding. I am a creative with good practical skills but I have found that although people love my work they don’t always appreciate the time it takes to create a one off whether it’s a garment I have made or a piece of furniture I have renovated or restored. So now I no longer try and make my creative work into a commercial enterprise. It’s more of a hobby these days. I cant compete with mass production and cheap prices so I’m not going to even try.

I have found that buying and selling gives better financial rewards for the time and effort invested.

XJH

I have just finished reading through the past 203 pages and it appears to have died.

This has really inspired me and thank you all for your suggestions and ideas.

I am 24 and have always been extremely ambitious but have had a few hick ups along the way.

I am now in a place to turn my finances around and focus on my goals and making extra money from something I enjoy.

My main goal at the moment is to clear my debt (around £7.5k excluding car which is on PCP) and to be able to afford to move in with my partner in April next year when he plans on purchasing a house.

Hope you are all getting on well with the challenge and meeting your goals

XO

droopsnoot

I don't think it's died, but it does go quiet from time to time, and you've kick-started it back to life.
Presumably the usual posters are busy counting money.