Millionaire Challenge

gothrockchic1

Hi everyone, it’s been a very long time since I posted here.

I stopped working on this challenge for various reasons – I changed career, which lead me down a chain of temporary contracts and poor job security. I also got married, had some fabulous and expensive holidays and also had some mental health issues.

So now my head is straight, I am ready to start again! I have a plan of numbers, but my salary is much higher now so there is more opportunity to save more.

My current Net Worth is £1609 – the plan is to increase this by £200 a month this year.

So this month I will:

·       Pay off the credit card (sitting at £116)

·       Add £100 to my savings pot.

I am really enjoying reading this thread and find you all inspiring.

Helensbiggestfan – so sorry to hear about your FIL, hope you’re ok. I love the new name

 

helensbiggestfan

Than thank you, gothrockchic1. (I actually love that too). I love steam punk fashion, shame I'm too old to wear it. 😁

I chose it because my family say I resemble Helen Mirren.....😂🤣 

Good to see you back on the challenge.  Congratulations on your marriage. Sounds like you had some fun with your travelling too.   Great stuff, and well done on the better salary and overcoming your health issues.  

I'm fine.  FIL was a lovely man but he had been declining steadily.  He was 97. Unfortunately, his last few years were blighted with dementia but he had lived a long and interesting life.  He admitted some time ago that he felt "ready to go".

 I travel up to Scotland on Wednesday for the funeral.  Will stay for a week and spend some time with SIL. We will celebrate his life rather than mourn his death, so it won't be all doom and gloom.

SIL and I get on well so doubtless we will get out and about a bit.......it will depend on the weather really.  

"See" you all when I get back.  

Muhren

Hello LL/Helen or whatever we are calling you these days!
Sorry to hear about your FIL. Sounds like he had a long and fulfilling life, that still doesn't make it any easier to come to terms with though. I hope you 'enjoy' your time up in Scotland.

helensbiggestfan

Thanks Muhren........I don't  mind what you call me........most are sticking to LL. that's fine...

I'm all set and packed ready to go tomorrow.  SIL tells me it's pretty nippy up there, so that's lots of layers, fur lined boots etc. 😂. Hoping to get to get out and about a bit if it's not too cold. If it's really cold we can still do the theatre or cinema and a nice restaurant.  

We might need to attend to some business matters appertaining to his estate but I think SIL has it pretty well all in hand.  

Ill be back next week, assuming I don't get locked down because of the coronavirus......😱😂

Muhren

Just thought I would see how everyone is doing, hope you are all staying safe? 
I'm not going to post an update as it doesn't seem the right time to do so at the moment. I am 2 weeks into 12 that I have to stay at home, as I got a letter from the NHS advising me to do so, was a bit shocked but it has to be done I suppose. I am working from home though so I do have something to occupy my time.

Listerbelle

Muhren said:

Just thought I would see how everyone is doing, hope you are all staying safe? 
I'm not going to post an update as it doesn't seem the right time to do so at the moment. I am 2 weeks into 12 that I have to stay at home, as I got a letter from the NHS advising me to do so, was a bit shocked but it has to be done I suppose. I am working from home though so I do have something to occupy my time.

Well, life continues. We've had lots of successes, for which we are very grateful.  The corona virus situation has knocked a lot off our shares, and, more concerning, will probably cost our family more than 100K in stopped and lost bonuses this year. Still, we have our health.

Jaco70

It’s great that you have a goal and I think it is achievable, although certainly not easy, and I wish you all the best in your endeavours. I’m almost 50 and didn’t set myself a clear enough goal, but have done ok. The one piece of advice I would give you, from personal mistakes I’ve made, is to put some importance on liquid assets, a rainy day fund, call it what you will. I’ve probably built up 750k of wealth, mainly bricks and mortar, but still have a lot of mortgage debt as well, and never understood why liquid cash was important. For me property was everything, probably because most of the really wealthy people I knew through work owned a lot of it. I always felt you needed an umbrella for a rainy day, not cash, then the virus hit and I wished I’d stashed 50k away over the years to ease the situation. Also, I now see how my over-cautious, plodding parents (as I saw them), who avoided debt or over-extravagance, are a lot wiser than I believed them to be. So go your own way but listen to some advice, from people you trust. There’ll also be plenty of people who advise you on how to get rich but a good rule of thumb is to look what they’ve achieved. If they drive a Bentley and own a big house, then possibly take it in, but I’ve found that people without a pot to pea in are just as free with advise on making millions. Best to nod politely at these people and move on. Good luck. 

helensbiggestfan

Good morning everyone.  

How is everyone.   Hope you and all your loved ones are all staying safe and well and that you are coping well with lockdown.  

I managed to get back from Scotland just a few days before the official lockdown so I'm very grateful for that.  My SIL was very organised and had everything in hand, so I was really more moral support than actually having to do anything in real terms.  I spent a week up there and despite the sadness of the occasion and the dreadfully cold weather we had a nice time.  SIL had only just retired herself so we were able to just relax and get out and about a little bit.   FIL had always been meticulous about his finances and SIL had really just been acting as a caretaker, keeping things ticking along.  There wasn't that much to do really. 

 Although his nursing home fees had substantially eaten Into his capital he very generously left the boys and I legacy. The cash side of things has now been dealt with but there are some outstanding shares which we will not dispose of just yet until the markets stabilise again. I'm not sure if there is a time limit for this but SIL is dealing with that, currently in discussions with the financial advisor.

 I am extremely touched by FILs thoughtfulness and very grateful, it was a lovely gesture and it does give both the boys and myself a little extra financial cushion in these uncertain times.  He was a lovely man and we are sorry to see him go, but he had a long and very fruitful and interesting life.  97 is a "good innings" as he would have said. 

Well like everyone else I'm doing my best to keep busy and stay positive during lockdown.  I am still renovating the house, dividing my time between revamping the kitchen and gardening.  The renovations are almost complete and I'm very happy with the progress so far.  It's been a great project, relatively straight forward. It's looking good even if I do say so myself. 

I do miss close contact with my family and friends but we do the usual face time etc and at least we are all safe and well.  DS1 has asthma and DIL is pregnant with baby no 2 so we are all following the guidelines and being sensible.  It won't last forever.  

Stay well and safe everyone.  

helensbiggestfan

Hello everyone.....

Just thought I'd drop by and see how everyone is getting along.  Very quiet on here, hope you are all well, staying safe and coping ok.

Some pretty grim news this morning for the economy, but I guess it was inevitable.  Hopefully we can bounce back a little relatively quickly, although I'm guessing a full return to economic health will take some time.  

I have tried to put the time spent in lockdown to good use.  I have totally refurbished my kitchen/diner, hand painted all the old wooden cabinets, the dark oak beams and the walls.  It's all cool blues and greys now, Scandi farmhouse style.  Looks so much better and of course I've saved myself shedloads of money, ....a heck of a  lot cheaper than a new kitchen.  Good for my bank account and good for the planet. 😂.  

I've also done a bit of a financial purge, switched bank and savings accounts to get better interest rates, rejigged my healthcare and dental insurance, and various bits and bobs.  .  Saved around £50 a month,  just need to look at my sky internet package.  See if I can get a better deal.  Total savings should be around £70 a month. Every little helps.  I've even managed to reduce my grocery bill.  And of course not spending much in the way of impulse shopping, meals out etc.  All my savings are being thrown at overpaying my mortgage.  I have enough easy access money for emergencies and the renovation budget so anything left over is being ploughed  into assets.  

Next big job is the garden.  Although I'm sorely tempted to get the professional landscapers in to speed things up and make life easy for myself I think I'm going to try and do as much as I can, and maybe just get a handy man/jobbing gardener to help.  I'm in no hurry really.  And again the savings should be substantial so more profit when I sell the house, (hopefully). 😂.  

I have not done anything with my little antiques sideline recently.  No worries I can pick that up anytime.  Shares are taking a hammering of course but luckily I don't need to liquidate.  So all in all not too bad.  Lockdown is getting a bit tedious now but hopefully better times ahead.  

We just need to stay focussed and keep our eyes on the prize.  

droopsnoot

helensbiggestfan said:

Some pretty grim news this morning for the economy, but I guess it was inevitable.  

True, and the second half is the key part. It's not really news that the economy in April was down, in fact while the newsreaders were telling me it was down 20-odd percent, I was thinking "well, considering that a lot of shops and businesses were completely shut in that period, that's not a bad number, it could be much worse". It's similar to the surprising headline news that new car sales figures had plummeted. "What, just because all the main dealers are closed? You don't say."

I've been trying to get things done while I can't go anywhere, on the basis that I want to be able to get out and about once things ease off. I started off well, but I haven't really achieved all that much in the last week or two. 

I did (finally) manage to open a new S&S ISA at the end of March. Normally I do some research at the start of the calendar year, then do nothing until mid-March and decide it's too late, open a cash ISA just to make use of the allowance, and then repeat myself the next year. This time I actually grabbed the bull by the horns and actually opened a new one. I have an old one, but it dates back to when Nationwide used to do them and the choice of funds is very limited, so there wasn't much point sticking new money in there. What I should do now is add some more in for 20/21, rather than leaving it again. Maybe I will.