Millionaire Challenge

ladyinneed

I love this thread. I don't stand a chance as I'm still clearing the debt so saving is on the back burner. Good luck to all.

I love the idea I saw about doing it in 20 years. Year 1 put a £ in the secret savings bank account and every year on your birthday, double what you put in the year before. so...

yr 1 = £1, yr 2 = £2, 3 = £4, 4 = £8, 5 = £16, 6 = £32, 7 = £64, 8 = £128, 9 = £256, 10 = £512, 11 = £1024, 12 = £2048, (This is where it now starts getting silly but who knows what your going to be earning/inheriting then yr13 = £4096, 14 = £8192, 15 = £16384, 16 = £32768, yr17 = £65536, 18 = £131072, yr19 = 262144 and the final year, year 20 £524288.

This would give you a lovely grand total of......
£1,048,675 :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:



I don't think it needs a great idea to make the £1M just hard work, clever investing, simple saving and a whole massive heap of willpower.

SparkleSmile

Thank you so much nat21luv! Hi Ladyinneed! I like your 20 years idea.

Ooooooooohhhh! I just got "The Rules of Money" ebook from Amazon and it's free! Martin Lewis would be so proud hehehe :A

jamesrobins

MikeR71 wrote: »

I don't think you are mad. I think you can definitely do it if you have the right ideas and work hard.

My problem is the idea. I am prepared to put in all hours of work but I don't have any ideas.

My take on this...

What if you did have a great idea, would you know what to do? Would you know how to make it work? How many great ideas are there left that don't involve huge amounts of capital, technology or knowledge? If you came up with the next Facebook do you have the skills to make it happen?

I don't think ideas land in peoples lap. You have the knowledge to see it, have the skills to run with it and the mindset to succeed.

MKeynesMoneySaver

Having a great idea is just one way of achieving the dream.

The successes and failures on Dragons Den is a good illustration of how it can and does happen for some people. The people that usually succeed have prepared themselves in a wider aspect than just their product/service. It also show the importance of mentors like the Dragons.

It's also important to know that you don't need a great idea to start a successful business or money-making venture. Just copy the success of others. OK, chances are you won't make billions but you may be more comfortably off than working for others.

When the ideas are not forthcoming time should be spent improving your skills in a wider sense, and reading/learning to enhance your mindset.

droopsnoot

MKeynesMoneySaver wrote: »

I often feel the need to justify spending any amount of money. It is difficult not to over worry about spending when it feels like you need every penny whatever your situation.

I have that same problem, not because I'm short of the money to buy the item, just because I often feel that if I don't actually need it (as opposed to just want it) it's somehow wrong to indulge. That, and I have piles of stuff that I've bought over the years that takes up space but I can never quite get around to throwing out.

lessonlearned

MKeynesMoneySaver wrote: »

Having a great idea is just one way of achieving the dream.

The successes and failures on Dragons Den is a good illustration of how it can and does happen for some people. The people that usually succeed have prepared themselves in a wider aspect than just their product/service. It also show the importance of mentors like the Dragons.

It's also important to know that you don't need a great idea to start a successful business or money-making venture. Just copy the success of others. OK, chances are you won't make billions but you may be more comfortably off than working for others.

When the ideas are not forthcoming time should be spent improving your skills in a wider sense, and reading/learning to enhance your mindset.

I agree with this. New ideas are great - of course they are. Where would we be without the Bill Gates and James Dysons of this world. However they are not the be all and end all. There's nothing wrong with copying a tried and tested formula.

We don't have to keep re-inventing the wheel.

If a business works then it works, it can be copied and replicated. However it might need to be tweaked to keep it up to date and relevant. Take retail.

I think the recent carnage in the High Street is a great lesson to us all. Those retail failures are not just down to the recession, they are partly due to a failure to evolve and move with the times. They did not take modern shopping habits into account.

Take two examples of retail outlets that have evolved and succeeded. Estate Agents and Auction Houses. They grasped new technology and exploited it, therefore they have survived and thrived. Instead of complaining about the internet they embraced it.

Whoever would have thought you could sell priceless art and antiques over the internet - but not only has it worked but it has opened up global markets. Internet bids are a common feature at any art or antiques auction.

Same with EA's - most would be purchasers go straight to Rightmove for their preliminary search. No waiting for the "property edition" of your local news rag.

Bright ideas are wonderful, but you still need to exploit them.

Professional decorating is not a new idea. However, Tink spotted a niche in her local market - the need for women only trades and went for it. A very neat trick.....:D

troglodyte

Welcome SparkleSmile! What an amazing life you have achieved already! I hope the current situation with your husband will prove to be just a small blip and he will soon recover. I'm sure you will go from strength to strength!

SparkleSmile

droopsnoot wrote: »

just because I often feel that if I don't actually need it (as opposed to just want it) it's somehow wrong to indulge

You should read "The Rules of Money" this is the first thing written about in this book!

It's all down to a matter of opinion but an original idea will probably make more money than a copied one... But a copied idea will probably make more money than working for somebody else. So maybe you need to decide what you want and where to want to be. Once you've established that, maybe it's just down to completely emptying your mind to allow ideas to come through. When we're stressed or under pressure it's difficult to focus on anything else. If you work on relaxing before doing some research on the Internet you may get some inspiration from somewhere for an original idea or to modify an existing idea. As LL mentioned with Tink's business...

I agree with jamesrobins, ideas won't always be able to just come to you, sometimes we have to work hard at these things but that's what makes life interesting. If you take more "you" time and concentrate on emptying your mind, you might find it easier to focus on something new and different. This has always been the case for me so maybe try it and see what happens. You've got nothing to lose! :-)

Thank you so much troglodyte! We've started to spring clean the house and declutter. I think I'm a hoarder! Oops! I just need to keep telling myself that if I've not used it/ worn it in a year, I don't need it!

MKeynesMoneySaver

My upcoming emigration has helped me to realise some of the excessive possessions I have. A lot of it has been sold through eBay. It can be a lot of hassle with the postage etc., but removes the guilt of throwing it away.

You would be surprised what people buy. You need to take advantage of the free listings weekends and the free listings on 99p items. Also, calculate your postage carefully to ensure you don't underquote.

Once you have items listed make sure you keep relisting them regularly otherwise they drop off your 'stock' and you have to go through the whole process of writing out the listing.

I don't make a great deal through selling my old stuff but it all helps. A friend of mine has found a niche where she buys certain items from car boots and charity shops, then resells them making her a decent profit.

lessonlearned

Good tip about relisting regularly - didn't know that.

I can definitely second your thoughts on selling unwanted stuff. It all adds up.

Well this week's money sorting has produced some good results.

Went to the bank with DS yesterday and sorted out my money. I have some house money and a lump sum from my pension. I need to make that money work until I'm ready to buy my next house.

We also got some mortgage info for him. Obviously we will also see a broker before we start applying for mortgages properly. But the bank was a useful starting point.

I emptied our small change jars, and gathered up various bits and pieces that were lying around. Came to just under £100.

What shall I do with it. I always regard this kind of money as "found" money. In the past my small change jar has been used to fund my treats. A new outfit or a nice leather handbag or similar.

Well I don't actually need anything so ........

Taking a leaf from "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" I have decided to use this little windfall to "pay myself". I'm going to round it up to £100 and buy some shares. Yes I know - it won't buy many but it's better than frittering it away on stuff I don't need. And then just forget about it for a while and hopefully watch it grow.

If I just did this say once a month with all the dribs and drabs it would mount up and - assuming I pick the right shares - always a risk of course - then in 10 years it should build up to something worthwhile.

I once knew someone who had a very savvy grandfather. This man would not fritter money and would not lavish his grandchildren with expensive toys.

For each birthday and Christmas he would just would buy them a small token gift say a board game or a book and then invest £100 in shares for them.

By the time the young man in question was 21 he was sitting pretty. My husband's parents did something similar for my boys, using Children's Savings Bonds. By the time they were 18 they had a nice little nest egg to help them through university.

So what is the saying - "Mighty Oaks grow from Little Acorns".

Hopefully I've just planted my first Mighty Oak.:rotfl: