Horace's Biting the Bullet Diary

Millie2008_2

Yay, that all sounds much better I agree, chavsda in Bromsgrove is a hell hole- I went early in them am, too early for the chavs, Jeremy Kyle was probably on, or something!!
Mind you, the local chavs had assembled en mass at the cinema last night. I felt quite sophisticated :rotfl:

savingholmes

Hi Horace - just been reading thro your diary. I felt very humbled as in comparison I have it really easy - and make very few sacrifices to repay debt (but since we're not in debt crisis haven't really needed to either). I've sent you a PM - feel free to ignore or take me up on it as you wish... I think you must be a very strong person to have just kept going - I really admire you.

I know you would prefer to be self-employed but I think you submit more applications than the average job seeker so I think I would be tempted to sign on... You're allowed to earn at least a fiver a week anyway.

I also think that in your position I would rethink my pricing - as offering to do a blog for a tenner a month sounds really low to me. When I write a blog and style it even without the SEO detail it takes me 3 or 4 hours... Are you even getting minimum wage for your time? I think however much you'd like to you can't really afford to say they're skint that's all they can offer - altho at the same time I accept £10 is better than £0... Just a thought.... Feel free to ignore me... Part of rebuilding self-esteem is also having the courage to ask for a rate that reflects the value you add... If you could put me at the top of google search rankings I would be metaphorically kissing your feet! My trade name comes up at the top of the rankings because its unusual which is why I chose it - and because of what I do on twitter - most of the time I am just guessing what to do tho and haven't done much SEO stuff at all

Are you involved with MemoryGirl and her matrix at all... It may be worth seeing if you could link in with them and whether that would give you a boost...

Hope you're okay...

Horace

Hi all

The tenner a month for this one blog is because the woman herself is totally skint (and truth be known she is lazy because she could do it herself quite easily) [it will take me 10 mins a month to sort her blog out so £10 is a reasonable start]. I have also asked for 10% commission from any workshop that she runs that has come about from raising her profile on Google. Blogging for her will be a short term thing. I do charge a lot more for blog writing including the SEO work, current rates acccording to market forces are between £100-£250 per 500 word blog (that includes all the research too). My current typing speed is 160wpm.

I cannot realistically sign on because I am getting working tax credits already of £51 a week although JSA would be £15 more. I always dip in and out of applying for jobs - and know that I apply for more than the average jobseeker. I have 3 things against me a) self employment b) age c) disability.

I do venture onto the Matrix on MSE, however, I cannot yet gain access to the private forum because I need to be sponsored by two current members and as I don't know who the members are, it is quite difficult.

Today, is another debt busting day and I am working on a mailchimp campaign and writing an article to go into the local press.

Horace

Sorry not around at all this weekend, I had a weekend away from the computer.

Jobs this week (find my accounts - I have put them in a safe place but now can't find them) and send a copy of them to the council as it is Housing Benefit time again - it would appear that they have included an invisible Self Employment form in with their letter again...I do wish they would actually read their letters before bunging them in the envelope because it really is a waste of money and time to refer to something that isnt there:mad:

It looks like breakfast is off tomorrow (no one has booked or had the decency to let me know if they are coming:mad:) still that frees me up to go to Biscotti and I have another free networking event next week - I need to get back into the saddle again.

May be writing a blog for someone else now in exchange for some proper money. Woman I had agreed to blog for doesnt respond to email or answer her phone - no wonder her business is struggling more than mine!

Today, I have been to the bank, bought a birthday card (I have missed so many birthdays lately, cousin's lad has a birthday today, her other lad has a birthday on Thursday and another cousin has her birthday on Thursday and I should have sent her card via BFPO 3 weeks' ago because it won't get there for Thursday:mad:). I have also done a load of washing. Very windy out there today but surprisingly warm:cool:

Happy Birthday Millie (waves)

bast

Have not been on for a bit Horace, lifes ups and downs.... but just updated myself on your diary and wow.... lady you are motoring :)... you sound so much brighter ... go Horace go...

Horace

Horace has given herself a kick up the backside Bast:D

It was an oops day today - I went to Biscotti and met some new people and some old faces. Had a good old chinwag and didnt leave there til gone 1pm:eek: I may well be organising a monthly business lunch which will net me some money and I have been asked about organising a business breakfast meet in Birmingham so I am now on the hunt for a venue. I was approached by someone who was asking on behalf of someone else about me running a group for her in Bham as there is nothing like it (there is, my group only I don't rip people off), I explained that although I liked the person, I did not like the guy that she runs the groups for - he is a snake oil salesman and I had to get the FSB involved when he wouldn't give me my money back, I had to threaten to sue him for breach of contract:mad: It was an oops day because when I got home, I had an email from one of my breakfast members asking what happened to the meeting as folks turned up and I wasnt there so I explained that as people hadn't confirmed then I could not confirm numbers with the venue so I had assumed that no-one was going. Am I being unreasonable in expecting people to confirm their attendance?

I walked back to the bus stop and between the canal bridge by Brindley Place and the ICC, I was accosted by 8 Action Aid Chuggers, then between the Library and the bottom of New Street I was accosted by 5 more:mad: Still, I espied some hunky firemen who were collected for their Fireman's Charity so I slung what remaining shrapnel I had in my purse into their bucket - probably no more than 20p in 2ps and 1ps. I got the bus on Smallbrook Queensway (I walk there because I know the bus will be empty and I will get a seat whereas if I caught the bus in Corporation Street then there is less likelihood that I will get a seat). I got on the wrong bus figuring that I would change in Northfield - as soon as I got off the bus, I noticed the sky had gone rather black so dived into Aldi. Came out of Aldi with a massive bag of oven chips (99p), a bag of 6 salt your own crisps, a bag of posh biccies and a pack of Jive (Jive are like Twix only nicer and you get 5 twin packs for 79p as opposed to one Twix for 62p in the corner shop). I then got the right bus home.

This afternoon, I have been connecting with the people I met this morning on LinkedIn - I could get some work out of one of them for sure to do events away from networking.

I found my accounts too - I had left them by the telephone in the living room.

Horace

I lost my diary but now I have found it again.

I have sent the stuff off to the Housing Benefit people and need to ring bank because I do not have enough money to cover my rent and again I will be late paying, hopefully I will get a cheque today so that it can be paid. Thank you landlord for your patience.

I have seen more jobs that I am applying for - one is a caretaker for a National Trust Holiday Cottage in Stratford and the other which is more favourable is a Front of House Manager for another property in Warwickshire which includes accommodation - I would love this job because it means working with teams of people and I have had ideas for quite a while on how they could improve their events to make money.

Today, I shall be sorting out numbers for the breakfast meet although I am not holding my breath to be honest with you. I kind of wish that I hadn't stepped away from it for a few weeks but if I hadn't then I probably wouldnt be here now. Ideally, I should be charging a membership fee because that shows commitment and people will think that it is worth something to them - having zero fee means that folks won't consider it and will think it unworthy of their time. Dunno why I keep flogging the deadhorse:o - I know,I have vision but don't have the energy for it.

I met up with another MSE person on Saturday, a lady called Marru (her MSE name), she and I got on like a house on fire so now I have another MSE friend to meet up with for coffee and a chinwag:D

I shall be getting in touch with CCCS today to see if they will help me with Virgin CC, I have gotten to the stage where I don't want to deal with them at all because they are so vile, everyone else is sorted with minimum payments.

Horace

Drum roll coming up.

I have decided that I am putting myself back on the market for a man, I have been thinking about it for a while but haven't known which dating site to register with. One of my chums is settled quite happily with a man she met on a dating site - she has been living with him now since 2008. Another of my chums has met her BF through a dating site so I went and had a look at the site and registered. Must admit that I am hopeless when it comes to talking about myself especially on a dating site, however, I have espied quite a few eligible men all of whom are younger than me:D Do I admire them from afar or do I contact them that is the question, I have never been one for chasing:o I have seen some possibles in Cheltenham, Winchcombe, Stratford upon Avon - all of which are a bit of a distance from me.

Marru

I found my lovely BF through dating site. My experience is that those that are free tend to collect all sorts but those that you pay fee you tend to find ones that a more serious about it. I was also on a very niche website (i.e. same interests) so that helped as well.

Good luck and have fun

Horace

Today has been a bit of a bleurghh day. I had a letter from my business bank as I am now over my overdraft limit with them - is there no end to this situation?:mad: I have to call them tomorrow and will call business debtline too. What is annoying is that people are booking for breakfast and the venue needs paying on the day - so again I am stuck. More stuff is being sorted out to sell and more jobs are being applied for.

I did have a few hours out today - I went to Coughton Court to basically mystery shop them because I am applying for a job there. I wanted to remind myself what it was like. I treated myself to coffee and cake in the restaurant (it was the biggest piece of cake I had seen and thoroughly enjoyed it), I bought 2 paperbacks from the 10p shelf in their 2nd hand book shop so 20p went into the honesty box (money from the bookshop is used on the estate), as the Throckmorton family still live at the Court they run the gardens (you need to pay extra to see them) and they sell plants via an honesty box system and as it is the autumn they are sellng apples and quince. I came away with 10 Howgate Wonder cooking apples for £1 (I have a pack of Jusrol pastry in the freezer too). I chatted up the gardening chap because he was restocking the fruit and had additional fruit so I asked him about the yellow pears - he explained that they were quince so I told him how I used to try and eat the ornamental ones at home. He had some lovely yellow apples too which are quite small called Ingeus Gold they are very sweet and he gave me an apple to hold because the skin is quite sticky. I then asked if I could buy one quince - so he said here you are shove this in your bag..so I had a nice chat with a handsome chap and a free quince:cool: I really really want this job because it means living on site rent free and that would be a massive saving for me.

I was bad last week because I missed my counselling session and now I have to go on 29 September.

Managed to get some work only 3hrs doing research on the internet but it will net me £30 - must do that tomorrow.

Would love to have my hair done as the grey is showing and I am in desperate need of a cut - had thought of asking the local college as I notice they have a hairdressers on site and a beauty parlour - my u/arms need doing and I normally have hot wax..although twerp left some veet wax strips behind (he had them for his hairy shoulders but cried after one strip was used...what a wimp:rotfl:), now I have hot hands so could warm them up it is just the thought really.

I was tweeting with Tesco earlier and have discovered that they do take luncheon vouchers which means that the Rubery store had better watch out because if they mess me about then I will tweet with head office. This will save me going to Waitrose.