Horace's Biting the Bullet Diary

Horace

After a bit of a brain storming and bottom kicking session, I have spent the morning working on a new business plan for a new business idea - still part of what I was doing before but a bit more refined. I also know what I shall charge too and will charge two prices - pre book before a certain date x amount and after a certain date then they pay a higher fee. If I do two events a month (evening events) then I should be able to fit these around any employment I get. I need to work out how many spots will be available at each event and how much I need to earn to cover my own bills. I will need to get more public liability and professional indemnity insurance but cannot do that until I get some money coming in. I also need to contact the co-op bank and ask for a change of name form so that I can change the business name on there because currently it is me trading as something else.

Divorce papers and two applications sent off today - I walked to the post box this morning.

I feel quite invigorated - and I have been toying with another idea too regarding weddings but so far that is just an idea, I haven't done any workings on it partly because my heart lies in the corporate field and not weddings although I could stretch to a divorce party:rotfl:

Horace

I have had a chat with a friend who sells Utility Warehouse - now I did try someone else that I know earlier who said that she was far too busy to speak to me and would I call back...erm..that will be a no. I wanted some ball park figures to help with my bills when the universe delivers.

He estimates based on the house that I will pay £21.24 for gas and £13.37 for electricity each month and that I could provide meter readings monthly and only pay for what I use. He has said that if I had telephone and broadband that I would pay £20 a month and get unlimited free calls. I plan to ditch Virgin when I leave this godforsaken flat and get myself a freeview box (I am sure that I can do without the Universal channel and Discovery Channel as these are the ones I watch the most). He also enquired about the mobile phone that I use for business and the possibility that the contract could be bought out and I could pay £25 a month for unlimited talk and texts or £15 a month for 500 mins of talk - this is something to consider.

Jiggling with figures at the moment as to what to charge folks for my meetings - I am thinking £25 for early bird costs and £30 for those that pay after the cut off date. Working on an average of 20 people per meeting and a meal cost of say £12 (average) I would net myself either a profit of £260 per meeting if folks pay £25 or £460 profit if they pay me £30. I can live with that - as if I ran two meetings I would get double each month and that is all I need to do.

Now I need to contact some venues and get an idea of prices so that I can work my figures some more and then I am ready.

In desperate need of having my hair done so I may look at the local college as I understand they are reasonable and open to the general public. I also wonder about their restaurant..an ideal place for a meeting perhaps?

Horace

Feeling very scared yet excited at the same time - my parents saw the house today and loved it and both felt that I could do a lot with it. My mum is going to put a silly offer in based on the fact that it does need some work e.g. lick of paint and a new fuse box because the one in situ is illegal and possibly some structural work due to the massive crack in the upstairs cupboard. Mum told me that they had had no offers on the house and not much interest - in fact no-one else bar me had viewed it (so much for them saying that they had had lots of interest). They are desperate to sell as the agents were on the phone as soon as my parents got home but they refused to make an offer there and then other than to say that they were 95% sure that an offer would be made.

It needs new carpet in the living room, however, I said that I could put up with what was there until such time as I could afford new - I may just sling a rug down in the meantime.

Mum & Dad decided that all the doors need to be painted white (which they do) and that they need new door handles but these need not cost much.

I am scared because of the situation I am in at the mo - will I be able to afford it? I have told my parents that I would and will do everything I can to be able to even if that means selling a few things (I have other things eg. an engagement and wedding ring which might bring in a few bob. I also have plans on the job front too - all these applications must account for something and I have my own business...one wonders if one dares to go back onto working tax credits or does one wait until the house is bought and that way I needn't pay rent (I know I won't get housing benefit).

Cannot wait to get my hands on that pantry:D

beanielou

Hope it turns out as you hope

greenbee

With a 2 year old boiler gas costs should be able to stay low. Your hot water will be cheaper than with electricity, so a little bit of heating should be affordable. Be aware that if the fusebox needs replacing you might need some rewiring too - do you have a friendly electrician who can have a look round with you? And someone who can assess the crack? Even without a mortgage you really should have a survey done.

Apart from the electrics and anything structural, it can all wait until you can afford to do it anyway - and if you have time on your hands you can do the decorating yourself!

Fingers crossed that it works out.

Horace

greenbee wrote: »

With a 2 year old boiler gas costs should be able to stay low. Your hot water will be cheaper than with electricity, so a little bit of heating should be affordable. Be aware that if the fusebox needs replacing you might need some rewiring too - do you have a friendly electrician who can have a look round with you? And someone who can assess the crack? Even without a mortgage you really should have a survey done.

Apart from the electrics and anything structural, it can all wait until you can afford to do it anyway - and if you have time on your hands you can do the decorating yourself!

Fingers crossed that it works out.

Mum is going to speak to someone she knows about the electrics tomorrow and she is definitely getting a survey done. Not getting ahead of myself, honest, but i have been looking at door knobs online although these can be done when funds allow. I am a fairly dab hand with a paintbrush and am handy with a screwdriver (I even have an electric one with about 50 different bits - gawd knows what they are for) and have several manual ones, I can sand and varnish ok as well. Mum will help me with wallpapering as I have never done it in my life - mind you I had never changed a lightbulb until I moved into this flat.:o

I am rubbing my hands with glee at the thought of a pantry though - it needs a scrub out and a lick of paint. My first job will be the pantry and the rear lobby. I have a large rug to put down in the living room which will hide part of the carpet.

If ex gives me some money ideally the £15K I am after then I will be able to afford a new carpet and know where to get a cheap but good one from. It is all very exciting...

I think I will order some vouchers from consumerpulse - some argos ones as I may need things like a spade, fork, rake, hoe, lawnmower although I have a plan where lawnmowers are concerned as I want a manual one that needs no petrol and I know a gardening firm who might be able to get me one at trade price.

LondonGirl252

I have everything crossed the offer is accepted! It would be so nice to read that it is all yours and you could make all the improvements!!

Best of luck on the money from your ex too, I hope he coughs up!

Horace

Brrr it is cold today - I have heard that we are expecting 10cm of snow over night:eek: Now I have food in the fridge and the freezer plus milk. I can survive now for a goodly while.

I went to the eye hospital this morning as I had to go to the dispensary to choose some new specs because I need two pairs one for distance and the other for reading. In an effort to save money I took an old but new pair in (they were new but my eye sight changed 3 months later and had to have new glasses so recycled some old frames then too) so that they can fit some new lenses in - it would have cost me a bit extra to have ultra thin plastic lenses and transitions so I have ditched the transitions and the ultra thin as it turns out the thin would be 3mm thinner and a millimetre is hardly worth bothering about. I picked some nice wine coloured frames for my reading glasses and again they are cheap frames and I get the lenses too so and more importantly I don't have to pay for them at all:j

I nipped into Aldi on the way home and got a few bits inc some loo rolls and their nice bread - picked up a sirloin steak with 30% off too:D Then it was back home to dump the stuff and then immediately back out to go to the doctor (thank goodness for daysaver bus tickets - it got a hammering today) because I had a meeting with my health trainer. He was quite pleased with me because I have been keeping a food diary for 3 weeks and now I need to keep one for 4 weeks because that is the length of time I am having before seeing him again. He is really cool and found out about the local eco centre where I can go and do some gardening and have a share of the produce and I can attend a sewing class for free too. In other good news - I have lost 5lbs in 3 weeks and this is a start because I want to get back to at least 10st.

Nearly got knocked over on the pelican crossing too as I was heading for the bus stop to come home - this stupid woman in a volvo overtook someone because she had already committed herself across the lights - so stuff anyone on the crossing as she felt she had right of way when the lights were green for me and red for her. Her friends seemed to think that it was ok to do that but little does she know that I memorised her registration number and reported her to the police when I got home:rotfl: Thankfully for me I managed to jump out of the way but I feel sure that a less sprightly person would have been squashed beneath the wheels of the poxy thing.

Really annoyed with the JCP Compliance People now - I rang again and was told that the compliance woman would ring me back in 5 mins - 2hrs later and I am still waiting! All this because I paid some tax back in 2008..well I figure if they cannot be @rsed to phone me back then they can carry on paying me my JSA.

Just off phone to Mum who has had a quote for a new fuse box, she has discovered that it is a probate sale and that the house has been on the market for some time. It is likely that the white goods will stay and this includes a huge fridge/freezer so if Mum can get it for £30 then fab, same goes for the cooker and possibly the washing machine but as the machine as a beko then it may have to go. I would then have a small freezer to sell. In the bathroom there is a chair over the bath which belongs to the council's social services and they would have to remove it and make good the bath. Mum is worried that I am being pushed into this house and I have said that I adore it and have plans for it - more importantly I will feel safe and happy and that is what she is bothered about. Fingers crossed it all comes together and it will be mine:D

Horace

The compliance officer has phoned me back to say that they had made a mistake and that I was entitled to JSA after all, she assumed that because I hadn't heard anything that I would assume that it was ok. I explained to her that I had paid some tax in the year 07/08 because I had received some pay that was owed to me by my employer and had notified the jobcentre at the time. I had also worked for Corner and who knows what they had done with regard to tax as they were investigated by the DWP and HMRC. They are short staffed and hadn't looked at the paperwork I had submitted but now they have and have realised that I am in the right in getting JSA. That is a huge relief..but I am a bit miffed that they had made the mistake in the first place and made me feel like a criminal!

Not much snow here thank god - it is too cold to snow. However, it is rather cold so I don't think I will be sitting at the computer too much and will be having a sofa day instead.

Horace

I have realised that I have around £83 of consumerpulse points so I shall have some vouchers as Argos ones (so that I can get a freeview box) and some as B&Q ones so that I can get some gardening equipment or some paint brushes.

I don't normally buy magazines but picked up a copy of the Sainsbug's mag yesterday - they are offering a free potato bag with seed spuds and 5 packs of vegetable seeds all worth £15.99 for the cost of postage of £4.90 - now I am seriously toying with the idea of getting this as that way I will be able to grow some spuds.