Ultimate Challenge. 457 days / £16600!!!

NinjaSavingKat

Listerbelle it always amazes me how people can get their income that high on thesse sites. I maybe need some tips. I joined but haven't been back on it since - I perhaps don't use as many "things" as most people or beauty bits to get the points needed or votes.. see I have even forgotten what it's about... Whoopsie!

So I have borrowed a few more books from the library yesterday. Duncan Bannatyne's Autobiography, Hilary Devey ( both Dragon's from the Den ), a book by Christina Lamb (War correpondant) who is an inspiration for travel to lands afar and "Drive; The Truth About What Motivates Us"... because that always fascinates me...

Time to start learning. Nice to know Duncan didn't really get off his ar*e and start doing anything until he was 29 ... not to late then..

I think my reading is going to gravitate away from zombies and useless books...(unless you don't class learning to fight the undead as useless) and start reading books that are classics, that can shape an open mind and allow another level of thinking to descend..

One can hope anyway.......

NinjaSavingKat

A colleague is leaving and heading to Australia soon. His wife has been given a years contract with her company. He is applying for a sabbatical as we speak.

I have Australian citizenship - meaning I can work at anything I want over there.

Hmmmmmm and yet I am still here.

A year in Oz at the end of 4 months in SEA?... I wonder... can I bring my cat please?

NinjaSavingKat

I have emailed the Australian Embassey here in London and made an enquiry as to how I get a replacement of my citizenship certificate AND filled in the online form to get my British passport renewed... it was time to get the ball rolling!!!

his_missus

NinjaSavingKat wrote: »

I have emailed the Australian Embassey here in London and made an enquiry as to how I get a replacement of my citizenship certificate AND filled in the online form to get my British passport renewed... it was time to get the ball rolling!!!

Oooooooh! Exciting!

Buffythedebtslayer

SO jealous!

Good Work XX

NinjaSavingKat

Thanks girls.... I plan to use the £140 returned from the old landlady.. the remaining of my birthday money (after treating myself to new hair straighteners for £26 albeit my ones that just pasked up lasted 13 years...lol).. and selling a vintage dress on Ebay to pay the £245 needed for both of them. It will be a slow old process so I will have time to build up some funds...

I intend to downsize my belongings considerably. I don't want to belong to things.

I initially wanted to save enough money to just flit and float around Oz as I please. But having 4 months in SEA fannying about should be enough to allow me to properly be "on holiday"... so with my passport I intend to work anywhere and everywhere...

My Uncle lives in Newcastle in NSW, my Aunt and her husband and cousins in Canberra and another Aunt in Sydney.. I intend to travel between them but I would really like to get to know my cousins, one of whom I met when I was 8 years old and the other I haven't met at all...

It would be surreal. Even now I still dream of the 3 months I spent over there when I was a kid... I hear the cicadas in my sleep and Home&Away used to make me jealous..lol!

My Mum suggested Oz first and SEA second. Another plan is to see Japan over my birthday which is the cherry blossom season.. I think my parents might meet me somewhere along the way (hopefully).. it just means working out logisticaly which would be better first...

Lots to plan. Best I get debt free asap. Piling on the overtime as we speak. Shan't see the light of day for a while I think...

Am pushing through Duncan Bannatynes book... very interesting. There are parts of him I really like - his work ethic, his determination and his grit.. but there are parts I don't like.. it's making for a very interesting book I am finding hard to put down...

His first real "business" was his ice cream van's.. then came the healthcare for the elderly. He said he used to visit the old people sporadically to spot check his own facilities, have dinner with them and advise the cook if portions need to be bigger or food needed to be jazzed up a little. He said when you spend so much time with older folk you begin to hear the same thing..."Make the most of your life, you are a young man and you have no idea how fast time passes" He said when enough people tell you that, it's a motivating factor to do more with your life.

This is now in my quote book kindly suggested by DST who tears through books like a demon, can read on buses and has 8 quotes books already filled.

I don't want regrets.

Buffythedebtslayer

so true, I have definitely wasted too much of my life and have many regrets. Go and live!

Also with regards to getting rid of stuff this was an interesting read,

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miss-Minimalist-Inspiration-Declutter-ebook/dp/B0052UYJDC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1377252337&sr=1-1&keywords=miss+minimalist


xx

NinjaSavingKat

Thanks Buffy - will check that out considering it's so cheap. I must admit it felt liberating getting rid of all my books. Although I haven't got much - the only piece of furniture I own is a bed - I do have a plethora of shoes I no long wear (scared of bunions and prefer flats @ 5'8"...).. so I just need to get motivated to sell sell sell....

NinjaSavingKat

So faced with the last of my pennies to shop last week I decided that Tesco Everyday Value pasta was the best choice for a filling meal with my home made spicy beans - weird but I won't starve.

Imagine my surprise when I picked up a packet of spagetti to see the price had jumped from 19p to 32p...:mad::mad::mad:.... Jack wrote something similar recently about prices of food going up in Sainsburies but it only just sunk in that Tesco are at it as well. The bast**ds....

We are being duped by big shiny stores. We KNOW they strategiclaly place items to entire you - why else would you find bread rolls in a basket in the freezer aisle.... Grrrrr they annoy me by tricking people, people annoy me for falling for it. I need to start a revolution of savvy shopps and those in the know. Guardian Shoppers is what we need....:A:A:A...someone to sit on your shoulder and scream at you to put back the crap you don't need - retrain the tastebuds and embrace a shopping list that YOU STICK TOO....

I have a Morrisons nearby, a Tesco one stop away on the train, Asda one stop the other direction so it's not like I couldn't shop around... but why are these GIANT conglomerates thinking that raising the pennies on these products is a good idea - people are just going to be even more angry with them...

And to be honest what can people do. We don't have an abundance of fresh food markets that work out cheaper - what is an elderly person supposed to do?? What about a time-strapped mum with three little ones and a part time job supposed to do - travel the length and breadth of her home town for the best bargains....

Hmmm I don't know why this riles me so much, but what better way to control the masses that through the one thing we all rely on - food. I read somewhere once that humanity is 2 missed meals away from a revolution. That's one hungry hoarde I wouldn't want to get in the way of...

So whats a girl to do - I might live on everyday value foods and morrisons savers for a month. I am sure it can be done.. but whats the quality like. And the range.....

Only one way to see if it is cost effective..

Who's in?

his_missus

There are certain value foods I hapily buy. Asda's pasta is one, think it's 29p for a 500g bag but don't quote me.

One thing I won't buy value is baked beans as usually they cost more than buying branded beans when on offer.

The cost of food is definitely increasing dramatically and where supermarkets were once cheaper, my local market is now better value, especially for meat (I know you're a veggie) as I can buy better quality and local meat from the butcher's stall much cheaper than the pap they sell in Asda. Veg is often cheaper (but only a little) at the supermarkets but the quality is much better from the greengrocers and lasts a lot longer, potatoes in particular!

Oh, I used to buy sainsbury's value pasta sauce and curry sauce. They used to be something barmy like 19p and I'd add a few bits to make it more home-made in taste but even they've increased in price.

I don't think I'd get Hubby on board for only eating basic ranges but I'd certainly buy as much as I could get away with