The Big Adventure

Goldiegirl

Karmacat wrote: »

Thats a great list for the year, Goldie, it really is the first two points are the most important, of course!

Shelves in the garage will help efficient stashing too and the other one I really like is no. 25, the household manual - I have something thats roughly like that - I was reading an online book (not a blog, really, a book) by a family man who evacuated from New Orleans just ahead of Hurricane Katrina, and to him one of the most important things was taking the paperwork along - household utility info., yes, but *life* paperwork too - savings accounts, pension info, all sorts of things. I bought a little notebook from Wilko and did the same - it took weeks, but there was loads of stuff I didn't know I had, and it was really helpful to systematise it all.

When I last moved house 25 years ago, it was a fairly easy matter to change our address with banks, utilities etc. But nowadays, it seems that there are three to four times more organisations that would need updating. It'll be so useful to have information in one place, especially if disaster struck. I was thinking in terms of an A4 folder, but now I think a small notebook would be better, much more portable

edinburgher wrote: »

Happy New Year Goldie :beer:

Your list contains a lot of great ideas, I'm looking forward to reading about your continued adventures in 2015

Ditch the surveys and try your hand at MB. The new English Premier League will start in August 2015 - why not diarise learning about it for mid July - should give you plenty of time to get your head around the concepts involved? Even if you stick to the lowest of the low hanging fruit you should manage £1,000+ quite comfortably by Christmas 2015. Happy to field questions whenever you want

I will admit to being slightly scared of matched betting. But I was scared of eBay until I tried it, and now I find eBay fun and not scary at all.

But I think MB Is something I would take to, but I just need to take the plunge.

£1000 in five months is a great return. To compare, in a similar period last year, my highest paying survey site yielded £60.

I will certainly be reading up on it, and I hope you won't live to regret your offer of help, as I'm bound to have questions ....... I'll just try not to ask when you are in the labour ward!:rotfl:

Seriously, thank you for the encouragement, it's nice to know I have someone friendly to turn to if needed:)

We had a delivery this afternoon, our Freeview box turned up. I think we'll set it up tomorrow afternoon. Can't wait to be free of Sky and their bloated fees!

Goldiegirl

What a dull morning, it seems as if it's barely got light.

This morning we are taking down the tree and the decorations. I always feel slightly sad when the tree comes down, as it marks the end of the festive season. I always like the time between Christmas and New Year, as it's so laid back. Even when I had to work during that week, it was always a nice atmosphere in the office.

But, on the other hand, it's time to move on with the year, and time goes so quickly, it won't seem long until the Tree goes up again.

Also, another indication that the festive season is over with - the Christmas Radio Times has gone into recycling.

When the decorations go back into the loft, we'll also put the suitcases away, so it'll be a lot tidier round here by this afternoon.

Watty1

OK I like Ed's challenge. Mid July I'll read up on Matched Betting with a view to start in August. Ed, you may be needed for a "Total Dummies" intro - me not Goldie of course

gallygirl

Watty1 wrote: »

OK I like Ed's challenge. Mid July I'll read up on Matched Betting with a view to start in August. Ed, you may be needed for a "Total Dummies" intro - me not Goldie of course

Thirded .

maggiem

Thanks Karmacat and Goldiegirl for your replies. I think the idea of phasing into retirement is a good one and your point Goldiegirl about feeling less committed to your new job will be one that I will bear in mind.

I also loved your detailed list of things for this year. I too think the idea of a household diary is a great one; I used to be able to hold lots of these details in my head but that system is no longer fool proof so having somewhere to refer to for things like when was something bought or jobs like oven and window cleaning (em of course I do [STRIKE]often [/STRIKE] rarely) would be useful.

2015 will be an exciting year I'm sure :T

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

I too feel sad about taking down the decorations, so I do it gradually, just a few each day up until twelfth night so that I don't get the sudden 'empty' look! Very childish but it works for me.

I look forward to hearing about how you get on with matched betting,

Squirrel x

Goldiegirl

Watty1 wrote: »

Ed, you may be needed for a "Total Dummies" intro - me not Goldie of course

Count me in, my current knowledge is a lot less than Dummies level :rotfl:

maggiem wrote: »

I used to be able to hold lots of these details in my head but that system is no longer fool proof

I know what you mean - I used to be the Memory Women, and kept detailed lists in my head about work and home. But no longer - I swear my mind has turned into a sieve.

Secret_Saving_Squirrel wrote: »

I too feel sad about taking down the decorations, so I do it gradually, just a few each day up until twelfth night so that I don't get the sudden 'empty' look! Very childish but it works for me.

We have that empty look right now. But with the tree gone it's easier to see the birds on the bird table - a small positive!


I've decluttered 4 more items today, including the Christmas cards to recycling, and 2 sets of Christmas lights that last worked c. 2005.


A bit more cash generated - £1.68 cashback from the 123 account and my £5 Hx reward.


I've done a meal plan for the next two weeks, based around things we already have. I've also started the shopping list for the first weekly shop. We are planning to go shopping on Tuesday, but I want to make sure I get it right, and don't have to pop out to get things I've forgotten.


Our Freeview box is now set up. We've set it to record a programme just to make sure it's working ok. We should have cancelled Sky before Christmas, as there's 31 days notice to cancel. But we knew we'd record things while we were on holiday, so didn't want to rush ourselves to see everything. But as it turned out, we watched everything this week. Ah well!:o

Karmacat

Afternoon! I think what you previously mentioned is relevant, Goldie, about not remembering everything - there's so much, basically! I always wondered why my parents didn't show me how to use a cheque book when I went away to college, for instance - and they didn't because they didn't have one, they got one the same time as me. And since then, its all got bigger and bigger and more complex. I think its part of what people refer to when they say having money brings its own problems - you have to look after it, you have to move it around. Its a nice problem to have, lets face it

I stacked the Christmas cards, finally, but they're not gone yet. I *have* decluttered two big bluebottles, upstairs, heaven only knows where they're getting in, the house is really well sealed. Very odd.

Anyway, loving that you can see the bird table now

Goldiegirl

Karmacat wrote: »

I always wondered why my parents didn't show me how to use a cheque book when I went away to college, for instance - and they didn't because they didn't have one, they got one the same time as me. And since then, its all got bigger and bigger and more complex.

That's very true. My parents got their first cheque book at around the same time as me.


They had always been paid in cash, but by the mid 70's it was just getting to the point where it was easier to pay for some items by cheque.


I opened my account as I had started work for a bank, and needed it for my salary to be paid in to.


Then ATM's came in, so it was easy to draw out what cash you needed. In fact I have a photo of me withdrawing cash at an ATM, taken by my dad, much to the fury of the other people in the queue! :rotfl:

Goldiegirl

Our new Freeview box was working fine yesterday, when we switched it on this morning it wanted to do an update.


After the update, the HD channels have gone, and we can't get them back:(


We've still got the normal channels, so we can still watch TV, but we have no ideal what has happened.


I've posted a message on the TV area of the board, so I'm hoping I can get some suggestions.


I knew things were going too smoothly !