Nice People 13: Nice Save

Generali

Spirit wrote: »

I am a good example of someone who took the decision to reduce working time too late .I may now never be fit to work again and have a long road ahead of me before I can participate fully in family life.
my mum used to say "nobody owns tomorrow". do not evaluate on financial risk. qualityof life has an increased risk of impairment as you get older.
seven weeks ago I had a good income a happy busy home life a fair social life, could drive, regular holidays and treats. now I am struggling to walk, cannot dress unaided, cannot prepare a meal or walk my dog. If I could turn the clock back and remake some work life balance decisions I would.

That's exactly what I don't want to have happen to me.

I want to take the opportunity that this warning of my mortality has given me. If the cancer comes back quickly and aggressively (not likely but perfectly possible) then I could be dead in two years.

I saw what happened to my Dad when he got sick: he saved all this money and what little Equitable Life left him he never got to enjoy. He'd have been better off weeing it all up the wall quite frankly. (Not that that's the plan).

PasturesNew

So, you have to be there for the kids, school holidays and before/after school and be able to drop what you're doing if one's ill.

This means one thing: you need to build a business that gets others to work for you. e.g. if we go back to the energy thing, get a sales script and pack written, then try to find/hire sales people to do the selling and you pay them a commission. Now, it's been pointed out that the energy thing, getting paid, probably isn't the route to fast riches, but you need to get yourself a business where others are mostly doing the work, so you can drop in and out at short notice.

So now, not only do you have to find something you can do, that pays enough, but you also need to be an effective recruiter and manager of a team... allbeit a team of 1-2 in the early days.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad points this out - that to be rich you need to have others doing the work for you. To stay poor you have to do the work yourself.

Could you offer a Phil Spencer type of house finding business for Brits relocating? Specifically that niche. Brits to your town. And, as a spin off to that - maybe a food blog about what Brits can eat now they've moved and there are different foods, at different prices. So, changing your Brit food habits for Aus/Brit food habits and still have Angels Dancing...?

The two could complement each other.... and you could, say, blog "I've a new client who will be missing his Pie and Mash - here's what I suggest he eats...." and "Here's a dish that's great as you replace the popular Brit food of .... which is unavailable, with the similar Aus .... which is plentiful .. here's my recipe for it"

Wheezy_2

Spirit wrote: »

I am still a bit taken aback that my busy potttering about life has ground to a halt and i am not only housebound but inactive in the home and dependant on others.I expect to recover though so am OK but have only been home 2 weeks and it is all alien.

Little steps, Spirit!
Your typing has become noticeably better and you'll be able to jump in and out your elasticated pants in no time.
Let me join in Lydia's cyberhug. :grouphug:

PasturesNew

I have leaves almost 4" deep in huge piles on the patio - and every time the wind whips up they fly 12' in the air and dump themselves on neighbours' gardens. Not sure whether to be annoyed, pleased, or embarrassed.

Annoyed they are there; pleased they are removing themselves (well, some are); embarrassed in case the neighbours blame me for not having been up since 4am gathering them.

GDB2222

Spirit wrote: »

I didn't mean to sound sad, I was just trying to get across the reality that when you put off "leisure" imagining some future time whn you can indulge yourself, that there are risks that non financial factors may scupper yourplans.

I am still a bit taken aback that my busy potttering about life has ground to a halt and i am not only housebound but inactive in the home and dependant on others.I expect to recover though so am OK but have only been home 2 weeks and it is all alien.

I have a physio coing this morning. we have settled on a neuro physio who is a stroke specialist to come in twice per week and her rehab assistant to come in 3 days a week. Nice guidance recommmends 45 mins per day over 5 days so I am following that.

it will cost £280 per week. £80 per session for the physio and £40 per session for the rehab assistant.

will see how it goes and adjust as needed.

I am so pleased that you are getting a decent amount of physiotherapy, even if you are Having to pay for it yourself. It seems to me A very very wise decision.

On work life balance, my father worked until 79, 3 years before he died. He liked his work, but his key argument was that it was important work. How did he know it was important? Well, people paid him to do it ...

There is something to be said for that argument. Also, it kept him active, and exercised his mind. I am not at all convinced you should beat yourself up over the choices you made.

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

So, you have to be there for the kids, school holidays and before/after school and be able to drop what you're doing if one's ill.

This means one thing: you need to build a business that gets others to work for you. e.g. if we go back to the energy thing, get a sales script and pack written, then try to find/hire sales people to do the selling and you pay them a commission. Now, it's been pointed out that the energy thing, getting paid, probably isn't the route to fast riches, but you need to get yourself a business where others are mostly doing the work, so you can drop in and out at short notice.

So now, not only do you have to find something you can do, that pays enough, but you also need to be an effective recruiter and manager of a team... allbeit a team of 1-2 in the early days.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad points this out - that to be rich you need to have others doing the work for you. To stay poor you have to do the work yourself.

Could you offer a Phil Spencer type of house finding business for Brits relocating? Specifically that niche. Brits to your town. And, as a spin off to that - maybe a food blog about what Brits can eat now they've moved and there are different foods, at different prices. So, changing your Brit food habits for Aus/Brit food habits and still have Angels Dancing...?

The two could complement each other.... and you could, say, blog "I've a new client who will be missing his Pie and Mash - here's what I suggest he eats...." and "Here's a dish that's great as you replace the popular Brit food of .... which is unavailable, with the similar Aus .... which is plentiful .. here's my recipe for it"

Now there's certainly a great idea for a blog: How to Move to Australia and Love It.

I'm going to put Option 4: food up in a few days.

ivyleaf

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

I'm sure they do - or they wouldn't bother!

How old are your children? Do you have grandchildren?

Daughters are 39 and 37, both married to very nice men.. Son is 29. He's still living at home.

DD1 has a son who's nearly 21. DD2 has a son (8) and a daughter (7) - there's a 16-month age difference. We see them all regularly as they live locally (not "just up the road", although DD1 did used to! but in the same borough).

We're looking after the younger grandchildren for a while tomorrow so their parents can go to Open Evening/Parents' Evening at their school, so I've been asked (by DGD) to take one of the very tattered Teddy Robinson books their mum loved as a child. I love them too, as the stories are written on two levels so the listeners can enjoy it and the grown-up reading aloud can have a chuckle.

lostinrates

PasturesNew wrote: »

I have leaves almost 4" deep in huge piles on the patio - and every time the wind whips up they fly 12' in the air and dump themselves on neighbours' gardens. Not sure whether to be annoyed, pleased, or embarrassed.

Annoyed they are there; pleased they are removing themselves (well, some are); embarrassed in case the neighbours blame me for not having been up since 4am gathering them.

I'd be surprised if your neighbours are that bothered. This is not some state where we have rules about picking stuff up. And if we did it wouldn't be daily.

Its amazing how much the wind has brought off trees overnight. If fir were here and I had a TEAM of people to work for me I still wouldn't be bothering to pick up leaves today.

ivyleaf

Pastures I wouldn't worry too much about the leaves. On a day like this, everyone's going to end up with a lot more leaves in their gardens than they started with

Been thinking about your patio doors and I've had an idea, but I'm not sure I can explain it clearly.

Could you perhaps have a separate rod for each door, i.e. stick a hook at each end of the top of each doorframe with an expandable rod between each pair of hooks (not a tension rod, the sort with a little hole at each end to fit onto the hooks), cut your net curtain down the middle so that each door has its own net curtain which stays attached all the time?

I hope that makes sense. I realise it may not be the solution you want, as it wouldn't stop leaves from blowing in on days when you wanted to leave the doors open

Generali

1 day emergency cheap DIY solution required....