The Ultimate Incentive muddles along

wendz86

That's amazing how much you have paid off, really great start to the year. Also great that you have a job that allows you to earn extra.

Dinah93

Much better than doing surveys for 20p anyway I do wonder if the flexibility to earn more or less depending on circumstances and effort was something that subconsciously was a major draw for me in retraining.

Dinah93

Okay, April 1st goal is a smaller one, get the total to £10k paid off.

Cinny91

That is insanely good, Dinah!! Agree with Wendz too, it's great you've built a company to a stage you can make the extra income so quickly when you need to. Did you get anywhere with the rental place?

Feeling a bit of relief now we're out of the woods in terms of the onslaught of birthdays February/March. There's mine at the end of the month but now we're old farts our gifts from people tend to be in the "stuff to do" category so we're going to go to the cinema with some ticket vouchers we got at Christmas so there won't be a big spend bar getting Oscar's ticket. I was getting so stressed over spending money, I can't wait to be shut of this loan in a few months, our goal is still May but the balance is only a smidge under 9k so we're going to need some big leaps!

Dinah93

My tickover rate seems to be about £200 a week in pay as you go classes and people filling odd course spaces that were left at the start of term, then I get the good bonus every 6-8 weeks of £8000 or so although obviously I have a lot of ongoing costs like room hire.

No, it didn't pan out. Needed full planning permission and the landlord wouldn't wait the time it would take me to get it and I wouldn't sign a 3 year lease not knowing if I could actually use the building. Mum is looking to start a children's facility, so she's keen to find a big building and soundproof it and split it as it would be more cost effective that way it looks like, although not sure if the fact we'd then have to pay rates would cancel out the saving. Would be very handy for me though to have her next door for childcare while I teach.

Cinny91

I'm biased as although sometimes I could slap them all, working alongside family has so many upsides. A little deal with your mum on a combined space would be good, plus if she could accommodate it you could maybe offer classes with childcare? I'd personally love a gym with a creche, or classes where I can take O with me but not with me IYKWIM. He doesn't have the temperament to join in with classes, my mum's poor dream of taking him to yoga classes is kaput! That's a decent tick over rate though, you must be so proud of how far you've come!

Dinah93

I am proud, I feel like I shouldn't be but I also know this didn't happen by chance, I built this business and it's my blood sweat and tears that keeps it going.

Classes with childcare would be wonderful if we could make it work out.

Been to test drive a car. Sort of. Pick up truck. Accountant wants me to get a pick up truck or van as it has some kind of tax benefit for me. It's scary as it's a lot of money, especially if I went for a lease so I'd be paying £300 a month not to actually buy the car. Although as she's pointed out if that saves me £250 in tax then it's worth doing since NIMs car has gone past it's last legs and is now crawling on hands and knees.

One of my workshops (family) is nearly fully booked, if it gets to full I think I'll put a second family session on that day as Harry Potter is clearly a popular theme.

Cinny91

Hope you're all well

Did you get any further with the truck? Might be a good way to offset tax like your accountant says, plus if it's a lease tied to the business it's not so much of a personal financial strain. Plus you could get your business on the sides for some more advertising.

Can imagine HP is a popular theme! I can never get over how the last film alone is 7 years old this year but it's still as popular as it ever was, if not more with all the merch you can get in high street shops.

How are your debt payments going for the month? We're putting our nose to the grindstone to get the extra savings piled up to make sure we can meet our May loan pay off and not have £0 in our savers before the next payday. Funny how the money kind of just appears when you're being intentional!

wendz86

Harry potter obviously stands the test of time! The family days sounds really fun.

Trying not to spend much at the moment as I know April is going to be quite an expensive month . Got a few birthdays including P's and have just booked a party for her although her Dad is helping with the cost of that. I've got her main present already though which is tickets for me and her to see Matilda the musical in June.

Dinah93

Omg so busy! Hi everyone hope you're well. Pick up our new truck tomorrow, it's 3 years old, stupidly big and is a good tax write off. I put £4k down as a deposit so expecting debt to go in the wrong direction this month