Dreaming of financial freedom!

themadvix

Hi Charly, glad to hear your dad is doing better It's annoying about the business as it does seem as if they're trying to hide something. It sounds like you're really enthusiastic about it - if this doesn't come off, will you look for other similar opportunities or is it a one-off?

Great idea about getting your jewellery valued and everything written down in one place - I might steal that idea as it'll make doing the home insurance renewal so much easier too!

Jessy103

Glad your dad is doing better. Fingers crossed you get the answers you want with regards to the business! x

ch4rly2002

Thanks Vix and Jessy.

Well, FIL sent a few of the questions back and didn't really get an answer so we're going to go an visit her again to show her how the figures are looking and ask our questions. She seemed a little offended when we asked about the numbers, which I understand as she's built this company from the ground up so won't want to feel scrutinised or like we're only interested in the numbers, but at the end of the day we need to know what the company is worth and how much it is likely to make as I will be giving up my job for this so it will be my livelihood and we want to pay a fair price. I'm sure when we meet up with her and explain why we're asking the questions we are she will understand and not take it personally. We are genuinely interested in the business and excited by it, but just need to make sure we're not going to be flushing tens of thousands of pounds and my career down the drain

Good question Vix. I think this has lit a spark in us. We both dislike our jobs and our company so I think at the very least we will look to change jobs now, but I really like the idea of us owning a business / being our own bosses. We put in so many hours at the moment just to make the company shareholders richer, I think we would feel completely different about putting all the time and effort in if its for us. Plus, it would be great to leave behind writing goals, asking for feedback, having review etc. that take up so much time and effort just to tick a box saying we've done it. I think we just want to do something we actually enjoy!

The mortgages were paid today. Tilly tidied £32.96 across to bring the residential mortgage down to £196200 but I have to wait a week for the interest to be added to the buy-to-let mortgage before I can TT anything for that one.

I'm preparing our tax returns for the rental income and seem to have it down to a fine art this year. This is the third time I've done it and I have everything sorted into headers that match the tax return so it will be a lot easier to complete the return and also see where I got the numbers from if I look back at it later! I seem to dread doing it but it's not as bad as I thought. I'll get FIL to check it over once complete as he is a chartered accountant and will be able to see if I've made any mistakes... it's handy having that skill in the family

I've also done my MFW summary for August.... nowhere near last month's survey amount, but then I haven't done much this month so it makes sense.

Aug-17

Pinecone Surveys £6.00
Survey Total! £6.00

Grout Wizard £140.00
Saving Total! £140.00

Taking Grandma shopping £40.00
Gifts Total! £40.00

TopCashBack £27.38
Free Sky Store Movie and DVD from BG £13.99
Freebie Total £41.37

eBay Sales (After fees) £72.32
Sales Total £72.32

Nectar points added after being stolen £10.00
MFW Wins Total £10.00

Roof more expensive than quoted -£140.00
MFW Fails Total -£140.00

Accepted to Tesco Home Panel to review freebies
Milestone: £10k emergency savings reached


Right, I'm going to go and visit my dad while he's awake. Have a good day everyone.

ch4rly2002

Actually, before I go, how could I forget... we got the quotes through for the work on the rental property this week. It's painful but not as bad as we thought. £240 for the electrical work and certificate, and £270 for the bathroom work, so £510 in total. I'll add that as a MFW fail in next months numbers as that's when it will hit us.

themadvix

It's easy to forget Charly - I always think of something major once I've posted!

Hope you caught your dad awake.

The business sounds interesting and I hope you get the answers you need. She's obviously very emotionally involved in the business, so going to see her sounds like a good plan. I know what you mean about the idea being attractive. I often think about having a different business (something more outgoing)/working with DH - if we buy somewhere with a bit of land we'd likely open a camping/glamping type venture, probably alongside our existing jobs.

Your tax return sounds very organised and I'm envious of you having someone to check it!

Kittenkirst

I feel your pain with the writing objectives and reviewing them: my company makes me do them but due to job role changes and lack of consistent management mine aren't set yet- only 4 work months left this year so not like it's that important then

ch4rly2002

Well, after another visit to the business we have some more information and hopefully enough to work out some real figures/projections from. DH and I are so much more excited about the prospect of buying it now, but need FIL to check everything so we don't let our hearts rule our heads. He'll be putting something together and we're going round this evening to talk through it. I hope the potential is enough to make this a good choice. I'm not enjoying work at the moment and have been moved into a side-step position rather than the promotion I was told I'd get over a year ago! If this business doesn't work out, we will definitely be looking for something else. I must say, the thought of leaving my £31k salary, plus my pension contributions, is very daunting. For a period of time I may not get any salary so I know the MSE forums will be of a great use to me then. But, nothing worth having comes easily and we're so fortunate that we can just about make do on DH's salary. I'm sure with the family behind us we can make it a great success.

I'm taking my Grandma shopping this evening. I enjoy taking her out and then having a catch up over a cup of tea and a bun. DH is having his brother round to watch a film and then we're all heading over to the in-laws after. We have the BIL round every week, but it'll be nice for DH to have some boys' time with him (and nice for me not to have to watch a film that I have no interest in!).

I'm considering making a Christmas cake. I imagine now is about the right time to do so to let enough alcohol soak in. Traditionally DH and I have ordered a cake from a local baker and that's been an additional gift to the family from us, but considering there'll only be DH, BIL, my mum and me at Christmas it seems a bit excessive to buy a £45 cake for us! Plus, I don't think we'd ever get through the thing. I'm going to take a look at some recipes online, and we have lots of alcohol on the bar that would go with it nicely so I think I can class this as a money saving project

I'm terrible for forgetting to take things out of the freezer, so I end up buying more and more but not using it. I really must get into the habit of checking the night before. I was really pleased the other day to get 4 cartons of New Covent Garden soup for 10p per carton. They said suitable for freezing so I bunged them all in the freezer and will take a carton out for lunch tomorrow. My mum gave me a tip that you can make up sandwiches in advance and freeze them. I haven't tried it yet, but if we end up buying this business and I travel into work every day then I can imagine it will be a time and money saver. Has anyone on here had any experience with freezing sandwiches?

ch4rly2002

Well, we've had a look at the numbers, and there is potential with the business. We're putting in an offer Fingers crossed it works out. I'm trying not to get too excited as I know there were others looking at it and our offer is quite a bit below the asking price (slightly more than we think it is worth in its current state, but not as much as she's asking for it) so we'll just have to wait and see what happens. It feels good to have made a decision finally, but now we have to agonizing wait to hear the seller's decision. I'm keeping all my fingers crossed and thinking good thoughts

I got a call from my Grandma on Tuesday asking if I'd do the shopping for her. This is unlike her as she really likes the trip out and likes to look at what she's buying. When I got to her place she told me she'd fallen the day before and was on the floor a long time before the paramedics got to her so she was in pain and didn't feel up to the shopping trip I hate to think of her on the floor in pain after a fall but I am so glad she has a fall alarm. They rang mum and mum said it wouldn't be a false alarm and asked them to send an ambulance. That alarm is worth its weight in gold! Apparently they gave her "a full MOT" while they were there Even though she couldn't go shopping, we still had the usual cake, tea and chat afterwards so she didn't miss out completely!

I went to visit Dad at lunch yesterday. He isn't well at all and he was so tired. He is tired a lot of the time now ad he struggles to eat, even the pureed food. He doesn't talk much either just can still say the odd word and phrase, which I guess I should be thankful for as some people with PSP lose the ability to speak altogether. The nurse told mum that he's declining rapidly now and she thinks he's near the end. I really hope that is the case as it's no life for him. He was always such an intelligent and proud man that this is just a dreadful end for him. On a positive note, I just found out yesterday that the PSP Association just won a £25,000 grant from the Masonic charitable trust. Recently the PSP Association also posted on Facebook a quote from a Consultant Neurologist at Cambridge University Hospital saying that for the first time it seems a cure is within reach. While it will still take a lot of fundraising and research, at least there is now hope. Too late for my dad unfortunately, but I hope they do find a cure and prevent this happening to others in future.

Trying to focus on the positives, today the sun is shining and it feels less autumn-like. Hope it stays this way for a while

AnotherJoe

ch4rly2002 wrote: »

I took a lot of my jewellery into our local jeweller to get written valuations for insurance purposes. I always use them but when someone who works in the trade recommended them I felt much better. I know some places charge you a percentage of the valuation, which makes me think that they'll bump up the price to earn more. Luckily this guy charges £6.85 per item so I feel more assured about that.

I realised when I was renewing the home insurance that I don't actually know what a lot of these items are worth now, and quite a few have been gifts or passed down the family so I have no receipts for them (which the insurance company insisted on when the in-laws were burgled) so I think it will be money well spent.

I have taken photos in advance and have created a file with all the receipts and photos. I've put together a spreadsheet listing our more expensive items so that if we are burgled I can check against the list to see what's been taken and what hasn't, and provide the list to our insurance company. I certainly don't think I'd be calm and clear headed enough to know if I was upset following a burglary so I'm preparing it now.

That's all folks

Hopefully this isn't teaching you to suck eggs, but what have you done with that file?
Is it perhaps on a computer that might be stolen along with the jewelry? Make sure you have backups outside your house. You could probably do it for free with many backup services or just use soemthing like the free dropbox allowance

ch4rly2002

Thanks AnotherJoe for thinking of this. I have a paper copy, which admittedly I just keep on a shelf in my study, but I should probably lock that away. The electronic scans of receipts, photos and the spreadsheet I keep on my PC with a copy on a USB stick. This actually makes me think though, if there were to be a fire it would all be gone. I'll make a separate copy to keep at my mum's house and upload a copy to my OneDrive