First Steps to Solvency

alt80

Variable spends at £395/£1250. 😳 On the positive both cars have full tanks of petrol and the fridge is full.

Four emails unsubscribed today - didn’t even realise how many of these I get. Don’t really need them - if I want to buy something can work that out for myself lol.

Re IG - it’s not entirely blocked just no notifications and set a 1 minute limit on screen time - can’t set a 0 minute limit. I find I see that as good as blocked so don’t even look at it. Not that I would have today anyway- had too many other things on. Don’t know how to block it entirely without either setting parental control or deleting the app. 

• no alcohol. Wife given me a challenge of 5 drinking days between now and Christmas lol.
• Exercise: smashed it. 
• Work: hmm finished at 7.15pm but did switch off after. Started at 8am this morning. Tomorrow agreed to pick son up from school so that’s 1 hour out the day and wife has told me she’s going to come in the office and switch my computer off if I’m still working at 6pm tomorrow haha. Tbh I think a quieter day tomorrow will be good.
• Family: despite the late finish still walked dog with wife and son and had advent treat. 
• Well-being: didn’t stick to work routine. Spend no money well not on myself which is what I meant. Not had a drink.

@clairebeth hope you’re ok. Probably don’t need to read back ha. Yeah 100 remember saying it wasn’t worth it lol. Will definitely look at the habits book, plenty I need to break and better ones I should start. Facebook I know what you mean - I have far too many FB groups, some really good tbh but very easy to lose a lot of time. 

@Nicnak thanks as you will see above I didn’t finish at 6pm but did make a bit of time for family. So busy right now no time for seeking highs tbh.

@getmore4less could not have put that better myself 100 re the online / social media marketing. Copied your first sentence and thrown it in my notes app - 100 true and need to think about that when I get tempted tbh. Thanks. 

I don’t have any of the smart home stuff either. Considered it a few times but never pulled the trigger. Your smart lighting cyber Monday experience reminds me of a bizarre phone conversation with a tenant last year. This tenant had just moved in and called me asking if I’d be installing smart heating control/ lightbulbs and a video doorbell anytime soon. Apparently was ‘disappointed’ the house didn’t have any of this stuff installed. Told her I’d gladly give my permission for her to have it fitted if that was something she wanted, 100 knew she wouldn’t bother lol. 

Don’t miss all the notifications from social media tbh. I can (just about lol) remember the pre-internet era. My parents went online just before I went to uni for the sole purpose of my dad going on online casino after hours. Good old dialup cutting the phoneline out so after I showed them how to get online ha I wasn’t allowed to touch the computer. My mum went absolutely !!!!!! mental one night when my dad was showing his mates the gambling site during trading hours threw them all out and my dad slept that night in his car lol.

Willowtree222

That time with family sounds lovely though. It's those memories they'll keep. 
He'll also enjoy you picking him up. 
Have a lovely day 

alt80

Good to read an article first thing stating the real estate sector being most resilient to the economic impact of corona. It was some government study looking at different sectors- do take these things with a pinch of salt tbh but nice to see a positive outlook. Property usually mirrors what’s going on in the wider economy to an extent but this time does seem different at present. Some comm sectors definitely seen a downturn here for obvious reasons. Res incredibly buoyant right now. 

Just realised I haven’t taken the business fuel into account which av £300/m over last year. I will up variable spends to account for the fuel so takes us to £1550/m. If we spend less, agreed with wife it’s thrown at the cards. I’m starting to enjoy checking the numbers / thinking about things in a more strategic way. Said to wife this morning if we can both stick to this and my head is back firing on all 8 in the business rather than on spaffing money and other self destructive behaviours we could set ourselves up for life.

Today’s things to help debt/ mindset:

Exercise: lower body. 

Well-being: no alcohol, pre-work and pre-sleep meditation app lol, lunch with wife.

Family: pick son up no plans for the 1/2 hour or so after school probably just see what he wants to do. He’s really enjoying being picked up by me and strangely I am enjoying it too. Few months ago I’d probably be in a rage at the thought of having to regularly pick him up from school. Not proud of that now.

Business: insp of a tenanted property, speak to lad I’ve agreed to mentor- I apologised to his dad didn’t really go into details but was honest about having bouts of almost crippling self doubt. Didn’t used to, the belief in myself when I was in my 20s was almost delusion ha. Tbh a big reason why I’ve been coasting the past few years just didn’t believe I could drive forwards anymore. Made the spending a lot worse ironically. 

@clairebeth thanks I bought the habits book, kindle edition so £6 rather than £12; one to read after I’ve finished the other. Anyone actually buy real books anymore?? 

TheAble

alt80 said:

 Anyone actually buy real books anymore?? 

No - library for free
Only ever buy a book if I really want to read it and can't get it there, and then second-hand. Prefer physical copies to Kindle versions myself.

getmore4less

People need places to live so there is always demand of one sort or another as there are not enough places to go round where people want to live.

IT changes over time where people want to live and transactions(both owned and rentals)  tend to stall when people can't move, most people ride it out but some fall by the wayside and have to give up in a market that is cash/credit  poor that when the bargains happen and it looks like a crash but in reality most people are just sitting tight till it blows over.
Cash(or the ability to raise some) to be ready for the distressed sales is  going to pay off if this goes on much longer, regular punters need 15% deposits(or have to go new build) and people with that sort of money already have a property.
There is a risk of exodus  from flats as people transition to WFH but there will always be a market for those not ready with a massive UNI/first job market in your area I think you should be OK..

In the US friend has a  son that was cash rich and picking up mortgage foreclosures with 20%+ yields renting back to the previous owners(they never move out) that had moved onto benefits, don't think it can work like that in the UK.


Said to wife this morning if we can both stick to this and my head is back firing on all 8 in the business rather than on spaffing money and other self destructive behaviours we could set ourselves up for life.

That says a lot about how far you have come, there is so much more you give just believe in yourself, it's in there trying to get out.

There is a balance on how fast you grow your life and how far behind the business growth you do that. 
In salary terms if you are in a steady state with a forecast pension that will give the same life what do you do if you get £1k per month pay rise, you could blow it all on current life or split it some towards the future and some towards the now so you can maintain the new(more expensive now) now long term.
You have to grow the business so it is creating a sustained personal spend pot for ever at a new level.
You can judge how long a new level of business income needs to be in place before you start drawing on it, 

From what you have said you have a fairly conservative retained funds policy to manage variations in cashflows which is good. 

Business: insp of a tenanted property,
Was wondering how much of your time a year is going towards managing the BTL business are you doing all check in/out and inspections , if you want to grow that you are going to need to employ people for some of those  day to day activities but you need that for the properties you manage for others as well anyway

If you can get the wife involved a bit more you might have 12cyl between you.
 

ladyholly

Yes there are people who buy real books. Me! I much prefer the feel of them but then I am old. Usually get them from charity shops or car boot sales but has been difficult this year so have bought a few new ones or from ebay. Then I sell them when I have finished with them. 

strawb_shortcake

I love a proper a book, we have a local charity shop that is just books, 50p each, I always return them too so less clutter and a tiny good deed. 
We do buy new books for the children but they get through loads

Sun_Addict

Also like real books. Got a few on the Kindle app but never read them, not the same. I get mine from the charity shop, the odd new one and swap with work friends. Have a massive pile for my colleague when we are eventually allowed back in the office, got through a fair few this year  😂

enthusiasticsaver

I like real books and we have a lovely little independent book shop in our town although it has diversified into a cafe too so I can take a walk into town which is just under 2 miles and sit with a lovely coffee or tea and a new book. Heaven. I have a kindle and iPad and sometimes do download books too but if we don't use independent bookshops we will lose them. I think of the £7 or £8 I spend as being similar to a cinema ticket. Hours of pleasure and then either keep the books to re read or pass them on. If I was on a strict budget though then it would be the library which again I try and use because that is something else we will lose if we don't use them. 

@alt80 You seem to have found your inner mojo and glad your wife is supporting you. I have read articles on the property sector which seem to indicate residential property is holding up no doubt due to the stamp duty holiday. As more people WFH I think houses with outdoor space will be more popular and small flats may be more difficult to sell. The only commercial property fund I have in my portfolio had dealings suspended until very recently and our IFA has taken the decision to remove it from the portfolio indefinitely so they obviously feel that may be in for a rough ride. Luckily we didn't lose anything though so I guess some are still confident there is value there. You need to believe in yourself and I think mentoring might help you with that. 

Onebrokelady

Loving that last post, your doing really well and seem to have had a change of mindset. The Habits book is really good and you will probably get quite a lot out of it. I can also recommend a book,it's called The Chimp Paradox and is great for explaining why we do the things we do. I have a Kindle that I use most of the time for reading books I will only read once, I have kindle unlimited membership so get 10 books at a time for £7.99 a month, this is good value for me because I can get through a book a week. I do however buy physical books if they are special ones I will keep and read again