Future Proofing my life: Deposit saving then MFW journey in under 13 years

Merlin's_Beard

South_coast said:

LadyWithAPlan said:

My life has been and is pretty exotic to be honest  - travel, free rose , parties -  its the luxury of having no kids and no long term partner

Hmmmm, not my recollection of my life before BF....🤔🤣

I seem to be doing the single kidfree life wrong  (I joke I'd burn out on that much excitement)

skint_spice

Merlin's_Beard said:

South_coast said:

LadyWithAPlan said:

My life has been and is pretty exotic to be honest  - travel, free rose , parties -  its the luxury of having no kids and no long term partner

Hmmmm, not my recollection of my life before BF....🤔🤣

I seem to be doing the single kidfree life wrong  (I joke I'd burn out on that much excitement)

Snap! I could do with a wee bit more excitement but it all sounds exhausting at the moment LWAP. As long as you are enjoying yourself though that’s the important thing.

LadyWithAPlan

Very funny my fellow forumites  
I thought excess sparkling wine, stilettos and  glamorous travel was the only way to live a single kid free  London life?  Am I doing it wrong?? Should I be more Bridget Jones than Samantha in SITC (though I cant be bothered with as many men as that character had ! - who has the time, the energy and most importantly the patience to deal with that many men) 

And @SouthCoast I am sure you did single life in the right way for you!

@Merlin's_Beard you have a fun but tiring  day job I believe (a vet?)

@skint_spice yes I have taken too much on - dating someone has really shown me how busy I get and how saying yes to too much can be an issue. 


Sewing class again tonight - i LOVE this class. We did darts .. we all had what looked like origami papers and we all bent, cut lines, folded and did darts on mini size tops .. (Chucky child size) in calico  -
My first time  at darts and by the time we had done a few we all got the hang of it..... 5 this week in class so i did a waist dart, an under arm dart, a french dart  and  tried not to make Chucky look like Madonna in that Gaultier cone bra. 
We then have started  with a block cutting out and sewing a top in a normal size learning to do sleeves! 

I also took a favourite maxi dress in and showed my teacher and she talked me through best ways to make a pattern by tracing it. I will get some cheap material and have a go - as its a good dress style for me. I also have another similar dress - no zips, jersey, long so I may make them both in a few materials. Just need to find time to go looking for materials.... It has a gather around the waste so I figure a few cheap material trials  will be fun.

I am back to playing Ms Doolittle from tomorrow for a few days  to a friends one year monster size puppy ... so cute but will be a lot of me saying heel and going in 360 circles - she has recently had a baby so the dog training has slacked off a bit. In some ways it is brilliantly trained but the walking ... its like being pulled by a toddler on roids.
As I will be staying at theirs  as best for the dog I will aim to focus on getting some study/side hustle work  done..

I have also re-picked up again Duolingo - on a language I spoke before - we are all on a family plan and so I am feeling mildly competitive - I often only do 2 quick lessons a day but still.... I am getting slowly back to used to  hearing the language at speed  - however I am off to Europe in 10 days so need those languages instead  to kick back in 

Went to a local Jamaican restaurant - I do love plantain ..... I avoided the curry goat (i understand its cultural) but the jerk chicken was great as was the GF spiced fries.
Work today was v busy  on 2 accounts - quite pleased my other classes are finished til Sept. 

INVOICES 
We are waiting on cash to come in, I said I cant buy a home if I dont get this regular income paid off as agreed and also I mentioned me learning Python to upskill. - so he knows I am exploring options. However I have not had any cash in as the company has not .. so tonight I moved lots of money around to cover rent etc. 

Luckily YNAB has had me saving more recently. YNAB is really screaming at me by the lack of income - its why I like it so much - you cant hide away from your spending nor in the brilliant accurate reports how little income has actually arrived these last 2 months.

I did cancel what was to be my last ever £200 savings in that old H2B ISA - as it will make me have added £12000 over the last 4 years - I can delay that last £200 til later in the month. Pointless adding in more given the low interest rate
Balance is £11800 I added plus £528.24 interest over the period (awful) I will get extra interest tomorrow and then once I added the extra £200 savings later  in May I will leave it til I buy (except it has a £450k max limit in the govt 25% uplift)

I can now open a new other  cash ISA  as well so finally just as I didnt need to add to the h2b isa I can have multiple cash isas... once I receive some cash

KajiKita

So frustrating about having to do the money shuffles again … 😭 But so thankful that you can afford to. 

Are these regular / long term clients, or is a CCJ an option ….? (Sorry, that seems a bit nuclear, but they seem to be prioritising other payments over you, and in effect you are subsidising their Company with an interest free loan!).

Yaay for the sewing class - that sounds really satisfying 😊
Good.luck with the Dolittling …. 😉

KK

Watty1

I wrote to one of my clients yesterday and said as politely as I could muster that I was a small business just as they were and that not paying me for over 3 months caused me personally financial difficulties and that in these days of juggling and assuming everyone was a large company there were very real implications for small business such as myself. I added that I had personally covered the costs in the project and would like payment by the end of the week.

So far an apology admitting he had not thought of the impact, some waffle about wanting to use me more as his business grows but no actual money yet. I will chase at the end of the week. 

I then wrote to another client explaining it was just too disappointing to have to chase her for money and this has been a repeated pattern since last year.  In future she has 7 days to pay or the work will not happen.

The first client is a new business and clearly has prioritised paying himself. The second simply annoying, she has more excuses that are believable (death of a family member, got married, ectopic pregnancy, covid, husband had a stroke and she is now his carrier are the ones that stick in my mind most) so I am ok if she stops working with me.

Chasing for money is frustrating.  

LadyWithAPlan

KajiKita said:

So frustrating about having to do the money shuffles again … 😭 But so thankful that you can afford to. 

Are these regular / long term clients, or is a CCJ an option ….? (Sorry, that seems a bit nuclear, but they seem to be prioritising other payments over you, and in effect you are subsidising their Company with an interest free loan!).

Yaay for the sewing class - that sounds really satisfying 😊
Good.luck with the Dolittling …. 😉

KK

I actually have lent some money to the business and get interest. These unpaid invoices I think I need to start adding interest to - I will compile an email today with where we are at and a suggested additional interest rate on this 

As you say I am lucky to have savings to rely on.

LOVING the sewing

Watty1 said:

I wrote to one of my clients yesterday and said as politely as I could muster that I was a small business just as they were and that not paying me for over 3 months caused me personally financial difficulties and that in these days of juggling and assuming everyone was a large company there were very real implications for small business such as myself. I added that I had personally covered the costs in the project and would like payment by the end of the week.

So far an apology admitting he had not thought of the impact, some waffle about wanting to use me more as his business grows but no actual money yet. I will chase at the end of the week. 

I then wrote to another client explaining it was just too disappointing to have to chase her for money and this has been a repeated pattern since last year.  In future she has 7 days to pay or the work will not happen.

The first client is a new business and clearly has prioritised paying himself. The second simply annoying, she has more excuses that are believable (death of a family member, got married, ectopic pregnancy, covid, husband had a stroke and she is now his carrier are the ones that stick in my mind most) so I am ok if she stops working with me.

Chasing for money is frustrating.  

I know your pain!!
I have one client where the business is not doing well after years of doing brilliantly - but the sole director spent like crazy so does not have the reserves... Its small amounts though but still  - when you have seen the high level  expenditure £350 dinners for 2, high end hotels,  its harder to be sympathetic

I like the idea of explaining the consequences - well said!  - i said  yesterday I cant get a mortgage  through as its a contract one and if I cant show regular payments from him  it makes it impossible for me to buy.. I also am getting a bit antsy with the risk - its low but still.

I re-read my opening entries on here - Aug 2021 and I was down to 2.5-3 days a week with my main contract - and saying I needed to make decisions but at least I was getting paid regularly..
YNAB - showing my money coming (or not)  in in a detailed report is really hammering the message home about this. As the figures dont lie
On the REDDIT YNAB thread people often do a round up of a few months into using it - been 5 months for me ... and they often say they realise they need to earn more as well as cutting down extraneous expenditure.
I am seeing that - I need to earn more AND get paid regularly

TallGirl

I am glad you are getting that clarity from YNAB and as it will help you with that focus of getting a place of your own. How long have you got left in your current place? It takes a while to buy leasehold so don't forget to factor that in.

I am still super jealous of your sewing course it sounds fantastic and if they can help you sort your dresses our that would be amazing. I am still waiting to hear from the pattern one I signed up for (it is online) but this bank holiday I am meeting some local ladies to sew for a couple of hours. Hoping that will get me back into things. 

If you cannot fit everything in maybe look at things that can take a back seat. Is the gym causing you more stress by not going it would be better to put in on hold for a while? Hope things are still going well with MWAP

savingholmes

I'm glad YNAB is still helping and that you are getting firmer on your invoices. Adding interest is good.

Merlin's_Beard

Yes, LWAP I have an exhausting day job but I do sometimes wish I had the energy for an exhausting life life as well!

I'm glad YNAB is giving you that clarity as to what is and isn't coming in at different times!

SandyShores

LadyWithAPlan said:

I am seeing that - I need to earn more AND get paid regularly

I'm also in this place LWAP.  My purse has felt like a leaky bucket, and as quick as I've been filling it up its been emptying.  Going to fix those leaks and you've motivated me to do something small to make additional money and pay it straight off the mortgage.  I'm thinking £20/week, £80/month, £1k per annum self employed, under the Trading Allowance.

Another one who is envious of your sewing course, I'd also like to do another beginners art course. 

Edit - ps I had a night out each of the last two weeks and its worn me out.  Lovely to see people though it sort of boosts your motivation and its lovely to reconnect with people.