Prosperous & Creative Soul Year 4

Humdinger1

It's all so exciting @savingholmes!  You've really got traction.   Onwards and upwards love Humdinger xx 

savingholmes

Thanks Beanie, KK, Blackcats, Merlin, Watty1, Humdinger1, Jwil

My time with my son was lovely - we had a forest walk. It was beautiful. About 3 hours travel for me each way though.

On the ring - I like what they did although it is looser than I anticipated. But I need to go and collect my other jewellery as I can't afford the costs of more work currently - I'll do that today.

On the career break the rules specifically say you can't use it to earn £ elsewhere - how enforceable that is I don't know. I think the most I could do is try and get unpaid leave but the timing isn't right currently. My work is ramping up after a summer lull - so I'm likely to be most busy over the next year and then my workload could fall off a proverbial cliff again. That might however open options up for redundancy which would be great. I only have 4 days left to work in October and then have a week off so I plan to work on my business and art course more then. I also have 2 weeks off at Xmas which will help.

Ideally I want to get to at least £20K a year net profit within 20 months, earlier if I can. Then potentially quit - and continue to build my business - over time income should continue to grow. Once I've finished my art course I will have a portfolio of at least 30-40 art pieces in a recognisable style available for sale.  

My business account is up and running - and I've transferred some money to it on a director loan on which I will pay myself 5% interest. Next I need to get a new mobile sim so I can set up some merchant accounts. My mobile number might be visible - so I need to separate it from my personal phone. I then need to transfer the direct debits for the insurances I set up to that account to simplify accounting. I then plan to set up some trade accounts so I can get discounts. I'll do those today.

I need to buy bigger art canvases for my course - and to sell. Bigger canvas is higher cost for me - but also much higher potential sale price. Even if I sell prints rather than originals - bigger canvases means the details are better when they are shrunk down in a print. With ageing eyes painting bigger is also easier and the pictures themselves have more impact. However that will make storage harder - so I need to think about where and how I will store finished works.

savingholmes

I've been paid - and my increased AVC has now kicked in at £1,120. Work still hasn't paid me my expenses from July despite chasing but I'm promised it will be resolved for November. 

So to do this weekend/week:

1. Reclaim jewellery - I picked up my gold bracelet and chased return of the silver ring
2. Sort Mobile & sim -I bought a 99p sim and topped up by £10 for now
3. Set up Trade accounts - Done for Am**** initially
4. Move insurance direct debits to my business bank account
5. Post on social media
6. Take better photos of my art work
7. Work out how to upload some art to print on demand type companies and get started with selling
8. Work out how to accept payments and if there are other steps I still need to take
9. Investigate better home broadband - may set it up on my business account - as the network I'm currently with is terrible - but I may be tied in for a few more months. If I can improve my speed at all though it would make life easier - while I could get a few mb faster I doubt it's enough so on hold for now
10. Request tax activation codes - as ran out of time since I asked previously
11. Continue art course and film myself working on it
12. Continue declutter and cleaning mission ahead of family visit in 2 weeks time - did one washing load
13. Consider booking a few days away so I get a change of scene the week I'm off

Hope all is well with you guys. I am sorry but I have very little time / brainpower for diary reading - but am dipping in and out when I can. I appreciate your support.

savingholmes

I had my flu and covid vaccines a week ago and that left me tired for a few days. I was in pain during and after my walk with DS - so definitely need to find something I can do regularly to improve my fitness. I also need to book another chiro appointment.

Yesterday my car passed its MOT - but may need about £250 of work doing. My neighbour is going to do my service for about £60 using genuine parts. I need to find out if he can do the other bits perhaps cheaper or if I need to go to a proper garage for that. I had budgeted about £300 (including the £40 MOT) so it is only about £50 more than budgeted so could be worse. Naturally I was hoping it wouldn't be needed - but that 'stitch in time' philosophy definitely applies to cars. I'll see what he says... 

My daylight alarm clock is helping with getting up. I've also - when I remember increased my adhd med by a half dose which is making me feel a bit better. Still struggling with tiredness after though.

On the AVCs - on paper I'm doing well - but in my main accounts I'm still over-spending compared with my desired budget. Some of that is business related though so it is complicated. I need to update my spreadsheet on art/business spends as I haven't been tracking them well enough and need to if I plan to reclaim them.

This week I've been struggling with the desire to just sell up, rent somewhere and quit my job sooner. However, that feels irresponsible given I haven't even put any of my work up for sale yet. It also took me a long time to find the house with the perfect view so I am likely to regret it. And of course I've spent money on the house that I am unlikely to recoup if I move too soon. I mostly love the views and light in this house - and the rooms are great sizes. I just need to think about how I organise and use them - and get rid of more stuff. Especially anything not directly art related. 

I've also been tempted to hire an art studio. While my house has plenty of space - because it also has to function as a home it is hard to leave works in progress out without the space becoming very cluttered. Especially when I am using more than one type of art material. However with the low frequency of visitors and the fact I rarely use the front room or the biggest spare bedroom - it is not justified. Before investing in a separate studio - I'd be better off converting the garage so I can also do things like spray painting in a well ventilated space (aka with the door open). However, there are rooms in my house that are barely used already... I also don't get that many visitors - I just feel under pressure as I have visitors in 2 weeks time... I think once that date has been and gone the voice nagging in my head will quiet down a little.
 

I keep reminding myself - I have a structured plan that will allow me to:
1) Repay the home and garden improvements I did last year without eroding too much of my savings
2) Go to Oz next year - and possibly also NZ and have the trip of a lifetime
3) Build up my art career in a sustainable way rather than an everything on the line approach which might cause me to freeze or go into panic mode 
4) Get past my remortgage date.

My remortgage date of Dec 26 feels an important milestone - a gateway decision:

1. Do I stay where I am - and change my mortgage type to one with lower pressure? 
2. Do I move then rather than getting locked into another long term mortgage related decision with early repayment charges?
3. If I came into a lump sum of £100K / my business took off - would I regret selling up if I chose that route?
4. Do I want to quit my job after my remortgage date or just go part time?
5. Do I even want to stay in the UK?
6. Do I want to rent my house out for a year - and explore other options... 

Fundamentally I want to leave my job. I need to keep working on my business idea to give myself a sustainable path out - that doesn't sacrifice future self too much. I need to reduce the amount of home inventory aka clutter I have.

Started with unpacking and packing the dishwasher... Getting dressed would also be helpful!! See you anon... 

beanielou

Lots of food for thought. 

lucielle

Hmmm definitely lots of things to think about. Maybe a pros and cons list?
L

Merlin's_Beard

Lots of things to think about. I think revisiting the space after the visitors have been and gone is a good idea if it's not a common thing you have to worry about. 

savingholmes

I've done a few items from my list and amended the post above.

I picked up a few bigger canvases so I can do bigger works.

I've drafted a business card - but because I want it to be quite 'arty' I may need to retake some photos so they come out with decent resolution. Will give that a shot tomorrow. That may also help me with working out how to upload some images for print on demand - and ensuring that they're good enough quality.

Also watched part of a crime series. Need to be more productive tomorrow.  Also caught up with a sister on the phone.

skint_spice

I know you want to be productive but don’t burn yourself out. Lots of things on your to do list!

TallGirl

Just wanted to pop in and check you are ok. Hopefully you are just taking some time out to avoid burn out. Take care