Millionaire Challenge

Good morning fellow millionaires in waiting.

CRV. Thanks for the reminder about reclamation sites. You're right definitely worth a looksee.

Well I have chosen all the bathroom fittings etc, just need the ok from the plumber that they are suitable. I have deliberately gone for very plain simple sanitary ware and a neutral scheme for tiles. It keeps costs down but also ensures that my choices are classic rather than High fashion or gimmicky, I shall bling it up with fancy taps, a nice mirror and some posh accessories. Those can be changed easily enough to keep it modern and relevant to changing tastes as and when I sell. And of course a little bit of luxury with underfloor heating.

I always think The plain white sanitary ware is the quivalent of the Little Black Dress, the fancy taps are the jewellery. :rotfl:

Other than the bathroom I won't be doing much else now till after the festive season....,which will be upon us before we know it. The tree surgeons and fencers come next week although, other than making them cups of tea I don't really have to do much.

It's only two weeks until my holiday. Hopefully when I get back the bathroom will be done and I can get on with Christmas prep.

Well done on the mural tutoring Jules- thinking outside the box! I loved both the Richest Dad in Babylon and Rich Dad Poor Dad (find T Harv Ecker a bit too 'woo woo' for me though...)


I too would love any links to online courses or good websites on investing for beginners- I have set up a small (£25) monthly Stocks and Shares ISA with H&L but would love to be able to understand it all!

Quick one re holiday my Dad has offered to take us somewhere and belive he is paying - but he does have these ideas and doesn't follow through but could mean a nice free holiday (bar spending) so waiting to see what comes of that...will chase him up soon as need to know for dates etc lol.

Not loads to update really but wanted to see how everyone is getting on. I've been struggling with one of my Uni modules but I think it's more burying my head in the sand because I was finding it hard so trying to force myself to focus. I got a really really high mark (well past a first) with my other module, so if I get my head down and pull a first in my IT side then I could end up with a first degree..but really need to put the work in to do it. I highly doubt I can get a first with the business side, but if I get 2:1 on the business and a first on the IT then I believe it still overall becomes a first.

Not much again to update on money side as I just haven't had the side time to focus on much else other then work, degree and kids - but I'm really really happy with my job it's unreal. The people I work with are just fantastic - loads of scope for a career down the line and overtime seems pretty decent too. I can do weekend on call shifts at nearly £100 and it's not that much work so I can use the time to study and get paid (case of having to be more or less by the computer incase something comes through lol)

They have a Javascript dev job going atm so I'm going to start focusing on JS once I have got my degree in line. I have two weeks off over Xmas so will be perfect to spend some real time on it. I guess the job may not be needed by the time I am ready to go for it - but I figured as JS is part of Web Dev it would be a great code for me to really learn in and out - and ideally I can move to the Dev department but if not the skills are transferable but right now, I really want to stay with this company so I will see what happens. I feel I've hit the gold mine.

Good Morning,

Some good posts in this thread (although I haven't read all 4,000!) and I thought you might like to hear my approach to wealth accumulation...

1. Take calculated risks - The less you have the less you have to lose. Many people get this backwards in my opinion; the likely worse case scenario probably isnt as bad as you might think.
2. Think long term - 'Future You' will thank you for it. Cash is an asset which should be used to make more money whenever possible. Any money earning less than inflation is losing money.
3. Don't be lazy or complacent - You can make more money just by switching your energy supplier or picking up a few extra shifts at work than you'd get from having £10k in a cash ISA for a year.

My approach (not advised as a sound financial strategy) was to get a loan for £7.5k (at 4.1% APR) and use it follow a trio of what I considered to be the best and most reliable paid subscription horse racing tipsters after researching them through sites that independently verified all of their tips and results. If the improbable happened and all 3 long term winning tipsters suddenly turned into losers then I would just be left with a debt that I could easily afford to pay each month and would need to go back to the drawing board. I was debt free at the time and had a car and good job etc.

My secondary strategy was to invest any profit in crowd-funded start up companies (mainly through Crowdcube) so that my profit would be tied up in highly speculative ventures that may pay well in 3-10 years time once the successful ones get acquired or go public.

I then started diversifying my portfolio by opening a stocks and shares ISA with Nutmeg, investing in property through Property Partner and using Peer to Peer lending site Zopa and Ratesetter (choosing the highest rates of return).

Five years on from the start of this venture and things are all going pretty well. I was an early investor in both Brewdog and Monzo who have achieved Unicorn status. I'm still following roughly the same strategy and have around 38 start-ups in my portfolio with probably around 3/4 of them doing well at this stage. My winnings and savings also allowed me to put a deposit on a flat in Brighton at the end of 2016 which I also now AirBnB occasionally to top up my income. Happy days!

A few helpful books I've read along the way:

• How to own the World - Andrew Craig
• How to win friends and influence people - Dale Carnegie
• The Richest Man in Babylon
• The Four Hour Work Week (and Body) - Tim Ferriss
• The Naked Trader - Robbie Burns
• How to Find a Black Cat in a Coal Cellar - Joseph Buchadal
• Screw it lets do it - Richard Branson

Good luck with all your ventures and happy to answer any questions!

Dan