Millionaire Challenge

lessonlearned · 8 January 2019 at 2:24PM

Hello Everyone.

Just to wish you all a belated Happy New Year. Hope you achieve the goals you have set for this hear.

Unfortunately I got off to a slow because I have been unwell, but I'm fine now and raring to go.

First.....a major declutter. Have got the YMCA coming to pick up some unwanted furniture tomorrow then I'm going to get busy, sorting, selling, donating what I can't sell. The spare small bedroom will be turned into a temporary mini gym for now although eventually that will be transferred to one of my sheds.

Lots to do, lots of ideas, really looking forward to some new challenges this year.

CornishOptimist · 9 January 2019 at 1:50PM

Afternoon guys and girls!

Hope everyone had a good new years. Hope everyone is feeling positive about 2019!

So, I'm currently in a total debt situation of £1600 (excl mortgage) £200 of that is for my mum and £1400 on C/C 0% until July 2020. On payday I'm paying mum off in full. I d not have to do this but as I see it, it's a psychological weight off that its one debt cleared and any money can be thrown into getting the C/C paid off that much faster. Hopefully by roughly September this year.

Divorce:
2 years seperation will be up in June so things start to happen from then. Not going in with any preconceived ideas or unrealistic expectations. It's going to be unpleasant and lets just get it over with.

After this, who knows! I have been asked to send my CV to a Plymouth based tech company offering a good salary + commission so potentially £40k a year, well over double what I earn now! Seems too good to be true, is it?

Investment wise, I know some of you will say that I shouldn't be investing until I have no debt at all. I'm sure there is some rhyme and reason to that but all of it is 0% and not that time sensitive, so I see no harm in 'saving' some money as well.

I pay into a work shares scheme where I get a 5% discount on market rate for the day of the shares purchase. Currently have £3,000 in this portfolio and receive roughly £28 per xd.

Currently enjoying P2P lending! I save what I can into there and loan it out. Currently 9 days a month I get my capital back plus interest which gets reinvested into new loans. Self generating money!! The amounts involved are hardly life changing but I have discipline and a willingness to keep chipping in.... especially at 6.2% returns!

I also have a Multi Index Fund Investment linked to FTSE, S&P 500, Nikkei and DAX, plus bonds and cash. Had it for about 18 months and D/D into it every 30 days. Currently about £70 up on what I've put in, but has taken a battering recently.

Anyhoo, thats me!

CO x

Kayalana99 · 11 January 2019 at 9:50PM

Hmm. Well wanted to do a bit of an update before I disapper for a while.

Me and OH have decided to spilt, I think it's been a long time coming and neither of us (more myself I guess) have been happy for a while but it is hard with young ones.

Plans are still up in the air atm, I've done the Maths and I can live (unless things change) comfortably with a bit of help (universal credits) for a while and I'm not sure if this may be the best option to just step back and let things ride out - whilst focusing on building my skills/career and degree.

I did have a wobble and want to go back into my wedding photography, but I would prob of had to give up the degree to do so because of time - but then I would have been able to financially support myself without the help...but doing the maths I would still even then only be getting by unless I got really good really quickly and raised prices to more a professional level but realistically that may have taken 2-3 years in something that I didn't really want to be doing long term.

I'm honestly ok about everything anyway, I'm more a bit over the place the idea of being on my own (haven't really been single since I was 17 for more then a month or two whoops) but I do believe it will be good for me and he will still see kids regularly and in theory I'll have every other weekend free - so plenty of time to go out and get working on any side projects.

Just going to focus on improving myself and I might take a few trips abroad over my free weekends - Have not had a passport since I was 18 and even if I just go wander the streets of Paris by myself on a Saturday I think it would do be some good to just sight see! I can't imagine it actually being that expensive for just myself to go...prob £200 for flights then spending money...

I guess I'm just fed up of living my life on what I 'should' be doing, and I think it's time I started waking up a bit.

I will bring everything together, I think in a way I have not been happy for so long just having control back of my time and money is going to do wonders. I will update again in a few weeks I suppose - a lot is going on atm!

Muhren · 11 January 2019 at 10:43PM

Sorry to here that Kay. It sounds like it may be for the best, although I know that won't make things any easier right now. It will probably pay to try and look at it long term and try and take the positives from the situation, which is easier said than done.

lessonlearned · 12 January 2019 at 2:01PM

Hello Kay. I am so sorry to hear that. However, I think it's for the best. Sorry if I'm stepping over a line here but reading between the lines I got the impression that you have been unhappy for a while. You seemed to be floundering a bit.

I know divorce is hard, especially when you have small children, but you are a strong woman and you will find yourself again. You will find your wings .......:D.

Re Paris. You are right it won't break the bank. Actually the Euro star is even easier, faster and cheaper than flying. If you fly you have to go to Charles De Gaul airport, which is quite a way out. The train takes you straight into the heart of Paris. I think it goes to the Gare Du Nord.

I love Eurostar. I am aiming for Bruges next time. I've done it for Brussels but not Paris (yet). It's on my list.

Re your next step......i can see the temptation to try and resurrect your wedding photography. You areobviously good at it but as you say it will be a long haul to get fully established. It depends on how much you actually enjoy it. Is it your passion or just a means to an end.

How far are you in your degree....is it your second year. Will it help you gain the qualifications to get a good graduate job or training programme.

I guess you could always go back to photography later with relative ease but if you give up your degree now it might be harder to get back into it.

A lot for you to think about.

As for being on your own......well you might even get to enjoy it. :rotfl: adjusting to widowhood was difficult and now that my son has flown the nest then yes I am completely alone. I am actually enjoying it.

Anyway I wish you all the best.

Well I have been busy - I am having a major declutter. I have been thinking about this a lot. And I have come to the conclusion that whilst I am in no danger of becoming a hoarder I have been sort of using my possessions as a kind of life raft. Trying to fill the void my husband left, which is daft because "stuff" cannot replace a person. I have dragged mountains of stuff with me through 4 house moves in as many years. Crazy.

And without getting too philosophical I think my "stuff" has been holding me back, physically and emotionally, keeping me a kind of limbo. So I'm getting rid......and moving forward.

This week I said goodbye to several items of furnture and I feel better already. We might scoff at Feng Shuey a bit but I think there's something to do it......clearing clutter and freeing up space seems to do something.

All that freed "chi" (energy) floating around.....

Ooh I do sound like an old hippy.....:rotfl:

Anyway time for something to eat.....I am fasting today.

System · 13 January 2019 at 4:57PM

Not mad at all! Even if you don't reach the million, by trying you will end up with considerably more money than you started with. I haven't read all of this post but as it seems to have started in 2011 it would be interesting to see how the OP got on.

I'm not a millionaire yet but I will always tell myself I am getting there. When I bought my first house (with a mortgage) I set a challenge of being financially independent by the time I was 40 and thus able to become self-employed (rather than retire). I was actually 44 when I achieved financial independence. My challenge began in the late 1980s, when, interest rates on savings were much higher and climbing (as were mortgage rates) and I was also financially lucky later on with timing regarding a house sale, a period of renting, and a subsequent house purchase. There were a few "windfalls" from "free" shares as well. With a determination to be "rich", a bit of frugality and the help of an "Aussie-style" mortgage I was able to pay off the mortgage early.

Now that "FIRE" is a thing, I so wish that I had had a crystal ball when I embarked on my challenge. I could have made a million by writing a book on how to achieve financial independence (yes, a book - there was no internet for blogging with then). I was squirreling up to half of my income each month before some of these FIRE bloggers were even born. Hey ho!!!!!!

I probably couldn't achieved financial independence without the guidance of a financial adviser almost from Day One. He had advised on the mortgage, life insurance and pension and I was quite interested in what he had to say and indeed in what a financial adviser actually did. I hadn't actually come across financial advisers before but I took a slight career change, and ended up working for a lot of rather wealthy people. In general conversation I became aware that they were only able to maximise their (high) incomes with advice from professionals so I stuck with it even though I wasn't on a high income and neither did I have tens of thousands in savings and investments. I moved house a couple of times, and thus changed financial advisers. It was just pot luck that I have now ended up with one who seems to have a crystal ball.

As I say, I am not a millionaire yet, and quite possibly won't be now as my son has just reached the age of profligacy (his teens), and my husband is currently not working, but there's always the chance of a win on the Premium Bonds and I will never take my eye off the financial ball.

Muhren · 14 January 2019 at 10:54PM

So I have my total NAV for end of 2018 which is £227,600 including the house, and £105,500 without.

I have just cancelled my two sharesaves at work and plan to add £4000 to a LISA this tax year and then another £4000 in the new tax year to get the 25% bonus.

My target for the end of 2019 is going to be £250k, obviously including the house. It will be nice to get to a quarter of the way to the million, so is something to aim towards for sure.

lessonlearned · 15 January 2019 at 1:03PM

Wow Muhren.....well done you.

Not much to report. Working my way through the massive declutter. Currently the big easy stuff, unwanted furniture etc. I have donated it rather than selling, yes I could have earned a few pennies maybe but not really worth the hassle if I'm honest. We're not talking antiques here....just "stuff". I'll start selling what I can in the spring.

Anyway gifting brings good karma.......:rotfl: I find if I send stuff out into the world for free, the universe repays in kind.

This week I have picked up a lovely China tea service for £5. Looked on eBay and the same make sold recently for over £100. I will use it for now and then sell it further down the line. Win-win.

Also picked up a couple of very nice paintings, again £5 each. They are originals not copies (alas were not talking old Masters:rotfl: ) unknown artist, so its hard to put a monetary value on them but they are pretty and will look nice in my home. I could probably resell them for around £25.

I also picked up some as new curtains for my dining room, £2.99. Bargain, they would have been at least £60.

So all in all I'm doing well. I massively overspent on the new bathroom because it practically needed rebuilding so I'm shopping very carefully now to get the renovation budget back on track.

Landscaping next so that it will have time to mature and the planting become well established for when I come to sell. The house has a good sized wrap around garden, which was a jungle at the front and a desert at the back. Doing the landscaping early on means I can cut costs by buying smaller saplings and baby shrubs, knicking cuttings from friends and family......

I have already had the monster conifer hedge at the rear removed and new fencing so I can start planting soon. The jungle at the front was cleared more or less as soon as I moved in and the new planting seems to have taken well.

Still undecided about the kitchen......total rip out or revamp what's there.......:rotfl:

Luckystepho · 17 January 2019 at 5:47PM

Mrs Arthur Crown- great post, sounds like we can learn a lot from you!

Kay- sorry to hear of your impending divorce and sending positive thoughts

Hi to everyone else and happy New Year! I have unfortunately started it with a 4-figure car repair bill!!! Ah well, onwards and upwards...

little_green · 18 January 2019 at 11:07PM

just stopping by. I'm feeling a bit deflated, I've applied for quite a number of jobs over the past few months & haven't even got an interview for one of them. I'm trying to settle at my current job as it's not awful (every job has it's moments) it's more the lack of progression opportunities available that's bothering me (ie none) so therefore aside from inflation, no opportunity of a pay increase .... which makes it harder to reach my millionaire status.

Millionaire Challenge

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free