Thinking About Money

I have been thinking about what I would do if I had lots of money since my husband got his windfall. It would be fantastic to win £250,000 on the premium bonds, get the mortgage paid off, invest a big chunk for the future and then have a bit left to do spend. I would love for me and my husband to have some new clothes, dresses, skirts, suits, atuxedo shirt, that sort of thing. It would be wonderful to have a wardrobe with some classic outfits in there in case I ever needed them. I guess a girl can dream....

A Big Bonus!

My husband cam ehome from work a few days ago saying that he had been told to check his pay slip as the guys on his team were being paid a Christmas bonus. It was rather nice when we checke dto see that he had 31500 bonus. Of course once taxed it goes down to £900, but that is still a lovely amount of money. He wants lots of things and has already made a list so long that it costs more than he earned. Why anyone needs a box cutter, MP3 player for the car and some boring computer bits is beyond me. Myself, I would have bought some premium bonds with it and left it towarsd paying back the mortgage but it is his money and so not my choice.

New Doubling news

I found 5p this morning in the middle of a puddle in the middle of a road. It takes me up to 17p which completes the next step of doubling. I am now aiming for 32p which is step 6.

Budgets

I am so glad that my husband does not control our household budgets. He was telling me how at work he is responsible for spending money on a certain project and he has been buying the most expensive project management software and hardware to make the most of it. I was talking with my in-laws at the weekend and we were discussing low interest rates and things like that as well as paying off mortgages and I think they were pleased that we are being sensible with our money, we have investments in two places to pay off the mortgage which we have not added to since we moved. We are taking advantage of low interest rates and paying off the windows rather than the mortgage at the moment and hopefully doing all of the right things. My Father-in-Law is worried about the stock market and thinks we should take our money out but I am not so sure and prefer not to have all of my eggs in one basket.

New Doubling

I found one pence yesterday and one pence today on the street. I guess the street cleaners have not been around since we had the snow as it is unusual to find money in Stroud. I looked for my other coins and it seems that I now have 12p. I am now on step 5 - heading towards 16p. It is taking a long time but it just made me a feel a little more positive about today.

Lowering costs

One really good thing about my change in business from selling books to freelance writing is the lack of expenses. Now when I do my books there is hardly anything in the costs side of my balance sheet, it is mainly all income which is great. I used to have to pay for shipping boxes, postage, stock and stationery and now I just paying hosting and domain names for my websites that I sell advertising on. It is great to know that the money I earn is almost pure profit (well minus the tax!)

Home Insurance

I have just had by home insurance renewal letter through. Normally when I get this, I have a search around to see whether I can get a better insurance quote. This year I am going to stick with this company. The reason for this is because I live between a river and a canal and hardly any companies would insure me apart form this one. They are a popular company, very old and well known, a good price and they give me dividends so I have decided that they are well worth sticking with.

Business Ideas

With all of this snow around at the moment, it has had me thinking that maybe I should be in the business of 24 hour towing or snowploughs! Of course the problem with sort of thing is that it is a seasonal business and I don't know about you, but I much prefer to keep around Christmas a bit quieter so that I can have a bit of time off. I have worked in a seasonal business before and it can be quite difficult as the work is not spread evenly throughout the year. I much prefer being a bit busy all of the time rather than being very busy sometimes with no work at other times.

New bathroom

Well, the new bathroom has been delayed even more. I am a little annoyed that I took the money out of premium bonds in November and it has been sitting in a very low interest account ever since. However, at least I know that I have the money there. It should b done in February I reckon, as there have been delays with the snow but I now know that the suite, porcelain tile and flooring are on order so once they arrive the chaps will want to get on with the job to get rid of it from under their feet.

Starting your Own Business

With all of the redundancies that have been made recently, a lot of people are trying to start their own businesses as a way of making money as there are no jobs for them to find. This is a good ide abut it is not something which you should undertake lightly. It is likely that you will have to invest money in the business and you may have to borrow that. Think about the implications of that for both the business and yourself and it could be worth getting a business plan consultant to help you put together a good proposal for the bank and to also carefully see whether the business is something which looks like it will succeed.

Finding Jobs

A friend is moving out to St Louis with her husband and we were doing a St Louis job search to find out what opportunities there might be for her. She is hoping for something part-time just to help her mix in to the community, perhaps shop work or something like that. There seemed to be quite a lot about that she could do, so she is hoping that when she gets there she will be able to do some work, earn some money and get socialising all at the same time.

More work

I stil seem to be getting in more writing work at the moment which is a good thing. It is not all paying that well but at least it is keeping me going a bit and I have just got quite a big job offered to me so if that goes to plan it will be good. I just need to get inspired as I seem to have a bit of writers block at the moment!

More Jobs Around

The job market seem to be improving, at least in some places anyway. I know a local firm to me is expanding due to winning a big contract and my cousin has said that there seem to be more jobs in philadelphia pa available at the moment. That is great news for me because I would love to get my book selling part of the business back up and running again because I enjoyed it so much and it brought me in a good income when books were selling well. Hopefully once the job market picks up, people will be spending more and the book market might improve again.

Labels....

Sometimes I wonder about people and their health conditions. I know someone who has just been diagnosed with ADHD and is now looking for a supply of CONCERTA Adult ADHD Medication, having read in a magazine that it was good. I am sure it is good, but he has managed so far to have a very successful career and lead a happy life by using his own coping mechanisms and I do wonder whether this treatment has anything new to offer him. Had he not be 'labelled' with ADHD he would have carried on regardless and been happy with his lot. Now he is buying treatments that he has managed without for years.

Going Into Debt

Sometimes I worry about people. I have a cousin who has just decided to find an implant dentist Plano. She does have problems with her teeth but nothing too visible. However, she has decided that because she has just got a massive increase on her spending limit on her credit card that she needs something to spend it on and so is going to have her teeth done. Some people seem to think that their credit limit is money that they can spend but it is not a current account, it is a very expensive way to borrow money.

Diet Pills Side Effects

Another thing that I forgot to mention with regards to supplements is side effects. Most medication has some side effects and it is worth knowing about these before you start taking something. You may think that the lipozene side effects seem bad, for example but then other products may be worse. It is probably best to consult with your doctor, especially if you have a medical condition or are taking other pills. Even something natural could have a significant effect on your body so be very careful.

Diet savings (Again)

Going back to what I was saying in a previous post about saving money on diet pills it is well worth making sure that you do not rely on just one diet pill review to base your opinion on. It is best to look at a whole selection of reviews to be sure that you are getting a good spread of viewpoints and also to find out about the products yourself to see which you think will be the best for you.

New work Ideas

I have been doing a lot of writing work lately for people who are setting up new blogs. I like this idea and would like to have a go myself as I think it could bring in some money if it was done correctly. the only problem is that I do not know much about marketing and although there is good seo software out there, I am not sure if that is enough to make it pay. Perhaps I will have a look in to it when I am not so busy.

Delays....

It seems like my bathroom work will be delayed even more. I spoke to the company last week and they gave me three weeks, now we have had this snow I expect it will be delayed for another couple of weeks at least. I do not mind waiting in a way, because it means I have the money in my account for longer, but on the other hand, it would be nice to have it paid out, know exactly where I stand money wise and then I can start saving for the mortgage again.

Weight Loss Savings

If you do decide to lose some weight then there are many ways to go about it. Many people look for fat loss supplements to help them. These are growing in popularity but are expensive. It could be good to have some help with your diet but make sure that you do work hard at the same time as taking them or else you will just be wasting your money and that would be useless. If you take them and exercise and stick to a healthy diet then the investment should be worth while.

Saving on Diets

At this time of the year most people start thinking about dieting or getting fit either because they have a set a New Years Resolution to do so or because they have just put on too much weight after Christmas. However, there are a lot of ways to waste money out there, different diet and exercise aids. Make sure that you read reviews for example of the best fat burners and also work out carefully what you want to achieve form the things that you are buying. You might lose some weight but you may also lose money if you are not careful.

Holiday

My husband is still talking about having a holiday this year because he will be 40. I think it would be nice to take the boys on their first holiday, although I know it will be hard work for me. I am keen to stay in the UK because I think it will be easier as there will be food that we are familiar with - the boys are very fussy eaters and get very worried when they have to have new foods. He is still keen on going abroad but thankfully has come round to my way of thinking in that disney world hotels will be too far away, but we could do it at a later date.

Spending

Over Christmas we did so much spending, we are making up for it now and trying not to do very much. We are having to shop at a more expensive supermarket which is costing us more because we cannot get the the other one due to the snow, but we feel that this is essential and hope that it will be clear enough next weekend for us to go to the cheaper one. My husband is still being a bit naughty and wants to buy an ipod because his father has just had one and he is jealous. He is also still on about buying me some breeches so I am having to work hard on keeping him under control until we get the bathroom finished and know where we stand money wise.

Snow Days

I am sure that a lot of the UK are having another snow day today. What better time to think about ways to save money or earn more money during 2010. I have already been thinking about ways to make more money and am putting some of my plan in to action by doing more writing work. It would be easier if I didn't have two poorly boys under my feet though! Tips on saving money would be making sure that you get auto, house, car and travel insurance quotes before you buy or renew to make sure you do not overpay. Use Mysupermarket.com to check out the cheapest supermarket to do your weekly shop in and get sale shopping for essentials now as a lot of shops are still charging lower VAT prices. Ways to make more money can be trickier to think of. Think about whether you have any skills that you can put to use in your free time or whether you have any hobbies that you can make money out of. Do make sure you check with your employer first because you normally have to let them know if you are doing additional jobs to theirs and also make sure you declare your extra income to teh tax man.

Great Business Idea

I saw something the other day which I thought was a fantastic business idea and something I had never come across before. It was a shower dryer. It looked like it worked like those hand dryers that you get in public toilets but it was for a domestic shower. It would be fantastic to be dry before leaving the shower so that you would not feel so cold when you open the door. It would also be good to be able to use it to dry out the shower to stop it getting mouldy, which is what happens when it is left damp for long periods.

Lots of Work!

I was looking around for writing work yesterday because I need to get back to things now. I was a bit disillusioned in the morning as there didn't seem to be much around apart from blog posts needed for mesothelioma treatments blogs and other very specific areas. However, I decided to put an advert for my services and responding to a few jobs. By the end of the day I had been paid for 3 jobs and was part the way through one and had been sent another. The money isn't brilliant but at least it is a good start to the month and hopefully it will continue this way.

New Year Goals

I have been thining about mortgage payback again today. I have not paid any money towards the mortgage since May and I withdrew £7500 from the savings to pay for the new bathroom - which should be started this week. The current status is that we owe about £96500 and have £16550 in premium bonds. We have shares worth £23,300 as of today. This means that if I want to pay off the mortgage I will need to find an additional £57000. If I divide that by days in the year it makes £155 which does not really sound like very much. Of course that figure includes weekends and doesn't take in to account tax on earnings. I have earned over £100 in a day but it does not happen that often. Considering the hours that I can actually work it is probably £22 an hour which is a lot. I just did a job which earned me £3 an hour and that was the only job I have had today. I will not let this put me off though. The shares will increase in value, the premium bonds will win and I will continue to work hard. Hopefully by this time next year the figures will look a lot more promising.

Great Start

I am happy with the start I have made to the new year. I have been paid for a job - just $5 but it is a start to my New Year earnings. I have also just done two small jobs and earned $10 which I will be paid for in a few weeks time. I think that it is a really promising start and I am hoping that things continue like this.

Party Time

I love seeing all of the family after Christmas, as is the family tradition. However, I know that I need to thank people for their gifts and cards but I often find it hard remembering who gave me and the children gifts and who did not. I have thanked someone in the past for some mounts which were not given to me by them. I think that this year I may just keep quiet and hope that I do not make any embarrassing mistakes.

New Year, new start

My husband has started off the new year by getting my new computer all ready for me. he spent yesterday fiddling around with a flash drive, virtual machines and things like that and now has my new system backed up and everything on there that I need. i am out today for a new years family party but after today I have no excuses for not getting on with some serious work and getting some money earned.

Happy New Year

I hope that all my readers have a happy and prosperous new year. I hope that I will be able to pay a significant chunk off my mortgage this year too.