Free Car Savings update No 10

So I am back up to pre emptying the fund levels, it never seems to take me too long to get to this point, but progress slows after here. Anyways, the new total is:

£236.60

A respectable amount, and there is a sisley selling on ebay today with a starting bid of £225 and noone has bid on it. Why? Because it honestly must be the rustiest panda never mind sisley I have ever seen. Not that thats a bad thing necessarily, but I am not looking for a project.

But progress is progress! Any comments? Inspiration? Tips? Let me know!

Free car savings update no 7

GOT TO STAY MOTIVATED!!!

Cue the rocky theme music, today for the first time since I started I hit a mental road block "Hey, why bother? This is too hard!" WRONG I can do this, so I promptly went onto the fiat forum to read more about Sisleys, there is a brilliant example of one selling right now, I want it so badly but the timing isnt right. GOT.TO.STAY.MOTIVATED my views on youtube have finally started to climb again, so thinking up some more ideas more videos. In the meantime here is this weeks tale of the tape:

Nectar Points-£10.83
Quidco-£2.39
Adsense-£3.90
Paid Survey sites-£54.95
Coin Jar-£82.07
Side Hustle Savings-£62.06

Total-£216.20
Liquid Total-£157.35

So a jump in liquid total (which I find myself being more and more interested in) of about a fiver. No great shakes there then, but its good progress, so I am gonna keep making it.

Keep Hustlin.

Free car savings update no 6

Lets get straight to it, whats the tale of the tape today??

Nectar Points-£10.23 <<<rocking the taking the free boxes and getting bonus points for using own bags!
Quidco-£1.45
Adsense-£3.90 <<<Finally moved up a little!!
Paid Survey Sites-£49.50
Coin Jar-£79.02
Side Hustle Savings-£62.06

Total-£206.16
Liquid Total-£152.76

So a decent little jump, starting to pick up some momentum now, and reached another £100 milestone :) Thats cause for celebration I reckon :)

See ya next time, but till then look at the underside of the panda and celebrate with me as I have my second MOT in a row with no advisories! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFolYphlyak

What are YOU saving for?

Ok, time to spill the beans, what are YOU saving for?? (Comment below readers!)

As I have discussed before, everyone has their own goals, and for most goals you need money to achieve them. Generally speaking the more ambitious the goal, the more moolah you need!

I have spoken about what I am saving for, new windows for my house, a new garage A FREAKIN' DELOREAN! YEAH! And trips all over the world, (Germany is getting ticked off this year!) So I want to know what makes you tick, what makes you get up in the morning and grind IRL to get what you want? Knowing what my readers are trying to achieve will help me write better advice for you!

The truth about budgets

This is a post I have been putting off for a VERY long time, because it acknowledges something that I don't (and I don't think anyone) wants to think about too hard, but here goes:
I set aside money in my budget for doing FUN THINGS

There, I said it/typed it. The painful truth is that because I am a human I NEED to do fun things, and give myself  "a break" at least once in a while. For me this could be anything from buying a takeaway (takeout for my american readers) to buying a comic book or going to the cinema (Just went to see man of steel, its AWESOME!) but the point is, If I didn't do these small relatively cheap things, then I would pretty much wind up in a lunatic asylum, "all work and no play make onemanmade a very crazy boy!"

When I first started budgeting I took it wayyyyy too seriously, I took literally every penny that I had spare after paying my mandatory outgoings, and put it into my savings account, about halfway through the month I had to take the "extra" (after saving a decent amount) out and just spent it all on stuff I didn't even need, just because I had to relieve the tension and the pressure of saving so much and not giving myself any slack to play with.

So my advice to you readers is, use your budget to pay your mandatory outgoings and savings, but try to set a little aside (it could be £20 a month just to let yourself buy a takeaway/takeout and a dvd or magazine) just so you don't go nuts!

P.S The reason I don't like thinking about the fact that I need to have fun with money sometimes is that I know that it puts me a little further away than I potentially could be to my goals, but it does mean I will be a happier person when I do reach my goals, and appreciate them more because I haven't had to give up my life to achieve them.

How to start again from nothing (financially and otherwise)

Starting again from nothing is something that we all have to do at some point. Sometimes its after a big purchase (such as a house or a car) and sometimes its after a breakup, or emergency in your life which you have to spend money on. It will probably leave you feeling raw, dejected and hurt.

So what can you do? Here are some steps which will help:

1- Assess your situation honestly, if you havent already, do a budget of your incomings and outgoings (more information earlier in the blog on this)

2- Figure out what you DO have, such as family, friends, cars, houses, anything, even the clothes on your back if thats all you have, or nothing! Be thankful for what you do have, you can be virtually guarranteed there are others worse off out there!

3- Dont be too proud to shop for clothes from charity shops, or to eat budget food. Often people who are rich do this! (How do you think they got rich??) Also if someone offers you help then you could do worse than let a friend help you. Just make sure you pay them back when times get better :)

4- Learn to appreciate the simple things in life, finding coins on the ground for example, or taking a nice long walk.

5- Forgive yourself for allowing yourself to be in this position, theres no shame to it, the quicker you stop feeling sorry for yourself the quicker you can be back on the road to financial freedom!

6- Keep your budget in order, and feel good when you are reaching small goals you set yourself, first ten pounds/dollars etc, each small step is 1 more step along the road!

7- Realise that you will get there one day, and learn from the mistakes you made to get into this position in the first place.

A story from my childhood, my earliest memory of saving

My earliest memory of saving was when I was roughly 7 or 8 years old. My parents took me and my sister to a shopping complex in Heathfield in Ayr, this was big news to us! We were from a very small village and didnt go outside of that area very often, so this was exciting to a 7 year old and a 5 year old. Anyway, one of the shops we went to was poundstretcher, a british budget shop. At the time I thought the place was incredible, it seemed to have everything! But whenever we went there, my sister and I always went straight to the toys aisle, and on this particular trip I saw a big box with a toy robot in it, it was about 14 inches tall, and was red and silver, very mechanical looking, with futuristic lights and sounds advertised on the box (it didnt come supplied with batteries) I saw it and I knew I had to have it! I asked my dad if I could have it, but I was told "No, but if you really want it, then you can save your pocket money and buy it for yourself"

To add a bit of backstory here (which I did not know at the time, but found out later) my parents were not all that well off. They were paying a mortgage and had two kids, my dad worked very very hard as a cemetery keeper, and my mum worked a couple of hours a day in a shop. But they never once let me and my sister think that we werent well off, we were provided for excellently with clothes when we needed them, and we were well fed and had toys which we loved, we had an extremely happy childhood, our mum and dad loved us very much (and still do) My mum and dad have long since paid off their mortgage, my dad was promoted about 15 years ago, and my mum works a few more hours, but they have saved hard and done without for themselves to get where they are, and I am extremely proud of them.

So as you can imagine, the price tag of £8.00 was a quite a lot by their standards, Im sure my dad would have liked to buy me the toy, and buy my sister one of roughly the same value too as they always kept us equal, but my dad didn't want to spoil us, or make us think that we should get a toy just because we wanted one, he wanted to give us an idea of how money works, which I am sure is an issue for every parent. I must point out that I didnt complain or beg for it, or make a fuss in the shop, I simply accepted that what my dad said went.

My pocket money was 50pence a week at that time, but I was very determined to get the robot toy, it seemed so cool that I simply had to! So I saved my 50 pence a week, not buying any comics or sweets, I even did odd jobs for my gran and family to earn a little more, and eventually I had the £8.00 together in coins. I waited till the next time we went to poundstretcher, and I took my money, I can remember lifting the robot off the shelf and taking it to the cashier with my dad, I felt so proud of myself! I got it home, put some batteries my dad had in it, and started to play with it when I very quickly realised....

It was a crap toy, im sorry to say that dear readers, but it was. I was very dissapointed (while still being proud that I had saved hard for it by myself) the lights were dull and the sound was crackly, there was virtually no articulation at the joints of the robot, so I couldn't make it fight with my action man or move it in anyway but roll it along the floor on the wheels on the bottom of its feet.

I learned two valuable lessons there, which have served me well since I was 7, and I will pass them onto you.

1- You can save for anything as long as you take enough time, and try your hardest to save for it. This goes for achieving goals too, try your hardest!

2- Be careful what you buy, research every purchase before you make it, and spend wisely!

grinding in real life

My best friend recently moved country to be with his girlfriend, and also to get employment. He started off as a cleaner in a big supermarket chain, and has worked his way up to staff member in a VERY short space of time due to his work ethic. (Was spotted by the management) He is taking on overtime and doing very well, and also he helps out in his father-in-law's sign-making business (He trained as a graphic designer but has been unable to get work in Scotland even though he finished his course at college with honours and was awarded the student of the year award.) Naturally I am very very proud of him and his achievements, as are his family and his girlfriend. He is extremely hard working and this is starting to pay off for him, these days hard workers are difficult to come by! Hopefully the work experience will enable him to get a job in graphic design, as most places want someone who is experienced working with them.

But to the crux of the matter, my friend plays online games such as World of warcraft and Cabal, (I play cabal too) and to get anywhere in these kind of games one has to grind.

Definition: "to perform a repetitive task in a role playing game in order to increase one's character's stature."
"Informal To devote oneself to study or work"

My best friend and I use this phrase that we use in terms of online gaming, and in terms of real life work. The same principles of dedication, and hard usually repetitive work build ones wealth and character apply. For example my friend works overtime at his job and helps out in a signmaking business (sort of like a freelance graphic designer) to make ends meet and to make his budget work out, and save as much money as he can.

I take a slightly different approach, but use the same principles of dedicating myself completely to the task at hand of making as much money as I possibly can to support my household and family. (Please note that neither my friend or I engage in a "hustlers" definition of grinding which basically involves stealing or other illegal activities.) I have a decent 9-5 job with a permanant contract (Im a clerical officer) which in these days of recession is worth its weight in gold. I also get a decent amount of overtime, which I use to up my wages, its monotonous and time consuming, but pays at "time and a half". On top of this I sell unwanted items on gumtree(which is free to use), sometimes If I spot a classic video game at a car-boot sale, I will buy it cheaply and sell it on at a profit. I also Valet cars at the weekend. This is a hobby of mine which I have turned into an earner when I have time to do it. I also "check in" at shops using a mobile app called "quidco" which pays small amounts (5-25p) for standing in a shop and checking in on your mobile. If you are visiting a city or town it can actually be quite profitable! Its money for using your mobile and walking around, not hard, but monotonous and somewhat time consuming. I also make youtube videos and write this blog, and adsense pays me to allow adverts on my videos and blogs. I budget hard and dont spend money where I dont have to generally, although I allow myself a few small "treats" every month, I like having a takeaway meal which is fairly cheap, because you will only get miserable very quickly if you dont give yourself a couple of treats every month! This is grinding, making ends meet, and trying to save more money and spend less. Often difficult, time consuming and monotonous, but good for character building and making money honestly. If you can turn a hobby such as cleaning cars or an interest in classic video games for example, into money making opportunities then so much the better.

Thoughts?

Goals- My thoughts on them

Goals-My thoughts on them

I like to think goals are part of a person’s make-up, a physical or spiritual part of them. I have had many goals in my life, and have achieved some of them, replaced them with new goals, or changed my mind about certain goals and forgotten about them because they were probably dumb thoughts of a teenager (being a travelling guitar player in Britain at 15 years old?? Ok, it may happen for some people, but as I got older I changed my mind) The point is, goals are very personal. Some of my achieved goals have been:

Find the love of my life, (my fiancé) J

Buy a house with a garage, driveway, 3 bedrooms and a back garden

Buy and restore a classic car (My purple panda parade)

Go on a holiday with my best buddy (Egypt in 2009)

Make money from Youtube ($63.00 so far!)

And a few other things which are a bit personal ;) Some of my goals I have still to achieve are:

Go to Austrailia (I had originally planned to emigrate to Austrailia, or at least spend a long time there working etc, but meeting the love of my life changed that )

Marry my fiancé (wedding is booked for August 2014)

Go to Florida USA (Hoping to do this for our honeymoon)

Go to New York City USA in winter

Go to Austria and Germany

Get a new (bigger) garage

Get new house windows

Have kids

Some of my achieved and on the list goals don’t require money to do, but you will notice that the vast majority of them do.

If I was to buy/do everything I want to do starting tomorrow, I would need somewhere in the region of £25000. If I managed to save £500 every month (which I am attempting to do) without spending any, which is very difficult, I would be able to do this in about 4 and a half years. But unfortunetly life doesn’t always work like that, sometimes you have to play the long game, and bide your time. This is very difficult to do, but recently I was talking with J Money who runs budgetsaresexy.com blog, (Its amazing, check it out!) and his advice on the question of the long game was basically to break all my goals up into chunks, and celebrate at markers along the way! It doesn’t have to be an expensive celebration, just maybe bake some cakes and have a little party, or go to the cinema or something, but breaking up the goals and celebrating markers along the way definitely will help things! So I wanted to pass that info along! But how do you guys “Play the long game”?

Do you pick up coins or money on the ground?

Ok, this is going to be a "marmite" post, you are either going to love the idea of this, or HATE it, its that derisive a topic, here goes!
Almost every day I find money of some sort on my daily travels, I don't even do it on purpose anymore! But my eyes just seem to find the coins (And in some very rare cases notes!) wherever they are on the pavements/ground etc. I once found a ten pound note as well in a business in Ayr, I reported that I had it, they took my details and said that If noone claimed it by the end of the day then I could keep it! Any more than that though and I would hand it in to the police. Everyone has a different level of tolerance for finding money, from a moral standpoint. To be honest most people don't pick up coins or money from the street anyways, they think its "dirty". Which is 100% TRUE. But only because the money in current circulation has been handled so many times, by so many different people, and kept in hiding places by many different people, so its as dirty as the rest of the money in circulation by my way of thinking. So far THIS YEAR I have found somewhere in the region of £25, in these hard financial times, thats got to be a welcome bonus in 4 months!! Simply from picking up coins in the streets!

So my question to you budgetlifers, is do you pick up coins/notes from the ground/streets/sidewalks? And what is the reason for yes or no answer?? Looking forward to hearing from you budgetlifers!

My next post will be about ways to make money on the side, (not from your day job)