Steel Kitten

Creating wealth

You'll have to forgive me because I'm going to write a rather serious post today. Ordinarily I'd say life's serious enough and let's have a bit of fun but last night I attended a free seminar on Creating Wealth by a guy called Marcus de Maria, a shares trader and senior member of Tony Robins leadership team, and I think it was interesting enought to share it with you all.

I'd heard about this guy's 2 hour seminar through my business coach and I thought I'd give it a whirl. I was expecting a hard sell for something else (because let’s face it you don’t get something for nothing) and I wasn’t disappointed. It was designed to persuade you to go on one of his Wealth Workout courses at an ‘investment’ of about £1,200 but that’s no bad thing and certainly nothing to hold against him. The guy has to make a living and teaching people how to create a life of wealth for themselves through his courses are how he does it. 

Now maybe you’re wondering why frugal money saving zealot over here chose to go to a seminar and risk being so swept away in enthusiasm I would part with that amount of cash. Hand in hand with money saving goes a knowledge of wealth creation and I know that even if I pick up just one novel idea from a 2 hour free seminar and apply to my life it’s been worth it. Working hard and saving will not bring me financial freedom – the world isn’t the same place my parents grew up in and if I bumble along believing it I’ll have my nose to the grindstone until I’m 80. Somehow sooner or later Martin and I are going to have to invest our money somewhere. In this case I picked up two things so valuable it was well worth my time attending. Marcus did two things: he reinforced the need for me to take action about something I knew was a problem but had been ignoring and he opened my eyes to the possibility of being able to predict the course of my financial life.

What did Marcus reinforce?

He went through some of the psychological reasons why people aren’t wealthy and may never be so. Many of these I already knew and have actually been in denial about for sometime. However, by bringing them to my attention again Marcus has reinforced the need for me to do something about my very powerful but completely negative beliefs about money that I believe are holding me back. We all have them. In fact I don’t know anyone that doesn’t.

Recognise any of these?

• Rich people are unethical
• If you have a flash car you must be a w****r
• Money doesn’t grow on trees
• Money is the root of all evil (actually the proper quote is from the bible and says “The LOVE of money is the root of all evil”)
• I’ll probably fail anyway
• If I make a lot of money I will lose my friends
• My spouse/partner will get jealous and leave me
• If I have too much I’ll be taking it away from someone else
• I come from a working class family and my parents would think I was getting above myself and are better than them
• People with money are reckless spendthrifts

Deep down, all of them relate to self-esteem. Part of becoming wealthy is ferreting out these deeply ingrained beliefs, replacing them with positive money beliefs and continually reinforcing them everyday. Negative beliefs are put there by your school, your friends, your parents, religion and of course the media. I firmly believe that many of our money beliefs go right back through the centuries and were started by religious leaders. Tell the salt of the earth that being poor is noble and their reward will be in heaven and then get them to fill up the collection plate on Sunday. Did you know that some of the richest people and establishments in the world are religious? Think about all the prime, valuable real estate that places of religious worship occupy…...

What did Marcus open my eyes to?

He went through a way of predicting with reasonable accuracy when I would be financially independent. That is, when I reach the point where working is a choice not a necessity. Despite financial independence being on the top of most people’s wish list very few actually achieve it in their lifetime. Predicting when, if ever, it will happen to you apears to be a reasonably simple process but I imgaine takes a while to complete as you have to gather all of the figures together. It involves doing a complete a statement of your assets and liabilities, working out all of your income and expenses, estimating your income - both from your main career and from stock and shares - for the next 1-5 then 6-10 years and then adding in your savings.

A bit of jiggery pokery with the figures reveals the exact year you will become financially independent. Now, I’ve kind of glossed over this bit because there was a lot of information flying around and I was trying to get the overall picture not the minutiae detail. But the main point I got from it was this: there is a way to predict the year you will financially independent and once you have this you can change the date and bring it forward by increasing the percentages at each level.

For example, most people roughly estimate a pay increase of about 5% a year so you can work out near as dammit what your income will be should you stay in the same job for the next 5-10 years. If you made a conscious effort to increase this beyond 5% every year, either by for example earning promotions and bonuses or finding another higher paid job, you add more money to the pot and you move forward faster. Same thing for saving and investing. Increase the amount you put in and find low-risk ways to increase the percentage interest etc and you bring the date forward again.

You get the picture.

For me this was an eye opener and I really need to find out more. Which is why I’m sat here trying to decide whether Martin and I should invest £1,200 to get a thorough grounding in all things financial and kickstart us out of the financial rut we're plodding along in.

It might sound strange that someone who professes to be 'green' should want to make lots of money and be financially independent. Shouldn't I be turning my back on money and professing it a thing of evil? Well no. You see, I've realised recently that money isn't bad. In fact money is completely neutral. It's the hands that hold it that do the damage. The more money I make the more good I can do. Sure, if I have no money I can give of my time but I only have so much of that. Time doesn't build a school house or a fresh water supply in Africa. You can sit there all day wishing for it but without the money to buy the tools and materials it isn't going to happen.

So I'm opting to learn as much about money as I can and the way it works so I can give the maximum back as and when it's needed.

The curse of always wanting more stuff....

Despite several episodes in my younger life where the lure of the credit card got the better of me, I have for the most part been a reasonably frugal sort of person. I certainly could never have gone freelance if I hadn't have been because of the need to have a stash of money behind you to start up.

It hasn't always been so. There was a time when I was like a thing possessed on the High Street racking up debt on numerous credit cards. It took me a while to notice that my pattern of spending coincided with the need to feel better about something. I would shop to cheer myself up when something happened or I had a bad day, but the pleasure was short lived. Once the sparkle had faded off the purchase I was back out there trying to get it back by buying something else. My lightbulb moment came at the back end of 2003. If I didn't stop spending and start saving I would be doomed to a life in an office living paycheck to paycheck and would never be able to get the freedom that I desperately craved. So...one day I just stopped and went cold turkey. I occupied my time with crafty things and hunted secondhand shops and car boot sales for the dirt cheap things I needed for my projects. Of course even that had to be tempered. I could still spend a fortune in a second hand shop on things I didn't need so I had to be ever vigilant. If it's not needed it's not a bargain. It's just a waste of money.

My frugal life has to a certain extent affected my friendships. I no longer pop out for a day's shopping with one particular friend - I realised to maintain a frugal outlook I had to avoid temptation. Sort of like when an alcoholic goes on the wagon they have to avoid the situations that could cause them drink, which includes walking past anywhere that they can buy alcohol from. I had to avoid walking past places where I could spend money. Even at Christmas I woul buy things online within my budget and never trawl the high street looking for stuff. It was just too much temptation. That friendship never really recovered and we don't see each other anymore. She needed a partner in crime and I resigned the part.

It's not easy turning your back on consumerism and opting for a different way of life. Sometimes friends and family fall by the wayside in a clash of values. I still get pangs every now and then when I spot something gorgeous at Cath Kidston that I like or walk past a shop window and see something I love, but I've built up a resistance to it over the last 3 years so I'm usually able to fend off temptation. Besides there's always this thought in the back of mind that I have the smarts to be able to find something similar, if not identical, sooner or later secondhand or make something similar myself. And if I need any other motivation I look at my financial statements - I'm still paying off a loan and credit card harking back to those bad old days.

I guess part of growing up is realising you have to control your impulses for your greater long term health and happiness. The other part of growing up is actually doing just that.

Camping gets such a bad rap

The need for a cheap break away to celebrate Martin's birthday and get some quality time away from our psychotic insommniac cats saw us camping this week in Padstow, Cornwall. Now interestingly, when I told a friend I was going camping for a few days she wrinkled her nose and said: "God how primitive. I do nothing less than 4* when I go away."

Now don't get me wrong I'm all for a bit of creature comfort and let's face it camping has had it's fair share of horror stories about the conditions some unfortunate holiday makers have endured. Thankfully these are few and far between nowadays as many campsites have had to pull their socks up or face health and safety enquiries. But I'm also not for trusting claims over the number number of stars hotels and B&Bs boasts. I've lost count of number of times I've stayed in an establishment that claimed to be of a certain standard and been woefully lacking and not worth the money paid.

Am I the only one to notice this? And all the rules and regulations???? You have to check in at a certain time, check out by a certain time, listen to people running around the corridors drunk and yelling at 2am, take your meals when they tell you to and - this is especially true of B&Bs - follow complicated orders about using the hot water at certain times and not messing up the counterpane (yes...I have experienced counterpane hell just as Bill Bryson wrote about in Notes from Small Country - see my booklist). Excuse me but I've paid a lot of money for this room and if I want to sleep in until 10am and then eat why can't I? If I want to mosey on back to my room after 11pm why do I have to have a key to get in the building? Or worse be locked out because the place has been shut up for the night???

Camping on the other hand offers much more freedom, flexibility and, off course, is much cheaper. You get up when you want (no last minute hurtling to the breakfast room before it shuts at 8:30am), go to bed when you want (no locked doors at 10pm), eat when you choose to and go about as you please without worrying about getting back within a very small window of time to guarantee hot water for a shower (yep...had that one too at a B&B and as Bill correctly observed it usually coincides with the times the Proprietor wants you out of the place!).

But most importantly, camping teaches you that your holiday is what you make of it. You get the chance to plan your time the way you want and set your own agenda without a mass of rules and regulations to take into consideration. That's not to say there aren't any rules and regulations, there are. But most of the existing rules on campsites are there so you don't negatively impact on other campers enjoyment and they don't annoy you in return. Not revving your car engine or running around drunk and screaming after 10pm is an obvious one bearing in mind the only thing separating you from a campsite full of irate campers is a thin piece of nylon material. In those circumstances it's actually for your own protection otherwise you might be lynched. Likewise disposing of your rubbish thoughtfully and not having a raging campfire is common sense when you consider that thin piece of nylon material isn't fire retardant. A stray spark, a light breeze and some unhappy camper is going to be irretrievably melted to their tent.

And of course the big one for me - Camping is Cheap. Peanuts compared to hotels and B&Bs. As long as you do your homework, pick a good site and are organised and capable of planning, you'll probably pay between £10-20 a night (depending on location) including electrical hook-up. If you're a money-saving kind of guy or gal and can cook on a barby or primus you're laughing.

So, if you're looking to get started in camping head down to Cornwall, especially Padstow if you're a cooking fan. We like to call it Padstein due to the ever present Mr Rick Stein and his unfeasibly large number of businesses in this seaside town. We counted a takeaway fish and chip shop, a sit down fish and chip cafe next door to it, a delicatessen next to that, a cooking school above the three, his famous Seafood Restaurant and Hotel nearby, a patisserie and another general cafe in the back streets. I also think there was a cook shop nearby selling cooking equipment, but such was the sheer number of Stein businesses surrounding me I've gone a bit hazy.

Clever businessman that he is, he sited his takeaway fish and chip shop directly next to the town's coach park which disgorged huge amounts of hungry tourists every day around lunchtime. I'm afraid to say that Martin and I did succumb to buying a pack of chips for a snack, only because we wanted to crow about how we'd had a £1.35 box of chips and they were lacking. Except they weren't. They were genuinely bloody gorgeous - large, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside -  and I had to be dragged away by Martin as I wanted to buy a second lot with a big piece of fish and trough the lot despite having had lunch. So hats off to you Mr Stein - despite our skepticism your made us part with our hard earned cash and actually enjoy doing so!

Our campite of choice was Dennis Cove Campsite and I have to say it's one of the cleanest and quietist sites we've ever been to. Only for families and couples so if you're in a group or play Stairway to Heaven half the night on your electric guitar to help relax you forget about it. The proprietor Simon is lovely, especially when we ran the car battery flat pumping up the airbed. Ok, actually we ran the battery flat using the aforementioned wonderful car kettle after we pumped up the airbed, so technically it wasn't the kettle's fault but we still didn't think it was so wonderful after that. Simon cheerfully produced jump leads and dispensed the vital juice we needed to hare around the countryside like crazed weasels on heat visiting The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Trevarno Gardens and the Newquay Marine Aquarium. All in all a fabulous time was had culminating on our last day with a pasty for lunch in a secluded beach cove in Padstow.

As the tide was in the miles and miles of golden sandy beach aren't visible on this side, only on the other.

 

Martin contemplates the long drive home

Practising his Prince Charles pose

A snuffle a day keeps the debt collectors away

Looking around the house over the last few weeks it's clear that Martin and I snuffle an average of one item a day. If you take into account the numerous items discovered during car boot sales and charity shops it's quite staggering what the pair of us bring into the house during a normal week. A couple of days ago I went through my plans for overhauling my health with Martin, including starting some form of cardio exercise which doesn't involve schlepping round the village in sandals and sunglasses munching on aero bars from the shop. Lo and behold, Martin brings in a brand new exercise walking machine. One of his friends had it sat in his garage, unopened for the last few years and wanted the space. Bless his heart hubbie went straight away after work to the guy's home and picked it up. Cost to us - nothing.

Then a couple of weeks ago we were casually discussing adding a water feature when we overhaul one of the stone beds into a rock garden. Yesterday he walks in from work with a plastic pond mold under his arm. A couple on his delivery round are emigrating and getting their house into saleable condition, which involved dragging out the pond in the back garden. One excellent skip snuffle later and the pond liners will get a second lease of life in our garden.

Now, I'm a great one for ruffling through skips and junk piles and Martin has picked up the habit from me. I have developed a very thick skin with which to weather the scornful gazes and general piss-taking that other people heap on me for what they perceive as 'bin-raiding'. I'm afraid it goes deep with me, right through to early childhood and being taken to jumble sales, markets and fetes with parents and grandparents. Experience has taught me that most people buy expensive new things that depreciate with age and are not worth the money. If there is something I want, I only have to wait a few months and sure enough someone will be trying to get rid of it, usually brand new, boxed and at a bargain price.

But overall there is a method to my madness, an end goal which is now in sight. My love of cheap/free vintage hunting means I spend my money on important things like paying off the mortgage in 10 years time instead of 20 and investing so I can retire in my mid-forties. What I save on not buying new I plough back into doing up my house to increase it's value. I pass by the shop with that gorgeous retro print wrap dress for £60 and keep an eye out on ebay for the same dress that's going for peanuts because someone bought it on impulse and never wore it.

And that is priceless.

Money Saving Expert

It's Thursday today and every Thursday an email from Martin Lewis'  - Money Saving Expert - arrives in my inbox. His website is a mecca for all things money saving and has the most incredible forum where thousands of people congregate to help each other out with advice on saving money, getting out of debt, cheap utilities providers, the best deals on consumer items, you name it, it's on there.

Casting my eyes over the Quick Tips section I came accros: "Debt Free Wannabe chat of the week: The '101 days to change our life ' challenge" and couldn't resist a little peek. Well, what I read there has started something. A poster called Swishstar wrote about how she was hitting thirty in three months and had taken stock of herself and didn't like what she saw. This started a flood of posts from people saying "You're describing my life!!!!".

One poster, Molanole, said something so true I burst out laughing because she could have been talking about me! She said:

I never imagined I would be like this (pale, fat ahem voluptuous, tired, needing to visit the gym a bit lot more) either. I always thought I would be like a chic Parisienne, all sleek hair, pencil skirts and heels, elegantly drinking coffee outside a cute little cafe, reading Le Monde.

Ooo la la....I always wondered how French women stayed so slim eating croissants and jam for breakfast while the rest of us who do morph into unhealthy lumps. Wasn't there a book called something like "why French women don't diet"? More research required....as well as info on the whereabouts of a decent pencil skirt. Can't find one that fits my hourglass figure for love nor money....

Hurrah! First car boot of the season....

....and a horribly early 5am start in the rain to get there when the doors opened (of course a two hour snooze was in order when I got back) , but worth it to find these babies !!!!!

A £50 pair of Kickers for £3, worn once but the seller couldn't get along with trying to walk in them and didn't like them anymore (has she not heard of taking them back? Nutter....).Her loss. I cleaned them up, inside and out, and have been wearing them all day. So furry, so comfy...so me.

Other bargains of the day include loads of big balls of knitting wool, including the most disgusting lime green colour that I was forced to take because it would have been the last one left, another vintage needlecraft book with fab illustrations on crochet stitches (which I desperately need because my crochet squares are triangular) and two huge blue glazed pots for the garden for a tenner. Martin really went to town and bought a large number of black and white films on WWII so he was a very happy camper. Just the thing to brighten a grotty afternoon with a generous help of a cream tea. Yes...I did scones this afternoon...proper ones, with jam and a vat of clotted cream.....ahhhhhhh. Bliss. Diet? What diet?

Never bargain with yourself....

Wow. You can tell from the way I said business was a priority two days ago I really meant it. Which is why I came off the computer, had a sleep then went out in the garden. Hmmm..I think the link between my brain and my body has been severed. My brain tells the body to go do one thing, my body takes the brain somewhere else entirely. I find I'm making bargains with myself all the time.

Brain: "Just one hour of writing and then you can go in the garden."

Body: "No. I'm going now."

Brain: "Unless you earn money you'll starve. Just do one hour."

Body: "30 minutes?"

Brain: "How about two bouts of 30 minutes with a garden break in between?"

Body: "Ok" (body wanders off)

Brain: "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"

Body: "I'm having the garden break now and then doing two 30 minute bouts after that"

Brain: "AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH."

What IS this blog actually about?

When I first started this blog I was worried I wouldn't have anything to say, that I would dry up after a few days and let it die a prolonged death. Nothing could be further from the truth. If anything I have too much to say and use it like a journal, so this morning I went back and edited some of my posts that were a bit tedious or rambled everywhere without focus to make them easier to read. Despite the fact I'm a marketing writer and could use this blog to link to my business, I think instead this is going to be a travel through thrifting (as the Americans call it), bargain hunting and my own personal development. My business was taking over my life and I like the fact that this blog is completely removed from it and I can keep a record of my accomplishments and mess-ups. I find it holds me accountable and its difficult to squirm out of doing things when it's in black and white.

It's another grim day in Northamptonshire and I have many things to do, mostly housekeeping tasks both personal and business, and not much inclination to do them. I had a very early morning start yesterday and it seems to be affecting me today despite a decent night's sleep. My neck gland's are huge again and my joints are stiff and sore. I'm hoping the new pilates class I'm going to today will help sort out the stiffness after a few weeks, but I must stop trying to do some much every day. I'm getting back to the same level of activity that made me ill. I keep repeating to myself, one thing at a time, one thing at a time.

And right now business is the priority.

"oops I did it again..."

...it's unforgiveable. I tried to walk past three charity shops today but my feet walked in there of their own accord. I was desperately trying to stop them but some strange frenzy took over. I was knackered after my meeting this morning and just wanted to sleep so badly, but no. Sick and twisted little bargain hunter brain wouldn't let me.

So the sum total of my frenzied pickings, which includes the two bits of fabric above and book below, is:

A freakin' huge piece of flowery fabric (£1, intended project: patchwork summer tote bag), a lairy orange silk scarf (50p, intended project: handle for a lairy knitted handbag), an excellent book on border perennials (unread by the look of it and just in time as I'm planning two new borders), a book on soapmaking (10p: not my thing but it might fetch something on eBay. Ok, Ok IT WAS ONLY 10p I COULDN'T LEAVE IT BEHIND) a vintage publication on knitting, crochet and macrame (10p, six - yes six - individual granny squares paterns and one granny square afgan pattern. Have I died and gone to heaven or what...), 4 balls of knitting wool (£2.00, intended project: granny squares practice or ripple)

And finally, just peaking at the bottom of the photo to tease you, the creme de la creme, a vintage 1963 embroidery book (50p, intended project: none, just wanted it because of the turkey on the front and to sniff the old printing ink).

Things I left behind and now regret deeply:

1) A deep mahogany-coloured chunky hand-knitted sholder warmer with huge rosette tie on the front. Only £3 - what a twit not to stash that one immediately.

2) A vintage 70s single patchwork quilt in grandma's rose garden (hexagon variation) design. It was £10, which is usually my entire budget for a morning's snuffling, but it was special. How could I have been so stupid?

Anyway, I'm now going to bed for two hours ( well 1hr 45 mins to sleep and 15 minutes to kick my backside over the things I didn't get) in preparation for an evening of intense listings of my old attic crap onto eBay to see if I can make my target to buy my laptop.

A big day today...

...my beloved had decided it's time for his sports car project to go to a new home. The Locost 7 has been scrubbed, polished and photographed in alluring poses and is currently listed for sale. Check out the mechanic at work. Phwoar....what a hottie!!!Come over here with that polishing rag.

I attended my first business-related function on Monday night since I became ill and managed to stay awake yay! But was completely zonked out when I got home at 9pm though and slept like the dead. Of course instead of resting for the week, tomorrow morning I'm going for the big one - the early morning networking meeting - up at 5:30am, danish pastries in the gob by 7:00am. This will either kill me or cure me. Fingers crossed I'm not dead on my feet by 10am as it's half price listing day on ebay and some of my previous little vintage finds need to go on there. I'm trying to snuffle away some money so I can buy a laptop and write in the garden or down the library (on the green by the pub etc etc), instead of being stuck indoors like a furtive mole blinking in the darkness.

Yet again I've also managed to purloin more fabric and textiles, this time from my parents. Their ex-next door neighbour was turfing out a huge box of velvet curtains during their house move and luckily they don't fit any any of their windows so poor relation and frugal zealot over here inherits the lot - 4 large, long drop pairs, two sets in wine (a little faded on the edges) and two in sage green. My father tried to persuade me I didn't really want them but as far as the idea of throwing material away goes he might as well been talking to a deaf person. My mother also gave me a bag of tablecloths, napkins and sofa covers with embrodery and applique so as soon as I have those cleaned and pressed I shall take a photo for The Album.

One day I will actually do something with them. Although it has crossed my mind that I might only be in it for the thrill of the chase.