June – 10 Money Saving Tips

For those of you who live in the Northern Hemisphere, June is usually a lovely month. Here in Scotland, It is a month of long days and short nights. Just at the minute it is getting dark after 10pm and dawn around 4am. The dawn chorus does a very good job of waking me up,… Continue reading June – 10 Money Saving Tips

Portrush and Creativity

As some of you may know, one of the things I enjoy is Casting Silver. I love the creativity. I use ‘found’ objects, be it stones, twigs, pieces of bark. Basically anything. So wherever I am, particularly when I am on holiday, I look for things which would make great pieces of jewellery. This week, I was… Continue reading Portrush and Creativity

Moving from Procrastination to Time Management

  Procrastination is the name of the game. I am amazed to think of the amount of work I used to get through. One day’s work would keep me busy for a week today. E-mails were a drag on my life with literally hundreds coming in each day, of which only a fraction were important.… Continue reading Moving from Procrastination to Time Management

Today it was sunny

For those of you who don’t live in Scotland, you may not understand what a wonderful statement it is to say ‘today it was sunny’. For six months of the year, October to March, the hours of darkness far outweigh the hours of light. Frequently at midday on a February morning, we have the lights on,… Continue reading Today it was sunny

FIRE – You’re Financially Independent – What next?

Beach Time

You wake up one day and you realise you have done it. You have achieved FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early). The Holy Grail. Life is certainly going to be different from now on. But What Next? I achieved FIRE aged 55. Pretty old by today’s standards, but as no-one had ever told me about FIRE… Continue reading FIRE – You’re Financially Independent – What next?

April 2017 – End of Year Finances

My Investment Return Rate

The end of the financial year in the UK was on 5 April 2017. For me, this is the time to take a look at my year end finances and review how my investments performed. It is also a time to sit down and start getting the paperwork ready for the UK taxman….. DISCLAIMER : I am… Continue reading April 2017 – End of Year Finances