Inside a Tiny House

Inside a Tiny House

Have you ever wondered what the inside of a tiny house looks like?

Wonder no more!

NYK has managed to meet up with Mark and Jen from TinyHouseUK and fully investigate what tiny houses are really like…

I love them!

Read all about it and see the photos here

Day 18 of Making it in March is about making Progress

It's Great Saving Money but we Need to Earn it First

Please note that this blog post is not selling you anything, it is simply giving you the story of Frugaldom so far.

Over the past 15+ years I have been involved in many money saving projects, worked within many industries and, throughout, maintained my status as a self-employed individual. Along the way, making significant income has never been my priority - I don't know why, I am simply not motivated by money. Getting the best bang for my buck, however, is a definite motivator when it comes to spending... when needs must, you understand.

Recently, I was sharply reminded that buying a fixy-up house for cash and then focussing almost all of my attention on how to develop the property in the most cost effective way may not be the best thing to do, especially if I intend actually living here for any length of time. For starters, property development works ONLY if the completed project is sold at a rate that both recoups all original investment and generates sufficient profits to warrant the equivalent of a fulltime income over the period of the project. Hmm...

As I said recently, we are now 3 years into what I consider to be a 5-year project but while concentrating on this, I have taken my eye off my own long term financial prospects. Creating a self-sustaining microholding is all well and good but the economic and political climate in which we live dictates that we must deal with hard cash. Put bluntly, no amount of berries picked from the fruit garden nor eggs laid by the poultry will pay ordinary household bills, nor will they pay the costs of maintaining my self-employed status. Cue some speedy research!

NYK, Frugaldom on Facebook

I haven't focussed much attention of Facebook but am assured that we 'need' to be there because 'there' is where everyone else is, apparently. If you use Facebook, please consider visiting my NYK/Frugaldom page and clicking the 'like' button so I know people are seeing it. Thanks.

NYK's Scottish multimedia sites preparing for upgrade

The NYK websites have been hanging around since the late 90s, changing now and again in between years of neglect during the more trying times that have included divorce, 10 house moves, daughter's engagement and then wedding, the birth of 2 grand children and the tragic, sudden deaths of more family and friends that I could ever have imagined possible. Just staying financially afloat has been the main focus, but so far so good. Having never had the security of a well-paid professional career, I can't miss it - hence the reason I think I'd feel cash rich if I ever managed to earn myself the UK's minimum wage!

Earn a living, I must! And that's why I now need to spend so much time pulling everything back together again, in an effort to earn the income that I need in order to budget for my frugal lifestyle of the future. I decided to call UK2, my web hosting company, on their 0800 free phone number after logging into my long-suffering control page. I was shocked at how out-dated everything was! But I couldn't believe my luck when I saw the half price sale for upgraded web services, so an investment has been made! I'm calling it an investment because I am hoping that the new and fully interactive site will pay for itself then begin earning me a small income before the house project is completed.

Fast approaching 50 and no longer a tech-savvy frugal babe, I've had to employ the services of a professional to pander to my every online need! We are currently working on design concepts that can encompass everything from blogs, forums, social media and PR/marketing/advertising opportunities to the online book shop and arty stuff, so it's a real challenge. (Sneaky peek at Wilbur, my flying pig, trying out a new page layout.)

Working on the new interactive version

Now we all know I blog and those who know me personally know I could talk for Scotland if given the opportunity, so communicating with the outside world is always a major concern of mine - I live a rural lifestyle of frugality but I place a very high value on social interaction - I'm sure it's what keeps us sane when things get tough. I've been using Twitter for a long time but only relatively recently decided to link it up with the frugaldom challenges. I love my number-crunching, so I decided to do a quick bit of research into how necessary it is to have a decent Twitter following... and proved my own point! Social media is not the be all and end all of succeeding in building yourself a customer base for your self-employment. See for yourself...

Researching aspects of social media

I won't name the businesses connected to the above figures but, suffice to say, you wouldn't expect many serious start-ups or home-based entrepreneurs to wish themselves into the unenviable position of the final listing - would you? I would!

Contrary to everything that the marketing and business gurus are saying, that tiny 260 followers Twitter account belongs to the Startups Award for 'Home-based freelance Business of the Year 2013'! I wonder if Catherine Kennard is a frugal living fan?

In conclusion, today's 'Making in March' has been all about making progress towards becoming self-sustainable in both home and working life by making plans for my frugal business empire.

The big question is, can I do all of this without incurring any debt and, at the same time, fit in my next crazy mini-adventure with my wacky friends? I am running out of time to chase the aurora borealis this winter, so I think we should infuse a little more excitement into this frugal life before the time comes to spend every minute in the garden. Better still, if the new website plays nicely on my Kindle or iPod then I may not even need to come indoors to check on my work status this summer! How great would that be?

Already setting budgets, checking travel costs, accommodation costs and route options while comparing notes with willing frugal friends! :)

Graphic above courtesy of http://www.blessedaretheweird.com/ and UK2 is an affiliated link. In their favour, their 0800 Freephone help is great, especially for someone of us whose knowledge of anything tech doesn't even stretch as far as working the TV remote control!

What is a Frugaleur?

A Frugaleur is a frugal living, self-sufficientish career choice, a frugal entrepreneur, a job with many hats!

Recently, I overheard a heated debate. Quite frankly, I was horrified by some of the far-fetched misconceptions people have about anyone attempting self sufficiency or anything associated with being frugal. For confidentiality reasons, I won't disclose the identites of those involved but, suffice to say, I think you're all a bunch of wallies for being so small-minded. Frugal living is NOT about a bunch of drop-outs avoiding work and not paying taxes, nor is it about staying home and depending on State Benefits.

Working from home means exactly that - you work from your home. Yes, you can work whatever hours suit you and take as much time off as you want but when you're not working, you're not earning. There are no state benefits or statutory sick pay if you're ill, there's no holiday pay and there's no unemployment benefit or income support of any description when work is in short supply. There's no final salary and no company pension, we still need to do annual accounts, pay income tax when due and pay National Insurance contributions. That's the price you pay for being self-employed, debt free and having savings in the bank. It's also a great position to be in when that great opportunity presents itself.

If anyone says to me that they hate going out to work, hate sharing the responsibility of being a parent with some stranger, hate spending hours commuting or hate never having any time to do things for themselves or to spend with their families then my answer to that is, work out how to afford to QUIT! Set your sites on the lifestyle that you want and aim beyond working to pay off debts - aim to live life. The majority of people will reply along the lines of, "I can't afford to give up work," then blame it on a host of other reasons - need the money, too many bills, too many debts... you get the picture. What they really mean is that they aren't prepared to make the necessary changes. The other thing about this scenario is the fact that many people just don't know how much they are actually earning and, worse still, how much their jobs are COSTING THEM!

Let's start off with the very basics - I'm talking about those who pay basic rate income tax or the minimum earners in our society. The simple reason for this is that I haven't actually witnessed any debate with anyone earning a top salary: they all seem to love their jobs and have stay-at-home partners representing them in the parenthood/child-rearing stakes. These are the lucky ones, but they studied for it and they've worked for it, so leave them alone. These are the very people who make it possible for other people to work and earn over £100 per week in the UK without paying any taxes!

So let's look at all the career options that are rolled into just being a frugal living, self-sufficientish homeworker. I have used the Prospects and Wikipedia websites for the basis of my speedy research.

Entrepreneur - a person who is willing to launch a new venture, project or enterprise and accept full responsibility for the outcome.

• Frugaleur - a person who is willing to launch a new frugal venture, project or enterprise and accept full responsibility for the outcome.

Quantity surveyor - manages costs relating to building and civil (as opposed to military) engineering projects, from the initial calculations to the final figures. Surveyors seek to minimise the costs of a project and enhance value for money, while still achieving the required standards and quality.

• Frugaleur - manages costs relating to building a safe and secure homelife, remaining civil throughout and engineering a Frugaleurs seek to minimise the costs of running the household and enhance value for money, while still achieving the required standards and quality.

Project Manager - the person responsible for accomplishing the stated project objectives. Key project management responsibilities include creating clear and attainable project objectives, building the project requirements, and managing the triple constraint for projects, which are cost, time, and quality (also known as scope). The project can be anything.

• Frugaleur - the person responsible for accomplishing the stated project objectives. Key project management responsibilities include creating clear and attainable project objectives, building the project requirements, and managing the triple constraint for projects, which are cost, time, and quality (also known as scope). This particular project is frugal living.

Accountant - a practitioner of accountancy (UK) or accounting (US), which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.

• Frugaleur - is responsible for finances and accounts relating to the household, measuring, disclosing or providing assurance about the financial information that helps them make decisions about allocating resources (the income).

Buyer - primary responsibility is obtaining the highest quality goods at the lowest cost. This usually requires research, writing requests for bids, proposals or quotes, and evaluating all information received.

• Frugaleur - primary responsibility is obtaining the highest quality goods at the lowest cost. This usually requires research, visiting all nearby supermarkets and stores, writing requests for bids, proposals or quotes, joining trading groups like LETS and evaluating all information received.

Analyst - an individual of whom the primary function is a deep examination of a specific, limited area such as finance. Analysts normally use spreadsheets and accumulated data to arrive at their final conclusions. Eg - budget analyst.

• Frugaleur - an individual of whom the primary function is a deep examination of a specific, limited area such as finance. Frugaleurs normally use spreadsheets and accumulated data to arrive at their final conclusions. Eg - budget analyst.

Auditor - carries out an evaluation of a person, organization, system, process, enterprise, project or product. The term most commonly refers to accounting, but similar concepts also exist in project management, quality management, and energy conservation.

• Frugaleur - carries out an evaluation of the entire frugal living and working project. The term most commonly refers to accounting, but also project management, quality management and energy conservation within the frugal household.

Chief Executive, Director, Administrator, Secretary, Dietitian, Chef, Housekeeper, Cleaner, Gardener, Interior Designer, Decorator, Caretaker... look up the definitions of any, or all, of these careers and you'll find something relevant to the job of running a frugal household. There are many more and we need to harness basic skills relevant to them all. On top of that, we also need to earn the cash that pays the bills in the first place, whether that be by selling or providing services (of the legal variety, let's not get too carried away). So, next time someone suggests to you that frugal living is just taking the easy way out, ask them what their job description includes and how much of what they earn is theirs for the keeping.

Salary - £XX,000

Deduct income tax

Deduct National Insurance

Deduct pension payments and any other deducted at source costs

Deduct cost of suitable clothing and footwear

Deduct cost of health and beauty - you know it's true

Deduct cost of travelling to and from workplace (car, train, bus, taxi etc)

Deduct cost of lunches, coffees and snacks

Deduct cost of 'chipping in' for gifts and nights out

Deduct cost of child care

Deduct cost of convenience foods when there's no time to cook from scratch

Deduct cost of eating out

Deduct cost of membership fees - there are usually some

Deduct cost of foreign holidays

Deduct cost of finance on the reliable car you may need to replace
Actual Salary = £much, much LESS

Analyse the true cost of your job before you even contemplate calculating a responsible budget for your household. Factor in the regular savings so you've adequately covered all the major spending blips, like family occasions, celebratory events, holidays, extra car costs, annual veterinary fees for pet vaccinations, overnight visits, social events, concerts, unscheduled garage/veterinary/dental bills...

I'm not even going to attempt to guesstimate all of the above, as they vary so greatly depending on location, work and lifestyle. The bottom line is that many people still have debt that can easily spiral out of control if the worst happens and their main source of income disappears. The amount on any pay cheque means nothing unless that money is budgeted wisely. (I'll bet even the Beckhams can't claim to be completely debt free.)

So, in conclusion to anyone who may think that an attempt at making frugal living a fulltime job is a 'cop-out' and that it's about dropping out of the rat race, think again... being a frugal entrepreneur is something entirely different.

It doesn't cost much to stay debt free and accumulate savings, but it does take hard work and determination to succeed.

Remember - when you stay ahead of the game you can drop back into it anytime.

Are you a Frugal Entrepreneur?

Join us in the fun, frugal forums at
http://www.frugalforums.co.uk