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jimbo747

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  1. Agreed. It IS work and like all work, you need to develop skills and discipline to do it. The people that i know that do it full time and who are earning full time wages, are working 40+ hours a week. It's certainly not an easy option*. The only reason i mentioned it is that people are struggling to find work, and if you are in that position - and are disciplined - it might be enough to keep the wolf from the door while you either get good enough to make a full time living from it, or, for most, find a job. It's my plan B because it offers flexibility. Provided i am in the UK and have an internet connection, i can do it and make a few quid. Hence why it might suit cc'ers. *unless, like me, you dip in and out for fun. For example, last night Ladbrokes sent me an email offering a £25 free football bet. I logged in, found a match, placed my qualifying bet on a E, found a match for my free bet, placed that, and walked away about 45 minutes later with £18 profit. Probably also worth mentioning that as the govt class it as gambling, there's no tax to pay :-)
  2. Which is an insane conclusion. You ARE living on £100 a week, and apparently comfortably, therefore it is possible. To be honest, the others' argument is akin to the argument about child poverty that we read about in the press fairly regularly. If you are in a two child, two adult family and you earn less than £317 a week after housing costs, you're deemed to be living in poverty according to the Government. It's a nonsensical argument, since you can clearly survive on less than this. Yet, news article after news article features a young family with a 40 a day fag habit and Sky TV claiming that they can't feed their kids. I have lived for a short period on less than £700 a month - and that included renting a room. I was able to function, eat, and even visit the pub once a week.
  3. One way in which you could earn a living IF you are disciplined is "matched betting". Google it or look it up on Money Saving Expert. I will describe it here, but please don't jump on me for promoting gambling - i am not. This is emphatically NOT gambling because you are not risking your money. Basically, it is a way to make money playing the bookies taking advantage of bookie bonuses and refund offers. It is not gambling, since your own money is not at stake - PROVIDED you can resist the temptation. I work full time, but i do this maybe 2-3 hours a week and make £200-400 a month with little effort. I know of people who are earning £1500-2000 a month from it as well. Here's an example of how it works: Paddy Power offer a £50 sign up bonus. Sign up, deposit £50 and bet it, and you'll get a free £50 bet. Now that sounds like gambling doesn't it! Except here is what you do. Sites like Betfair offer you a chance to "lay" a horse, or football match. So say, for example, Paddy Power is offering odds of 4-1 on a horse winning. You can "lay" the horse, often for the same price, at Betfair. So you are covering both sides of the bet - if the horse wins, you win £200 at Paddy Power, but lose £200 at Betfair. If the horse loses, you lose £50 on Paddy Power and win £50 on Betfair. The net effect of those two scenarios, though, is that you have neither lost, nor won, any money (more realistically, this so called qualifying bet will cost you £1-2 as a result of small percentage differences in the price between the bookie and the exchange. So having lost only £1-2 of the £50 on this qualifying bet, you now have a free £50 bet from Paddy Power. And you do the same again. You can easily turn this £50 free bet into £30-40 profit without taking any risk with your own money. This is just an example of how to take advantage of sign up bonuses. There are opportunities for sign up bonuses at around 100 online bookies, which would alone net you between £1200-2000, but there are long term strategies that can earn you a regular monthly income from the comfort of your chair. Nearly every football match, golf tournament or horse racing weekend has offers available. I say again, it is not gambling, your own money is not at risk provided you stick to the rules. It is something i am working on perfecting to provide an income for my own move onto the canal. I am not selling any products here, you need to do your own research. I am simply pointing out that for me, this is a viable way to earn some extra cash and possibly enough to survive on, on board provided i have a reliable internet connection, which i know many liveaboards don't. If, however, you are a gambler, or fear you might be, steer clear. Gamblers always lose. James.
  4. Not strictly related to moving onboard, since i stupidly fell in love and remarried, but in the wake of my father's death i went through an odd path of morbidity. I decided to clear out all the rubbish in my life and actually managed to get down to just 5 packing boxes, 2 suitcases and three fishing rods. I told my wife that in the event of my death, the suitcases could go to the charity shop, along with two boxes. Three boxes contained stuff (including tools) that my kids might like, the other two could be taken to the tip. Although it was driven by odd behaviour, i actually derive a lot of happiness from the fact that in a physical sense, my life is relatively uncluttered. I have to admit to buying a classic sailing dinghy since then, so i have a bit more than i did a year ago, but still....
  5. That's a very good point, Arthur. I was having the same conversation about house buying with my new partner a while back. I've owned a house in the past - went with the divorce and i ended up with very little. At 42, i'm not sure i want to get on the ladder again and condemn myself to another decade of working in London (i live 140 miles outside of it) just to make ends meet. I rent, presently, and have £12k in the bank, and i tell you, i've never felt more financially secure. I have friends who are worried sick about meeting their mortgage payments, who lose sleep when the latest job cut is announced. I really don't anymore.
  6. Sorry to hear about your gran's ill health. I lost my 82 year old father last year and (although a relationship ultimately prevented me from moving afloat) it has certainly caused me to reassess what's important in life. I am envious that your partner is as keen to get as float as you are. My partner came on a week's holiday, it rained, she hated it.
  7. Hi, I've got a couple of weeks off in August but my partner and step daughter are going to Greece with family and my own kids aren't about, so i'm at a loose end. Dates are 3rd to 17th. I thought i'd mention that if anybody wants crew to move a boat, i'd be very willing to help out. I'm 42 and fit, so a day of locking doesn't bother me. I don't own a boat, but i have probably totted up 15-20 weeks afloat over the last twenty years or so. I've also done lots of sailing (once owned a 26 footer) and have a Yachtmaster Offshore ticket. Incidentally i'm happy to operate locks all day long, since although i can get a boat in and out of a lock with few problems, i can't promise i won't leave paint behind. About me: 42 years old, masters degree in business, IT project/programme manager by trade. Live in Dorset, work 2-3 days a week in London, have three teenage kids of my own, the outcome of a 15 year (sadly now broken down) marriage and i recently acquired a step daughter. Non smoker, don't really drink, try not to eat late (minor medical problem), shower every day (when possible) and wear deodorant (unlike most of the summer users of the Tube). Love conversation, books, the outdoors, hate football and curry. Oh, and I have never knifed anybody to death in their sleep. In return for a free holiday, my labour, I ask only a bed, clean toilet facilities and no large smelly dogs. I love dogs, just not smelly ones. Obviously if you are a devastatingly attractive under 40 year old single female, i'll have to decline for obvious reasons. Will pay my own board and can travel anywhere in the country. James.
  8. Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass; its about learning to dance in the rain :-). Good luck to you.
  9. It's an interest only mortgage. If the poster has a fixed term interest only then he is in for a big shock when the term ends because banks don't sell them anymore. Unfortunately I don't consider this poster to be at all "fortunate" since, at a time when e as opportunity to pay down equity, he has nt done so. With house prices falling, that could catch him out. The banks are very worried about interest only mortgage products since, in a static or falling market, their risk increases over time. Jimbo.
  10. Thanks folks. What i'm trying to get an idea of is whether the interest rate is similar to a house mortgage (i.e., 4-6%) or more like a loan (8.99-14% etc)?
  11. Hi All, I have no problem raising enough mortgage finance to buy a house, but i have bigger (smaller) plans - a boat. I was just trying to get an idea on the availability of mortgages for boats and an indication of what, in percentage terms, they cost. I understand that you need a 25% deposit and the maximum term is 15 years, but what drives that maximum term (ie, is it down to the buyer or is it limited by amount borrowed? Jimbo.
  12. I'm 41 now, and for 17 of those years I owned a house. A divorce cost me the house, but in many ways I've never been happier. I can afford to rent a really nice place and I can move if I get bored with it. I'm not on the cut yet, because two successive holidays in torrential rain have not convinced my partner. I shall wait until she dies and use the life insurance to buy the boat. She wishes me to tell you that the plan is flawed as I am 9 years older, but theres always the hair dryer in the bath :-). But I'm always interested in the rent vs buy discussion which does indeed seem to be all about retirement. Worth mentioning a story in our local paper about a woman who was deemed to be in need of care and had savings. They decided she needed round the clock care, and she wanted this to be in her own home. They provided this service until the money ran out, then reassessed her and decided that, even though she was now less mobile than she had been, she could make do with a carer visiting once a day to put her to bed at 7pm. Whether this should encourage us to save more or merely accept that the state will abuse us after a lifetime of paying tax I don't know. But I think there is a lot to be said for living life. A big pension pot can't be collected when you are dead. James.
  13. Regardless of the perceived moral rights and wrongs, we need to recognise that the bill for social benefits for those who are "voluntarily" out of work is around £2200 per taxpayer per year. This is unsustainable. Anybody receiving an income should work for it. If you receive £70 a week, then we need 10-15 hours work from you. If you also receive housing benefit, NI payments, etc, then we also need the hours to cover those payments. In short, the total cost of social benefits - including the cost of the people that work in the system - need to be met. That is how every other business on the planet works and that is the way to view social benefits. I do not necessarily agree that people on benefits should be forced into slavery for corporations. There are many, many opportunities in the charity sector and many needs that are not being met. But everybody should contribute. The country can't afford otherwise. A properly implemented scheme would remove, at a stroke, the stigma of being out of work. It would remove abuse - no work, no pay. It would remove the need for draconian rules such as sanctions (which always seem to apply to the professional who has worked all hs life, but not the people that abuse the system). And it would remove the focus on terrorising the genuinely infirm, which seems to be the government's focus right now. But, as usual, it is the left who are obstructing progress over a misplaced concern for "rights". Jimbo
  14. Hi, a brave step (but not a stupid one) and I congratulate you. We looked at this many times after years of canal holidays, but my then wife wasn't keen. I have no advice to offer, only my congratulations on being unafraid. Jimbo
  15. Hi, I'm sure this question has been asked before, and I'm equally sure somebody has answered it, but i am beggared if i can find it now i want to. If it is not possible to find a residential mooring in an area, is getting a leisure mooring - say in a marina - but then spending 3-4 nights a week actually on the cut workable? Twisting the rules a little i know. Jimbo
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