Here’s a few FAQs which might set the scene….. Please feel free to ask any further questions.
When did you start blogging and why?
We were on a long car journey in January 2010 and got talking about the different and new things we could do. I decided to be a blogger as a “project for the year” but I didn’t have a clue what I was doing – it just seemed a good idea at the time.
The first blog was a bit random and all over the place. I learnt pretty quickly from the huge numbers of mistakes that I made; inspite of them I used to get 15,000 – 20,000 page views each month. This one, Maturing Well is the newest and I’m still learning. Some of the posts might also be published on one of my other blogs.
Blogging is a great outlet. It beats coming home from the office and falling asleep in front of the TV. I can also spread the word about cycling, running, staying in good shape and so on. If someone likes that, great. If we can interact a bit, that’s even better.
What about this blog?
I started this blog in April 2018 at the grand old age of 56. I had just about decided to quit my job and be on FIRE, that is Financially Independent, Retired Early and this blog will hopefully be helpful to readers. For myself, it’ll be like a journal of what’s happening.
Retiring at 56, humm does that mean you’re super rich?
This is a fair question which quite a few friends and acquaintances asked me. While I was working out my notice in my job, a number of colleagues really quizzed me on this as I had a fairly average salary within the Council. The answer is NO. We are ordinary people. We have been careful with money over the years (subject to a few isolated mistakes, see below) and we have also had the benefit of a superb independent financial advisors – we couldn’t have done this FIRE thing without them!
We haven’t had any huge windfalls, we don’t do the Lottery either: as I said, we are just ordinary people. I’ve done a blog post about why playing the Lottery would be seriously wrong.
What’s your biggest financial mistake?
Actually I can think of two mistakes. One was buying a Saab car. Sure it was nice to drive, fast, comfortable, quiet, smooth and safe. It was seriously a expensive money pit. I bought it for £10,000 as a three year old car (half the price of a new one) from a main dealer. Servicing was expensive plus I had to fork out for a new gearbox and a year later the turbo went wrong. I learnt a serious lesson from that and we have more ordinary cars now.
I will also tell you about another mistake. Buying shares. In hindsight I believe there is a fine line between buying shares and gambling. You can read more about this in The tale of the monkey puzzle investment.
What about your faith?
That’s simple. I’m a Christian.
What about guest blogs?
I welcome offers of guest blogs and I sometimes give space to some aspiring freelance writers as well. If you want me to publish an article, please get in touch if you’re writing with a genuine passion for cycling, staying in good shape etc. This all helps make the web interesting and gets more people involved. Commercially orientated articles will involve us talking about fees.
Can I commission you to write for me?
Yes of course! I accept commissions to supplement my modest public sector salary. Let me know what you’d like me to write about and we can take it from there. Simple. Just get in touch using the Contact page and I’ll get straight back to you.
Can you review a product for me?
You might already have seen some of my reviews. I tell it like it is – how I see it. I try to give a balanced view of things as I know there’s more to it than just my view. You know the deal, go to the Contact page and the rest will follow. To keep things fair, I will point out if the review is “sponsored” with a sample or where a fee has been paid.
