Update

Så er det vist på tide med en opdatering her på siden. Jeg har ikke skrevet på bloggen siden januar, hvor jeg skrev, at ét af mine mål var, at skrive mindst en gang om ugen. Det gik så ikke...

Dette år har været vanvittigt hektisk, og det lader ikke til at stoppe. Der er sket mange positive ting, bla. har vi lige været på en fuldstændig fantastisk rejse i Sydafrika, vi har udvidet bestanden af får og geder. Vi har fået kaniner, som har fået syv skønne unger. Vi har bygget en polytunnel, så vi nu er meget tættere på drømmen om at være selvforsynende med grøntsager. Vi har haft et godt år med kurser i og salg af Annie Sloan Chalk PaintTM. Økonomisk har vi nået nogle af vores mål, mens andre har måttet udskydes.

Turen til Sydafrika har givet os lyst til at rejse meget mere, men det er svært, når man er afhængig af andre til at passe de 60+ dyr, vi har. Vores søde nabo har passet dyrene, mens vi var væk, men det er ikke en holdbar løsning. Den bedste mulighed er at rejse om sommeren, da dyrene så går på græs og derved er mindre pasningskrævende. Til gengæld har vi travlt med antikforretningen hele sommeren, så det vil betyde, at vi skal holde lukket i et par uger i den travleste tid. Det giver ikke så meget mening. Vi mangler stadig at finde en løsning, men vi kommer alligevel ikke til at foretage længere rejser før i efterårsferien næste år, så der er lidt tid til at overveje, hvad vi skal gøre.

I think it is about time to have an update on this blog. I haven't written since January, where I wrote that one of my goals was to blog at least once a week. The best laid plans...

This year has been extremely hectic, and it doesn't seem to stop. Many positive things have happened, eg. going on an incredible trip to South Africa, we have bought more sheep and goats. We now have rabbits that have 7 beautiful babies. We have built a polytunnel, so we are now a lot closer to our dream of being self-sufficient in vegetables. We have had a good year giving courses in and selling Annie Sloan Chalk PaintTM . Financially, we have reached some of our goals while others have had to be postponed.

The trip to South Africa has made us want to travel more, but it is difficult because we need others to look after our 60+ animals while we're gone. Our lovely neighbour took care of the animals while we were gone, but that is not a solution for the future. One option is to travel during the summer when the animals are grazing and thereby need less looking after. But summer is a busy time with the antiques shop so that would mean closing up for a couple of weeks. That doesn't make much sense. We still need to find a solution, but we aren't going to go on any longer tris until autumn next year, so we have some time to figure it out.

Fornuftens død/The death of Common Sense

Jeg faldt lige over dette på denne blog, som jeg regelmæssigt læser. Så sandt. så sandt.

 

I just came across this on this blog that I regularly read. So true.

 

Obituary in the London Times

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense,

who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was,
since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will
be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- And maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend
more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are
in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy
charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from
school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding
an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing
the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly
children.

He declined even further when schools were required to get parental
consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not
inform parents when a
student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to
live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received
better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating
when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home
and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed
to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in
her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death,
-by his parents, Truth and Trust,
-by his wife, Discretion,
-by his daughter, Responsibility,
-and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 5 stepbrothers;
- I Know My Rights
- I Want It Now
- Someone Else Is To Blame
- I'm A Victim
- Pay me for Doing Nothing

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.
If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority
and do nothing.

Mål for 2013/Goals for 2013

Vi har lavet et række mål for 2013, både økonomiske mål og mål for vores dyrehold og byggeprojekter. Dette indlæg kommer til at handle om de økonomiske mål. Planen er gennemgået mange gange og rettet til, hvor vi syntes, der var plads til forbedringer. Den ser således ud:

1. Betale kassekreditten i vores firma ud pr. 1/6-13. Startgælden var på 70.000 kr. Vi er nu nede på 39.489 kr. Vi betaler pt. 6500 kr. af pr. måned. Dette beløb vil stige de kommende måneder, bl.a. når mit studielån er betalt af i maj. Vi vil også overføre et fast beløb fra vores budgetkonto hver måned fra februar.

2. Spare 30-40.000 kr. op til en rejse til Afrika i oktober. Vi har pt. 16.147 kr. stående på vores rejsekonto. Beløbet bliver sparet op løbende, bl.a. med vores feriepenge. I juli og august lægges 8.000 kr. til side pr. måned.

3. Spare 20.000 kr. op til vores nødkonto. Det foreløbige mål er 30.000 kr. på en konto, som KUN må røres i nødstilfælde. Slutmålet er 50.000 kr. Der står pt. 10.000 kr. på vores nødkonto. Beløbet spares op i september og oktober måned.

4. Spare min. 21.000 kr. op til min mands datters konfirmation. Dette beløb spares op i november og december. Denne opsparing fortsætter i de tre første måneder i 2014, så vi i alt kommer op på min. 50.000 kr. Disse penge skal dække både fest, tøj og hendes gave, som bliver en rejse.

We have made a list of goals for 2013, both financial goals and goals for our animals and building projects. This post is about our financial goals. The plan has been revised many times and tweaked where there was room for improvements. It looks like this:

1. Pay off the line of credit in our company by June 1st 2013. The starting debt was DKK 70,000. We are now at DKK 39,489. We are currently paying DKK 6500 towards this debt every month. This amount will increase over the coming months, as we pay off the rest of my student loan in May. We will also transfer a fixed amount from our budget line every month starting in February.

2. Save up DKK 30-40,000 towards a trip to Africa in October. At present we have DKK 16,147 in our travel account. The amount will be saved for continously, e.g with our holiday pay. In July and August we will save up DKK 8000 respectively.

3. Save up DKK 20,000 for our emergency fund. Our current goal is DKK 30,000 in an account which can ONLY be touched in case of an emergency. The end goal is DKK 50,000. We currently have DKK 10,000 in the emergency fund. The amount will be saved up in September and October.

4. Save up at least DKK 21,000 for my husband's daughter's confirmation. This amount will be saved for in November and December. This savings goal will continue for the first three months of 2014, so we will have at least DKK 50,000. This amount will cover the party, clothes and her gift, which will be a trip somewhere.

Lettelse/Relief

Jeg har stadig mit job, ihvertfald indtil august 2014. Så må vi se, hvad næste års fyringsrunde bringer. Dagen i dag har været svær at komme igennem, og jeg føler mig helt smadret, da jeg overhovedet ikke sov i nat. Men nu er det overstået, så det er tid til at kigge fremad.

Det gode er, at vi nu ved, hvad den økonomiske plan for i år er. Planen har været på plads i noget tid, men vi vidste af gode grunde ikke, om den ville holde. Det er en stor lettelse at vide, at vi i år vil komme betragteligt nærmere vores økonomiske mål. Der er stadig meeeeget lang vej til gældsfrihed, men jeg glæder mig egentlig til selve processen.

Samtidig kan vi glæde os til en rejse til Afrika i oktober - en rejse, som der bliver sparet op til og som bliver betalt kontant. Ikke noget med kreditkort her :-)


I still have my job, at least until August 2014. We'll see what next year's round of layoffs will bring. Today has been very hard to get through, and I feel completely shattered as I didn't sleep a wink last night. But now it's over with, so it's time to look forward.

The good thing is that now we know what our financial plan for the year will be. The plan has been in place for a while, but we didn't know it had to be changed. It's a great relief knowing that this year we will be significantly closer to our financial goals. It's still a loooooong way to being debt free, but I really look forward to the process itself.

At the same time we are looking very much forward to a trip to Africa in October - a trip that will be saved for in advance and paid in cash. No credit cards here :-)

2013

Så er et nyt år startet, og med det kommer en hel række af nye mål. Mange af dem handler om vores økonomi, men der er også mange andre mål, bl.a. byggeprojekter, rejse til Afrika og mine evindelige mål om at leve et sundere liv. Endvidere har jeg besluttet mig for, at jeg vil blogge mindst én gang om ugen hele året, måske mere :-)
De andre mål vender jeg tilbage til næste gang.

I morgen skal lærerne og støttepædagogerne på øen igen igennem en fyringsrunde. Blandt lærerne skal der fyres 8, så tallet er bestemt mere "humant" end sidst, men det er stadig væk ikke spor sjovt. Det eneste man kan gøre er at krydse fingre. Min mand er heldigvis i den situation, at der ikke er for mange lærere på hans skole. Kl. 6.30 i morgen tidlig ved jeg, om jeg stadig har mit job...

A new year has begun and with it comes a whole list of new goals. Many of them concern our personal finances, but we have many other goals as well, e.g. building projects, a trip to Africa and my eternal goals of leading a healthier life. Furthermore I have decided that I will blog at least once a week all year, maybe
more:-)I'll write about the other goals next time.

Tomorrow the teachers and support teachers on the island will go through yet another round of layoffs. Among the teachers 8 will be fired, so the number is certainly more "humane" than last time, but it still is no fun. The only thing to do is keep our fingers crossed. Luckily for us there is not too many teachers at my husband's school. At 6.30 tomorrow morning I will know if I still have a job...

Søvnløse nætter/Sleepless nights

Puha, der er sket så utrolig meget de sidste måneder, jeg bliver helt svimmel! Vigtigst af alt var fyringsrunden blandt lærerne her på øen. Da både min mand og jeg er lærere, var vi begge i farezonen. Der har været mange søvnløse nætter, hovedpine og ondt i maven, men vi klarede begge to skærene. Onsdag d. 7. marts kunne vi begge ånde lettet op, men desværre må vi sige farvel til nogle dejlige kolleger, som ikke var så heldige. Hele processen med fyringerne har stået på i månedsvis, og det har været vanvittigt ubehageligt.

Det "gode", hvis man kan sige det sådan, er at vi blev tvunget til at tage vores situation op til fornyet overvejelse. Hvad skulle vi gøre, hvis en af os eller begge mistede arbejdet? Hvad med vores drøm? Vi har været omkring mange scenarier, men er blevet enige om, at vi vil følge vores oprindelige plan med antikforretningen, gårdbutik og dyrehold. Vi har dog besluttet os for, at vi på sigt gerne vil have nogle flere geder, som skal slagtes og sælges.

Vi traf også beslutningen om at sælge vores kassevogn, da den skulle repareres for mere, end den var værd. Den indbragte ikke mange penge, men vi sparer mere end 10000 kr. i forsikring og vægtafgift om året. Vi kan sagtens klare os med en bil, det kræver bare lidt planlægning.

Jeg vender snart tilbage:-)

Gosh, so many things have happened these last few months, I'm all dizzy! Most important was the sacking of 28 teachers on this island. Because both my husband and I are teachers we were both at risk. There have been many sleepless nights, a lot of headache and stomach ache, but we kept our jobs. On Wednesday 7th March we could both breathe a sigh of relief, but unfortunately we have to say goodbye to some of our wonderful colleagues who were not so lucky.This whole proces has taken months and it has been extremely unpleasant.

The "good" part, if there is such a thing, is that we were forced to revise our situation. What would we do if one of us or both lost our jobs? What about our dream? We have been through many possible scenarios, but decided to stick with the original plan: antique shop, farm shop and husbandry. We have decided though, that in the long term we would like to have some more goats to sell as meat.

We also made the decision to sell our van because it needed repairs for more than it was worth. It didn't bring in a lot of money, but we'll save more than DKK10000 a year. We can easily make do with just one car, all it takes is a little planning.

I'll be back soon:-)

Udfordringer/Challenges

Jeg kan vel i bund og grund godt lide udfordringer, især når det har at gøre med at spare penge. Jeg har "meldt" mig til to udfordringer hos andre bloggere. Den første er "sealed pot challenge" hos http://sftandthe101challenge.blogspot.com/. Der er rigtig mange, som deltager i udfordringen, som går ud på at spare så mange småpenge sammen som muligt til et bestemt formål. Pengene kommes i en lukket beholder. Udfordringen løber et helt år, og vi åbner alle vores beholdere d. 3. december i år. Min mand og jeg har besluttet at bruge pengene til julen 2012. Jeg har haft en lille krise med denne udfordring, fordi vi  bruger de småpenge, der er tilbage i vores madpung, når måneden er gået. Men det betyder laaaaang ventetid mellem hver gang, jeg kan tømme pungen, og da jeg er et yderst utålmodigt menneske, skal jeg såmænd nok nå at blive skør eller, endnu værre, opgive denne udfordring. Jeg har derfor besluttet, at jeg fra februar vil inddele vores madpenge i uger, sådan at jeg kan tømme pungen hver uge. Jeg har også en formodning om, at jeg vil blive mere bevidst om at spare penge hver uge, når madbeløbet er mindre.

Den anden udfordring er "no (low) spend January" hos http://halfdozendaily.blog.com/. Det går ganske simpelt ud på ikke at bruge nogen (eller så få) penge som muligt i januar. For mit vedkommende handler det kun om mine lommepenge, som jeg kan disponere frit over (ingen indblanding fra min mand). Hver måned har jeg 750 kr. Jeg har aflyst en frisøraftale, og jeg er ved at løbe tør for noget kosmetik, men det må altså vente til næste måned. Mit mål var til at starte med slet ikke at bruge nogen penge overhovedet, men i søndags kom jeg i tanker om en venindes fødselsdag, så jeg har i dag købt en gave til hende. Resten af januar er jeg fast besluttet på ikke at bruge nogen penge. For at holde mig selv fast, har jeg oprettet en gratis konto på http://www.joesgoals.com/, hvor jeg har skrevet mit mål ind, og hver dag giver jeg mig selv et lille flueben. Det er en super motivationsfaktor for mig.

I guess I like challenges, especially where money is concerned. I have joined challenges with two other bloggers. The first is the "sealed pot challenge" over at http://sftandthe101challenge.blogspot.com/. Quite a lot of people have joined the challenge, which is about saving as much change as you can for a specific goal. The money is then put into a sealed pot of some sort. The challenge runs for a whole year, and we all open our pots together on December 3rd this year. My husband and I have decided to spend the money on Christmas 2012. I have had a minor crisis with this challenge because we collect the change that is left over in our food purse at the end of every month. But that means a loooong wait for me in between emptying the purse, and because I'm a very impatient person, I will probably go crazy or, even worse, give up on the challenge. Therefore I have decided to divide our food money into weeks from February so that I can empty the purse every week. I also think that I will be more aware of saving money on food when the amount is smaller.

The second challenge is the "no (low) spend January" over at http://halfdozendaily.blog.com/. It's quite simply about not spending any or as little money as possible in January. For me this is only in regards to my allowance which I can spend any way I choose (husband doesn't have a say). Every month I get DKK750. I have cancelled a visit to the hairdresser's and I'm running low om make-up, but it'll have to wait. To begin with my goal was to not spend any money at all, but I had forgotten about a good friend's birthday, so today I bought her a present. I am determined not to spend any more money for the rest of the month. To make myself accountable I have opened a free account with http://www.joesgoals.com/, where I've typed in my goal and every day I give myself a little check. It's a super motivation factor for me.