White Festoon Lights

Festoon lights make a beautiful addition to any garden, whether big or small. These set of 20 warm lights will look fantastic strung along a fascia or gazebo, or a tree or fence. What makes them extra special is that they use energy saving LEDs Say goodbye to expensive electricity bills. They can also be used indoors, and there is 22cm between each lamp on the black rubber cable

www.lights4fun.co.uk

With a total lit length of 5 meters, you can connect additional sets using 4 different power options depending on the additional length you require.

The AA size battery box is perfect for just a single string. 

The D size batter box or Solar panel is ideal for 2 strings with a total length of 10meters.

For up to 30 meters the Plug-in transformer will give you all the power you need.

I found these on the lights4fun website :
www.lights4fun.co.uk

March 2014 - Investment No.1

I arranged to transfer £1,000 to my Selftrade dealing account, and set about looking for a share to purchase which would also provide a good dividend.

I choose Antofagasta, a FTSE100 company, involved in mining, transport and water mostly in Chile, South America, but with a smaller presence in other parts of the world.  It was incorporated in London in 1888, and seem to know what it was doing, and where it was going.

The Stock market EPIC was ANTO and was listed in the mining sector.

I also knew that if I owned the share on 23 April, I would be entitled to the dividend of  US$0.861 per share as this was the ex-dividend date.  The dividend payment would be added to my cash balance on 23 May.  Antofagasta was a company whose I thought had a sensible dividend policy. Simply, it was always paid out of the profit for the year, and not taken from reserves.

The share price had previously peaked at the end of December 2010 at £16.30, 2 years after the banking crisis. I think people had been investing in mining as a safer place to put their money!  The share price was about £8.50 a share, so I purchased 116 shares for a cost of £996 to start my portfolio.

If you want to know more about Antofagasta this is the company website:  http://www.antofagasta.co.uk

Are you too British on the internet?

You may wonder what I mean by this?  I will explain.  My husband (as does many people and children I know) is always watching YouTube videos online. Initially, it was just videos about SuperCars. Then he started noticing he was watching 1 particular person and started to seek out their videos. Out of the blue he said out loud “these are kids, they don't have jobs or rich parents yet they can afford these SuperCars.?”

Really. I thought, how British! Its simple really, so I sat him down and explained. They have learnt how to harness the internet to make enough money to access a SuperCars or even buy one, which then they use to make more money, buy more cars and so on.  He looked at me blankly.  The YouTube videos you are watching all the time as they film themselves talking about the SuperCars. Take a look at how many people have watch them, the number of videos each person has. I was talking about telephone numbers for each video!  When the numbers hit a certain level they get payments from YouTube, and also companies will start to seek them out. Some companies will also help promote their videos increasing the views and even start to pay them too.

That's the thing about the American people, they are not scared to put their head above the parapet and go public on the internet about something they are passionate about   Especially if they can also  make some money.  And I am talking about big Lottery win sized money. We British just sit and watch them and tut tut. Once in a while someone British will have a go buts its difficult for us as we are too private so often don’t get it right.

If you have a website which is not performing and would like to find out how you can improve it, get more traffic, higher listings on Google etc?  Find a way to visit this blog from time to time and I will post some simple ideas which anyone in the UK can do which is free. It may take 15 minutes of your time, but I think in time you will agree that it could become the most profitable 15 minutes you will have.  Of course, if you are British, you may not think so, but if you don't do it, you will never know.

https://www.youtube.com

What happened to my Share Portfolio

Late in the year 2013 I had to cash in all the stocks and shares I held personally, so I would have enough cash for a deposit of our new house, and also to pay the horrendous stamp duty, which was also due.  It was a sad thing to do, but I just reminded myself that it was just savings, that was one of the reasons for having the shares in the first place.

When left school, a very good friends father died. He left various share portfolios for his wife and children which he had amassed during his lifetime as his pension. He worked overseas so it was the only way he could have UK income should he need it.   My friend cashed in her shares and purchased a flat with no mortgage.  But what really impressed me, was that the portfolio which her mother received produced a annual dividend income of £35,000 for her to live on, without the need to sell any shares.  30+ years on £35,000pa is still a good income. So this has always stuck in my mind as what I should try to aim for, even if it seemed impossible.


So I decided to start again. I still had my trading account with Selftrade. (https://selftrade.co.uk).

I just needed a plan to follow.

My Plan
1.  Invest for dividend Income
2.  Try to Invest up to £1,000 of new money each quarter

I don't believe in being rigid with plans, but I thought this would be a nice simple plan to try to stick to. If you are interested in how I did, I shall let you know in the following pages.

Rustic White Painted Hall Storage Unit and Bench

If your hallway is looking a little bland and requires some much-needed storage, the Rustic White Painted Hall Storage Unit and Bench could be the perfect solution.

Designed to look and feel like a classic and will be an incredible feature of a hallway or even a utility room or cloakroom.

www.hampshirefurnituresolutions.co.uk

 Many homes lack not only coat hanging space in their home, but seating to easily slip on shoes. Providing both, together with two bottom drawers which are ideal for gloves, hats, and footwear. Your hallway will immediately be free of clutter and welcome for guests.


 At the top of the unit, is a shelf, perfect for items such as bags or ornaments. The hanging area will keep all of your coats and scarves crease free, and make a great place to hang guests jackets for your parties or coffee mornings.



If you have little ones, the bench makes a perfect seat for them to put their shoes on before school and wait to head off for the day ahead. One of the drawers could even be used for their school supplies and bag, to prevent a mad rush on a morning to look for a lost satchel.

This is from the Hampshire Furniture, sister website (yes they have two, with different furniture), www.hampshirefurnituresolutions.co.uk 

UK Companies Ex-Dividends, how to find them

I have an interest in investing in shares.  I have done most of my life.

I am not a share trader.  This is someone who either buys and sells or sells and buys shares over a very short period to make a profit.

I am a share investor. This means I purchase a share for the long term, hoping it will increase in value over a long period.  A good and well-run company share price will over a long time go up in value.  It will have its share price downs too. But the trick is to be patient and stick it out.  Ideally buying when the share price is low.  

Of course, I don't have a crystal ball, but if there is a well-run company has a share price that has dropped, I try to find out why it has dropped and I will then decide if I agree with the reason or not.  If I don't agree, I will purchase shares in the company.  My best purchases have come from this method. 

 An example of this was my current best buy.  Persimmon plc.  This is a house builder, not a type of company I would normally buy shares in as the share can be too volatile.  Before the Brexit vote, the share price was about £21 a share. Immediately after BREXIT, the share price dropped to under £13 a share due to panic about house prices dropping.  I didn't agree, people in the UK (Persimmons customers) will still need to buy houses in the UK, and I also know Persimmon was sitting on a lot of cash which they are giving back to the shareholders each year.  Long story, short story the share price is now (at the time of writing this blog) over £26. 


But this is not why I am writing this blog - Dividends.  This is why I will choose a share.  A well-run company is in the position to pay dividends.  Some pay them 4 times a year and some 2 times. I am not reliant on the share price going up to make a profit. If I can get a regular dividend I am happy.  The increase of share price is just the icing on the cake!

This is the website where I go to find out about the up coming dividends from UK companies  :  www.dividenddata.co.uk