Hey friends,

I reckon I've been pretty busy and productive since we got back. Sometimes a change in location creates a re-set of sorts to galvanise us crack on with life. We'll put my productivity to the test at the end of this newsletter.

🥷 Security

First up though, I casually mentioned last week about security around the house and had loads of replies on the topic. I'm obviously not alone in my concerns which were actually a lot greater than I let on last week as prior to going away I had given all my computer stuff to my mum for safekeeping and my precious DeWalt tools to Joe. Here he is returning them:

I didn't think I'd have much use for the TSTAK storage they came in as I'm not a tradesmen going from place to place but they came in handy here.

As for security, I've yet to put much research in but Blink came up a couple of times as recommended cameras. Besides brands, there are lot of options to choose from such as how to power them: plugged in, hard wired, battery or solar. Then there's storage: SD card, cloud storage (often a subscription) or have images sent directly to your phone. Should the camera be conspicuous to act a deterrent or incognito to more likely catch the perpetrator?

I think I'll start off with a smart doorbell and lights at the end of the garden and build from there.

I was thinking that if no one had security on your street, everyone has an equally low chance of being robbed. However, once people start putting in security measures, everyone else's chances of being robbed go up and security becomes a must-have. A knock-on effect.

For balance, here's an alternative view on security, which I respect.

🚗 Car Troubles

We took a cab to and from the airport because parking was the more expensive option for the four weeks we were away and because I feared that the car sitting idle for that amount of time in the cold would kill the battery. And that's what happened. I hooked up the jump cables to Joe's car but no luck so instead I bought a battery charger but it showed as full charge. Hmmm. After reading the car manual I realised that while the terminals are under the bonnet, the actual battery is in the boot. Huh.

Since the battery was dead, so was the central locking. The only door that could be opened manually was the driver's so I clambered into the back from there and tried to open the boot from the inside. No luck. Instead I had to awkwardly remove the spare wheel and bunch of other bits while sitting inside to finally reveal the battery. What the hell Vauxall?!

Five hours of charging later and the car jumped back to life. 🎉

Next, one of the tyres had deflated to 17 psi. This pressure loss had been a problem before we left so to solve it temporarily I got the foot pump out (electric one didn't work) and pumped them all up to an economical psi of 39.

Two days later, the bad tyre had dropped to 37. Definitely an issue here, but overall, given I'm pretty useless with cars, I felt quite proud of my mechanic skills.

🗒️ Car Admin

That wasn't it for the car, as our insurance was up for renewal. While updating the details it felt weird increasing the value of the Astra from the previous year. Anecdotally, my neighbour just sold his car for more than he bought it 3.5 years ago; weird times. He's replacing it with a Tesla and has promised me a spin 😀.

I jumped ship, as I do most years when I can't hustle my existing insurer down sufficiently, but added full recovery break down cover for the first time as I can just imagine the pain of getting stuck on the side of the road with the boy in the back - the hidden costs of having kids! Also, I feel I should have gotten a congratulatory letter from the DVLA for my 15 years of no claims but none has been forthcoming.

The MOT and service was due too. It's an awkward time of year to have it as I have to stand about in the cold for hours waiting for it to be done as we don't live close to a garage (I suppose I could get a taxi) so this year I tried out the collect and deliver service one of the garage's offer which was very pain free.

All was well except for the tyre which they identified as a valve sensor making it leak? This sounded rather made up to me so I googled it but apparently it is a thing. So that's another £130 gone. Owning a car is a hassle.

✂️ Trimmering

Fed up of dealing with car issues, I decided to treat myself by giving my new hedge trimmer a spin on the laurel hedge which had become wildly overgrown.

The thick waxy leaves don't take too well to hedge trimmers but the new toy got the job done and it was a joy to be cord free. I'll need to try it out on the other hedge, perhaps comparing it with my corded Bosch, before giving it the full thumbs up, but so far so good...I can see myself justifying the pole trimmer before long.

🧾 Tax

I decided to get proactive and not wait till the end of January to do my tax return. This entails totting up some YouTube related income (e.g. ad revenue) and expenses (e.g. a camera) which is currently very simple but less so for the two rental flats I own. I've probably been a bit coy about this fact in past writings on the subject of property as landlords tend to get a bad rap.

Anyway, once I'd gotten my spreadsheets and bank statements open it wasn't too bad. I just had to be careful to put each item into its correct bucket. Mortgage interest in one bucket, management costs in another, service charge and ground rents in a third and so on to satisfy HMRC.

I found it amusing how I had wanted to avoid expenses but now I was actively looking for them and inwardly cheering each one I found to help offset the income.

Once complete I could dissect the figures in various ways. One thing stood out and that was how few repairs there had been which has continued into this tax year which means that there are almost certainly going to be costlier years in the future. Both flats are in blocks built in the boom years of 2005 and 2006 and the kitchens are still original. I'm hoping they'll last a few more years until I have the experience of fitting our one then I plan to change them myself.

Buying these flats was a risk, as is all investing but I've lucked into some considerable tailwinds for property right now:

• Low mortgage rates
• High inflation driving down the value of mortgage debt
• Higher rents due to wage increases and increased demand
• Double digit capital growth

It won't always be like this, especially if the predictions in my first newsletter come to pass (it's holding up well so far). Currently I'm sticking with stocks which is a lot less work (+ a little crypto) and the rest will go into renovating the house.

⏳ The Eisenhower Matrix

In addition I:

• Booked my booster shot
• Put up the xmas tree with the fam
• Cleaned out the guttering on the garage
• Fixed some floorboards at a mate's house
• Played badminton
• Got drunk with the lads

So was this a productive week? I've been hearing a lot about the Eisenhower Matrix which categorises tasks by how urgent and important they are and therefore what should be done with them so I'm giving it a go. Let's see:

It's hard to say for sure which quadrant these should fall into but it's clear a lot of this stuff are not things I should have been working on. In the DELEGATE quadrant, I did so with the MOT and service but perhaps I should hire an accountant for the tax return or if I had a PA I could delegate finding car insurance or hire someone to clean gutters. Turns out I may have been engaging in 'busy work'. Maybe.

Even under the IMPORTANT sections a lot of it is treading water rather than furthering my objectives. Often the most important stuff is non-urgent (e.g. starting a business, getting fit, making up with a loved one) and can be put off indefinitely so maybe that's the quadrant to take most seriously and the one I'll focus on this week.

Having given it a try, I'm not sure how good a guide it is. I reckon you could get pretty ruthless with the people in your life if you followed it to a tee and hey, I enjoy cutting the hedge. Give it a try though and let me know your results :)

(FYI whenever I talk about productivity it's not because I consider myself highly productive with wisdom to share but because I often feel very underproductive and am trying to improve).

👕 £10 Off Clothes For Amazon Prime Members

As an 'associate' of Amazon, they sometimes send me promos to hand out. There's a £10 off clothes under their Prime Try Before You Buy for current Prime members when you spend £50. Here's the link with the code.

Works like this apparently:

I thought it was worth a mention as it's Christmas and I can't be the only one who dislikes going clothes shopping. Ends 31st December. I make £1.50 for each order (if you use the link).

👋

I recommend The Shrink Next Door on Apple TV+. It's based on a true story and podcast of the same name and features a serious Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd not being his usual affable self. With Netflix and Prime et al, monthly subscriptions can get a bit out of hand. We got a year's free subscription with Abi's phone purchase but not sure there's enough on there to keep us. There's a 7 day free trial though if you're looking for something to watch over Christmas.

Hit "reply" if you've got any comments on this week's newsletter – otherwise I'll see you next time. Have an epic week :)

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P.p.s. You can find all previous newsletters here.