This Time Next Year We'll be Millionaires

"This Time Next Year We'll be Millionaires"

For anyone having seen Only Fools and Horses you will recognise this quote from Del Boy

Hey you never know, not exactly sure how I am going to achieve it, however like the old saying goes "you have to be in it to win it".

Last year following on from a discussion with friends at work someone mentioned this home savings scheme upon a website called Skint Dad basically it's a 52-week savings plan, and you start off by putting a few pence per week away and this gradually builds up, putting more and more away each week until you end up with around £650 at the end of the year.

I got Ern to print me out a weekly calendar, popped it on the wall next to my computer where I could easily keep an eye on it and remind me to save each week and made sure I followed the weekly tallies. I actually sold quite a bit of stuff on Facebook Market Place that I wasn't using, and I would also pop this into my savings, and it helped push me way over my savings target. I think I saved well over £800.

It was a tidy sum of cash and my way of thinking was normally I would not of  had it as a big chunk, so instead of blowing it I decided to invest the money in National Savings Premium Bonds. You see, although I know I will not get any interest on the money, if you take a look at what the banks are currently offering it's not much better than 1% or in some cases 3% to 3.5% however you have to become a customer and have a current account.

So plan A of becoming a millionaire National Savings.

Just like most other people I live in the hope of winning the lottery, so tend to pop a couple of quid on weekly. I have had the same numbers for years, recently I have been tempted to quit the lotto all together, as when I calculate the offset to return it's pretty poor and was thinking I could probably invest that money and at least see a return, thing is I am now asking myself "am I addicted to gambling?", this is my only flutter and that little internal voice, which I bet many of you have is saying "Glenn it will just be your luck to quit and your numbers come up next week" Lol.

Speaking of the lottery whilst I have not won anything huge, this year I have been remarkably lucky, and I would say I have won at least one prize every week so far, whether that be a lucky dip or a Fiver.

So whilst winning the lottery is not exactly a plan B, it's on the table for now.

Now this is the bit where most of you if you haven't already avoided this blog will switch off.

My plan C is something I have been doing since Ooh! Around 2017 and that is cryptocurrency. A word of warning before we go any further be careful which sites you visit and watch out for scammers. Do your research if you are planning on investing and don't invest any more than you can afford to lose. I am not a financial adviser, and I am writing this from a personal point of view, as a very much "green horn" when it comes to cryptocurrencies and investing.

So initially I was fortunate enough to be able to invest a couple of hundred quid in various crypto. I think I bought some Bitcoin, Stellar,  Litecoin and Etherum. When I say bought I don't mean full coins, but small percentages of coins.

Now lets be clear I really had no idea what I was doing I had just heard about this new thing called Bitcoin which was created in 2009 by an unknown person using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto, this digital currency had hit the level of $1 for the first time on 9 February 2011. 

I was late to the game however became interested. If only I had taken more notice in 2009. You see in July 2010, bitcoin began trading at a value of US$0.0008, climbing to US$0.08 by month’s end. 

So that is £0.00058 moving up to £0.058. So that is for one full coin. Now imagine buying 100 at 0.058 that would be £5.80, yes that is right £5.80, so go one step further and imagine buying 1000 at 0.058, that would set you back £58.00.

Ok now I have just this minute had a look at what a single bitcoin is trading for, and it is £39,255.13 so if we do our maths that would mean your £58.00 would be now worth 1000 x £39,221.43 or £39,221,430 or

 
Thirty-Nine Million Two Hundred Twenty-One Thousand Four Hundred Thirty Pounds.

So what is cryptocurrency?

Well Bitcoin, was the first cryptocurrency, it is a decentralized form of digital cash that eliminates the need for traditional intermediaries like banks and governments to make financial transactions.

Cryptocurrency is a form of payment that can be exchanged online for goods and services. Many companies have issued their own currencies, often called tokens, and these can be traded specifically for the good or service that the company provides. Think of them as you would arcade tokens or casino chips. You exchange real currency for the cryptocurrency and can then gain access to the goods or services.

Cryptocurrencies work using a technology called blockchain. Blockchain is a decentralized technology spread across many computers that manages and records transactions. Part of the appeal of this technology is its security.

How many cryptocurrencies are there?

Doing a spot of research as far as I can see, according to data from CoinMarketCap, there are currently more than 7,800 in existence. New tokens are popping up all the time – each with a different use case and backstory. Some of the backstories are very interesting as the tokens developers try to solve various problems and entice potential customers to their crypto.

At the moment the top 10 crypto's are

Bitcoin (BTC)
Ethereum (ETH)
Binance Coin (BNB)
Cardano (ADA)
Tether (USDT)
Polkadot (DOT)
XRP (XRP)
UniSwap (UNI)
Litecoin (LTC)
Chainlink (LINK)

There has been  quite a bit of news around the crypto scene as Elon Musk and Tesla have just bought $1.5 Billion dollars of Bitcoin and Mr Musk has been tweeting about what is apparently the tongue-in-cheek "joke" cryptocurrency, Dogecoin which has surged over the last month. It is a testament to how powerful corporate leaders such as Elon Musk and the Likes of Bill Gates are.

I am now using 3 exchanges and have even got my dad interested in cryptocurrency. I use Blockchain, Coinbase, Coinbase Pro which is part of Coinbase however a little more technical to get to grips with. The plus point it is cheaper when buying or selling as you always get charged a small transaction fee, and I have just set up an account with Binance as they offered a few more cryptocurrencies that I could buy using GBP pounds. You see some cryptocurrencies you have to exchange other crypto for, so for instance I would have liked to have bought some Enjin, which is a Japanese gaming token and I think it may take off, however I would need to get either Bitcoin or Etherum to exchange for the Enjin.

 

All the Exchanges have nifty little apps, so you can pop them on your phone and monitor your funds, do trades, buy and sell. In order to join the sites do ask for personal details, and to verify yourself you have to provide ID like a passport or driver's licence. In order to buy crypto obviously you have to deposit funds, this can either be by a bank transfer or on your credit/debit card. I have bought from each of these sites so know they are legit.

I even got wor Kyle some free crypto over at Coinbase, all he had to do was register with Coinbase, verify himself and pop £2 into his account. This goes into the Coinbase account where you can see it in your wallet. You then have the opportunity of answering some very simple crypto video quizzes which take minutes to do and you get rewarded with Crypto. I think wor Kyle has about £25.60 in, not bad for his £2, of course this can go up as well as down.

If you are interested in joining Coinbase if you use the below link we would both get free Bitcoin when you buy or sell about £70 of crypto.

Coinbase Link

In crypto terminology I would consider my self a "Hodl" This comes from the early bitcoin forums, someone posted a message that spelled the word “hold” wrong, and readers interpreted it as an acronym “hold on for dear life,  it’s become a meme of sorts, so that when the prices are highly volatile, bitcoin buyers say "HODL!’”  The reason I hold when the prices are low or high is because at the moment I really don't have enough invested to make much of a difference in my life, well unless my current 759 Dogecoins become worth lets say £1000 each then I may sell, however this still wouldn't make me a Millionaire.
 

This blog post can serve as a reminder of what the future holds and will be quite interesting if both myself and my blog are still around when I revisit it in lets say another 10 years LoL

Things that make you go Grrrrrrr!!!

For some reason, man was I tired last night. I had done my daily riding session in keeping with cycling every day for a year, doing 10.60 miles on my road bike set upon my turbo trainer, whilst watching Gotham on Netflix.

Which reminds me it's not too late to sponsor me and support Arctic ONE with supporting others via their Forward Motion Grant.

Arctic ONE

I also completed 200 crunch sit-ups, mainly just because I have got into a routine. However, I don't think this is what had made me feel so tired I just think I am in a dreadful routine, what with being off work and still shielding.

So this morning I was awake at around 7:00 am. I knew I would be meting up with John for about 9:15am after he had dropped the bairn off at school, and we were going to go for a ride somewhere. "I may as well get up I thought", and proceeded to manoeuvre myself to the edge of my bed, before hopping around the side of my bed and retrieving my Bartlett Tendon.

My Bartlett Tendon has been living in my bedroom as I use it every day for cycling. When I use it indoors on my road bike I always remove the cams and tendons, as I don't need these whilst riding on the turbo trainer. So the first job of the morning was re-attaching the two cams and two tendons. It's an easy enough task, just requiring 4 special shouldered Allen bolts to be fastened in place and making sure the cam locking pins are fitted.

Funny how you can be thankful & greatful for mud

 A great deal of us just take for granted being able to go out and carry out our day-to-day lives. Whether that be going out to work or to do a spot of shopping, meeting friends for a chat over a cuppa, or carrying out some form of outdoor exercise. With what has been happening with this pandemic, all of our lives have been turned upside down and many of the things we used to do or take part in have either changed drastically or we are not at the moment able to do them. It is generally only when you cannot do something that you realise "I really would like to do that".

The 3 Stones at the top of the Black Path

Sandman Hoggar Ti

 

It's quite strange as way before this pandemic going back to 1995 when I first took ill with my leg I experienced what felt to me looking back a certain social isolation. This went on for many years as I fought to keep my leg, however we all know how that turned out, and when I eventually elected to have my amputation, well instead of disabling me it actually enabled me to do more. So I guess now that I am shielding, for me, it has not been so bad, as I have experience of being "stuck in" somewhat and can always find something to do. On the odd occasions I cannot find something to do I am pretty good at hiding under my quilt and switching off from the world entering into my imaginary world, with thoughts of my dream home and the things I will be doing in Scotland.