Macca89

In the group chat today @Macca89 and I were having a civilised discussion about money (unit @Greboth decide to intervene with a 'mum' joke...) and it reminded me about a post I wrote back in March 2020. I never posted it because after asking @GazzaGarratt to proof read it we both agreed that the timing was poor.
 
Sadly, I think considering the economic climate right now, I should have posted it. However, I am posting it now and I hope it lands well and that it sparks some discussion?
 
I'd love to do a full in-depth post about money and wealth etc but I'm also aware that this is a gaming forum! So...let me know?
 
Enjoy!
 
Covid-19 What can we learn?
 
I’m currently sat in my garden smoking a beautiful Lancero cigar soaking up the sun and reflecting on something my sister said to me this morning. ‘We aren’t getting any wages until May’.
 
With the current global pandemic there has been a real shift back to what I would consider ‘socialist ideals’. People clapping for the NHS and demanding they get more pay and resources, the government offering to cover 80% of wages etc and the outrage of the self employed not getting anything. My sister and brother in law fall into the third category, they are both self employed - a hairdresser and a stone mason.
 
One of my reflections and the purpose of this article is to make people think about their financial security and position because unfortunately the government response hasn’t been what some people had hoped.
 
Here is an unpopular opinion and I apologise if I offend anyone BUT it is not the governments job to pay for you in times of crisis. We live in one of the most prosperous economies in the world, if you aren’t prepared for tough times then you have been negligent.
 
I’m known as the money guy, so i’m going to play that role today and offer some practical advice you can apply once the world is back to normal that will hopefully remedy the opinion I stated above.
 
Firstly, lets start with some of the issues that people have been facing. A lot of people have been laid off as a result of this situation because they are non-essential, others have been home bound and unable to do their self employed job. This has put a serious financial strain on the whole world, people are hurting. Lets examine the reasons why.
 
People are living pay cheque to pay cheque
People don’t have any savings
People are laden with debt and this is soaking up their financial resources
 
My sister and brother in law both fit all three categories, I fall into the third as I have two mortgages and a car to pay for. The combination of these three issues have meant that even just staying at home for 3 weeks has become a very daunting task for significants amount of people.
 
So what’s the remedy?
 
Well, i’m going to give you some advice that you can begin to put in place after this is all over that will hopefully help you become more resilient to global downturns (I’m thinking about the next recession!).
 
Have an emergency fund
 
I’m sure you’ve all heard of this before but i’m going to spell it out here. You should have 8 to 12 weeks worth of living money saved up somewhere that you can fall back on should you find yourself out of work. This took me a long time to commit too as a younger man but now that I have it, I feel very safe. It’s stored in a cash isa that my wife and I have access to at any time but not with our current banking provider. We both bank with Santander, so it’s in Lloyds. The reason being is that when I log into my internet banking if I see a fair wedge of money just sitting there, i’m going to find a way to spend it. Try to build on this once we get back to something of a normal economy.
 
Reduce your spending and/or save first
 
Again, this one is a tough one because we all generally live to the means we have. When I first started teaching I was earning £800 a month and I spent it all! I’ve been teaching for 17 years and I earn 5 times that now, I could easily spend it all too. This was something I had to help my wife with when we decided to have children because she would get to the end of the month and have nothing left in her account, when we talked about having a baby I suggested that she could save almost £1000 a month (once I took a look at the maths) before the baby was due to make sure we were flush during maternity leave. She didn’t believe me but after a few conversations about making her see where she was wasting money she took my advice. On payday she took £600 (a compromise) straight out of her account and put it in a separate savings else where. Low and behold she managed to save £5000 before the baby was born. What was she missing out on? Takeaways, costa coffees, random trips to shops on the way too and from work. Everyone wastes money, even me - i’m sat here smoking a cigar! Making spending cuts doesn’t have to be drastic but a small change can add up to a big reward.
 
Ice cream in the freezer…..
 
My economics lecturer taught me this saying and it has some truth to it. If I had a tub of ben and jerry’s in the freezer - it wouldn’t stay there long. Like, a week at most? I would eat it, why? Because it makes me feel good! Money is the same, if you have money in your pocket, you will spend it. Companies have become surgical in their ability to separating you from your money. So if you have it to hand you will spend it. So my last suggestion is simple. Have many different accounts for different purposes and only carry the card that you have allowed for disposable income. Here is a list of my accounts for illustration:
 
Barclays Wages - my wages go in here and this is where I pay for my phone, insurances, my car etc. I have set up standing orders on payday that separate my pay into various other accounts and my savings. I don’t carry the card for this account.
Monzo - this is my disposable income, every month I transfer in £400, thats £100 a week. I use this account for my petrol and anything else I want. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.
Joint account - this is where the wife and I put money in together and its where our mortgage, council tax and utilities come out from. We don’t carry the cards for this account.
Teacher discount card - this is a card we load up with £300 a month to go shopping with, we get 3% cash back from shopping at major supermarkets. This is the only card we will use for shopping etc, once it’s gone, it’s gone.
 
This means that all of my savings are in place and I never overspend because I know EXACTLY how much disposable money I have - Monzo is a great bank for that as it’s all online and works well with apple pay etc, even gives you a little progress bar that tells you how much money you have left for a certain period of time and is colour coded.
 
Hopefully this article has been useful and has given some of you some ideas that you could use to make yourself crisis/recession proof.
 
Much love,
Elliott

I've got no problem with them adding Nicki Minaj.  All the people who turtle up with riot shields on their back are going to be easy targets when their ass is twice as wide as the shield.

EA Sports FC 24 official reveal in 10 mins!!

So with my unbeaten streak gone 😔 I've now set a new target, to be in the top 1000 in the world ranked on seasons. 💪😁
 
Atm out of 1.4 million players, I'm ranked 15,191..... My record standing at......
 
Games played 104
Wins 98
Draws 4 
Losses 2
 
Winning the division 1 title 6 times. 
 
Will keep you all posted on my progress
💪💪

So with my unbeaten streak gone 😔 I've now set a new target, to be in the top 1000 in the world ranked on seasons. 💪😁
 
Atm out of 1.4 million players, I'm ranked 15,191..... My record standing at......
 
Games played 104
Wins 98
Draws 4 
Losses 2
 
Winning the division 1 title 6 times. 
 
Will keep you all posted on my progress
💪💪

So with my unbeaten streak gone 😔 I've now set a new target, to be in the top 1000 in the world ranked on seasons. 💪😁
 
Atm out of 1.4 million players, I'm ranked 15,191..... My record standing at......
 
Games played 104
Wins 98
Draws 4 
Losses 2
 
Winning the division 1 title 6 times. 
 
Will keep you all posted on my progress
💪💪

So with my unbeaten streak gone 😔 I've now set a new target, to be in the top 1000 in the world ranked on seasons. 💪😁
 
Atm out of 1.4 million players, I'm ranked 15,191..... My record standing at......
 
Games played 104
Wins 98
Draws 4 
Losses 2
 
Winning the division 1 title 6 times. 
 
Will keep you all posted on my progress
💪💪

Ultimate Edition Cover has been released! 

Ultimate Edition Cover has been released! 

So sorry to hear, didn't have the pleasure of chatting or playing with him but seemed like a great lad. 
 
R.I.P 🙏 thoughts are with his family and close ones

So sorry to hear, didn't have the pleasure of chatting or playing with him but seemed like a great lad. 
 
R.I.P 🙏 thoughts are with his family and close ones

So sorry to hear, didn't have the pleasure of chatting or playing with him but seemed like a great lad. 
 
R.I.P 🙏 thoughts are with his family and close ones

So sorry to hear, didn't have the pleasure of chatting or playing with him but seemed like a great lad. 
 
R.I.P 🙏 thoughts are with his family and close ones

So sorry to hear, didn't have the pleasure of chatting or playing with him but seemed like a great lad. 
 
R.I.P 🙏 thoughts are with his family and close ones

We've received the tragic news that yesterday we lost one of our longstanding members from the early days, Rob McGee. Some would've known him by TheReverend or el Capitan. 💔
 

 
His Sister said that Rob passed away in Leeds general Infirmary yesterday after a sudden illness. He then went on to help 4 people live out their lives, let their families watch their loved one grow old and not experience this grief.
 
Many wouldn't have known Rob recently but his last post shown that he was struggling hard with life - we also supported him through the Forever Gaming Feel Good Fund when he needed it most. He used to be extremely good at Call of Duty games and also played a lot with us on Destiny too.
 
I kind of dreaded the day that we'd hear about someone we lost here. Rob was a great lad, Huddersfield football fan, we even spoke about watching our teams play when we got the chance, kicking myself that i should've arranged it sooner.
 
Please leave any memories and wishes below - I'll gladly share it with the family at some stage.
 
Rest in Peace, Rob. We'll have another Search and Destroy game in the next life mate ❤️

"THE STREAK.....IS OVER"
 
73 - 1
 
It had to end at some point, unfortunately was due to some damn fine FIFA scripting, always hold my hand up if I'm beaten by the better man but damn shame it went this way, but genuinely proud that I managed to get this far, want to thank all of my FG family who took this journey with me, without you it wouldn't of been possible. ❤️💪

"THE STREAK.....IS OVER"
 
73 - 1
 
It had to end at some point, unfortunately was due to some damn fine FIFA scripting, always hold my hand up if I'm beaten by the better man but damn shame it went this way, but genuinely proud that I managed to get this far, want to thank all of my FG family who took this journey with me, without you it wouldn't of been possible. ❤️💪

"THE STREAK.....IS OVER"
 
73 - 1
 
It had to end at some point, unfortunately was due to some damn fine FIFA scripting, always hold my hand up if I'm beaten by the better man but damn shame it went this way, but genuinely proud that I managed to get this far, want to thank all of my FG family who took this journey with me, without you it wouldn't of been possible. ❤️💪

Got til probably October until EA FC mate, do it now pal, plenty of time 💪💪💪

Got til probably October until EA FC mate, do it now pal, plenty of time 💪💪💪

Undecided whether I want to start a new career mode or not on FIFA 23. I've always wanted to record one of my career modes on here as I enjoy playing them so much. But should I wait for EA FC to start one or do one anyway on FIFA 23?

Although it says 69 I've played another after this so now 70 unbeaten! 
 
Actually baffled that I haven't lost yet 😳😳

Although it says 69 I've played another after this so now 70 unbeaten! 
 
Actually baffled that I haven't lost yet 😳😳

Although it says 69 I've played another after this so now 70 unbeaten! 
 
Actually baffled that I haven't lost yet 😳😳

Although it says 69 I've played another after this so now 70 unbeaten! 
 
Actually baffled that I haven't lost yet 😳😳