It’s that time again to plan, more in hope than anything, for things that I’ll do (or not do) in the New Year and beyond. I did this last year, and managed to get a 60% success rate. Not too bad, but could do better.
So here are ten New Year’s resolutions for 2009 that I aim to stick to:
1. Buy a house
I hate renting, I consider it money wasted, and in the current housing market there are some bargains to be had. However, with many lenders stopping 90% mortgages to get anything in Manchester would mean at least a £22,000 deposit (which I don’t have) so somehow, some way, I intend to buy a house this year.
I may even opt to buy more than one so that I can let one out. I’m already letting one house and would like to build up a property portfolio (how poncy does that sound?).
2. Clear my bank loan
I was going to put this on last year’s resolutions, but as I had other, bigger, problems I left it off. This time it’s on, and I aim to do it in the first few months. It might not seem much of a resolution, but I’ve had the same loan (in some form or another) since I graduated from University. It was a graduate loan, then became a personal loan, then a refinanced loan… etc etc. So I’ve had it for about 12 years, and it’s about time it went.
3. Don’t buy a new car (unless it’s a DB9)
Every now and then my head gets turned by a new car, such as a BMW Z4, but I must resist. I’ve fought hard enough to keep my Z3, so I don’t intend to sell it and get a new one, until that is I can afford a DB9. It’s not as crazy as it seems, you can get them for less than £60k now… still out of my reach, but it’s something to aim for.
4. Be more outspoken on MrDaz.com
I’ve been running MrDaz.com now for nearly three years, and have managed to anger a great many people, from government agencies to business owners, but I’ve only had one solicitor’s letter. That’s very poor; clearly I’m not being outspoken and offensive enough. I aim to anger many more people and expose much more incompetence. Hopefully I’ll get more legal letters and aggressive phone calls that I can turn into more blog posts.
Yes people, I record ALL of my phone calls, so phone me up at your own risk!
5. Invest more
I recently invested in some shares for a high street bank, and made a profit (which was immediately invested back into more shares I hasten to add, before the CSA ask about that). Therefore I’d quite like to do some more of this. I’ve been interested in shares since I worked at GAME and we were offered a share scheme, but sadly I didn’t have any money to buy any. Shame, because they were about 50p per share, and now they’re about £3.
6. Don’t have any fault (or non fault) accidents
Crashing cars seems to be my thing, and I’ve had three fault accidents in the last few years. Well, one was my fault (definitely), one was due to some wet conditions and one was a sodding taxi driver stopping on the roundabout in front of me so that I crashed into him.
Then when someone reverses into me, the twat lies about it afterwards to his insurance company, despite my having a witness, there being security cameras filming the scum bag, and getting his details.
No more car crashes.
7. Go to the premiere of Transformers Revenge of the Fallen
In 2007 I attended the London premiere of Transformers with some mates, mingling with the likes of Megan Fox and Michael Bay. The film was so-so but the premier was cool. The new film is out in the summer 2009 and I intend to be there again, this time with more of a presence. It was annoying that we only had 4 tickets to the first one when TheTransformers.Net is the biggest Transformers website in the UK, and other, lesser, websites received dozens of tickets, one for every person who had ever visited their website I would imagine.
8. Get my back sorted
As I have scoliosis, and was operated in 1990 (right in the middle of the World Cup) my back has always been a bit of a problem. Recently it’s got worse to the extent that my left leg goes dead after walking for a few minutes. This started happening after that twat reversed into me in the car park in Cheshire Oaks, and lied about it to his insurance company. I’ll sort him in due time, but I need to get my back sorted because it makes pub crawls very difficult when there’s more than a few hundred yards between pubs!
9. Get in shaped (at least try)
I’ve used to be very fit (around 2000 I think) but since then have let it go, barring the odd few months where I’ve tried to pick it up. I don’t need to go to the extent that I once did (170kg on the chest press, no one believes me) but I do need to do something. Maybe take up bike riding, or a light workout at the gym. I must do something in 2009 to stay healthier and fitter.
10. Cook more
Bit of an odd one here, but I’ve never been much of a cook and have managed to live off takeaways and Lloyd Grossman sauces for some time. However, the few times I have cooked (either on my own or with help) the meal has turned out blindingly good. There’s a lot to be said for doing it, it tastes much better and is healthier. It’s not cheaper though, despite what Jamie Oliver may say, but I intend to cook properly at least once a month. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but three times in a year is my record so far.
That’s it, my New Year’s resolutions in full. Time will tell if I stick to them, but I fully intend to succeed with all ten.
So happy New Year everyone, and let’s look forward to pissing people off en masse in 2009!
