Gray Nomad,  gray with an a for active seniors lifestyle.
 
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I know that seniors and travellers are interested in money matters, investments and ways to safeguard their remaining retirement funds so I thought I would add some posts on investment collectables to this, mainly travel blog.

I had always wondered why gold and solid material, investments increase in value when economic times get tough. It was explained to me recently that there is always a fear in economic circles, that unscrupulous governments could simply print, paper money and flood the markets,  whereas there is a limited supply of certain items and this is why rare items hold value in the best of times and can increase in value fast, when cash currency, is fluctuating.  OK, simple explanation in economics, but one I could understand.

I invested in art and some Moorcroft Pottery and have this in professional storage area, complete with driveway alarm, we have to remember to turn off when we access the area ourselves. As nomads, we cannot keep these items with us, it is a shame not to have them on show. I want to try to sell these items when I feel the time is right. Moorcroft vases are no use to me now I am a gray nomad.  If anyone is interested in the following two investment items, please contact me for a private sale, in Springtime, 2010,  no 10%  auction fee , 40% gallery fee or 100% mark up from a dealer to pay.  

I have seen this style, colour age and maker vase selling at $5,800. on EBay.  Lower price smaller Moorcroft are about, pieces this size and vintage are very rare.  I will not be accepting less than my asking price even to a dealer. Just thought I would add this to save answering many below asking price offers. The same applies to the antique watercolour, no offers below asking price will be replied to. Thanks for understanding :-). In Springtime, if I do not have private offers for these items I will actively place the Moorcroft vase into auction with the $2,000. as the low reserve price and kept the watercolour a couple more years.


* 9” Tall Moorcroft green and pink, Hibiscus vase by Walter Moorcroft, signed W.Moorcroft  $2,000.

* Antique almost 100 year old, framed watercolour (Member of the London Academy of Fine Art) Letter from the front, by Rosetta  Goodwyn $2,000.

Both these item, would make excellent investments, guaranteed to increase in value due to their rarity.

I had never thought of vintage and antique musical instruments as an investment before, but it s logical that they would be. I do not know enough about them to have considered collecting them.  Do you own or know someone who owns, collects or deals as a buyer or seller or vintage and antique musical instruments?

A senior magazine writer is seeking to interview people interested in and in possession of vintage musical instruments. The writer is putting together a feature article for the next edition on vintage and antique musical instruments as an investment.  The deadline for the interviews is
30 June 2010 @ 5pm Eastern Daylight Saving Time. Contact Lifestyle Investor Magazine for more information.
 
 
It is a beautiful morning here in Kenilworth in the hinterland of Queensland’s Gold Coast.

We set up the Eco Tourer caravan on the Kenilworth oval and found it the perfect location with that beautiful grassy oval to run on, the cheese factory , town and interesting old farm buildings within a short walking distance and a very pretty park area beside the river a short drive away.

The last thing that should be on my mind, is things like lipozene, but I wanted to warn the gray nomads and those not  very sophisticated with internet buying, to be very wary about  a lot of free trials that are offered over the internet that ask for your credit card details. Many people are finding these are autoship programs, that become very hard to cancel and you can find yourself being charged, every month for something you no longer want.

I had such an experience once and even cancelling my credit card did not stop the withdrawals, my bank simply reissued another credit card, against my request and sent me the account.  I did eventually sort it out after a great deal of inconvenience. This is not what we want to be trying to sort out, while happily touring the country.  The 65 plus age group in particular are being targeted from sites like facebook with these *free offer*, temptations that can lead into ongoing charges against the recipients credit card.

Personally, I prefer to use PayPal for all my internet payments then only PayPal has my credit card details aside from myself and I can easily cancel payments when I cancel a service or product delivery.  I find it is a lot safer.

I know when I was selling on EBay many sellers hated being forced by EBay to offer PayPal because PayPal charges the seller a fee.  I loved using PayPal as a seller and that is the system I use in my web site stores that sell art cards, fridge magnets, postcards and prints, because PayPal notify me within seconds of a customers’  purchase and also when their funds have cleared. I find it an efficient and safe system.

Internet banking safety tips.

1/ Never enter the Paypal, site from an email. Only enter your bank or PayPal from the web address that you yourself put into your web browser.

2/Never, do your internet banking or enter any sites where you need to use your password, from an internet cafe as these computers are there for convenience, but cannot, be considered secure.

3/ Change your passwords frequently, especially if your computer is left unattended.

4/Never, use a word that can be found in a dictionary as your password and use a mixture of upper and lower case letters and a numerals, to form your password. 
 
SKI Club Members 04/15/2010
 
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There is a bit of a funny story to Reg and I purchasing a George Forman grill and roaster oven a few years ago, for our caravan kitchen.

We told both our daughters that we were going shopping with the intention of buying one or the other. 

We were advised by one daughters, that we could just use non stick foil and cook on our existing frypan and save out money.  OK, well meant advice, but we wanted to buy one or the other, not seek a low cost alternative.

Our second daughter, equally caring in her nature, advised us to go to the Warehouse and purchase a no name product to do a similar job as the more common grill.  At that stage, the oven was a new concept and there were no low cost versions we liked.

Somehow, Reg and I felt a little rebellious, at being in our 60's and often being advised by thirty something’s as to how to manage our money so after a quick check of the fo one daughter spoke of and the warehouse the other mentioned we headed to the department store and joined the SKI Club. We became official members of the Spending the Kids Inheritance Club and in buying both, went over our budget and we have never regretted ether purchase, nor the fun we had, laughing at our 'rebellion at being told how to spend our money, by our own 'kids'.  :-). .

Tonight’s chicken dinner was a free range, organic local chicken, and it was divine, cooked without any salt or seasoning, just onions and potatoes cooked in the pot with it and all the fat drains out into the dish beneath the roaster, making it low fat cooking. Delicious! :-).

PS. We LOVE our children :-) and understand they meant only to have given us good advice, :-).
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I am back from having our ‘troopy’ taken good care of at Toyota, for it’s 40 thousand kilometre service, $1,200. minus the 10% seniors card discount and three new tyres at $300. Each and a wheel balance needed.  I think I should get life insurance quotes before I let Reg look at the balance in the bank account. Lol J.

Thankfully, everything else is going well for us, our health all looking good right now and the caravan service should only be a couple of hundred dollars. We will get that done next.

I may do one trash and treassure market early n March, if it’s not too late to book it, and get a few funds back into the kitty.

Shepparton 1st Sunday Market at SPC - Ardmona Kidstown on the Shepparton - Mooroopna Causeway (Midland Highway).
8am till noon.
There are between 40 - 100 stalls selling craft and produce.
Free entry.
Previously known as Shepparton Treasure & Trash market.

Web Link: Shepparton 1st Sunday Market 
 
 
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Many of the new design caravans and fifth wheelers  such as the Travelhome Macquarie 29 foot, 5th Wheeler, have an office space incorporated in the design to accommodate the need for today’s gray-nomad to earn the costs of regular touring.

Reg and I are having out ‘Troopy’ serviced at Toyota in Shepparton Victoria, today. It is the 40 thousand service, end even with nothing needing to be done, this is an $1,100.00 to $1,200.00 service they tell me. That is a lot of fridge magnets, bookmarks or cards from my art works at $5. each or small gift cards, post cards, or packs of mini gift cards at $2. Each, I need to sell, to cover the cost of keeping our vehicle touring to painting the on location art work and also cover the fuel, increased food costs away from main cities and the additional accommodation costs as we review the dog friendly caravan parks this year.  I will need to begin doing my figures and work out our break-even budget costs. If we ever make a profit from an art tour, I do donate this to charity.

Gray-nomads, who like to keep rolling on the road, find many ingenious ways to cover travel costs. Currently here in the Goulburn Valley where I am staying for summer, there is work picking and packing fruit for the SPC Ardmona cannery and the local orchards.  I love hard work and exercise but for me J, I like to be my own boss and be able to pace myself, knock off when I want to, I doubt that fruit picking would be something my back could hold up to. Even though art is a non-essential and not a guaranteed way to earn travel costs, it is my way of choice.

We are touring up the more populated east coast of Australia this year and even far north Queensland is now getting good internet access and as we will be travelling with our wireless internet connection this opens up a lot of new ways for gray nomads to clear n an income while touring.

There is an opportunity to earn money if you are a good writer through people paying you to write reviews or place advertisements in your blogs.

You can sell your own services like hairdressing, dog grooming, dressmaking from your caravan or sell other people’s services, for instance you can do touring sales work, approaching businesses to sell merchant account services. There are many ways you can lead a touring life and take a business on the road. You do not have to be retired to lead the gray nomad life.

 
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Office desk, built in to the 29' travelhome
 
 
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The little Willy Wagtail is a common sight in the bushland around Moroopna.
Last year Reg and I set up as market stallholders at the once a month market at SPC Ardmona, Kidstown at Mooroopna, in the city of Shepparton. We sold some of our downsizing paraphernalia; I was surprised at how much we sold, also the variety of stalls. There was the typical make, grow or bake stalls but you were allowed to sell just about anything, there was everything there from A for acne solutions to Z for zebras, well timber ones anyhow J.

Shepparton 1st Sunday Market

Time:

8.00am - 12.00pm

Venue:

SPC Ardmona KidsTown -Jan Maude Lawns

Admission:

Gold Coin per person

Stallholders can enjoy this great outdoor venue, with easy access and ample parking.

Single stallholder sites - from $20.00

Bookings are essential, please contact the Market Manager on 0419 524 841 for all enquires.

 

If Reg had not come home from our last tour with whooping cough, we would have got straight back into a once a month market at Kids Town. I would have booked one or two art classes, of art students there. If that had happened I would not have spent as much time as I have, developing my ten blogs or planning our 2010 review tour of dog friendly caravan parks.

So everything has worked out for the creative best, for us, one opportunity not taken up and another one opens, an opportunity, (writing sales), which fits in with a touring gray nomad, so easily and I am loving the new direction this has taken me on.

 

I am going out with Reg to SPC Ardmona Kidstown in Mooroopna, tomorrow, to meet up with a face book friend and her children. I will take some photos to share here in this blog. It is a great place to visit with a family. 

We had a family Christmas party there once, everyone took a plate, we set up at the picnic tables for lunch, and our grandchildren went on train rides after we had eaten, it was so enjoyable.

I am looking forward to sharing the Kidstown story with you tomorrow night.

Ardmona Kidstown is a million dollar children's playground located in Greater Shepparton, Victoria Australia, boasting a vast number of play areas to suit all ages. it currently attracts over 150,000 visitors a year.

Midland Highway
Shepparton VIC 3632
Australia

 

 
 
 
I mentioned in a post this week how, because I am currently in country Victoria, away from the fashion boutiques and unique gift shops, in the city, I have purchased most of my Christmas gifts this year, over the internet.  Most of the time, I have made a big saving off the new store price. I saved $250. Off the new cost of the camera, I bought myself and I love it,J, it has proved to be everything I could have wanted and it has a fantastic auto focus ability and will take excellent photos in all light settings.

Moving on to the personal items, I bought. The jersey leisure suit was great, and the small Juicy Contour handbag is beautiful quality, expertly gift packaged and the inside has pockets and zip compartments for phone, wallet and camera, it is perfect for what I wanted.  Delivery time from the US was faster than parcels from east Australia to the west or into central Australia. Australia post could learn from how fast international shipping, can be compared to postage across Australia. 

Anyhow, all my Christmas shopping has been completed, without me needing to do much more than comparing prices on line, pay securely using PayPal  (so individual stores do not have my banking details) and sign for my items at the local post office.  I think I will shop this much more often, it is cheaper than a tank of fuel to go to the city and back on a shopping excursion and less tiring

 
 
 
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I am finding it difficult  to find the time to go shopping where there is a wide variety of merchandise to select quality Christmas gifts and so this year I have done a lot of my Christmas shopping on line.

I have ordered printed T Shirts and business cards on line for my daughter at her request; I bought my husband audio books on EBay. For the women in the family I have bought a French top and roll top yoga pants, in merlot coloured jersey and a JUICY couture,shoulder bag in canvas and leather for the family member who lives in jeans, from Nanette Lepore .

I treated myself to my new camera, again ordered online without ever leaving home. I did all my price searching with my feet up on the sofa and a coffee by my side and I am happy with the prices I paid, mostly they were a little less than  bricks and mortar store price and a big saving on fuel costs and time, not needing to travel into  the city to shop.  This is the easiest Christmas shopping I have ever done.

 
 
 
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 Advantages.

The creative bush dweller can pay for thier holiday, making and selling, hiking sticks.

My next-door neighbour Alan loves to bush camp. He collected straight sticks, cut them to length, purchased walking stick stops for the toe and then sold these at the Tod Mall market in Alice Springs Central Australia for $25. each and helped pay for his holiday.

 I have seen painted and varnished hiking poles or walking sticks being sold for $150, and above at markets and I paid about $35. for a beautiful piece of natural timber hiking stick, in an art gallery.

Exercise .

Exercising with a stick, great for travellersJ, try someJ, they are even doing some of these exercises at my Aquamoves gym.

My husband, is currently using my bush stick for its conventional roll as a walking aid.

An incident involving a dog attack yesterday gave me the idea for my first,   “Useful Stuff” post and I will hold a walking stick as a more valuable item from now on and be far more likely to grab my lovely rustic bush stick before heading out the door for a walk with my dog. 
 
 
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Great news for seniors wanting to work in the US, there is no age limit for the E - 3 Working Visa. 

E-3 Visa is the new working Visa, Australians need to apply for the work in the United States.

The E-3 is a new visa for Australian nationals to work in specialty occupations in the U.S. It has many advantages over the other types of working visas, including the ability for spouses of E-3 recipients to apply for work authorization.

Will you be working in the United States? If so, the information in these web sites may be useful to you

Las Vegas Job Search
The United States, Embassy, Canberra, Visa Information 
 
 
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