Old style saving for old style dream home anyone want to join in?

diluvsdiscounts

I'm in!
I too would love to live out in the country away from people,with pigs and my chickens. Realistically I know this isn't going to happen in the near future and I have long given up on the lottery,my advice to those who still do it is save your two pound in a jar every week and over the year I'm sure you will have saved more than you would have won, but that's just my opinion.
I still want to live an OS and part self sufficiency life now because it's what I believe in so I have gradually over the last four/five years been replacing all the plants and trees in my garden with fruit trees,veg,soft fruit etc. I got a greenhouse three years ago and this year has been the first year I have really seen the benefits of that. My only spend in the garden this year has been £20 on compost but I now have a freezer full of tomatoes to see me over the winter.
In January I got four chickens which have been the best birthday present I have ever had and I get four mini presents every morning!! Again it was quite expensive to set up but now they are paying for themselves in eggs.
I think my neighbours probably think I'm slightly mad but they never complain at receiving eggs,plums,green beans etc so we are all happy.
DH won't let me get a pig until we have our "dream home" but it's always nice to have hopes.
It's so nice to be able to come on here and read about people who think like I do.
Another little tip I have done is set up a standing order for £10 a week that goes out of mine and DH account on the day we get paid so we don't miss it because it's gone straight away and we have invested it in a share based ISA. I am amazed at how quickly that has grown.

Habibiboo

Hello everyone!
I've been a lurker on this site for several months and this thread has inspired me to finally post - I too share the dream! Unfortunately I've just had to drop from full to part time hours following illness, which may mean it all takes a little longer! In the meantime, we're trying to adjust our living in the home we currently have, to the style of living we'd want in a country cottage- similar to Bibbitybob's shabby chic ideas, but also in how we want to use the garden etc (we moved here less than a year ago). I've always been a make do and mend girl by upbringing and it's great to have a purpose in mind for this. I like the standing order idea, diluvsdiscounts, perhaps will look at budget later to see how much we could skim off without 'missing'! Will also be glad to be away from town - letter from the council just arrived to say that the parking permit for outside our own front door has gone up to £50 per year, d'oh.

jue

Count me in. DH and I have just paid off our mortgage, and are planning on saving that amount every month for our 'retirement' we are aiming to retire by our mid 50's, now in our mid 40's. This is a dream to live in the countryside and keep a couple of chickens and grow our own. We currently have an allotment and already grow our veg, and give heaps away,we love it. We both are lucky enough to have full time jobs and one child is grown up, married and left home, the second (and last) child is off to uni in a fortnight so we should able to live very cheaply, we don't drink alot or buy fancy clothes but we do like our holidays so that will have to be looked at, and then we should do well saving.......Can't wait to get going.
We paid off our mortgage 11 years early from all the inspiration on here, its the best feeling ever knowing no more monthly payments :-)

Bibbitybob

betterlife wrote: »

great! nice to have a companion on the way, so thankyou bibbitybob:jsounds like you have your plan pretty sussed! how lucky you are to be on the property ladder and in that position.
i`ve just popped on you blog, so am going to read through that tomorrow to see if i can steal any tips lol.
ive listed a few things on ebay tonight, some things from decluttering the house and also a few handcrafted bits so fingers crossed. i was thinking about seeing if i could tempt some family members to buy a few things from me this xmas rather than there usual places, ie i can make pickled onions, xmas cake and mince pies etc might be worth a try to make some extra pennies.

I wouldn't say it's sussed tbh, I can only really see what I'd like to do with this place and then we hope that the housing market has picked up and/or we've done enough to make a healthy profit.

Thanks for visiting my blog! Selling things is a good idea - I do a craft market every year...the first year was dire but last year I did fairly well out of it. Just trying to get my bum in gear to get bits made for this year now. My friend has an 'open house' and invites her friends around to view her stock. I don't have enough confidence in my stuff to do that but it's a great idea!

betterlife wrote: »

but also you cant go through life thinking ill do it when i win the lottery. i think if you want something in life, go for it:D

I agree with this sentiment completely! Life's too short to wait for X to happen.

Habibiboo

Wow Jue!
Congratulations on paying of the mortgage - great that your monthly money will be going towards the dream rather than towards the bank's pocket! :beer:
Perhaps an answer to the holidays issue could be to take holidays that have a purpose towards the retirement plan,like sussing out possible areas to relocate to (if a major relocation is part of the plan) or having a holiday on a working farm so you can find out about keeping chickies (and other livestock) first hand? You'll still get the break but it'll be valuable research for the grand plan as well?

JenniO

Like HabibiBoo, instead of saving for a 'dream country cottage home' I had decided a couple of years ago to just make the house I already live in the house I always wanted. Inside these 4 walls and outdoor compound (my back garden) I can imagine and live the life I always wanted. We put in an old fashioned larder, added square foot gardening in the back, put in a lovely summerhouse (mini cottage) in the back garden and right now we are saving up for a wood burner / back boiler for next summer. We are also just about to build a wood shed in the back garden to store/dry wood very soon in preparation for next summer. Free wood is good

Ok so I won't have chickens, pigs, or sheep, which I dearly love, but we do get fresh eggs from a neighbour at an allotment and we've taught ourselves skills from making bread, to making candles, soap, green cleaning and I'm about to learn more on how to knit and crochet. I love the old style way of living, it just suits me and I like the idea of being as self-sufficient and away from corporations as much as possible.

We'll also be mortgage free / loan free in 5 1/2 years so that we can continue to enjoy life and not be a working slave in the rat race. I'm 40 and the OH is 46 so we will hopefully still have a long time to enjoy our golden years together.

jue

Thank you for the great ideas HabibiBoo, I'll have a chat with DH when he gets home :-)

betterlife

wow! what a great response:j its bril to have so many join! and with similar dreams, great news for paying off morgage early, unfortunately we rent:( but as im a sahm and hub is not able to work at mo, im having to brain storm on money making idea`s:think:.
me and the kids have drawn a wall chart, going up in £50`s to £1000 (start with a more realistic target although son informs me we need about 200 of these targets:eek:)
i am also pretty old style at the mo, meals from scratch, bake, grow, get free range eggs from neighbour, furage, craft, save money on heating etc, by insulating house (and us lol:cool:)
i just find that life is sooo materialistic! and would love life to be more simple! dont get me wrong i like my tv, computer, etc but would like to spend more time out doors, in the country without having to spend to get there.
by the way im 32 (female) and have 4 kids (2,4,6 & 9) im hoping this to be a 10yr goal max:o as i still want to be fairly young and able, and for the kids to still be at home;).

bigmommamuppet

I'm another one with a 10 year, country cottage plan. My aim is pay off DMP by 2015, pay off mortgage by 2018 and then save like hell for 2-3 years to buy the house of my dreams. Oh and if I lose 6 stone along the way I'd be over the moon. :cool: So I'm with you all the way.

BMM

Habibiboo

Sounds like you have a working plan there BMM. The beauty of it is that with living on soup during the "saving like hell" years, the six stone will just melt away anyway - this is my own secret hope for the extra layer I'm carrying anyway!