Dreaming of that cottage by the sea

kika

Sorry but I always thought you could not rent to a relative who is claiming housing benefit. I would check rules carefully. Did you find a part=time job? I've been reading posts but felt I could post and be useful.

cottage_by_the_sea

Hi there Kika lovely to have you pop in.

I suspect that is probably the case re renting to rellies but I will double check. By the time I get all my ducks in a row, things may have changed anyway..with benefit rules or my brother’s situation.

No, I don’t have a part time job at the moment. I probably won’t apply for anything now until after the summer season. I live in a gorgeous tourist location and the last few summers have spent the time volunteering as a steward at various local events. I also have a regular volunteering position at a local attraction which I do once or twice a week.

This will have to be my last season though. If I’m going to be able to afford to buy a house, then it’s back to ‘proper’ work for me in the autumn. I'm keeping an eye on the job sites and an open mind about possibilities.

Another problem I have is that hubby is not onboard with the house buying mission so I suspect I will be going it alone very soon. It is sad but with long term goals being so different (that is, I have some and he doesn’t) then it’s hard to see a future for us as a couple.

Everything I suggest, he has some excuse why now is not a good time…but doesn’t offer an alternative or when it will be a ‘good time’. It is the same re general life; he never wants to do anything I suggest but won’t come up with any ideas of things to do/go himself. Initially we just didn’t go out but I’m not a home girl so it was quite depressing. I realised that life was passing me by. We live in a gorgeous location but didn’t go and enjoy it. Being in a tourist area, there are loads of events being staged but he wasn’t interested. So, I decided in the words of Shirley Valentine..’if he wants to be a boring Englishman…leave him to it’. I love that film.

So I go off and do things on my own. I work as a volunteer because I love being a steward (making sure people have a good time) but also because I can do/see things I would perhaps feel a bit self-conscious doing on my own.The past 2 years I have done/seen some really amazing things and met some interesting people. I can’t help thinking he is missing out on life but he tells me he is happy. Trouble is, I believe that your partner is the person you go off and share great moments with…not show them the photos when you get home.

Sorry – I didn’t mean to write a mini-rant there. Best end and get on with today’s activities. I’m all packed and am out with friends this morning, then I really really must spend the rest of the day tidying.

Just £35 to raise to cover July’s bills. However, I am going to increase it by £60 to cover packing materials which are getting a bit low.

Take care….Cottie

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July goals: Personal bills £215/250, house bills £0 / £900, car insurance £0 / £350

cottage_by_the_sea

Hi there diary-land,

A productive day yesterday – bathroom done, all hovering done,kitchen hot spot cleared, lounge tidy started but need more storage boxes to finish. Most of the cleaning has been done but still got a lot of tidying to do.

Financials – I’ve finished raising funds to cover personal bills for July, so I’ve moved on to the house bills account. This is the boring period –a big figure to slowly chomp through and 15 days to do it. I don’t think I’ll manage it by the date required and will have to dip into my overdraft but expect to be back in the black by the end of the month. I’ve added another goal of £200 float for next month. It would be lovely to have cleared all of this and paid my car insurance but I think that might be a tad optimistic. I need to find a fun way to break the big figure down to make it more interesting…anybody got any ideas?

Anyway, gotta dash. All items packed (last night) and I’m off out to my voluntary job today, then back to the de-cluttering tonight.

Take care..Cottie

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July goals: Personal bills £250/250, house bills £23 / £1050,car insurance £0 / £350, float for August 0/£200

cottage_by_the_sea

Hi diary-land,

Had a busy couple of days but got a lot done. House blitz finished and ready for agent inspection. Having recently deep cleaned a few rooms meant that this time was a bit easier – due to a reduced amount of clutter. So, I need to select the next room for this treatment .

The house is currently in its best condition so it’s easier to see what needs doing and the room that is bugging me the most is the lounge. It has a junk corner where stuff gets dumped at the end of the day. I must admit to be the main culprit for this. To fix, will require a spend on large plastic storage boxes. Ideally I’d like to empty this corner but the correct location for all this junk is my office and it is already full to the rafters.

If the good weather holds, I might have another go at doing a boot sale tomorrow, which hopefully will clear some space in the office, and then I can clear space in other rooms.

Financially, It was dead yesterday online- only 1 sale to pop in post this morning. That’s another incentive for the boot sale tomorrow.

Best get up and at ‘em. I have a nice day planned; a friend and I are wandering around a few fetes which I’m sure will involve cake or ice-cream – possibly both. Then, this afternoon, I will have a dig around the garage for boot sale fodder.

Have a lovely weekend everybody …Cottie
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July goals: Personal bills £250/250, house bills £53 / £1050,car insurance £0 / £350, float for August 0/£200

kika

Sorry to hear about your other half. They are a trial. Hope you had ice cream!

cottage_by_the_sea

Hi Diary-land,

Hope everybody had a lovely weekend. Mine was nice on Saturday –but a bit dull on Sunday. On Saturday a friend and I did a tour of the fetes, sampled local food, had cake. It was fairly low spend for quite a few hours of enjoyment, bumped into loads of friends and soaked up the atmosphere.

On Sunday, was stuck indoors most of the day. No boot sales (buying or selling). I discovered the one I was planning to sell at is next week, not this. I decided to give the giant one I usually wander round a miss this week…thought I’d better be sociable to OH. However, Hubby was glued to sofa due to sport on TV and ‘its too hot to go out ’plus ‘everywhere will be full of tourists’. I offered a couple of ideas to go out in the coming weeks but no interest. He really is a lovely chap, kind, intelligent, which makes it all so difficult …but his lack of drive and unwillingness to talk about the future is depressing me.

Anyway, I researched loads of fun things to do over the summer and will ask friends whether any of them are interested in coming along or have any ideas themselves. I’d rather go with hubby but I’ve got to accept that it’s just not going to happen. If this is my last summer off for a while, I’m not prepared to waste a day.

Financially, the down side of the sun is that online sales have been slow. I have to either find things that are more summer related (but not over-stock..this is the UK after all - it won’t last long) or get out to where the customers are (i.e. boot sales). I need to take £270 this week to hit my target.

Plans this week: 3 volunteering shifts, 4 meet-ups with friends, a table-top sale on Saturday and a bootsale on Sunday.

Best get up and at ‘em.

Have fun…Cottie.

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July goals: Personal bills £250/250, house bills £171 /£1050,car insurance £0 / £350, float for August 0/£200

cottage_by_the_sea

Hi diary-landers,

Hope all are well today. Weather is lovely but my hayfever is a real pain. The tablets take care of the runny nose but it’s the itchy eyes, ears and back to the throat that are getting on my nerves. I’m already taking twice the recommended dose of anti-histamine so dare not increase it any further. I’ve taken to wearing sunglasses most of the time and washing my face as often as possible. I’ve read that smearing your nose with Vaseline helps too, but not tried that yet.

The other downside to this weather is that everybody seems to be out enjoying it and not online buying my products. I had 1 thing to post yesterday and only 3 today. Maybe the face to face sales at the weekend will be better.

Off out this morning to meet friends then I’m working in my office with the curtains drawn for the rest of the day.

Have a lovely day…Cottie

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July goals: Personal bills £250/250,house bills £225 /£1050,car insurance £0 / £350, float for August 0/£200

dawnybabes

A doctor told me you can mix anti histamnes (suggest you check first) so you could ave piriton and Zirtek as different families.

kika

Sorry about your hayfever, its just so hot I've told kids kitchen is closed.

cottage_by_the_sea

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the Hayfever tips. I’ve tried most of the tablets on the market and Zirtek is the only one that works for me but at very high pollen levels, even it struggles. I will try mixing it with one of the others.

Kika - I know what you mean. I've just been snacking all week but not really fancying an actual meal. Although when neighbours get the barbeque out, the smell is lovely. We did get invited to one yesterday but Hubby declined on our behalf. Usual excuses.

Started the day a bit earlier than planned….due to the heat. Not that I’m complaining – it’s so nice to see the sun for more than a day at time.

Online sales are still pretty dead but my table top sale yesterday was fairly busy with summer visitors and I took twice what I normally take. Not a huge amount but very welcome.

I’m off out later to sell at an afternoon bootsale. I’ve done it before and it can be sluggish but I thought…well car is still packed from yesterday, its cheap and I seriously need to boost funds (and declutter) ..so let’s go for it. I will jig around some stock though – perhaps remove some of my brand new items and replace with bulky items from my old boot sale quality stock. I’m on my own today so don’t want any nicer/more expensive items to ‘go missing’ if it gets busy.

Must remember to add a pasting table, chair and refreshments. I’ve been spoilt with indoor table tops supplying those..not to mention tea and cake on tap.

Financials – numbers are going up but unfortunately the targets are too. I had to increase the house bills figure to incorporate an electricity bill, plus I calculated that the bills account will need an extra £230 on the 1st August for council tax. I have raised the float figure to £310 which will cover the latter and pay by personal debits up until the 15th August. I realise that I should be raising the bill account figure but it’s within next month so added it to float (plus I couldn’t face making that already huge figure even bigger).

I did receive goods news that my car insurance renewal has come through at £50 cheaper than budgeted. I’m not getting too excited until it’s been paid though. Their recent strategy seems to be to send a quote and when you ring and do the MSE thing (ask if this is their very best figure), they say..well actually the figure has now gone up but I suppose we could honour the original quote as a special favour for an existing customer. Leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I will ring them on Monday and get it sorted. It will have to go on the credit card but it works out cheaper than the insurance company’s interest rate.

Anyway, best get up and sort out the car. Must add sunscreen to the list and a hat.

Have a lovely day…Cottie
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July goals: Personal bills £250/250,house bills £315 /£1050,car insurance £0 / £300, floatfor August 0/£310