How to fall in love with saving money

atush

Sounds good.

I'm packing and the weather outlook has improved so I am not packing sweaters and galoshes lol.

cathybird

Have just looked the weather forecast for Cannes up and it is wet in the earlier part of the week, then dries up. When are you off, atush? ...

atush

The forecast I am looking at right now is today, rain 70% chance, 55F, tomorrow mostly sunny 56F 10% chance of rain, Sun 58F mostly sunny 0% chance of the wet stuff.

I leave tomorrow (leaaving in a hour for London) so will have a 90% chance of staying dry hopefully lol

cathybird

atush, have loads of fun!! See you when you get back

cathybird

Well, I've not had the most MSE of days, having just spent some money on some weed fabric and netting for the allotment. I went down there today for the first time in about four months and while it's not too bad considering I need to be pretty quick to get the weed fabric down before the warmer weather arrives and the weeds start shooting up like nobody's business. I also need to net the gooseberries and currant bushes and a couple of the trees (cherry and greengage). It was very damp and chilly, in fact rained the whole time I was there, but it's always invigorating to be outdoors and it usually gives me a bit of mild exercise too. There is one really crappy patch where brambles and nettles shoot up every year and I never quite get on top of it. So this year I'm determined to get that bit under control.

On the plus side, it's very productive - I get loads of fruit from it every year, dozens of kilos of fruit, and quite a few veg too, when I'm organised enough to get the veg in. So, worth the money really (I think).

JoJoC

I think it's definitely worth the money Cathy! I'd love a little allotment or garden space to grow my own fruit and veg.

I'm not much of a gardener, particularly because we're in a first floor flat with just a carpark and no green space, but I really like the thought.

It's nice to treat yourself for a hobby and now that you've bought those things, that should be you done for another while.

I didn't have a very MSE day either- I had my 7 year old nephew after school so bought him some I've cream and some for me (£4.40) and bought a get well soon card for my friend's mum (£1.79). Not exactly huge amounts, but I was planning on having a NSD!!

I think tomorrow will be a NSD it better had be!!

cathybird

JoJoC, ice cream and a get well card sound like eminently worthwhile things to spend your money on and if you have an NSD tomorrow, all the better Sounds like your nephew had a lovely afternoon, too.

I love my allotment and think it is worth it in so many ways - it isn't just the joy (and pains, I guess, but it's more joy) of growing fruit and veg but also getting out in the open air and doing the physical work, which is a complete break from the office. Also the wildlife - it's close to forest so there are a lot of birds - I saw a fox today running across my plot. Plus as I said I do get quite a lot of fresh fruit and veg from it and when it comes down to it I probably do save a bit of money on what it would have cost to buy those from the supermarket. You can do pretty well just with a few pots, you know, if you want to grow stuff, JoJoC - herbs and cherry tomatoes among other things do really well on window sills, strawberries too. It's really worth it, honestly.

JoJoC

I did grow red chillis once because they an be grown indoors and they were used in a big batch of curry.

We have a teeny wee window sil so I'm not sure we could do it. Plus, out outside space is really 'public'- there's lots of people walk their dogs through and cut through our land so not sure if anything I grew would be secure.

My savings goal is to buy a house WITH a garden so once that goal is achieved (2016) my next goal will be to grow some fairly low maintenance goodies. My dad grew tomatoes, herbs, peppers and had a few different fruit trees so that was fab growing up.

The wildlife aspect sounds lovely too- I'd love to be a wee bit closer to nature. Xx

cathybird

JoJoC, that's a shame but understandable. Something to look forward to, though. I like the sound of your dad's garden.

cathybird

Interest got paid today on two of my bank accounts. Astounding how this grabs me these days Don't think I gave it any thought at all before I started the savings diary. Even small increases in the savings these days make me feel as though I've achieved something.