Building The Burrow!

Pearla*Merle

PS. Have also been reading this http://freetirement.weebly.com which is making me rethink a lot of things. And then having just had a holiday on top makes me realise that actually I want to travel more (I used to do tons), so lots of life pondering going on....

Pearla*Merle

I've got a new plan of attack when it comes to catching up with everyone - just dive back in and then do the proper, leisurely catch ups when I can. Why have I never done this before? :rotfl:

Oh darn, I'm being interrupted by Mr M, I'll be back...

Pearla*Merle

...apparently I forgot someone's birthday, oops.

Work days are so boring at the moment, I still don't seem to get much done outside working hours. Not helped today by working late but at least that's more pennies pour moi. :T

I managed to run a cleaning cycle on the dishwasher this eve. So at least that's something taken care of... entire place still looks like a tip though. :rotfl: Day off on Thursday so I shall blitz it then, might try and do a charity shop run then as well.

Ooh, only a week and a bit til payday. :j

Simple Pleasures.... watching hailstones thundering down all through the day. I love dramatic weather, the clouds sweeping around today were fabulous.

gallygirl

Pearla*Merle wrote: »

I managed to run a cleaning cycle on the dishwasher this eve. So at least that's something taken care of... entire place still looks like a tip though. :rotfl:

So if you get visitors just sit them in front of the dishwasher and open the door .

Pearla*Merle

gallygirl wrote: »

So if you get visitors just sit them in front of the dishwasher and open the door .

Sounds like a plan :rotfl:

I also have a newly organised wardrobe that may captivate them for a while...

apple_muncher

Just don't show them your knickers drawer...

Pearla*Merle

I don't know, I might... it's ever so neat these days, it's a wonder to behold! :rotfl:

apple_muncher

*snort*

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Pearla*Merle

You laugh, but Ms Kondo is fairy godmother-like with her drawer-sorting ways! Hope they don't all become grey, faded and ragged at midnight.

In other news, prepare yourselves... novel about to be uploaded...

Pearla*Merle

Ok, time for that proper look back over All I Have Achieved and ponder Plans, Thoughts, And Dreams For The Future.

It’s occurred to me that even though I was living quite cheaply before, over the past year or so of this diary malarkey, I’ve managed to downshift or change a lot of my expenses. A combination of reading MSE and lots of simple living articles/blogs/books has made me question a lot of things (amount of makeup I wear, buying cheap buying twice instead of quality items, entertainment spends and treats). I’ve freed up a lot more cash than I realised by lowering just a few expenses. Exciting to see really! But it’s been gradual change, there’s definitely something to be said for constantly revisiting expenses and thinking about them. You never know when there will be an inner change that then allows you to free yourself from expenses you thought were ‘musts’.

Although the extra cash is super duper, the fact that I actually feel FREE from the shackles of ‘stuff’ is the best thing to come out of all this. As I was checking in for my flight the other week the girl at the desk marvelled at the weight of my bag (I only used a carry on as well), and said she’d never seen someone go on that flight with such a light bag. Minimalism result! And you know I actually took too much stuff with me. :rotfl:

I love the fact that I can travel light – oh the places I’ll go! But not just that, I travel light when it comes to expenses too, so suddenly I’ve realised I could be travelling a lot more much more cheaply than I realised. It helps living near London town so there’s no ‘get to London, then get to the next place’, which has always been the case. It would be nice to make the most of that opportunity.

Obviously, I can’t spend all my pennies on travel, but the simple fact that I’ve reduced my outgoings so much means that there won’t need to be a choice between travelling or saving, I can realistically do a bit of both – and I do need to actually live my life as housey stuff is such a tangle down here that heaven knows where we’re going to end up. I’m still very keen to get some sort of shelter and pay it off, but we’re talking around £400k (three to four times what we originally were looking at!) to get something here. So it’s a funny one, we both need to be flexible for Mr M’s job, keep our stuff in check for any future moves (which also allows us to buy a smaller, cheaper property when the time comes – but that should also keep our buying in check, therefore helping to build cash reserves!), but we also realise this may be a long haul down here so need to live life a little too. I think I talked about that in my first diary post – getting out of the poverty/anxiety mindset I had got into was so unhealthy and Mr M & I need to have a life as well. Sooo… after all that blathering, what I’m trying to say is that we seem to be getting more on the same page with that (I was super tight, Mr M more spendy, but we’re converging now, lol), and we’re both keen to live in a much more balanced way. Which ultimately is surely a healthy thing to do, lessens any regrets but also keeps us in a fit state to then take advantage of any financial opportunities that come our way. So feeling a lot more content these days than I did a year or so ago.

I’m also doing a lot more work now, earning way more pennies, but have also been ticking my self-employment stuff along in the background and feel like I’m now at a very happy place with the plans I have for that. So although it took some building up and a bit of time to get here, I’m very chuffed at how different my life looks now. It’s taking constant checks and reigning myself in as I always tend to go overboard with work but if I can keep on the straight and narrow then I should have quite a nice life balance. It’s just a case of prioritising the projects I want to take on, so I need to keep being strict with myself but I think I’m slowly starting to learn some better habits.

Next stop is to get my health properly sorted out again. It slipped a bit over New Year, but super healthy eating and exercise mania needs to start soon – if I’m in tiptop shape then I’ll have the energy to do what I want to do on a daily basis, instead of feeling tired and needing long rests (a bit of a recurring nuisance at the moment – though still a lot better state than I was several months ago!). So – must get fitbit on the go again, once the house is a tad tidier I can blast on with my yoga and may even hit the Davina DVDs. :j

I’ve been working out my earnings from last month, reckon my next pay packet should be a rather lovely sight to behold, so I can’t wait to see all that sitting in my account and going NOWHERE! Really hoping to save about £500 next month. (Please all cross your fingers and toes!) Apart from a higher interest paying account…which takes me to financial plans – really must take some time to have a good look at accounts & cards sharpish. I’ve been meaning to do an overhaul for ages, so need to make sure I’m getting the most out of everything so my aim is to get that sorted asap. I’m planning to get this Help To Buy ISA thingy, so want to try and put together as much as possible for that to make the most of those initial starting offers. I think some writing up of financial plans/goals/possible new spreadsheet needs to be sorted soon.

Now I’m back from holibobs, the best thing I could probably do for my financial future is learn to drive. Suddenly makes Where Can We Buy? and Ooh, New Job New Pay Packet! much more intriguing subjects, so I need to bite the bullet there and get that sorted. I’ve had a few eeksome moments about it recently, mostly due to being so tired and thinking it may not be the safest thing in the world for me, lol, but the last few weeks have been an anomaly, so I must keep telling myself that and just have a go and see how I do.

With the Help To Buy, I don’t see why we couldn’t buy somewhere in a couple of years if we really wanted to. I have a feeling we’d probably hold off longer until we knew where we definitely wanted to be (we really do need to stay flexible at the moment, as annoying as that is – oh heavens, I just want to decorate and have a little garden and a cat omg!), but it would be mad to commit to something and only need to move again not long after.

I truly feel like I’ve just waffled away. :rotfl: In a nutshell – keep saving like mad, go on a couple of holidays and the odd day trip/keep daydreaming about gardens and cats/try not to freak out at friends all buying houses for what feels like spare change up north/just end up buying a narrowboat when I’m 60 and storm Dutch canals with it during my retirement. :rotfl: