The Big Adventure

misscousinitt

Hi Goldie

So glad your trip was a success and you were well before you went.

Beautiful pictures - would love to do that.

MCI xxx

BookWorm

Just stopped in to say hello - lovely to 'see' you

So glad to hear you had a brilliant time on your travels. Thanks for sharing the pics

BW x

Goldiegirl

Hello, its been a while since I posted.

Time seems to pass very quickly, cant believe summer is over and we are into autumn. With the approach of 'Storm Brian', it seems very autumnal today with the leaves blowing around all over the place.

We had a very good summer this year. From May until mid July it seemed sunny all the time, and it was nice to have all the windows and doors open so the house and garden seemed to flow into one living area. The weather wasn't quite so good from mid July onwards - i seem to remember in mid September it seemed like November as it was so dark and damp. Lots of weird weather around, just got over the excitement on the red sun and yellow sky caused by Hurricane Ophelia.

We managed to have some nice days out this summer, both by train to the coast and by coach to other places like Kew Gardens and Bekonskot Model Village.

On August bank holiday Monday we went away for a weeks cruise on CMV Columbus, to Scotland and the Faroe Islands. We sailed from Tilbury, which is only about 45 minutes away in the car, so it was very convenient. It's a more budget priced cruise line than P&O who we normally go with, and I was very pleased with it. It really exceeded my expectations and was excellent value for money.

Healthwise, I'm pleased to say there has been no more vertigo since my 'turn' in February. I'm still walking everyday. I do at least 45 minutes everyday and at least twice a week we do a much longer walk. (during the summer I got a new iPhone, as my old one had an 8GB capacity, so I barely had space for any apps - now I can track all my activity on my new iPhone)

I'm pleased with the way the finances are going. We are not frugal, but not extravagant either. This means we have been able to save all of Mr Goldie's state pension and I am usually able to put another £200 - £300 into various savings pots each month.

I'm still ebaying from time to time, just a few bits for myself and my friend and still do Quidco. So, with a few cashbacks from Santander and Halifax, I normally make £20 - £30 a month from these activities. Still doing You Gov. I got to £50 last month. It took 14 months to get to that point. I thought they had forgotten me and then it went mad and I was getting surveys every other day!

The Sipps and S&S ISAs are going ok. I had a goal to grow the money by 4% each year. This has been achieved for last year, which I'm pleased with, in the current uncertain climate. I think I was maybe a bit cautious some of my choices, especially on Mr Goldie's Sipp. One of the funds on his Sipp under-performed so I have now sold that fund and reinvested the money in three other funds which are doing well. The rest of the funds have all done well, so I'm hoping for more growth overall in the next year. although who knows what's going to happen.

We both have Fixed rate accounts maturing with Halifax in a couple of days. There's no way I'm going to re-invest at 0.50% for two years, so we're drawing the money out. some will go in the S&S ISAs, some in a Kent Reliance Fixed Rate and some I'll cycle through another monthly savings account. We may also keep a bit of the money for a few treats!

Groceries have gone up a bit over the year - but I think my expenditure should end up at least similar to last year, as Aldi have just opened a store nearby! Their previous store was in the next town in a location I really had no desire to visit. This new one is very convenient, so we made our first visit last week. In Sainsbury's I would have expected to spend about £50 for the things I bought. My total was £34.28 !! There's still a few things we wont be able to buy in Aldi, so we intend to go the Sainsburys every third week and go to Aldi the other two weeks, along with an occasional Asda delivery. I was very pleased with the quality of food from Aldi. I made a beef curry with diced beef from Aldi, and it was much nicer than the beef I've had from Sainsbury's recently.

In the planning stage - Next March we are going on a cruise to the top of Norway, to hopefully see the Northern Lights. We need to kit our selves out for this, so will be buying proper cold weather clothes. We have a Mountain Warehouse near us and their prices seem quite reasonable. Much more realistic than the likes of The North Face. ( I've saved a pot of money for this purpose)

Also,next year we are going to have a major redecoration of the living room and dining room, including carpets, sofas and furniture. Our current sofa and carpets are 17 years old and the rest of the furniture is nearly 30 years old, so its time for something new. We are using the money from a small pension Mr Goldie had not added to his SIPP, I have saved a bit each month for this and also will use what we have saved from Mr Goldie's state pension. I'll be pleased when its done, but I bit nervous of having a lot of change all at once, and also a bit nervous of spending so much money at once!

So that's where we are at the moment.

I do read diaries from time to time, but haven't had time to make any comments. Hopefully as winter approaches, will have more time for this

newgirly

Brilliant update GG , glad you are doing well and enjoying life

We are not that far from Tilbury either so I was interested to read about your cruise from there, the prices for some of the companies seem so much lower, I've not had the confidence to book one yet just incase it's not great so I'm glad to hear it was ok.

AlexLK

Glad to hear everything is going well, Goldie. Norwegian cruise sounds wonderful. We have not been to Norway but did visit Iceland many years ago, though only for a couple of days. Can attest to the Canada Goose being required. :rotfl:

Karmacat

How lovely to see an update from you, Goldie! I've been thinking of you recently as my retirement gets a bit more self-directed rather than reactive. I'm interested in the Tilbury cruises too, as my Norfolk rellies are into cruises and they may be a solution to holidaying together.

Great that you've updated the investments too

CathT

Good to hear from you Goldie. Retirement life sounds wonderful.

Watty1

How wonderful to see a post from you Goldie....long may it continue

Goldiegirl

newgirly wrote: »

Brilliant update GG , glad you are doing well and enjoying life

We are not that far from Tilbury either so I was interested to read about your cruise from there, the prices for some of the companies seem so much lower, I've not had the confidence to book one yet just incase it's not great so I'm glad to hear it was ok.

We went on CMV Columbus. For the price we paid I thought it was very good indeed. I think it's fine for a shorter cruise, but I'm not sure I'd go on her for a longer cruise, as there isn't the variety of places places to eat or choices of entertainment like you get on P&O. I think it's definitely worth a try, and I would sail on her again

Goldiegirl

Karmacat wrote: »

How lovely to see an update from you, Goldie! I've been thinking of you recently as my retirement gets a bit more self-directed rather than reactive. I'm interested in the Tilbury cruises too, as my Norfolk rellies are into cruises and they may be a solution to holidaying together.

Great that you've updated the investments too

As I said to Newgirly, CMV Colmbus was really nice, and is probably good for first time cruisers as its not quite so formal as some of the other lines like P&O. There are formal nights for dressing up, but they are not obligatory, so there was a very relaxed atmosphere on board.

I know exactly what you mean about the first part of retirement being reactive. For the first six months or so, I felt that I was constantly sorting things out and arranging stuff. Once all that is done, you can please yourself a bit more.

Although there's always something to sort out. For example, I put the oven on this lunch time to put my jacket potato in ( I microwave first, then put in the oven for a while to crisp up the skin a bit). Next thing I know, all the electric went off. The main switch had tripped. So we put everything back on again and cautiously turned the oven on and it seemed ok. It was only when I took my potato out I realised there was no heat! Looked like the heating element had gone. So I found 'a man' in the local free advertiser, he came round an fitted a new heating element. All done in two hours. It cost £81.00 which I thought was ok. We got £5 off because Mr Goldie is a senior citizen! When I was at work, it would be a major issue to get those sort of things done, so much easier now.