Our 'Mortgage Free By Forty' Dream - Truly Madly Hannah

trulymadlyhannah

Im not sure DH likes camping much either.... We are camping for 2 weeks in cornwall in August, so time will tell.:rotfl: What doesnt kill you makes you stronger:rotfl: (I joke, but only slightly, he will be okay and is looking forward to it, but given the choice I am sure he would prefer... well... anything else!)

mrsp1987

I'm not high maintenance but I do have some requirements. These are indoor plumbing, a mattress and a solid roof over my head. So camping doesn't really fit with those

trulymadlyhannah

I am going to miss those things too, at the moment I am panicing more about packing the car. Ive been camping before and thought it was okay, but that was before the children arrived. Four small people in a tent... what could go wrong:rotfl::eek::rotfl:

debtfreeoneday

Also found you on IG hannah, lovely pics on there!

We did glamping a few years back, a proper bed and a wood fired stove and loo in the 'tent' was amazing, not sure DH would get me in a proper tent!

Whereabouts are you staying in Cornwall, that's my neck of the woods!

castlelough

Hannah I am smiling here reading about your plans to escape to Ireland and have a smallholding! I can guarantee that you would more than likely need your car if you took up residence in rural Ireland...and I don't know of absolutely anywhere over here where you can get such good value for groceries, as you seem to be able to get in England. Plus, there is a lot to be said for having family support nearby. We have none, our nearest family members are a 3 hour drive from us, and it makes life a little harder at times...the grass is always greener!!!

newgirly

Hi Hannah, have you looked at Lulastic and the hippy Shake blog? A mum of two young girls who left London a couple of years ago, bought a plot of land in New Zealand and built a yurt on it. Not trying to encourage you, but you might like it

smallholdingsister

Hi Hannah. Found your blog and left you a message. It is LUSH.

trulymadlyhannah

newgirly wrote: »

Hi Hannah, have you looked at Lulastic and the hippy Shake blog? A mum of two young girls who left London a couple of years ago, bought a plot of land in New Zealand and built a yurt on it. Not trying to encourage you, but you might like it

I found that amazing blog about a month ago!.. and I think thats possibly what set me off, I am not sure I could survive in a Yurt, but New Zealand looks amazing, and I think reading that blog made me question our life and culture! I am thinking about homeschooling my four little ones in the summer term this year to trial it, and I think that maybe related to my visit to that blog too, although homeschooling is something we have looked at a few times before

I mentioned wanting a smallholding to my Aunt (whos more like a mother) and she said New Zealand is nice and good for growing. I was like, "Oh yeah, it looks amazing... wait a second, you shouldnt be suggesting that!!) I think she wants rid of me:rotfl:

smallholdingsister wrote: »

Hi Hannah. Found your blog and left you a message. It is LUSH.

I am glad you like it, I love yours too! Its always nice to meet a fellow blogger, I will be following your blog too

debtfreeoneday wrote: »

Also found you on IG hannah, lovely pics on there!

We did glamping a few years back, a proper bed and a wood fired stove and loo in the 'tent' was amazing, not sure DH would get me in a proper tent!

Whereabouts are you staying in Cornwall, that's my neck of the woods!

The wood fired stove and the loo do sound amazing. I think my MIL has a porta loo we can borrow, but thats about as glam as we will get! Glamping does sound really good, we are hoping to have a few weekends away next year, I think I might add it to our list and see if we can find a good deal!

We are staying near St Merryn, near Padstow. I love cornwall, its my favourite part of the country, Ive been visiting St Ives and Newquay from being a little girl. Now we have a tradition that we have to visit Padstow, Glendurgan garden, Mevagissey, Kynance cove & Marazion while we are there. Do you recommend anywhere else, we were thinking maybe Lanhydrock and the Eden project too. Its a good job we are there two weeks!

trulymadlyhannah

I have had a crazy few days.

I spent most of Tuesday night and the early hours of Wednesday morning in A&E with my Dad. Hes okay, it was just a chest infection and he is home with medication, but it certainly got my adrenaline going!

I have been doing lots of woodland walks and park visiting with the little ones who are loving their time off school. Today we visited 3 parks this morning, home for picnic on the living room floor while we watched a film. Then tuna pasta for tea, followed by banana bread made with 3 black and sorry looking bananas, All very MSE:T

DH took the car to his Dads and collected some wood to finish our greenhouse staging tomorrow if the weather is kind. I tidied our front garden and we had a small bonfire with some old fence panels, the children loved it and we ate our banana bread outside watching the fire. (DS1 requested banana bread every day) Another 2 jobs ticked off the list :T

Mortgage Update
I rang the mortgage company, and asked what valuation they had on file for our house ( a few years ago they said 115'000 ) they said 122'800 :T:T:T which I think is about accurate, perhaps a little generous for our house.

That means that potentially we could be at 75% LTV by November. Do you think its worth waiting for that LTV before fixing, or should we just try and fix now/soon? I worry about fixing, my credit rating is okay, but DH's is poor due to making partial payments when we cleared out debt in 2014. Our current rate is 3.99%

Food
£6.68 spend on Pizza/Chips/Toilet Roll . Pizza & chips were naughty, but I was dead on my feet after spending all night in hospital with my dad
£1.50 salad, carrots, swede from morrisons
MIL bought us 4 loaves of bread, milk and some ham.

Total [STRIKE]£112.13[/STRIKE] Now 103.95 until 3rd May

trulymadlyhannah

castlelough wrote: »

Hannah I am smiling here reading about your plans to escape to Ireland and have a smallholding! I can guarantee that you would more than likely need your car if you took up residence in rural Ireland...and I don't know of absolutely anywhere over here where you can get such good value for groceries, as you seem to be able to get in England. Plus, there is a lot to be said for having family support nearby. We have none, our nearest family members are a 3 hour drive from us, and it makes life a little harder at times...the grass is always greener!!!

I remembered you were from Ireland, you were on my list of people to message if DH had agreed! He did agree, he is happy to move but wants this mortgage paid off first and the children a little older. I have heard the cost of living is really expensive in Ireland, and when I read your diary I read about costs for doctors appointments ect :eek:.

It does look beautiful though in Ireland, so picturesque. Like you say though, the grass is always greener. Maybe one day, I am still hoping DH's family are very close (infact, 2 of his sisters and his mum live on the same street, and his grandma lives less than a 2 minuite walk) his third sister also lived very close too, but moved last year. Its amazing to have them so close, especially my MIL, it must be hard having no one nearby for help & support, thats one of the things I do worry about.