Paid off the £31,000! BUT - still scrimping!

SeasideGirl

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

Hi Seaside Girl - yes people take different paths for their retirement plans. My DSis and her other half are going the property route for the bulk of theirs - they want to build up a property portfolio. I'm lucky in that I have a fairly good Defined Benefits pension scheme from a previous employer and because I've left it so long to sort out my plans and I only have very few years left working till I retire, I've been throwing everything into my current workplace pension because of the tax break and the fact that my firm also contribute. I want to retire in under three years so don't really have any other viable options.

The kitchen renovation is long overdue. I've mixed feelings between excitement and dread of all the mess!:D

I found it wasn't quite as bad as I'd expected it to be in a previous house - it was done & finished within a week and pretty painless! This house I lived without a kitchen for the first month (literally a tap & the old sink hanging off the wall!) so had kettle & microwave on a unit in the hall. I used a lot of paper plates... :rotfl: Good opportunity to have a sort out though and decide whether you actually need everything you have (or whether there's anything you could do with getting).

I am exploring the property route as a pension option - it's funny, it came up as a topic with work colleagues today too, so it must be on many people's minds. But agree, different things work for different people. Probably if I went back in time I would contribute much earlier but hey, hindsight is a wonderful thing!

Seasidegal58

Cumbria_lass wrote: »

Everything sounding good SSG. Maybe start getting rid of unwanted stuff in your kitchen if you have anything.

Looking forward to my trip south with my mum. We will be at Hammersmith hospital.

Im going to start to have a look at what I have in the kitchen Cumbria. Actually there shouldn't be a lot to sort out as my kitchen is small so there's not much room for hoarding!

When are you off to see the specialist? Will you and your mum have time for a bit of shopping/sight seeing while you are down in London?

SeasideGirl wrote: »

I found it wasn't quite as bad as I'd expected it to be in a previous house - it was done & finished within a week and pretty painless! This house I lived without a kitchen for the first month (literally a tap & the old sink hanging off the wall!) so had kettle & microwave on a unit in the hall. I used a lot of paper plates... :rotfl: Good opportunity to have a sort out though and decide whether you actually need everything you have (or whether there's anything you could do with getting).

I am exploring the property route as a pension option - it's funny, it came up as a topic with work colleagues today too, so it must be on many people's minds. But agree, different things work for different people. Probably if I went back in time I would contribute much earlier but hey, hindsight is a wonderful thing!

I can see the paper plate option arising Seaside Girl - along with a week of takeaways!

I put the rad on in the bathroom for the first time last night and was so glad as it felt really chilly in there this morning. The dark mornings seem to have arrived without warning!

Anyway it was payday today - sorted my YNAB out. I've an extra £330 this month as it is one of the two months in the year I don't pay for my annual travel season ticket as the firm takes the money for my interest free loan over 10 months. I've put this money into the Ad Hoc Savings pot.

This week's particular spends are nails and pedicure (budgeted for) and a concert on Sunday. DD bought my ticket for me months ago so it'll just be drinks beforehand to pay out for.

Rest of the month has nothing particular in the diary. It's DSis's birthday but I'm still waiting for her to let me know what show/play she wants to see. Might end up having drinks with one of my friends as it's her birthday this month as well.

I should have money left over each week to go in the Ad Hoc spends pot so we'll see how it goes.

SSG x

System

Today SSG we are heading for London , we are hoping to have time to have a trip to Harrods this afternoon. Tomorrow I will be at the hospital all day. Our train back is early evening.

The weather looks good so maybe a walk in a park as well.

HairyHandofDartmoor

Your kitchen will look lovely SSG and well worth all the hassle.

Seasidegal58

Thanks guys. Cumbria: I do hope everything went well today and you managed to get around with your mum afterwards.

Spends yesterday - nail appointment in the evening and I spent £1.78 on two ITunes downloads - two tracks - one I heard on the new thriller 'Mystery Road" and an old Argent track frim the 70s I heard again on 'Trust'! These days most tracks I download I hear on TV programmes playing as incidental background music. I have my Shazam app, point it the TV and the track pops up ready to download on Itines. One of the bestl apps I use!:D

Tonight my kitchen fitter popped round to quote me for the work. He left me the Howdens book and is going to arrange for one of their planners to come round. I'm going to ask DSis to run me over to the showroom so I can have a good look as well. Looking at starting the work the beginning of November.

Enjoy the rest of the evening everyone.

HairyHandofDartmoor

Your plans are progressing, you must feel excited about your new kitchen.

You've reminded me that I have the Shazzam app and I've never used it. DS1 downloaded it for me.

Seasidegal58

I find lots of apps rather "all gong and no dinner" Hairy but I really like the Shazam app and find it really useful. I use it when I hear music that I like on adverts as well!

Yippee - it's Friday and two days off work!:j

Had a bit of a spend up in Boots today buying my monthly toiletries. It came to £38.42 but I saved £12.41 and have doubled up on quite a few things as they were on offer. So I won't be buying much next month!:D

Pedicure tomorrow and meeting a friend for coffee as welll. Concert on Sunday night - off to see Soft Cell at the O2!

Have a good weekend everyone.

HairyHandofDartmoor

I must try using the app.

It sounds like a good weekend coming up for you.

Kit_Katt

Good luck with the Kitchen ...we used Howdens and they were amazing. Quality was superb and about 4 items arrived with small cosmetic damage that they replaced from their warehouse or got the stock next day .... nothing was a hassle.

Shut your eyes for a week to the mess and each day you will see a massive improvement once the initial rip out and any plasterwork / electrics are done .

Go for it !

Seasidegal58

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

I must try using the app.

It sounds like a good weekend coming up for you.

Thanks Hairy.

Kit_Katt wrote: »

Good luck with the Kitchen ...we used Howdens and they were amazing. Quality was superb and about 4 items arrived with small cosmetic damage that they replaced from their warehouse or got the stock next day .... nothing was a hassle.

Shut your eyes for a week to the mess and each day you will see a massive improvement once the initial rip out and any plasterwork / electrics are done .

Go for it !

Hello Kit Katt:hello: Thanks for popping in. Yes I've heard good things about Howdens. My kitchen fitter deals with our local branch quite a bit and knows them well which is handy. I'll do what you say and shut my eyes! I think one of the main bug bears apart from this is that my one-bedroom flat is small and the fridge is going to have to go in the living room along with all the kitchen stuff while the work is being carried out!:eek:

What a lovely day today was! Sunny and warm here, blue waters in the estuary and lots of little boats bobbing aboutt! Pedicure done and met my friend. Came back and did some ironing and read my kindle for a bit. Going to watch 'Mystery Road" later on.

Have a good evening everyone!