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

Seasidegal58

Hi there @beanielou @Sun_Addict @milann @moving_forward @in_need_of_direction and @HairyHandofDartmoor - yes I'm still here!

Hello @savingmore and @Bubblesmum - thank you for your lovely posts. Sorry it has taken me so long to  reply. I will look for your diaries and subscribe. It will be lovely to have you read and post here. And good luck with your retirement plans savingmore. 

Oh dear!  Nearly a month since I posted last and caught up with diaries.  Goodness knows where the time has gone. 

Instead of writing a really, really long post I'm going spilt things up into separate entries. So...

PART ONE - WORK AND RETIREMENT 
Ive been mulling over the above the last few weeks. I went through a couple of really rough patches in my head re work. 

I don't want to keep sounding like a stuck record but basically this whole lockdown and WFH has made me want to retire earlier than planned. I don't fancy going back to the office again with the drag of the commute and WFH is getting me down owing to (a) the slower systems, (b) work kit taking up a third of my living room, (3) feeling of not being able to 'switch off' in the evening after logging off owing to (2). 

I've been thinking seriously of bringing my retirement date forward to the autumn as I don't fancy working through a dark winter either ways.  I've contacted my final salary pension provider for a retirement illustration as I think I could manage until the State pension kicks in next spring and I have my workplace pension as well. 

As I feel at the moment I would love to give my month's notice now but that would really leave my boss in the lurch and I'd never do that. As I see it if we're back in the office in the autumn say, I would be able to train and handover to a replacement which is near nigh impossible at the moment when  WFH. 

I did bring this up at my half-year review discussion with him last week but he went a bit quiet and never really engaged. He hates change and I think he hoped I was just having a bad day!   I'm leaving it for now but will review once we have a firm date for going back to the office. 

And I haven't been able to work at all since mid morning today as my works laptop has died and IT are rebuilding a new one for me and couriering it tomorrow!  I had yesterday off anyway now I'm two days behind and the guy who usually helps out is away on holiday!

However if this whole virus business has taught me anything it's live for today and don't put anything off that you'd really want to do with your life. 

Anyway that's my long moan - Part Two will hopefully be a lot less miserable!

Off in a bit to have my nails done and will be back later.....

Sun_Addict

I’m so pleased to hear you’re ok. Will await part 2. Sounds like you’ve made a good decision to retire early if you can afford it. I think a lot of people will be reluctant to go back to the office. 

milann

Good to hear from you SSG. I’d definitely go for the retirement if you can manage it. Who knows - the appeal hearing later this month might go in our favour but I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one. I don’t blame you not wanting to commute. If I could manage I’d do it too - however my pension will only be tiny so I need to continue. With all the predicted unemployment it makes sense in my eyes to lower the retirement age for both men and women to give the younger ones a chance.

Seasidegal58

Nice to hear from you both too SA and milann. 😀. Will be catching up with you both. Milann - I'm so far behind with diaries I wasn't aware of your appeal!  I do hope it goes your way - it's being going on forever hasn't it?  Re the youngsters - yes when I retire my place should go to someone young - tbh once my boss has got used to a new assistant he will be probably be glad he's got someone young as they'll be a lot faster on systems than me!😆

PART DEUX - BEAUTY AND DIET
Nothing bought out of the ordinary on the cosmetic/toiletries front - got a (John Freida I think) hair mask, hair mousse and face sponge from the £9 monthly beauty box. Apart from mouthwash that's all I've bought as I've got supplies of everything else and I've hardly worn any make up since lockdown. 

But great excitement all round as I've now had hair, nails and pedicure done!😀

The hair was a bit of a drama as I decided to go darker with some caramel highlights rather than mostly blonde so less upkeep hopefully, plus it's nearer my natural colour. However when he did I it it was such a shock - I've not been this dark for years. I really couldn't get used to it - i felt it looked harsh round my face although my friends and family liked it (or said they did!). Anyway I had it done last week but booked in with him yesterday again to have it redone lighter just round my face. He was good and didn't charge me again and threw in a free Olaplex treatment - I did tip him though. So I'm not sure now whether I should have left it alone from last week!  Anyhow I've come to the conclusion that my days of having fabulous hair are long gone and the next big outlay will be the wig to replace my hair that's falling out!☹️

Still the nails and the ped have gone well and look so nice. I'm so pleased to get back to normal with these (though the ped has gone up £3)!

Going to have dinner now - back soon!😀

beanielou

So glad to hear from you.
I think if you can go for retirement in the autumn. 

savingmore

Thank you seasidegal for the lovely warm wlcome😀. after reading all your diary off and on over a couple of weeks, and really enjoying it, I was getting withdrawal symptoms when you weren’t posting.  🤪.  glad you are fine and plodding on.    I am finding it fascinating that so many are now contemplating retirement early, us too, although it’s 33 months to go for us.  I have spent days working on figures to see if it’s possible to self fund before sp date.  technically it is, but not near my ideal figure for lump sum to live on yet.  I think I need a year or so to mentally prepare.  we wouldn’t move as currently working in different part of country in rented accommodation, so need to go back to our house.  lots of work todo.

re your hair/wigs.  one of my friends started sporting a new style and colour a few years ago.  i absolutely loved it,  after a couple of months i was at a games evening at her house, and remarked on it again.  she laughed, put her hand on her head and whipped off her wig! 🤣🤣🤣  all around the table screamed at shock, until it turned to laughter then surprise!   it so suited her, shen had two and a,ternated between two good looks.   her advice?   get good quality ones, makes all the difference.  😀😀

in_need_of_direction

Great to see you back posting and so glad to hear it was just life that was keeping you busy.  I know I’m a worry wort but when people go quiet, I do wonder if it’s virus related.  I have a hair appointment next Tuesday and I’ve decided to try going grey.  My colour has grown out more since lockdown than I would normally tolerate so I’ve decided this is my chance to see if I can deal with grey.

Seasidegal58

 Hi there @beanielou - good to hear from you too!😀

@savingmore - I think this virus has made a lot of people reassess their lifestyles and, certainly for those of us who are getting older, giving up the treadmill of work and enjoying the time it will give to do what one actually wants to do, whether it be travel, spending more time with families, hobbies, etc.  

Hi @in_need_of_direction - thank you for worrying about me - that's very sweet of you!😘

Re hair - savingmore that's a great story about your friend. It just shows that one can get away with a good wig!👍. I'm definitely going to look into this as my hair is now so thin on top. 

Inod - I've seen some lovely photos of women who have embraced their grey hair. The woman who is the fashion editor of The Times comes to mind. I've gone grey around the hairline and temples and odd hairs here and there. I've a feeling though that I'd be one of those people who won't go all over grey for some time so it won't look as dramatic.  My Nan had pure white silky hair in her eighties which looked lovely.
 

When I posted Part Deux last night I actually forgot to write about how my diet was going. Well it's gone abysmally since I last posted a month ago!  I stuck to my plant based regimen but ate an awful lot of processed junk. ☹️  So I put on all I previously lost and more too!  Last week I went back to 5:2 and lost 5lb. Weigh in day tomorrow so fingers crossed for another couple of lbs gone. 🤞

I was bad on my walking too but started again last week and am getting back in the groove. 

PART THREE - HOME

I bought some more Valentte diffusers as the company was doing an offer and I tried out some other fragrances. Tbh I was disappointed with these as they seem to have evaporated very quickly and don't smell as strong as the original fragrance I bought - White Neroli &Lemon.  So I've bought Aldi's Lime, Basil & Mandarin for £3.99!  I was impressed with the last diffuser I bought there and at that price I can't complain too much!

I also bought some replacements for my crockery from ProCook - the Harrogate line. I smashed a dinner plate and pasta bowl so bought another two each as they were on offer. 

And a router from Amazon to speed up my internet service!

Finally I loved the bamboo Panda bed linen I bought recently so much I've bought two extra pillow cases, plus a new duvet and two memory foam pillows from them (the purchases of which have been long overdo!  They arrived today so I'll change the duvet and pillows on Sunday when I change the linen. 

Good job I've got the PPI money!😁

There are some other things I've got my eye on - new blind for the bathroom, new oven, plus I want to decorate the living room, hall and bedroom. However i can't really decorate until I get rid of the work stuff in the living room as I've lost space to put everything!😡

Anyway I got up this morning and thought I'd try the laptop again - and the blinkin' thing worked!  Much mystification from the IT department who had already couriered my replacement to me. So they've told me to keep the new one for a few days in case the old one does die.  So I lost most of the work day yesterday for nothing!😡

Oh well.......

beanielou

The joys of technology~~not.
Have a happy weekend.
My diet & is dire & I just cant get in the zone at all & the more I think about it the more stressed I get.

Seasidegal58

I know what you mean about stressing about your diet beanie. I just couldn't get my head back round it for a few weeks. Oh not to be an emotional eater.........☹️