From debt to freedom...

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you SH and Foxgloves.

Yesterday was such a lovely day! It was sunny here with a fresh breeze, just the kind of day I like 🙂. I got 3 loads of washing done and dried outside. I have a dilapidated clothes airer which, when propped in the newly acquired space, has dried umpteen socks 🙂. 

I got out for a walk with DD2 and DS3. Unusually the wind was coming from the moors rather than off the sea which made for a refreshing walk. Saturdays are the only opportunity in the week that I have to catch up with DD2...something she said yesterday does make me concerned that she seems to be doing more than her fair share of housework and contribution ☹️.

Garden wise I’ve sown some more sweet peas, this time a variety called “Fire and Ice”. It’s a variety I’ve grown in the past with pleasing results.

In the afternoon the younger DDs, DS3 and I went to the nearest big town to a DIY shop to look at flooring. I need to get cracking with getting the flooring done, especially if needing to remortgage and have a valuation done. The hallway carpet suffered during the pipe leakage of a couple of years ago, so was taken up and we’ve got used to floorboards ever since 😳😵😳. Spent some savings in order to get started. I put £30 a month away in an easy access online saver, that is different to the EF, so have dipped into that.

I stayed up late to get all the prep done for Job 1, so am hoping I can crack on with the garden today.

Spendless

Now why doesn't it surprise me to hear that ex whilst happy to leave junk all over your garden has taken away the one thing he could weigh in for cash! Never mind, you'll get there. Is the rest just fit for the bin or any salvageable? Wondering if you could use anything for any projects inside or outside your home? . I'm seeing a lot of social media posts recently saying 'anyone interested in these bricks/breeze blocks/roof tiles' and putting a pic up on a stack of them, either giving them away or charging a little for them.

I'm not overly surprised about DD2 either unfortunately. At the time I believed they'd come to the realisation about how good they'd had it with you. There's only one of your children that went that I thought they would remain content with going and even then I don't think they will keep the same mind frame about it all for the rest of their life - just until maturity and adulthood kicks in, which I know from my own isn't in line with what the law says about when they're an adult -lol. 

We have blackbirds too, every year in the hedge of our front garden. I always wonder if they're the same ones or the offspring of the original ones, no idea what a blackbird's life-span is.

Getting some new flooring will also be a step towards re-claiming things. Hope you find something reasonably priced.  

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Spendless, I’m so thankful for your post. After reading it this morning, I went outside with fresh eyes. I can see some wood that could be useful in the rear garden for levelling the earth. I also spotted 2 or 3 decent looking pallets which,  I have discovered via YouTube, can be made into a bench. Since the bench that was there disappeared some weeks ago, it would utilise the wood and save me £100 to buy a new one!

Had quite a busy day today. 2 more car loads of stuff have been dropped off and a car load of green waste from the garden taken to the tip. With the rising cost of petrol and not a lot of spare time, I’m thinking  that subscribing to the council’s garden waste service would be a good thing.

With 95% cleared in the newly acquired space, I was able to thoroughly hoover and put down a greenhouse tray - thick rigid plastic with deep sides. On the floor, it allows for several trays of seedlings to be watered without the water leaking everywhere.

Made tea and got a batch of brownies made, while the oven was on.

Spendless

Sounds like you had a productive day, with clearing and baking and finding a new space for the seedlings.


Really pleased to hear my suggestion helped with utilising some of the items in the garden and saving you money as well - woohoo result. Would love to see a pic of the bench as and when it's created. 

I can suggest things but I do not possess any practical skills, neither does Mr S, which means we always have to wait till we have the money to pay a professional to do a job. I have a good friend, married, with 3 sons and live in a  3 bed house. Some years ago she was talking about how they'd never afford a 4th bedroom being built. I suggested she could eventually have a stud wall separating the dining room. A few weeks later I called again, she'd created that very idea, not with a stud wall that she couldn't afford to pay for but by a few strategically placed Billy bookcases from Ikea, that she already owned. I'm not making this up. Over the years she's ran a curtain pole through the bookcases and made it more 'bedroom' looking. Her 3 boys still live at home, though the eldest two are now adults, so the youngest still has his created from bookcases room.

How much does the council's garden waste service cost? We get ours for free, something I thought our council made up when telling us this, till I started reading on here that other places do charge. The downside is it's the first service to go when any restrictions come in etc

joedenise

@Spendless I'm surprised your council doesn't charge for garden waste collections; I thought all councils did now.  My council it's £36 per year which is definitely cheaper than driving to the tip every couple of weeks!  The tip is a 16 mile round trip if we go to the local one or the other one we can go to is a 30 mile round trip so fuel (particularly now!) would be more expensive.

For that we get a fortnightly collection but as you say the first thing to go if anything goes wrong!  Where my friend lives, which is about 40 miles away, her council charges £50 a year for fortnightly collections from March to October so really a lot more expensive than mine.

themadvix

@joedenise We're still free here too, but neighbouring councils (where family live) charge. It seems very unfair (but I'm not going to complain). Having just taken on an allotment, I was surprised to discover the council have a load of garden waste bins there too that are collected.

@Honeysucklelou2 the garden improvements using what you've got sound great! We're in the position where for the first time we're thinking we may have to bring in (I won't say purchase as Freegle/Freecycle is my friend) paving slabs - we created an entire patio from what the previous owners had left lying around. Love a pallet bench too - they can get really creative!

joedenise

@themadvix I wouldn't have thought there would be much garden waste at an allotment, most of it should go on compost heaps!  

themadvix

@joedenise, no, I was quite surprised by that! We've all got a dalek on our plots (also provided by the council, I imagine), but I guess for brambles or other pernicious weeds, people may prefer not to compost - especially given that it's not hot in a dalek.

joedenise

You're right of course @themadvix, nobody wants brambles and weeds on their plot.  My sister had a plot and always burned brambles and weeds to get rid of them.

Spendless

@joedenise- No it's free. No additional charge. Collected every fortnight with other recycled items eg plastic bottles/cans/paper that go in  a separate bin, plus a box for glass, but garden waste is only collected for so many months of the year (8??). During the lockdowns/restrictions though this service was taken away to concentrate on the recycled and general waste