Ruby's Bought a House, Now I want to Own It! 20 January 2017 at 8:45PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Mortgage-Free Wannabe 274 replies 13.6K views

South_coast

I still have clothes I bought in my last year of Uni, so 2005/2006 - except I don't have a large wardrobe and wear them regularly! Drives BF mad, as anything more than about 18 months old immediately becomes "minging" in his opinion, even if he liked it before 🙄

badmemory

If there is nothing wrong & you can still wear it reasonably then why dump it.  A few weeks ago I wore a jumper & whilst out in it I realised that I had bought it before my second marriage - in 1979.  Someone who is very picky actually told me how much they liked it.

ruby_eskimo

South_coast said:

I still have clothes I bought in my last year of Uni, so 2005/2006 - except I don't have a large wardrobe and wear them regularly! Drives BF mad, as anything more than about 18 months old immediately becomes "minging" in his opinion, even if he liked it before 🙄

Guess I'm lucky that DH still wears things that he had before we met (that was 15 years ago 😳) otherwise I'd probably be getting similar comments!

badmemory said:

If there is nothing wrong & you can still wear it reasonably then why dump it.  A few weeks ago I wore a jumper & whilst out in it I realised that I had bought it before my second marriage - in 1979.  Someone who is very picky actually told me how much they liked it.

My problem is that I didn't / don't wear these things.  I just push them to the back of the wardrobe / drawer and they get forgotten about.  While there wasn't really anything wrong with a lot of the stuff that left the house over the weekend - it was either 3-4 sizes too big for me and when I tried it on it just didn't look right, or it was from my teenage years when I wore t-shirts with strange slogans on them that just don't go with anything that I would actually wear now.  Hopefully someone else will get some wear out of them and love them just as much as I did.  I'm very much a "if it isn't broke don't fix it" kind of person so will hang onto things I love until I can't get anymore wear out of them, but sadly changing bodies don't really help you adhere to that rule!  That's lovely that you still have things from such a long time ago, and are still getting compliments on it.  

SandyShores

I used to live in jeans and t-shirts, but when you are young and slim you can get away with anything for any occasion.  I'd just like to have a staple of clothes that I know I can just throw on, plus a few nice tops or blouses, and maybe a dress/skirt or two, and some shoes for all occasions.  This one seems fairly practical https://pinchofyum.com/how-to-start-a-capsule-wardrobe   but it all seems to involve ditching more items than I'm ready to let go at the moment (and buying more than I need at the moment too). 

ruby_eskimo

SandyShores said:

I used to live in jeans and t-shirts, but when you are young and slim you can get away with anything for any occasion.  I'd just like to have a staple of clothes that I know I can just throw on, plus a few nice tops or blouses, and maybe a dress/skirt or two, and some shoes for all occasions.  This one seems fairly practical https://pinchofyum.com/how-to-start-a-capsule-wardrobe   but it all seems to involve ditching more items than I'm ready to let go at the moment (and buying more than I need at the moment too). 

Thanks for the link, I agree that it's practical but like you I don't want to get rid of EVERYTHING I own - I like colour, especially dresses with interesting patterns, but have learnt over the weekend that I maybe don't need quite as many as I had...Will still use the pinch of yum principles though!

ruby_eskimo

It's been a bit of a roller coaster of a weekend.  Friday I was meant to start my wardrobe declutter but that had to be put on hold because our water tank in the loft started leaking through the overflow pipe in the roof which was then coming through the kitchen window 😣  DH called a plumber who diagnosed that the ball !!!!!! had gone in the tank, which we think was probably in part due to when the tank drained itself when the toilet was leaking - he even found a replacement ball !!!!!! just sitting up in the loft, left there by the bathroom fitters 🙄  However, as with most things in this house, it wasn't as simple as that, as it turns out the overflow pipe from the tank itself isn't the right size (it's 7mm too small) and the overflow tank doesn't have an overflow pipe at all 😳  So that's something else we now need to get fixed.  The plumber we called out was really nice but wanted to overcharge us for the work that needs doing so DH is going to speak to his friend who's a plumber and see if he can recommend someone to come and sort it all out.

Saturday I started the big declutter and 22 items went straight into the charity pile, and another 100 or so went into the sale pile.  I still have to sort through cardigans, long sleeved tops and shoes but those should be relatively easy to do next weekend.  I've set myself a target of listing 5 things to sell each day and we'll see what happens with those.  While my wardrobe isn't empty, there's definitely space in there now for things to move and the door shuts without having to stuff things in there.  I've even turned all the hangers around so I can see what I actually reach for and wear and if it hasn't been worn in the next year, then out it will go.  I did keep hold of a little pile of things that are currently a little too tight but I have worn before so I know that with a little more weight gone, they should fit.  Those have gone into a box to sit on top of the wardrobe and all my more formal dresses are in the spare room wardrobe out of the way of the more day to day things.  

In doing all of that on Saturday I appear to have aggravated my back so took it a little easier yesterday and wrote out my list of goals for August.  Hope I haven't been too ambitious but there was a lot more small decluttering tasks that I want to achieve!

In amongst all of that, my boss has emailed me about a new job opportunity that's come up at a neighbouring organisation.  On first glance I dismissed it, but reading the person spec, I have experience of everything they're looking for, so I've started an application.  I know that typically women talk themselves out of new jobs because they don't have the confidence to go for things unless they hit every point on the job description, whereas men will just apply anyway, so I'm bucking the trend!  It's not that I'm unhappy in my job, in fact I haven't been this happy for a while, but this one is something that I know I could do and would be a good opportunity to stretch myself a little more.  Don't think I really stand a chance but you never know.  Will keep you posted but don't expect any celebrations any time soon!

greent

Ooh - fingers crossed! 🤞

ruby_eskimo

greent said:

Ooh - fingers crossed! 🤞

Thanks greent, only have till Thursday to get the application in so better get a move on this evening!

ruby_eskimo

Popping back in to say that I managed to make an OP of £186 to the mortgage today and also managed to round up the emergency fund to hit the magic £5k target.  Mortgage is now at £247,500 so starting to come down nicely.  Next month we can actually switch to the lower interest rate, just need DH to sit down with me and decide if we want to fix for 2 or 5 years.  

SandyShores

Good luck with the application.  I always think its a good time to leave when you are happy in a job (don't wait until you are unhappy in it).  

Ball cocks to bad ball cocks, but good for you starting on the decluttering anyway.  Its lovely to start seeing a bit of space, so that you can see what you have.  I would love some fancy pattern dresses and blouses.