Get a grip woman!

debtfreeoneday

What did I miss in this diary - £4999 of PBs??

Interesting thoughts above. We live rurally and can identify with much of that. We have to drive anywhere we need to go having no conveniences within miles. The pandemic bought that home with a bang. I do wonder what it will be like when we are older living so far out of towns. 

edinburgher

@debtfreeoneday - @Suffolk_lass shared an article about NS&I forcing married couples to go through full probate upon the death of one partner for savings/investments of £5,000 or over held in their sole names. As such, we decided not having £5,000 was the logical step, the return on PBs is dreadful anyway

debtfreeoneday

Yikes. Missed that. Thank you. We are under that anyway. 

Busy_Mee

Hello Suffolklass 👋 Just catching up with everyone. Hope you are well x

EssexHebridean

On the NS&I thing - do bear in mind that the £5k thing is a guideline amount, effectively - they CAN still demand probate below that level, and there seems to be little that makes clear on what basis that could happen. Probably unlikely to be a major issue for most - but still something to be aware of it you want absolute certainty. 

Edinburgher - interesting thoughts on rural living. I think there are also a second group of people beyond the "comfortably off" that might be "rural livers" - and that is sometimes some of the very worst off. Looking at areas like parts of the Outer Hebrides - fuel poverty is now pretty much endemic for the majority of the permanent population - and for youngsters native to the islands and wanting to set up there own home there the increasing price of housing due to second homes being purchased which sit idle for much - or in some cases now - all of the year is a huge issue too. We're honestly beginning to question whether our hoped for move across will ever be able to happen now as the fuel costs for living there are now SO high, and once there our incomes would be unlikely to be able to match that level of cost without it turning into a struggle. Those who've always lived there have no wish to move to the mainland - and indeed why should they? It shouldn't be a privilege to be able to live in the area you were born, and grew up in. 

Suffolk_lass

Hi everyone - we are back from our hols in Scotland. 

@edinburgher - there is much merit in your post and I will re-read it and consider more carefully (my musings about batteries are not by any means certain) and your challenge about lifestyle is valid and I need to consider carefully. BTW I just bought DS 3 pairs of shoes after smelling his boots. I have clearly failed as a parent; his personal care is woeful and our house is filthy after him house-sitting for a fortnight (another reason I must come back to your post - with a mountain of laundry a filthy house, demanding pup and a call about a swarm of bees while the rain was coming down in stair rods today - I also have the post holiday tally up to sort out and some other local stuff going on).

- Mother was much more amenable than last October and we had her make a roast dinner with almost no consultancy advice from me 😳 - just the odd 28 years seniority over me and she still asked what I would do! It was lovely, she was competent but was utterly exhausted after that and turning leftovers into a delicious shepherd's pie, so I made us a curry from some five year old chicken breasts not portioned up before being frozen. That was also where the lamb shoulder was - a whole shoulder! circa 2008 in a drawer frozen/stuck shut after something sticky spilt. With three bags of fruit defrosted and stewed (with lots of Birds' custard made into fool!). Happy Days!

- Then on to northwards of Ullapool to an increasingly rare shooting lodge for a week's self catering with a party of 15 including us, split across two houses. They are a fortune in the shooting season with Gillies and cooks but a bargain at this time of year. I say increasingly rare, because two others we have used have changed hands to the boutique hotel craze supporting the NC500 frenzy. I don't know which I disapprove of most - German motorcyclists trying to do it in 24 hours and being killed when they hit a stag on the road in the middle of the night (and being found in a ditch, sometime later) or the gangs of performance racing cars trying to break time records (15 Porsches passed us on a very twisty road, and we met a party including an orange McLaren (ugh!) in a fuel station, accompanied by various other Ferraris, Lamborghini and Porsches!) - or the herds of wild camping first time motorhomers who don't know how to reverse their vehicle or how high, long or wide it is (judging by the number on inappropriate roads getting stuck). Anyway, the house was comfortable if cold, and shrieking out for a bigger, warmer kitchen in which to lurk. We had fun, although taking the pup with us made for a packed car and a much more stressful week, trying to ensure he did not upset those who don't like dogs.

On the downside, no sign of any PB wins - on the upside, grocery shopping was low in April, thanks to being away for half of it. More later...

EssexHebridean

Glad you had a fabulous trip - and yes, I can imagine juggling the pup alongside people who are less keen on dogs (weirdos!) must have been challenging! 

I hear you on the NC500 thing too - It seems there are almost constant stories around the very sort of thing you mention, although the wild camping issues affect huge areas of Scotland now - the Hebrides had awful issues in 2020, in particular. 

debtfreeoneday

Glad you had a good trip!

edinburgher

@EssexHebridean - responding to your comments at the risk of hijacking @Suffolk_lass diary more than is probably polite, but didn't want to comment and dash family members have a house on one of the Western Isles and are (ironically for this discussion) very much part of the problem. They love said island, but are there for perhaps 1/4 of the year and are far from the only ones. Several of their neighbours and friends are also incomers and are relatively well heeled enough to be able to flit between second (and third and fourth) homes in two or more "home" countries. Not "rich rich", but comfortably buoyed up by the housing boom and decades of economic growth in general. 

I suppose it's the curse of globalisation and accumulated wealth? The well off can pretty much go anywhere they want within reason and out-price the locals by buying up houses that may be affordable in their eyes. Gordon Ramsay's recent house sale a prime example of this.

If we as a country can't wrap our heads around renewable energy, meaningful wages and security of tenure, I fear more mass migration as the rural poor are forced to leave the lands they love and come to the mainland because they're forced to stop fighting.

Could always be worse - there are possibly entire countries that may become unlivable because of climate change - was reading an article on the Grauniad the other day that said that temperatures in India and Pakistan were regularly passing 50 degrees celsius during heatwaves 

EssexHebridean

Yep, that is exactly the sort of “island situation” I was thinking of. All too often (not judging your relatives, but we’re aware of it in a lot of cases) these people also turn up for their week or fortnight in the second home with a car laden with W@itr0se or EmmAndEss goodies, barely go near the local shops, and so give back almost nothing to the direct local economy, too, which makes things worse. We’re conscious that as and when we are in a position to buy we may initially at least have to let out the property we buy for holidaymakers until such time as we’re in a position to be there full time - if that happens though we’ll be making sure we drive home the message about using local services to every single person who books the place! 

Sorry again for the hijack SL!