£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

Suffolk_lass

Hey guys, the clue is in the name - it is a forum. This means that there will always be a variety of views offered, not all in agreement. Personally, I don't lack the intelligence of TOPM to "weed through" the views offered, taking on board those she wishes to, and ignoring others. The strength of the MSE Forums is in the support and experience of its' members - we don't all have to agree and we should not need to keep quiet because others think we should, or some disagree. Posting on a blog is different to posting on a forum too - the anonymity of the blogger is removed and that is a big thing.

To those of you who can't see where this has come from, I suggest you go back to the first page, and read all TOPM's posts, where the need to expand the living space in the house was first mentioned. This is not a new or sudden thing.

Silver_Queen

Thank you Suffolk lass - completely agree. Nobody's opinion should be silenced just because it differs from someone else's and that goes both ways. The responses supporting TOPM's way of doing things as well as responses gently questioning her are both equally valid and equally required for a rounded view of the situation.

GeorgianaCavendish

Hi TOPM, just catching up on your diary. Congratulations on being free of the franchise company - that must feel like such a weight off your shoulders.

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

If I were in your position, I would be looking to re-deploy my existing kitchen (the essentials) into a garden building. When we built an extension at our last house, we had to eat out for literally months because we had no usable kitchen. Apart from the fabric of the building, everything was covered in pink dust, every day. Having a little refuge is the garden in which to make the occasional meal would have reduced stress and expense for us.

This is such a good tip! I'm sure you've already thought about how to work around the chaos that the extension will bring to your kitchen (especially with your renewed commitment to having abundant fresh food and all the baking / batch cooking you've written about in the past ) . We had ongoing problems with kitchen wiring that affected our fridge freezer at the height of the heatwave last summer so not only lost a fully stocked fridge worth of food, our food expenses sky rocketed for a couple of weeks because it was far too hot to store any perishibles and we were having to shop every day. Even a tiny fridge would have been such a blessing!

Sea_Shell

"Life is what happens to you
While you're busy making other plans" - John Lennon

Spendy_Spenderson

Silver_Queen wrote: »

Thank you Suffolk lass - completely agree. Nobody's opinion should be silenced just because it differs from someone else's and that goes both ways. The responses supporting TOPM's way of doing things as well as responses gently questioning her are both equally valid and equally required for a rounded view of the situation.

This ^ We cannot only hear one side of an argument / one point of view / one way of doings things. The variance in replies just demonstrates that there are a multitude of different opinions out there, none right or wrong. But everyone should feel able to share them. I think we all have TOPM's best interests at heart, whether gently posing questions, critically assessing scenarios or trying to give alternative options. This is the whole point of a forum. We shouldn't only want to hear from those that agree with us already, how does that ultimately help us?


My last point simply stated that whilst it's completely understandable business debt will increase while getting established, it will be important to continue managing the day to day budget so that debt doesn't increase in this area too - which ultimately could limit the options available to TOPM when it comes to additional borrowing for the Extension plans. This is the key objective so just some advice to limit anything that could threaten that goal.

Fla603

Long time lurker popping in with a quick topic change... Plastic waste!!
TOPM, the last few weeks/months I’ve become so aware of the amount of recyclable waste in my kitchen alone. I’ve always used our recycling bin without much thought but our council also runs a composting type service where we have a small kitchen bin with special biodegradable bags for food waste. You’ve inspired me to start using mine (only had it in the shed for about 2yrs). Further to this the last few weeks when I get my supermarket groceries I’m really aware of how much fruit/veg etc comes in plastic bags that can’t be recycled. It’s really making me think about how I can reduce this as I usually have my groceries delivered.

EsmeWeatherwax

Hello, also long time lurker, just to add I stopped buying pump hand soaps and moved back to bars of soap a while ago due to TOPM!
Cheaper and more environmentally friendly. Your dairy has some very positive results. Although I've not been brave enough to try the shampoo bars on my fizzy hair yet!

Humdinger1

Hello again everyone

Can I apologise to anyone who thought I was trying to stifle debate here. I too was worried that this very valuable space might feel uncomfortable for someone not following the path that many have found works. In a board with such a strong prevailing culture, it can be hard for anyone taking a different approach - and I want to support that different way of looking at things and cheer on ToPM. As I hope I made clear originally, that doesn't mean that I insist that my way is the one true path (how could I? It's a forum!) but was hoping to maintain the diversity that's part of what makes MSE so important, as well as (perhaps, if it was ever in question?) encourage ToPM to keep posting. I know we all missed her when she took a break at the end of last year.

Thanks
Humdinger

Queevs

I would also like to apologise in case I caused office - none was intended

Mum_of_2_monkeys

Re plastic waste & hand soaps - I moved from plastic pump bottles back to soap last year & it cleared up the eczema on my hands (obviously not recommending it over prescribed stuff for people that suffer badly). I think years of baby wipe use & needing to wash hands every 5 minutes due to potty training children took its toll & swapping soap has helped my hands and reduced a teeny tiny bit of plastic in our house xx