I've quit everything. Now what ?

natsplatnat

another_casualty wrote: »

Got a gas bill from edf today . It says I’m £188.28 in credit and that as from December 1st my direct debit will be £1 .
I’m not accepting that , as I want to be in credit wherever possible .
Also, with the increasingly colder weather approaching it’s obvious that I’m gonna be spending more over the next few months.

I just had a similar thing.... changed from one dual EDF tariff to another and they wanted to make my DD £25 down from £68 which was ridiculous. Called to fix amount at £68. Then submitted latest meter readings and DD changed to £73.

another_casualty

doingitanyway wrote: »

What a difference a year makes...

Yeah, going too quick now for my liking:)

The first few months were crucial in trying to find my bearings etc.
The health issues have been dragging on a bit , tho things seem to be going in the right direction .i

The hard part is to follow ,getting a job and meeting new people .
Once that happens and I lose weight, then that’s a success.

another_casualty

Regarding the energy bills . I asked to be put on a dual fuel tariff with edf . Apart from my first few months here I was always with them.
They made me a dual fuel customer , but I seem to get 2 bills sent at different times.
What could happen , is that they send me a cheque in April time for the overpayments I have made . They could transfer it to my next yearly bill . I want to keep the direct debit the same , so I don’t get complacent in the future . Everything is being paid and up to date.
I mustn’t get into any bad habits or complacency of any kind.

When I lwas renting from my landlady’s flat last year and this, I was in a strange situation where despite me taking multiple picture at different times/ sending emails / waiting in for ‘engineers’ to fix a problem , I was constantly trying to avoid large bills. It worked in my favour as I paid an agreed amount with utility warehouse while they were trying to rectify a major fault. The fault being that thevwiring was rigged so that all bills were minimal. It was fraud apparently. The engineer didn’t know if it was intentional or not.
There was no gas supply to,the flat. It was all electric.
I did well,as I moved in there in the winter using the heating when required. I also got money given to me for the inconvenience that was caused .whoever is in there now won’t have the cheap bills that I had.

I got an email this morning from one of those ‘ accident ‘ siolicitirs .
Straight into the junk mail folder. I think that my details were passed on from one of those conveyencrrs I enquired about when buying this flat . Glad I stuck with my original solicitor .
Speaking of all that, I guess I’ll have to make a will in the not too distant future. It won’t be to one of those scavengers that advertise on daytime tv. Cat charity ? Maybe :rotfl:
Speaking of daytime tv : I must be applauded for avoiding it after frasier and everybody loves raymond . When I was working , I never watched it due to my various early starts. Even with 3 channels, I never bothered with it .
Better tidy bedroom ..

another_casualty

So , Saturday comes and I was out with my friend and his family in Bournemouth during the day . My cold came back ! Not amused .

Got my electric bill from edf ..£85.88 in credit . They’re keeping the debit the same .

Today I made a decision to see a personal trainer at dw fitness.
I looked at the various names on the board. Only 2 highlighted their specialities . Not impressed . I know I need a low intensive workout with yoga , Swiss ball and Pilates . The pretty polish receptionist recommended 1 guy. He is one of the Petsonal trainers that haven’t listed their specialities . I may send him a text and see what the score is .

I have basically 3 things left : lose vast amount of weight, get a job and meet people .
Thegood thing is my body is flexible now , but I need to get the zest back before I get too stale

MrsPorridge

AC so inspired am I by what you have achieved that DH and I are seriously thinking of giving up and selling up! DH is 61 and I am 5 years younger - both of us are fed up of working. We are in the lucky position of owning our own home and want to move away from the area. We should be able to buy a small bungalow and have £100k left over - which by my reckoning should last us for a good while.

It is scary though - I have been willing to do it for a while and blamed DH for us not doing anything. He is actually coming around to my way of thinking now and I've been playing with some figures and thinking that within 17 months we will have sold up and gone.

However, it really is scary - I don't want us to be sitting in a room and afraid to put the fire on.

We may do the odd part time job but our aim would be not to work at all - but we still need an income!

Gigervamp

MrsP, sounds like a plan!

Re not wanting to turn the fire on, if you got a woodburner installed, you could find free wood to burn and would at least have one room in the house warm, although I've heard people say they often warm up other areas too.
Plus, you could cook stews on it if you have one with a flat top! You can even get some with a small oven.

MrsPorridge

Thanks Gingervamp I will start to look into it.

lessonlearned

Mrs P......I say go for it. I doubt that you wil regret it.

As for money.......well I have found that when you are not forced to spend all your precious time and energy doing a job you no longer enjoy then you simply don’t need as much money. There are lot of hidden costs involved in working .......commuting, clothes, quick fixes such as ready meals, takeaways etc., buying yourself treats to make the unloved job more bearable.

Time will be your best friend, it really is money in the bank not to mention the real biggie. F R E E D O M .....to do what you want when you please or simply not not do, but just “be”.

Time .........to live, to breathe and to just slow down and live life how it’s meant to be lived .......slow cooking. Slow travelling, slow pleasures, slow living. I don’t miss “Life in the fast lane” one bit. I have had the high powered jobs, the business travel, living in hotels. I ran businesses, then of course the stress of my husbands illness.

I don’t miss any of it.

Well........I have just been for a lovely long walk ooh cue song

All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey
California Dreamin on a winters day......:rotfl:

I have just come back with roses in my cheeks and feel all nice and warm from my exertions. I don’t need the heating on just yet. There’s a slow cooked chicken casserole waiting for me when I’m ready. Tonight I will light the candles, curl up, chat to friends, maybe watch a nice film. Perfect Hygge.

Buy yourself a nice cosy home, insulate well, put in a state of the art heating system, low energy lightbulbs, good thick curtains and extra rugs and throws and you’ll be as snug as a bug in a rug, without having to worry too much about fuel bills. Light candles and go for a wood burner. I shall definitely have one in my next house. My son has one and I’m converted.

I have just installed a smart meter. Brilliant. My current house is a 3 bedroomed Victorian terrace, high ceilings, big rooms and as I am sure you know period properties can gobble up fuel like no ones business but you can reduce running costs by the few simple measures I’ve mentioned. I currently pay £73 a month for dual fuel and I am well in credit. According to the smart meter I have used less than half my budget this last month or so. And I hate being cold so I don’t skimp on heat.

I actually live on a very small budget. ..... by choice. Yes I could spend more but I genuinely don’t feel the need. Most months I still save at least 30 % of my pension income......and that’s not counting investment income or any additional earned income from my little sidelines.

And......I live like a queen. Have holidays, go out and about, run a car, buy all the clothes, toys and gizmos I want. I live simply but well. It can be done, you just need to be a bit savvy and have some practical skills.

You sound as if you have your head screwed on right. I’m sure you’ll be just fine.

another_casualty

MrsPorridge wrote: »

AC so inspired am I by what you have achieved that DH and I are seriously thinking of giving up and selling up! DH is 61 and I am 5 years younger - both of us are fed up of working. We are in the lucky position of owning our own home and want to move away from the area. We should be able to buy a small bungalow and have £100k left over - which by my reckoning should last us for a good while.

It is scary though - I have been willing to do it for a while and blamed DH for us not doing anything. He is actually coming around to my way of thinking now and I've been playing with some figures and thinking that within 17 months we will have sold up and gone.

However, it really is scary - I don't want us to be sitting in a room and afraid to put the fire on.

We may do the odd part time job but our aim would be not to work at all - but we still need an income!

Thanks Mrs. P

Yeah , it’s very scary , daunting etc . Sorry if I’ve missed something
Where do you live now ? Have you family ? What kind of work could you and other half do ?

The difference in your potential situation is that there are at least two of you . Always a plus imho . I’m intrigued now.:rotfl:

MrsPorridge

We live in Cornwall. Son has just left uni and is about to go travelling for a couple of months - will be back in Feb/March and will then look for a job. He knows what we want to do.

DH and I just fed up of working - we want to actually live without worrying about the 9 - 5.

We have a 4 bedroomed house and it really is too big for us now - so we can easily downsize. We are looking for a bungalow for maintenance purposes. DH is very handy but in the summer had a scare when he went up a ladder and realised that he is "too old for that now" and we had to get someone in to do the guttering. We don't need this space and the housework takes too much time.

We also have a motorhome and love going away in that.

One option would be to live in the motorhome for a bit and sell the house and put the furniture into storage.

Real problem is we don't know where we want to live. We were thinking of Scotland a few years back but with the uncertainly of another referendum we have changed our minds. We have always liked Yorkshire and are visiting there in August to see if we would like to live there.

So at the moment our real question is where do we want to live?