Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally

beanielou

Onebrokelady said:

I know what you mean about noisy neighbours Hairy,my next door neighbours are really noisy and frequently wake me up at 3am in the morning, then they are outside shouting at each other,my garden used to be really peaceful but not anymore 😟

Blimey.  That's dire.  I so feel for you.

milann

My garden has been noticeably quieter as there aren’t as many planes going over. I’m on the flight path to a big airport and they were going over ever couple of minutes - it has greatly reduced. I was very nearly beheaded by a stray football the other day though. We have a tweenager next door - coming up to 13. I feel quite sorry for him as he’s only recently stated going ‘out’ rather than playing in the garden - he’s always been a bit of a loner but he found his freedom  and friends only to have it all whisked away. The gardens are quite small and not very big for a growing boy forced to stay in with a football.....a few years ago all we heard was the squeaking of the blooming trampoline- at least that’s gone these days. He has an older brother about 19 and they seem to be arguing now they’re confined to barracks....I’ve seen the younger one crying quite a few times and mum looking as if she’s ready to commit hari-kari. They’re a lovely family but finding it hard. Whereas myself and dh are quite happy to potter about, watch a bit of tv and watch the world go by.  In fact I don’t know if I’ll want to go back to work - better get buying a lottery ticket 🤔🤣

Your garden sounds lovely 👍

jwil

We've got noisy neighbours in the garden behind us.  As soon as the sun comes out they are out with noisy garden equipment constantly, the children screeching and although they've got a massive garden, they barbecue right up against our fence so all the smoke and fumes blow into our tiny garden and all over our washing.  My kids aren't perfect, but I try to keep them relatively quiet when they are in the garden.

HairyHandofDartmoor

milann said:

My garden has been noticeably quieter as there aren’t as many planes going over. I’m on the flight path to a big airport and they were going over ever couple of minutes - it has greatly reduced. I was very nearly beheaded by a stray football the other day though. We have a tweenager next door - coming up to 13. I feel quite sorry for him as he’s only recently stated going ‘out’ rather than playing in the garden - he’s always been a bit of a loner but he found his freedom  and friends only to have it all whisked away. The gardens are quite small and not very big for a growing boy forced to stay in with a football.....a few years ago all we heard was the squeaking of the blooming trampoline- at least that’s gone these days. He has an older brother about 19 and they seem to be arguing now they’re confined to barracks....I’ve seen the younger one crying quite a few times and mum looking as if she’s ready to commit hari-kari. They’re a lovely family but finding it hard. Whereas myself and dh are quite happy to potter about, watch a bit of tv and watch the world go by.  In fact I don’t know if I’ll want to go back to work - better get buying a lottery ticket 🤔🤣

Your garden sounds lovely 👍

Aaaw I feel sorry for your tweenage neighbour Milann.

My family has been based at home for years due to working from home, etc, so it's probably easier for us than for some families. Although I feel as though I'd just found my freedom at school after working from home for fifteen years only to have it whisked away 😥.

HairyHandofDartmoor

jwil said:

We've got noisy neighbours in the garden behind us.  As soon as the sun comes out they are out with noisy garden equipment constantly, the children screeching and although they've got a massive garden, they barbecue right up against our fence so all the smoke and fumes blow into our tiny garden and all over our washing.  My kids aren't perfect, but I try to keep them relatively quiet when they are in the garden.

That sounds really annoying Jwil. I don't mind a bit of noise, but some people are really inconsiderate and it's as though they're unaware that other people even exist 😡.

HairyHandofDartmoor

DH and I got the day off to a good start by getting up at 7am and going for a walk in the park 😇. We were a bit slow to get out of the house mind you and didn't leave until 8.36, so I'm thinking we should maybe get up ten minutes earlier in future. I'm hoping to do this every day as it will be good for DH to get some exercise and means he can still start work at a reasonable time. It was lovely in the park, sunny with lovely cherry blossom on some of the trees 🏵🌳, although there was a cold wind so I was glad of my warm coat and gloves 🧣🧤. Neither of us had been out for six days so it did us both good. DH said he enjoyed it so I hope he'll be up for doing it again tomorrow and won't say he's too tired. There were a few runners 🏃‍♀️, dog walkers 🐕 ,and a few ordinary walkers 🚶‍♂️, but people were keeping their distance and it's easier to in a big park.

Once we got back I put a wash on and sat down for a bit. I've run out of diet coke and we're running low on skimmed milk. I tried to persuade DS1 to walk to the shop with me (and wait outside) but he didn't want to, so I went alone for my second walk to the shop. I got eight cans of coke, four pints of skimmed milk, some sliced chicken for DS2, six eggs and some paracetamol. So I was pleased with that haul. It was quite heavy to carry home in my rucksack so hopefully I've burnt off some easter egg calories today. I also posted a baby card to my niece, a birthday card to a friend and two birthday cards to relatives who are having landmark birthdays soon ✉.
 
So far today I've done 9,636 steps, 51 active minutes, 32 flights of stairs (hills) and 4.12 miles 🙂. I've defininitely put on a few pounds since the lockdown 😒, so if I keep this up then I should lose them over the next few weeks. I feel quite tired now and my back was aching in the night after my weeding marathon yesterday, so I'm going to do light activities for the rest of the day, like dusting.

I should have started work on my college assignments before now, but I haven't felt in the right frame of mind 😕 so I've decided that tomorrow is going to spent on one of my assignments. I can spend all day on it and finish it in one day, or I can spend two mornings on it and do other activities in the afternoons. I'll see how I feel tomorrow. If I get in the flow I might want to just keep going and finish it. I'll feel pleased with myself if I get an assignment done this week as it's the only thing I can do to further my career at the moment, so it seems silly not to do it.

I hope everyone is having a good and safe Tuesday 🙂.

Sun_Addict

I'm glad you had a nice walk this morning and you got your little haul from the supermarket.  It's a nice feeling to think you've got enough to tick over for the next few days - it's the simple things 😁 You'd probably be better spending two mornings doing the assignment to break it up a bit or it might get too daunting.

HairyHandofDartmoor

Sun_Addict said:

I'm glad you had a nice walk this morning and you got your little haul from the supermarket.  It's a nice feeling to think you've got enough to tick over for the next few days - it's the simple things 😁 You'd probably be better spending two mornings doing the assignment to break it up a bit or it might get too daunting.

Thanks SA 🙂. It does feel good to come back with food, like hunter gatherers 🤣. Yes I think I probably will do the assignment over two mornings as I have all week to do it so there's no real rush. Not like February half term where I did two assigments in two days and nearly killed myself in the process 😩.

Willowtree222

That's an impressive amount of steps for this morning! I have nothing that tracks them so can't see what I have done. It won't be many as we only went on a small walk this morning.
Enjoy the rest of your day x

EssexHebridean

Nicnak said:

I haven't wanted to leave the house either. I don't think that is a bad thing as perhaps it is a rule following subconscious. I wonder if there will be an increase in agoraphobia or a decrease. I say decrease because the freedom to chose has been taken from people so now they feel even worse and when it is over decide to deal with the anxiety and go out. It would be an interesting study. 

Have a lovely day. x

Unfortunately agoraphobia doesn't work quite like that - it isn't something you can just "decide to deal with" and without wishing to sound dismissive, it's really not something you can understand if you haven't experienced it. It can also be slightly different for different people too.  A common factor though is often that the thing the sufferer desired more than anything else in the world is to be able to go out and about as everyone else does. One of the best descriptions I have ever come across is that it is similar to being wheelchair bound and completely unable to walk - you might want to, you might try to apply all the willpower in the world, but there is something there preventing the right messages being sent to enable you to do so. And in that case, no amount of freedom to choose to walk, will help.