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

teafor2

Evening HHD I bet your school hope you don't get head-hunted. There might not be a position for you just yet but I'm sure they'd be disappointed if you left them. 

Your trip to the NT sounds lovely. It's good to get out and do something 'normal' again isn't it, even if it is a new type of normal. xx

milann

Your holiday sounds lovely- what a nice surprise for you all. 

I’m hoping to book a trip to our local NT when I have the gks for a week in August. The thought of booking in advance puts me off as I hate being tied to a time slot but if that’s what it takes atm I suppose I’ll have to look into it.....or maybe just take them to a local park. It’s all weather dependent too and it’s been rubbish weather here - not raining but not sunny either.

jwil

Great news about the holiday   It's good that you'll see your sister and glad that you had a nice day out x

HairyHandofDartmoor

teafor2 said:

Evening HHD I bet your school hope you don't get head-hunted. There might not be a position for you just yet but I'm sure they'd be disappointed if you left them. 

Your trip to the NT sounds lovely. It's good to get out and do something 'normal' again isn't it, even if it is a new type of normal. xx

Thanks TF2 . Sadly I'm sure I won't get head hunted although it would be lovely to have a full time job

milann said:

Your holiday sounds lovely- what a nice surprise for you all. 

I’m hoping to book a trip to our local NT when I have the gks for a week in August. The thought of booking in advance puts me off as I hate being tied to a time slot but if that’s what it takes atm I suppose I’ll have to look into it.....or maybe just take them to a local park. It’s all weather dependent too and it’s been rubbish weather here - not raining but not sunny either.

Thanks Milann . I love planning things in advance so I'm prepared so the new system suits me quite well. It felt very safe at the NT and not crowded at all so we really enjoyed it.

jwil said:

Great news about the holiday   It's good that you'll see your sister and glad that you had a nice day out x

Thanks Jwil .

HairyHandofDartmoor

I can't believe I've had a week of my holiday already! I've got a lot to tell you all (bore you with 🤣).

We had an awkward situation arise last Thursday 😐. We had arranged to go for a walk with my niece but on the day it was a bit showery so she suggested we come over and have a cuppa at her house and then go for a walk if it clears up. We thought about it and then decided maybe it would be okay if we sat indoors but had the french doors and windows open and socially distanced. We also took our own tea in travel cups. We were settling down for a cosy chat when my niece's OH's parents turned up unexpectedly. His dad went to do some work in the garden but his mum sat on the sofa between my niece and DH 😱. We were worried about new people being introduced into the situation and her being only one metre away from DH, but it would have seemed really rude to jump up and go in the garden or leave as we'd never met them before. So we made polite conversation but felt very uneasy 😐. After half an hour it finally stopped raining so I suggested our walk. We drove to the woods 🌳🌲 and naturally it started raining as soon as we parked 🤣, but we decided to go for our walk anyway. We had a lovely walk and chat with niece 🙂. Afterwards we said we'd go straight home. This situation made me realise how the best laid plans can go wrong and how you can suddenly go from a situation that seems safe (from the virus) to one that feels unsafe 🤔. Social pressure and politeness made us stay and chat politely, but perhaps we should have put DH's health first and stepped out into the garden (although niece's OH was sat right by the french doors so we'd have had to ask him to move or got very close in order to go into the garden. My niece has a very small house which makes social distancing tricky so there was no easy solution to this dilemma 🤔.

We had a weekend of housework and gardening. It was raining all day Saturday ☔🌧 so I cleaned and tidied the house (bits of it anyway). On Sunday it was forcast to be sunny and dry ☀️, so I was looking forward to a day of gardening. It kept showering💧 so I had to keep rushing indoors, but then it would stop and the sun would come out so I'd go out again! I put a new plant into a pot and moved a shrub back in the border. Our ex-hedge took up so much room that all the shrubs are planted really close to the patio, so I moved the shrub into the middle of the border where it looks much better and doesn't overhang the patio. It sounded an easy job as it was only a small shrub but the roots went really deep so I had to dig for ages to get it up without too much root damage. Then when I was digging the new hole to replant it my spade kept hitting hedge roots which I had to sever. So it's done now and looks much better, but it nearly killed me 🤣 😓. I've got another bigger shrub to move back and I'm not looking forward to doing that one. I just hope they survive the move. Everyone on our street seems to have improved their front gardens during lockdown and it looks much nicer when you walk along the street now 🌻🌼🌷🏵🌹.

The garden is looking lovely and I'm really pleased with it. It's never looked so nice and DH loves going out there for coffee and pottering around peering at plants and doing a bit of light pruning. It's very good for him physically and mentally 🙂.

Today it's raining again 🌧☔💧and will do all day so I'm going to do washing and houswork. DS1's room is on my hit list and I'm going to make him help me to muck it out. He needs to do a lot of de-cluttering so I can get to surfaces to clean them 🙄.

First thing this morning I had to go to the chemist for prescriptions. Amazingly there was no queue and I walked straight in and got served. Then I nipped to Sup3rdrug and bought some things I can't get in Mr M and I got a bargain on most of them, for example the shampoo was half price so I got two and three for two on mascara which was worth it as I wear it daily 💷.

I saw some terrible mask behaviour in the shops 😷. A shop assistant in the chemist had her mask under her chin, then I saw her lift it up by touching the front of it. In Sup3rdrug a shop assistant touched another assistant on her shoulders and squeezed past her to get to my till. Then in Mr T a customer wasn't wearing a mask and when I next looked he was wearing one (maybe me looking made him feel bad 🤣😷 ).

Now I've just drank one of my fancy Costalot lattes ☕ with the lovely machine DS1 bought for my birthday and mother's day so I must get on with my jobs now. All three of my masks need a wash now so I've obviously been doing too much shopping lately!

I hope everyone has a good Monday.

milann

You’ve had a busy time by the sound of it. 

It is all a bit scary now as people are relaxing and although not as prevalent the germs are still out there....
The garden is sounding lovely now 👏👏👏🌸🌼🌻

Sun_Addict

Sounds like you've had a busy week. I'm so pleased that DH is enjoying the garden.  I think the weather is awful everywhere today but it's forecast very nice indeed after tomorrow so you'll be able to get outside in the sunshine.

Onebrokelady

Im having problems remembering to put my mask on in the shops, I went to my local MrT Express on Saturday night ,it's a bit of a walk to get there and when i got to the door I realised I had forgotten to take a mask, it's a bit too far to walk back home so I took one of the hand towels they use to clean the baskets and held that over my face, I did day sorry to the shop assistant but she wasn't bothered, I also went to the self service till so she didn't have to serve me 🙄 then yesterday I went into M&S and I was halfway across the shop before i remembered to put my mask on 🙄

Mr S kept putting out a customer announcement saying not all disabilities are visible and asking shoppers to respect other shoppers who weren't wearing a mask. I don't mind this if these people are genuine and are carrying proof from their GP otherwise anyone could say they are exempt  

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster

There are many people not really adhering to the rules unfortunately. 

I am hoping to be free if credit card debt bt the end of the year after also having debt since l was 18! 🙂

HairyHandofDartmoor

Sun_Addict said:

Sounds like you've had a busy week. I'm so pleased that DH is enjoying the garden.  I think the weather is awful everywhere today but it's forecast very nice indeed after tomorrow so you'll be able to get outside in the sunshine.

Thanks SA 🙂. We have been busy but I love getting things done and find sitting around really frustrating.

milann said:

You’ve had a busy time by the sound of it. 

It is all a bit scary now as people are relaxing and although not as prevalent the germs are still out there....
The garden is sounding lovely now 👏👏👏🌸🌼🌻

Thanks Milann 🙂. The garden is a work in progress but it's much improved and we both enjoy improving it 🌹🏵🌻🌼🌷🙂.
I do worry that people are too laid back about the virus. My niece caught it four months ago and still gets tired and breathless.

Onebrokelady said:

Im having problems remembering to put my mask on in the shops, I went to my local MrT Express on Saturday night ,it's a bit of a walk to get there and when i got to the door I realised I had forgotten to take a mask, it's a bit too far to walk back home so I took one of the hand towels they use to clean the baskets and held that over my face, I did day sorry to the shop assistant but she wasn't bothered, I also went to the self service till so she didn't have to serve me 🙄 then yesterday I went into M&S and I was halfway across the shop before i remembered to put my mask on 🙄

Mr S kept putting out a customer announcement saying not all disabilities are visible and asking shoppers to respect other shoppers who weren't wearing a mask. I don't mind this if these people are genuine and are carrying proof from their GP otherwise anyone could say they are exempt  

Naughty OBL forgetting your mask  🤣😷. Most people seem to wear masks here in shops since it became mandatory so the ones who don't stand out. I wouldn't dream of saying anything to a non-mask wearer, but I can't help noticing them as they stick out like a sore thumb.

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster said:

There are many people not really adhering to the rules unfortunately. 

I am hoping to be free if credit card debt bt the end of the year after also having debt since l was 18! 🙂

It is a worry DayDreamer. Good luck with becoming debt free, it's a great feeling 🙂.