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

Fidelia

Onebrokelady said:

Fidelia said:

Sorry that your oven is playing up after all the other malfunctions you've had to put up with this past week.  I may be mixing you up with someone on another diary but didn't you have  a replacement oven quite recently or maybe it was your DH who managed to fix it without having to fork out for a new one or a repair man.  I seem to recall reading something about ovens/hobs anyway but might have got it all wrong (as usual!).

Your garden is sounding a lovely peaceful haven now, HH.  Well done to you for on getting your sleeves rolled up and putting the effort in.  I expect the fact that your fence has given you a lot more privacy is a major factor in your enjoyment of your own space.  Living so isolated has lots of drawbacks but having no near neighbours was top of our 'must have' list when we were looking to buy our house.  We've never regretted it, although the house is a money pit and we've spent what seems like the majority of the 35 years we've been here living on a building site!

I hope your boiler repair isn't too eye-wateringly expensive.  DH can fix most things (after a fashion but often after a lot of nagging from me to get on with it!) but you have to be pretty self-reliant when sources of help are pretty distant and often costly.  One thing we've never stinted on though is having the boiler serviced every year.  Money well spent as it's served us well for about 30 years and apart from a replacement pump a couple of years ago has never let us down.  I'm sure it isn't as efficient as modern ones though and we keep talking about replacing it but there are more crucial things to address first.  Being an oil-burning boiler I don't think it burns as cleanly as gas and the service man usually has to replace a sooted-up 'nozzle' each time but it's a cheap item so we don't mind.

If your boiler is still working well for you I would hang onto to it until it's dying days, the one I  with this house was the original boiler that was put in when the house was built,it was huge and was housed on the floor in a large cupboard. Eventually it became too old to repair so i had to have a new one and it's rubbish, it works ok on the summer but packs up in really cold weather and I have to run the hot tap for ages before I get any hot water, these new boilers are really not made like the old ones 

Thanks,onebrokelady.

I agree with the life expectancy of 'old' stuff.  Our boiler is huge too, looks really 'industrial' if you know what I mean LOL.  Fashion-conscious visitors always comment on it but we don't care because we definitely aren't fashion snobs.  Can't afford to be for one thing!  Our main concern is really that more modern, eco-friendly ones are more efficient and cheaper to run.  Unlike gas, the oil has to be bought in advance and stored in a huge tank in the garden.  We have plenty of space so the tank isn't an obtrusive eyesore but the upfront cost of the oil  is a consideration. Often, the more you buy at one go means the price per litre falls so DH always gets as much as the tank will hold at each fill-up.  The last delivery a few weeks ago cost just shy of £950 (although we were pretty much running on fumes by the time we got a delivery) and the supplier said it was the lowest price it had been for ages EEK.  When oil prices are really high, usually some strife in the Middle East, it skyrockets to almost double that. Not only is DH watching the fuel gauge on the tank he's asking me to keep an eye out online for news of potential oil shortages and prices! We have no mains gas anywhere within miles so it has to be oil that we use.  I try to be frugal with its use but DH is always warning me that the level in the tank seems to be going down a lot.

We woke up to see there's been snow overnight, nothing too major but quite a  surprise. The boiler is definitely chugging away this morning!

doingitanyway

It goes like that sometimes. Everything going wrong at the same time. At least your lovely garden will keep you sane.

mummytogirls

Cant believe all your appliances are breaking at once HHOD, so annoying! Have you had the boiler bill yet? xx

anita55

Hi hope you don't mind me popping in am new to this. Have read your diary through and enjoyed what I read reading your ups and downs you have done so well with you TA and coping at the school. About your oven my daughters fan oven broke the fan still worked but no heat so her partner bought an element and looked it up on you tube and fixed it and he's not one for mending things but didn't want to pay someone. 
Your garden sounds lovely by the way x

anita55

Hi hope you don't mind me popping in am new to this. Have read your diary through and enjoyed what I read reading your ups and downs you have done so well with you TA and coping at the school. About your oven my daughters fan oven broke the fan still worked but no heat so her partner bought an element and looked it up on you tube and fixed it and he's not one for mending things but didn't want to pay someone. 
Your garden sounds lovely by the way x

Seasidegal58

Sorry to read about your appliances saga Hairy. How dire. 

Hopefully you're out and about today and you've got the sun where you are. 

HairyHandofDartmoor

jwil said:

Glad you are having a lovely holiday   I'm with you on there being too many people 😆

Thanks Jwil

Nicnak said:

Your Friday reminded me of it being like your old Saturday saunter and made me smile. 

Hopefully the bug box will be up today and you are able to enjoy a nice coffee in the garden x

Thanks Nicnak

Fidelia said:

Sorry that your oven is playing up after all the other malfunctions you've had to put up with this past week.  I may be mixing you up with someone on another diary but didn't you have  a replacement oven quite recently or maybe it was your DH who managed to fix it without having to fork out for a new one or a repair man.  I seem to recall reading something about ovens/hobs anyway but might have got it all wrong (as usual!).

Your garden is sounding a lovely peaceful haven now, HH.  Well done to you for on getting your sleeves rolled up and putting the effort in.  I expect the fact that your fence has given you a lot more privacy is a major factor in your enjoyment of your own space.  Living so isolated has lots of drawbacks but having no near neighbours was top of our 'must have' list when we were looking to buy our house.  We've never regretted it, although the house is a money pit and we've spent what seems like the majority of the 35 years we've been here living on a building site!

I hope your boiler repair isn't too eye-wateringly expensive.  DH can fix most things (after a fashion but often after a lot of nagging from me to get on with it!) but you have to be pretty self-reliant when sources of help are pretty distant and often costly.  One thing we've never stinted on though is having the boiler serviced every year.  Money well spent as it's served us well for about 30 years and apart from a replacement pump a couple of years ago has never let us down.  I'm sure it isn't as efficient as modern ones though and we keep talking about replacing it but there are more crucial things to address first.  Being an oil-burning boiler I don't think it burns as cleanly as gas and the service man usually has to replace a sooted-up 'nozzle' each time but it's a cheap item so we don't mind.

Thanks Fidelia . Our garden is definitely a peaceful haven now and you're right that the fence makes all the difference.

HairyHandofDartmoor

Sun_Addict said:

I find appliances tend to break down in threes. Also agree there’s too many people about. I suppose it’s lack of places to go at the moment, hopefully they’ll disperse a bit when things start opening up again. 

I’m glad you’re getting so much pleasure from your garden 🪴 

Thanks SA  

milann said:

Your garden sounds lovely. I’ve bought some bedding plants but they are currently on my floor in front of the patio windows as it’s too cold to do anything with them outside yet.

Thanks Milann  

elizabethhull said:

I agree about the triple breakdowns - well it often seems that way. Hopefully now you've had your 3 malfunctions, that will be it for ages. Fingers crossed !

When we had our second vaccine on Wed, it was lovely to see people, to exchange comments, to feel part of humanity again. After approx. a fortnight, I plan to go the dentist & DH wants to get his eyes checked.

Thanks Elizabeth . I'm glad you're fully vaccinated and hope you've been able to meet family and friends outdoors recently.

Onebrokelady said:

I'm glad you managed to get out for a walk Hairy, it sounded lovely. I'm hoping to get some bits done in my garden on my days off next week, I need to prune the hedge up by the washing line because it's got loads of brambles tangled up in it and they keep attacking my washing 🙀

Thanks OBL

HairyHandofDartmoor

doingitanyway said:

It goes like that sometimes. Everything going wrong at the same time. At least your lovely garden will keep you sane.

Thanks DIA  

mummytogirls said:

Cant believe all your appliances are breaking at once HHOD, so annoying! Have you had the boiler bill yet? xx

Thanks MTG . We haven't had the bill yet which is infuriating!

anita55 said:

Hi hope you don't mind me popping in am new to this. Have read your diary through and enjoyed what I read reading your ups and downs you have done so well with you TA and coping at the school. About your oven my daughters fan oven broke the fan still worked but no heat so her partner bought an element and looked it up on you tube and fixed it and he's not one for mending things but didn't want to pay someone. 
Your garden sounds lovely by the way x

Hi Anita . Thanks for popping by and reading my diary, what a marathon read! It probably is the element with the fan oven.

Seasidegal58 said:

Sorry to read about your appliances saga Hairy. How dire. 

Hopefully you're out and about today and you've got the sun where you are. 

Thanks SSG . 

HairyHandofDartmoor

Hi everyone  🙂. Sorry I've been awol from my diary. I was going to post daily this holiday but haven't for some reason. I've had a busy but enjoyable holiday and can't believe I'm back at school tomorrow 😳 .

I've had two lovely days out at NT places with aunt and uncle, went to stepdad and wife's for lunch in their garden and had a walk by the river, and met my niece for coffee and a walk in the park. I really enjoyed seeing family as I hadn't seen any of them since Christmas 🙂. In fact I hadn't seen stepdad since last August. Visiting stepdad and wife was nice, they are lovely people, but made me feel a bit emotional about losing my mum 😥. 

DH and I have also done lots in the garden and have been helped by two weeks of gorgeous sunshine ☀️. We've put new shrubs in the border, repotted some big plants and weeded the wall. DH has also put up the bug hotel which looks lovely and has finally screwed a bird feeder to the wall which we bought last summer. We've painted the rooves of the bird boxes but I still want to paint some transparent waterproofing on the coloured parts to weather proof them. We've also nailed some wires to the fence for our climbing plants to grow up and keep them a bit neater.

I'm really pleased with our garden progress and it's bcoming such a peaceful haven for us, especially with our new fences up to give us privacy 🌺🌻🌷🌲🌳. We've put some bird feeders in the tree outside our kitchen window, one with peanuts in and one with seeds in. Plus stepdad gave me a coconut with some fat in to hang on the tree too. Our tree is now a bird feeding station 🕊🦅. DH and I have had coffee in the garden almost every day which has been lovely ☕☕.

Our next phase of garden improvements will include buying a sentry box shed to hold our tall items, like brooms, loppers, hoes, etc, so that we can get them out of the cupboard under the stairs. Our current shed is a tool store really and has a shelf which means there's no room for tall items, although it has swallowed a vast quantity of smaller items. I alkso want to get the bird boxes weather proofed and on the wall and to buy or make some stort of storage for pots and compost bags. There's also room for more garden ornaments like a gothic shaped mirrror and a big edwardian style birdbath in my garden vision 😃.

 I've also spent some time tidying up the house and putting things away as there seemed to be clutter everywhere. So I've done everything I wanted to do this holiday. I wanted to see family, go the the NT couple of times and sort out the garden and we've managed to do all of that  .

The DC didn't come on any of our outings, which is a shame, but DS1 changed his tablets and had some side effects, DS2 is a bit unsociable and DS3 has had lots of uni work as he's in his final year. DS3 wants to go back to uni at the end of April 😞 so we've suggested we take him back on the bank holiday weekend at the beginning of May. I'll really miss him 😥, but I know I've been very lucky to have him home for four months and although he could do his course at home as it's all online now, at his age he's bound to want to be with his friends. He's had to pay rent for his room during the four months he was at home. I feel sad about DS3 going back to uni, but at least our food bill will go down and the dishwasher and washing machine won't need to go on so often. I'm trying to be positive. I must also ensure that we can afford to visit him so that I don't go for too long withoug seeing him.

Financially we're not doing quite so well as DH has been distracted from work by the plumber, etc and going for days out. But he has to have some time offf at some point or he'll work himself to death. Also I don't get my TA cover in the holidays so I'll get less pay this month. We haven't had the bill for the boiler yet which is infuriating, so DH is going to remind him. I hope it won't be more than £300.

The washing machine repair has been free anyway 😁. We had Htpnt insurance on our oven, so DH rang and asked if we could cancel it and take out insurance on our washing machine instead. Then a few days later DH rang and said our washing machine had gone wrong. We had to wait a week for the engineer to come, but when he eventually came he diagnosed the door mechanism had gone (which we'd already guessed) and replaced that. The engineer also spotted that the bearings on the drum had gone, so he's ordered a new drum. We can use the machine in the meantime but not for heavy items. DH also mentioned that our fluff collector in the dryer had broken, so the engineer requested a new one and we received two in the post, despite not having insurance for the dryer 😁.

I don't really mind going back to school, although I'd rather have another week's holiday. But at least school stops me brooding about my mum and I earn more money when I'm there. The people I work with are nice too.

Today is my last day of freedom so I'm going to relax, read my book and have coffee in the garden with DH.

 I hope everyone in Forumland is having a lovely weekend 🙂.