My journey to a debt free life

Onebrokelady

I've had a quiet day at home today but I have had to wash the covers on the settee because one of the cats was sick on there , they are all driving me nuts at the moment, it's just one thing after another to clean up, first there was the wee accident ( which now doesn't smell thank god) I had just sorted that out and then he throws up on the settee,I love my animals but sometimes I could throttle them. I've now got the settee covers hanging up in the house to dry because it's too wet out and I can't use that settee until they are dry and back on it

I also stripped my bed today but couldn't wash the bedding because there is nowhere to hang it until the other bits are dry. I've got lovely clean bedding for tonight though and my lovely new pillow to look forward to. My bedroom has also been cleaned and tidied and decluttered.Im on a mission now to get rid of things I don't need that aren't useful or being actually used, my alarm cloaca broke months ago but was still on my beside table, that's gone now. I use my phone for my alarm so don't actually need a clock anyway. I want my room ( the whole house actually ) to have the minimum amount of things I need to live comfortably so that it's easy to keep clean and when I do eventually move I won't have loads of things to move with me. 

When DD moves out I am gutting this house and getting rid of as much stuff as I can do without. How many knives and forks does the average person need,I have 22 forks in my drawer 🙀 I need 6 at a push. The same with the rest of the household items there's only me and I'm very excited to have a very streamlined house, I'm aiming for empty cupboards in the kitchen. 

DDs room will have a bed, side table and dressing table and that's it. There is a built in wardrobe in there where I'm putting a couple of my craft storage boxes that are currently under my bed.

My room will have a bed ,two bedside tables and a chest of drawers. I also have a built in wardrobe ,there won't be anything under my bed at all . My room is going to be painted pale grey and I have all white furniture. The carpet is cream but I would like grey but that won't be happening unless I come into some money from somewhere 

The box room currently has a wardrobe which I want to get rid of a bookcase which I need to change to a taller one ( there's an ikea billy bookcase in the loft just waiting to be resurrected ) and a chest of drawers which can also be got rid of ,so that room will just end up with a bookcase in it. I do have the single bed frame for that room in pieces in the loft and will be bringing that back down when I come to sell because I want to show that room is big enough to be used as a bedroom. I want to paint it white frat though as it's currently a horrible orange pine colour which doesn't got with  the look I'm after

Can you guess that I've been watching lots of minimalist videos on YouTube. I'm also following a lady who lives in Sweden and her apartment is my dream home, she is called Benita Larson if you want to look her up and another couple who live in Helsinki who love a pared back lifestyle. I hate clutter as it makes is hard for me to relax so I'm excited about major decluttering. The aim is to have less things to take care of so I can spend more time doing the things I enjoy instead 😊

Makingabobor2

Love the decluttering ideas. That's what I'm doing at the moment. I've also been watching a minimalist lady on FB
 Have you read/seen Marie Kondo. Some of her ways are brilliant, worth looking her up. 

enthusiasticsaver

I love the minimalist thinking too. The Scandinavian houses are great for that.  I love their lifestyle. 

 I am sure you will miss your DD loads but I guess it means you can get your house just as you like it.  I agree with the decision about pets too if you will be on a tight budget.  They are expensive but obviously they do give loads of pleasure too. It must be tough though if you have health issues as no doubt the last thing you want to do when in pain is take the dog out in the cold and wet. Trimming your budget prior to retirement is a good idea too.  You could always do borrowmydoggy or borrow a friends dog if you want to walk a dog occasionally without the commitment or expense.  That is what I do with my DDs border collie.  No expense or commitment but I can walk her whenever I want. 

Sun_Addict

Sounds like a great plan to get rid of excess things. I hate clutter it makes your mind cluttered too. You’re a woman on a mission!

Onebrokelady

Makingabobor2 said:

Love the decluttering ideas. That's what I'm doing at the moment. I've also been watching a minimalist lady on FB
 Have you read/seen Marie Kondo. Some of her ways are brilliant, worth looking her up. 

I read some of her book and watched her tv show but I couldn't get on with her ideas, she does have some good tips that I might use but I'm more intent on getting rid of things rather then finding ways to store them 😊

Makingabobor2

Onebrokelady said:

Makingabobor2 said:

Love the decluttering ideas. That's what I'm doing at the moment. I've also been watching a minimalist lady on FB
 Have you read/seen Marie Kondo. Some of her ways are brilliant, worth looking her up. 

I read some of her book and watched her tv show but I couldn't get on with her ideas, she does have some good tips that I might use but I'm more intent on getting rid of things rather then finding ways to store them 😊

Yes, but the first thing is to go through all your stuff and ask yourself if it brings you joy. If not, then you can get rid. The minimalist lady I follow on FB says aske yourself if your stuff adds value to your life....that's an interesting question...

Onebrokelady

enthusiasticsaver said:

I love the minimalist thinking too. The Scandinavian houses are great for that.  I love their lifestyle. 

 I am sure you will miss your DD loads but I guess it means you can get your house just as you like it.  I agree with the decision about pets too if you will be on a tight budget.  They are expensive but obviously they do give loads of pleasure too. It must be tough though if you have health issues as no doubt the last thing you want to do when in pain is take the dog out in the cold and wet. Trimming your budget prior to retirement is a good idea too.  You could always do borrowmydoggy or borrow a friends dog if you want to walk a dog occasionally without the commitment or expense.  That is what I do with my DDs border collie.  No expense or commitment but I can walk her whenever I want. 

I love anything Scandinavian and if I could I would move there 😀 I'm trying to adopt their philosophy on life in general which seems to be focused on enjoying everything as much as possible 😀 I used to hate winter but I'm looking at it with a different viewpoint now which makes it a lot easier to get through and I'm looking forward to getting cosy this year 

I will probably join Borrow My Doggy if I miss having a dog too much, it's the ideal way to share a dog without any of the cost and also a good way of making friends 😊 
It hard to know what's best really because some days when I'm feeling ill and in pain I have to force myself to go out with the dog and it actually helps me to feel better, I need to be careful that I don't end up not going out for walks because I don't have to. I'm going to make a daily walk a must do no matter what's going on 

Onebrokelady

Sun_Addict said:

Sounds like a great plan to get rid of excess things. I hate clutter it makes your mind cluttered too. You’re a woman on a mission!

Yep I do not do clutter 😀it makes me very edgy and I can't relax, everywhere has to be tidy before I can sit down and relax too .I made DD laugh today because when we went out the thing that holds the bus timetable in place had fallen off the bus shelter and I absentmindedly straightened it so it looked tidy, my sister says I will disappear up my own bum one day if I keep on cleaning and tidying like I do 😀 

milann

I had great plans of a minimal house when my 2 fled the nest…..then……dd settled down south and had a family. I now need room for a family of 4 when they come to stay. Annnnndddddd Dh collects everything he needs for his hobbies and just keeps piling it into ‘his’ room. I know I have crafts but everything has a place and I do have clearouts every now and then. He did reluctantly do 3 runs to the tip a couple of weeks ago with his junk. I’d love less stuff. 

Onebrokelady

Today DD had a phone meeting with her mortgage advisor to send in the mortgage application so that's been  received  by the building society now and she also posted off the paperwork that the solicitor sent her to fill out. Nothing will happen for a few weeks now while everyone does their thing. The mortgage adviser reckons it will probably take about 3 months which is good because it gives DD time to save more money for furniture  and household bits, she is a saver not a spender so doesn't buy stuff on credit 😊 

We both took some things to the charity shop today which felt good, we are both being ruthless 😬 my rule is if it hasn't been worn over the last year it's going and if it attracts dust and isn't a useful item it's going with the exception of possibly three things that I got for my 50th birthday and my riding gear ( I might ride again one day, never say never to a horsey girl 😀) 

Im at home tomorrow so will be getting the polish and hoover out. The settee covers were dry this morning so they are now back on the settee and I've covered the part where the cat likes to sleep with a mattress protector covers with a nice throw so you can't see it, then if he does it again it won't go on the cushions. I'm so lucky my settee covers are washable and they dry really quickly,I give them an extra spin and they dry overnight 

Sleeping on my new pillow last night was heavenly and I didn't have tense shoulders at all. My arms and legs are hurting tonight but that's normal at the moment, I'm upping the activity this week to see how much I can do before it affects me then I can decide on going  back to work next week when my certificate runs out. I'm getting cabin fever being at home so will hopefully feel up to it by next Wednesday 

I also read my meters today and sent them in so they can sort my bill for the month. I was annoyed though because they told me to read them on or before the 31st ( so today) and when I went on my account they and done an estimated reading on the 27th so I have complained and told them they should have told me the 27th of that's when they needed the reading. I am interested to see what my bill will be as it's been quite mild here, I've put my heating on a few times but normally only for about an hour in the evening then I've turned it off again. I'm still unplugging everything that's not in use and have now got used to doing it as a habit. I never have my heating on overnight even in the middle of winter because I get too hot, I still sleeping with my window open at the moment because I'm too warm otherwise