Champagne Lifestyle on a Lemonade Budget.

lessonlearned

Good morning everyone.

Big champagne moment.......they've just removed the skip from my drive. I got a labourer to load all the heavy stuff last week and this week I have been busy going through my house and loading it up with the items I could manage to lift myself. So pleased to have got rid of so much clutter. Still need to go through my wardrobes again.

The bad news is part of garden flooded quite badly. This is the second time so there's obviously something wrong and the drainage needs to be looked at. I now need to rescue some of the smaller shrubs before they rot. They don't look happy. I'll pick up some compost today and then transfer them to pots to see if I can cheer them up whilst I decide where to put them.

On a more positive note I have treated myself to some new cookware and some sleepwear and sandals in the sales.

Have a good weekend everyone. Not sure yet if I'm going out. I have got lots of nice outings booked for the next few weeks. Just hope the weather perks up.

sugarbaby125

My Champagne moment on Wednesday morning was using my Odeon Limitless card to buy a ticket for the Silver Screen showing of the film The Hustle. I also got a free cup of tea and 4 biscuits.

The Hustle is a hugely entertaining comedy that had me laughing out loud all the way through the film

Josephine Chesterfield (Anne Hathaway) is a glamorous, seductive British woman who has a penchant for defrauding gullible men out of their money. Into her well-ordered, meticulous world comes Penny Rust (Rebel Wilson), a cunning and fun-loving Australian woman who lives to swindle unsuspecting marks. Despite their different methods, the two grifters soon join forces for the ultimate score -- a young and naive tech billionaire (Alex Sharpe) in the South of France

I would give this film 10/10

My Champagne moment on Wednesday evening was going to Karaoke. I did not sing, as no other singers turned up. :cool: The DJ played my kind of music so I was on my feet dancing instead. Mind you I had to dance sitting down a lot as well, but I still had a really fun evening.

mrs_slapshot

Morning all - I do love catching up with this thread, it's so motivating!

I've now got two weeks at home before starting my new job. I've had several short UK breaks with family and friends so ready for a bit of 'downtime' - although I have a long list of what I want to accomplish! I am looking into starting a blog, mainly (very hopefully!) as a form of extra income. My goal is to pay off my mortgage asap - it currently stands at about £124K, and I would really love to have it paid off. I am still thinking about downsizing and chopping a big chunk off it, but it will be next year at the earliest, and it will depend a lot on what my son does. He's now finished 6th form and looking into employment/apprenticeship options.

LL - I have been doing a lot of decluttering over the last few months - it's so liberating! I am also aiming to declutter about a stone of extra weight...rejoined SW last Thursday. I have so many clothes I can't get into and I refuse to buy any new ones!

On the champagne moments front - I did a 'secret shopper' thing when I had my car serviced and I put £55 of the vouchers I got into buying a Pressure King Pro - it's a multi function gadget..pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker etc. Like an Instant Pot if you've heard of them. I love the thought it cost me absolutely nothing! Used it last night for a bolognese - the great thing is that it cooks quickly, but also you don't need to stand over it stirring etc. Just set and leave it. It then keeps it warm. Been looking online at lots of slimming-friendly recipes!

I've also taken up a 21 day Les Mills online free subscription - it's an exercise class which is very popular in real life. Lots of different types. Only problem is my smart tv browser doesn't support that website so I'll have to watch on my laptop screen....just thinking about that, there must be a way to plug my laptop into the tv and watch it on screen. Will have to look at that.

Have a great weekend all! :j

lessonlearned

Good morning everyone.

Hello Mrs Slapshot. Lovely update, you sound happy and positive.

And how nice that it's finally stopped raining, my garden is flooded again but hopefully the sun and wind will dry it out quickly so I can assess the damage.

Picked up another eucalyptus tree from the garden centre. It has been on order for 3 months. It will make a full set of 3. I think part of the reason for the flooding is I removed a monstrous conifer hedge and it has affected the water table. Plus I think although they did grind out the stumps, the soil has become compacted. Anyway I'll see what we can do. Aerate the soil and plant more trees and shrubs, preferably thirsty ones.

Mrs S. your gadget sounds good. I too splashed out yesterday on some gizmos to make life easier. I bought a power tool to help with digging and breaking up the soil. It attaches to a drill so you literally drill down to break up compacted soil, tree roots etc. Will make gardening a lot easier so that hopefully I can continue to do most of it myself, just buy in help as and when rather than employ a regular gardener.

I also bought a table top oven - my big oven died and I only have a small top oven. Fine for just me but useless when I'm entertaining. I didn't want to spend a lot because at some point I will be redoing the kitchen. I also bought a folding trestle table. I'm hosting a dinner party next week for 11 people so need an extra table. It will come in very handy as a spare for both indoor and outdoor dining and as a craft table in my spare bedroom.

I have been watching a few films on prime recently. A nice way to relax and unwind when I'm tired. I have been a bit "achey" this week so it has been a bit of a sofa week but I have been happy enough with good films books and tv. I have booked a massage for Monday and am having salt baths and doing a few simple stretches. Starting to feel much better.

I was nearly tempted to book a holiday for January but thought better of it. I really want to focus my energies (and money) on getting the house up to scratch first. Anyway I have a few nice outings booked over the next couple of weeks so plenty of opportunities for fun, frolics and those all important champagne moments.

Hope you are all well and enjoying some lovely champagne moments. Hope there is plenty of joire in your vives........:rotfl:

ska_lover

Looking forward to hearing more about your outings as they come up LL

I am still very much enjoying my new job. It is such an interesting line of work

Glad it is the weekend though

Up a bit late this morning and was planning to be in Aldi at 0800 to beat the crowd - but here I am sitting here with my coffee and its gone 10am

It is a good day to go shopping as I stepped on the scales last night and nearly cried. Action time.

I eat too much,and the wrong things. I am going to start walking during my lunchbreaks (weather permitting) as I literally get zero exercise. I really do need to drop a couple of stone and make a start before the cold nights set in

No big plans this weekend, getting the washing done, and music practise in between the loads

Am hoping to pop to see 'little un' tomorrow if they are round for a coffee and a catch up

Thats about it from me

Have great weekends all x

ska_lover

mrs_slapshot wrote: »

I've now got two weeks at home before starting my new job.

This was me, a few weeks ago - enjoy. It is great time - and so rare to have two weeks of glorious alone time to do as you please

Totally enjoyed mine. Loving my new job also too now I am started

Enjoy your break and good luck in the new job when you start x

phoebe1989seb

Hi all

Hope everyone managed to survive the torrential rain it seems most of us in the UK were subjected to again yesterday and very sorry to hear your garden has been flooding, LL

It didn't stop here all day. DH had already planned to take the morning off as we were expecting a heavy delivery that I'd have struggled with even without the rain complicating things, but ended up staying home in the afternoon too - the luxury of being self-employed, lol - doing a few odd jobs around the cottage.

The delivery was a couple of additional kitchen cabinets for extra storage. We bought our existing cabinets from Handmade Kitchens Direct who wanted to charge a whopping £908 for delivery of a set of pan drawers, a curved cupboard and a larder :eek: Ridiculous!

Instead I found another online supplier of rigid, in-frame cabinets who delivered for free! Admittedly the quality isn't quite as good, but as they're in a different part of the kitchen it's barely noticeable. Today I've been painting them and now you'd never know the difference.....

So, a huge saving equates to one of yesterday's champagne moments! DH offered to build the larder when he's off - so that's another

On the subject of windows, we're about to order some too, LL. We also prefer to support local businesses, but sadly found that it's sometimes cheaper to go further afield - our local joinery co in Carmarthenshire (we're getting hardwood casements for the three large windows at the front) quoted virtually double the price of what two other joinery companies (in the Midlands/north of England) have quoted. Suffice to say we won't be going local on this occasion!

Wednesday2000

My champagne moment is just having a nice, quiet day at home pottering around, having a bath and listening to music. My dogs are always so much better behaved when my husband isn't at home!:rotfl:

I'm also enjoying "stalking" people I used to know on LinkedIn.:D:p

mrs_slapshot wrote: »

My goal is to pay off my mortgage asap - it currently stands at about £124K, and I would really love to have it paid off.

Good luck! We paid our mortgage off 10 years early as we had been overpaying it for years. It's the best feeling ever knowing that you own your home outright.:A

lessonlearned

I always do things differently.......

I had no mortgage and had just about enough to buy this house outright, but it would have left me very stretched so I decided to take out a small mortgage to conserve my capital. Maybe it sounds a strange thing to do at my age but it's working for me.

I always was contrary.

Champagne moment. Popped into my favourite chazza. Found a lovely multicoloured skirt my Monsoon. SIZE 10. It fitted!!!! :rotfl: so I bought it. . £3.50 and it's gorgeous. Never in a million years would I have thought I'd see a size 10 in my wardrobe again.

Going to a BBQ tonight.....so a night off cooking. Although I did sling a lamb casserole in the slow cooker before I went out. I'll divide it up and freeze it for those inevitable cba days.

Time for a late lunch......just a snack I think.

candygirl

Omg Girls, as if I've not got enough to deal with at the mo, my builder's gone AWOL, as in not answering calls, n even his fb business page has been taken off:eek:
I'm gonna struggle to find someone else for Nov now:(