Champagne Lifestyle on a Lemonade Budget.

candygirl

Loving the paintings LL n PHOEBE, especially the ladies
You've both inspired me to get my self in gear today, n visit any chazzers that might be open.With my mask of course  

sheilavw

what lovely art. know what you mean Savingmore, I think people are starting to feel a bit 'jaded' with it all, although in some respects it does seem to be improving there's no end in sight really, it's just always going to be around. Off for a shower/hair wash, nice bodylotion. Me , my sister and Brother are off to Blackpool today , we were due to go 27/3 for 2 nights, we changed it to today knowing that I would have finished school yesterday. We have extended our stay by one night for just £32 each (about half the normal rate) the hotel have been in touch with all the guidelines so we will give it a try! enjoy your day everyone

helensbiggestfan

Hello my lovely friends.....

"Lockdown blah". Great way of putting it.  It is so tedious isn't it. And the news is still full of dire warnings about a second wave and further lockdowns.  Gawd knows what the winter is going to bring.  Oh well we will just have to make the best of it.  Continue with our chats, support each other and cheer each other up as we search out those champagne moments.  Just ride it out.   If Terry Waite can manage over 1700 days in solitary I can manage lockdown.  

I  have done a stock up this week just in case and next week I am going to buy paint and some diy materials I need so if we do get another lockdown hopefully I can keep busy and cheerful. 

I know I'm blessed and very fortunate. I'm retired and I can shield as much as I need to.  I can stay out of harms way and safe in my nest. I don't have to worry about being made redundant and have that awful financial Uncertainty to contend with, my kids are safe. Even though DS2 is a self employed electrician who wasn't entitled to any financial help he has found work on a huge site where social distancing is easy and he is safe. He does have a reasonable financial cushion so fingers crossed even if they had to shut down the site he would be ok for a while.  His girl is a nurse but not on the front line So again, as safe as can be under the circumstances.  So It's a case of so far so good.  

I do have concerns about DIL, ......she is still very anxious about everything and hardly leaves the house.  It's not really good for her to be so stressed so I'll be glad when the baby is here.  (October). GS restarts nursery next week. I think it will do them all good, take some of the pressure off. He's ready And needs stimulation and to socialise with other children and both DS and DIL have really been struggling to work From home full time and look after a toddler.  I do what I can but I'm not 30 any more and I do get tired.  They are both physically and emotionally drained.  DS never complains but a mother knows her son.😉. I can see the strain he's under.  Anyway GS returns to nursery on Monday, just 2 and half days a week to ease him in gently. 

It's a lovely day here so I'm going over there this afternoon. We can get out in the garden and let GS run around and Let off steam.  I'll take some nice treats.  😁. Sod the diet.  😂. 

Sheila.....enjoy Blackpool.  Hope the weather is kind.  Anyway the break will do you good, nice to just get away.  

Candy......get out there, treat yourself to something nice.  Happy treasure hunting.  😆

SAving..... Well done on the money  finds....Every little helps. 😁

mrs_slapshot

Good morning all, just caught up after a few weeks not posting! Been a bit busy....I’ve been decluttering and redecorating and doing the garden ready to sell and I’ve put my house on the market! Only went live yesterday and got two viewings booked for this week. I’ve been to see a couple which were very disappointing. I’d forgotten how deceptive the agent photos are. My intention was to chop a chunk off my mortgage by buying a cheaper place but I’m not sure that will be possible without major compromise. My house has been valued £10k above what it was last year which is excellent and I’ve been told it will sell quickly. BUT it’s a very active market and good properties are snapped up very quickly and of course their value has increased too. I drove round a few areas yesterday that I had shortlisted and have ruled most of them out, which is good as it means my search is concentrated to a smaller area which I feel comfortable with but it does reduce the pool of available houses. Still, I can give it a go!
got some more decluttering to do today - the garage has mysteriously filled up again despite being done a few weeks ago, and I need to sort out my pantry cupboards. Just going to rev myself up by watching a few YouTube decluttering videos 

helensbiggestfan

Good morning my lovely friends....

A beautiful sunny morning here and set fair for the day. Champagne moments today will be seeing my DS2 and his girl.  They are coming for lunch so I'm  going to cook up a feast.  Whilst he is here he will build a couple of pieces of furniture for me.  

Lots of lovely champagne moments this last few days, had a fab time with DS1 and family on Friday. Pleased to see his ear is healing now and he looks And feels a lot better.  

Mortgage overpayments now gone through....I thought it would take me just under £42000. It actually took me down to £41,834.44. Wahoo.  Going to try and get down to £41,000. by October and then hopefully sub £40000 To start the New Year.  Just need to get creative and try and raise some extra cash.  😉.  

Had my Chiro treatment schedule through. Starts tomorrow, twice a week for 18 weeks, ending around Mid November.  Hopefully I shall be a new woman by Christmas.   😂🤣

have a great day everyone.....enjoy the sun if you've got it.   Keep those champagne moments coming.  Mine will be Prosecco with lunch today.  🥂

joedenise

Have you heard of Tilly tidying @helensbiggestfan?  It's where you round down your accounts to give a nice even number and just transfer all those bits across to the mortgage - it's amazing how quickly it all adds up.  I did that with our mortgage and as it was an interest only mortgage anything over the interest came off the capital, with the overpayments I managed to reduce it from £68.5K down to just over £36K!  That obviously wasn't just Tilly tidying but that certainly make about £2-3K difference over a period of about 5 years!  I was Tilly tidying every day but you can do it daily, weekly, monthly whichever is most convenient for you.

helensbiggestfan

Thanks joedenise. I have joined the mortgage free thread and I saw it mentioned on there.  I think it's a great idea.  You dont really miss the little stragglers do you but I'm sure they make a difference. As you say they mount up and couple of thousand can make a big difference.  

I'm going to get my act together and try and start selling some of my unwanted treasures and clutter. The proceeds won't bring me untold riches but anything I make I will just chuck at the mortgage..  

Well done on getting down to £36k in just 5 years,  that's a fantastic achievement.  

My mortgage payment is £198.38 per month.....I am Currently overpaying by £200 a month.  If I can keep that up it reduces the period to 10 years.  I worked out that to get mortgage free in 5 years I need to find an additional £140 a month.  I am thinking extreme money saving will only get me so far  (and can be a bit tedious😂) so I need to earn at least some of the extra. I have loads of clutter so that's where I'll start.  Aim for a few easy wins.   Fingers crossed.  

joedenise

Do you do surveys?  They don't bring in loads but again they add up over time.  I do Populus Live and the surveys are worth between £1 and £3 usually but they do very, very occasionally have a £4 one!  Seems to take ages but they do at least pay out in cash, either direct to your bank account or as a cheque.  Have a look at the Up Your Income thread where you'll find lots of ideas.  Personally I can't be bothered with most of them!  

I also do Shop and Scan but you have to sign up to it and then wait for an Invitation direct from them and it can take some time to get onto it but I've been doing that for quite a long time.  I usually change my points into Amazon vouchers but there are lots of different things you can change the points for.  I then use the Amazon vouchers to buy my coffee beans as they are the only place I can find that stocks the ones we like so it saves me some money on my grocery budget!  Can also be used for birthday or Christmas presents if you earn enough.  I also got invited to do PetrolPanel where you let them know where and how much fuel you buy and can earn extra points that way.  They also have a Food on the Go one but I don't bother with that as I don't tend to buy stuff to eat while I'm out and about!

helensbiggestfan

Hi mrs S.  just spotted your post.  Good luck with selling your house.  Hopefully you'll find what you're looking for.  I agree though, buying is much harder than selling....,there are some right dogs out there.  Or maybe I'm just super fussy.  

That's why I go for renovation projects. At least I know they need ripping apart.  What really annoys me is having to pay a premium for something that has been supposedly Well maintained or which has been renovated but to a very poor standard.  

I regularly take a look at RightMove and am often appalled at what some people have done to their houses.  Ok. I'm a snob. 😂🤣. 

helensbiggestfan

Joedenise.   Thanks for the ideas, they are very good but, Tbh,  I'm a bit of a technophobe so anything like online surveys or anything  to do with mobile phone Apps Would be a bit of a no no for me......it would take me an absolute eternity to do them.  It's bad enough when I try to do forms online.  I really am quite hopeless.😂

But you've got me thinking.....🤣. 

 I started thinking about my skills. Yes I'm creative and can do DIY, I am a half decent gardener, and I am handy with a sewing machine I'm but not sure that I am quick enough to turn any of those skills into a money making enterprise.  Given my neck/shoulder problems at the moment I just couldn't do it as a business and even if I do get fully operational again I don't really fancy decorating for other people.  Same with gardening, dressmaking etc.  

My late husband and I used to do a lot of car boots and we made decent profits but realistically it's a two person job.  I don't think I could manage on my own.  I could maybe do a bit of antique dealing, bric a brac kind of thing, but instead of selling to the public I think I might try sellIng  to dealers or intermediaries.  There are a couple of antique centres near me where you can rent out space and they have staff on hand who do the actually selling on your behalf.You pay rent for your stand And then they take a commission.  Anyway I thought I would Test the waters first by having a good clear out of everything I already have before I start buying stock to sell.  

My other option is that I am a trained beautician. I kid you not.  😂. I was thinking I could maybe turn one of my spare rooms into a treatment room and work from home. Not yet though.  I want to get fully fit again first and finish the decorating and renovations.  I have a couch And most of my equipment so I wouldn't really Need to spend a lot to get going.  

I dont want to work in a salon for someone else. I don't  want that kind of stress and pressure. Working from home rather than renting commercial premises would mean reduced overheads, so a couple of days a week would be perfect. I'm giving it serious thought.   Get my chiro treatments out of the way first and then see if I feel up to it.  So It would be next year at the earliest.  In the meantime I'll crack on with decluttering and sell what I can.