Midlife Musings and Measurable Goals

beanielou

Great charity shop bargains 

MovingForwards

You can't keep caring 24/7, your own health won't hold up and how many meals have been skipped. People have to accept you offer what you can and they must also do what they can.

Charity shops are great, some bargains and beautiful items can be found and it's helping others.

Going about your day often involves a lot of thought and concentration, deliberately looking for things does uncover hidden delights. Maybe when on a walk allocate a couple of minutes just to look closely at things an ant carrying something, a little fly buzzing around a plant, trees swaying in the breeze. All provide instant feel good factors and lead to wanting to see more.

doingitanyway

Thanks @beanielou, my latest bargain is a Japanese teapot for one/two with an internal strainer. Lovely shape and design for £2

Thanks @MovingForwards, my family seem to be coming to terms with my reduced hours/night stays. I'm still enjoying my park walks. Today I took a slightly different route and discovered a family smokehouse. I am a huge fan of smoked fish so I now have a kipper in the fridge! 

The new regime of caring is going okay and everyone is getting used to it. Today I took the little one to nursery. I walked to save money and enjoyed the walk (MSE) We had a lovely time. 

With the reduced caring workload I feel better, much more relaxed. I’ve been able to get on top of the cleaning and washing and everything is flowing better.

As usual the few days of poor eating has sent me off clearing the fridge of junk, buy veggies and starting to cook properly. Good for my health and wallet…

MSE batch cook

Home made organic chicken stock

Veggie curry

A whole slow cooked chicken

Jackfruit and beetroot burgers

Pleased to say everything came out well

I’m off to look at a few houses tomorrow, so will treat it as a day trip. My usual friend can’t come this time but I’m fine to potter. There is a house I can’t view until next weekend that is in exactly the right area but it is a new house and I prefer old houses. I will have a look anyway as it is a lovely house.

Hope everyone is okay. Off to catchup on diaries.

another_casualty

All going well DIA 😼
Hope the viewings go well . The good thing is if you see something tomorrow , you could take your friend along for a 2nd viewing next week .
Hope the weekend is good ..

Humdinger1

Dia late to the party, but can I tell you what an EA said to years ago when had an offer on the place we were selling that wasn't via an EA? That they couldn't trust the chain because there wasn't another EA to check the facts with. ..words simply failed me.  I must have looked totally gobsmacked...well I was!

beanielou

Hope your viewings go well.

MovingForwards

Good luck with the viewings and explore a bit more while around that way.

savingholmes

Good luck with the viewings. Glad you are feeling better

doingitanyway

Thanks @another_casualty, @MovingForwards, @savingholmes  and   @beanielou. I didn't find somewhere I'm afraid. I did miss my viewings friend. In this market there isn't time for a second viewing before an offer. The properties sell to quickly. 

HOUSE

Yesterday’s viewings did not result in a home for me but the process as always was helpful. I have decided to take action in a different way: 

I will be looking for a small amount of finance, and get this agreed in principle next week. I may not need it but I don’t want to miss out on homes that I love that I am a bit short on. I want to explore all avenues.

I will start looking at homes that are not immediately snapped up that are clearly over optimistically priced. These houses hang about a bit until they become featured with a price drop and a block booking occurs. If I view early and then hold fire when they are reduced I can make an immediate offer as I would have already viewed. 

MSE

I am also going to start saving for removals and solicitors fees. I will need £2,500. I have £300 so far. I’m going to start NSDs and try to live on a budget of £60 a week all in for July to boost this sum so I will be using my diary to record spends

I used my bike today. I CAN use it but getting it in and out of the house is difficult but can be done so I will just build in the time it takes. This will save me money. In addition I LOVED my cycle today. I woke with a dodgy ankle but the exercise of the bike has helped it feel more flexible. 

Today I visited relative for a short visit, bought a coffee (2.70) and a pastry for a homeless man. I asked him if he wanted a coffee. He said no, but he would like a cake (£3.50) I know, this type of frittering needs to stop…I was less than a mile away I could have waited!

Today it is raining a little. 

I will be doing a night shift with my relative so spending the day in planning a weekly schedule. Time to get organised!

Off to read diaries and make some breakfast

Hope you are all ok 

MovingForwards

That's some good plans going on DIA. If having a small mortgage means you get exactly what you want, it would be daft not to do it and you can make overpayments to clear it quicker.

Try and have snacks and drinks you can quickly create a packed lunch from, look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves.

You will build strength taking the bike in / out the house, look at how quickly you began to feel the benefits of cycling.