Champagne Lifestyle on a Lemonade Budget - 2021

MandM90

helens baby is due 12th Dec! 

My champagne moment for yesterday was eating chocolate and watching a movie with my daughter. Also I suppose my nightly skin routine. I'm not very MSE with my skincare - I do like the premium products - however I only buy what I need and I use what I buy!

phoebe1989seb

So far, this week's champagne moments have included receiving a couple of unexpected cards in the post 😄 one of which was from dear friends we originally met through our eBay antiques business back in 2007. They live in Surrey so we don't meet up often, keeping in touch via regular emails etc, but this was a gorgeous card purchased on their recent visit to the Iran exhibition at the V&A, which they knew we'd be interested in hearing about 😊 They followed it up by an email packed with photos and details of the exhibits....

The second card was from a lady DH met when selling next to her at a carboot sale during the summer. She'd promised to send us some of her hand-designed greetings cards and these were included 😃

Not much has been happening outdoors - mainly because since my last post it's been torrentially tipping down and/or freezing. Today it's dry/sunny, but I've had stuff indoors that needed doing 🙄

However, I'd say the rockery is now roughly half cleared....goodness knows how many hours it's taken to get that far. Just glad we're not paying someone else to do it!!! Until it's completely eradicated we can't make progress with the extension foundations. 

Like everything with houses - particularly old ones - the unexpected always occurs to set things back. Most recently in our case it was some ancient and defunct pipework from the building's days as a mill. These pipes needed dealing with before digging could continue, then - when the weather became too wet - we moved back to inside projects.

The snug wall removal hasn't been easy either, but we're almost there now with window and french doors/fanlight over gone and just a small amount of stone and brickwork to go 😉

When we purchased the old mill three and a half years ago, after we'd done all the necessary stuff (borehole, rewire, new boiler, wood burners and relocating the kitchen etc), we made the newly created snug a cosy room to spend time away from the building site that was the rest of the house.

Although DH built a fabulous panelled wall to give the characterless room a much needed feature, we always knew that ultimately we'd be making further changes to this space....that time has come and - although it involves more upheaval and mess - phase 1 will hopefully be finished by Christmas 😁

EriSteadyGo

What a lovely thread! Loving all the positivity from the Old Stylers. I’m new, so I’m guessing a champagne moment is the little things that make life feel luxurious but don’t cost a lot/anything? If so, today’s moment was enjoying a lovely hot lunch of leftover homemade beef curry with noodles - lots nicer than anything the canteen sells. 

sugarbaby125

My Champagne moments yesterday were going to Music Appreciation in the afternoon. Then in the evening I went to Leilani restaurant with my daughter and had a 2 course Caribbean meal with cocktails with a Groupon that cost me £18.40 after a discount, for £67.80 worth of food and cocktails saving me £49.40. 

I went to Brighton for the day with 23 other people who participate in various courses at Blackfriars Settlement. I have never visited Brighton before, so it was a lovely day out for me, especially as the sun was shining in Brighton. I treated myself to a delicious fish and chip lunch in the Harry Ramsden's restaurant in Brighton.  Our train fares were paid by Blackfriars Settlement, so that personally saved me the £12.90 it would have cost me for an off-peak day return ticket with my Disabled Person's Railcard.   

Siebrie

Sugarbaby, you always seem to find excellent champagne moments!

My champagne moment was a free drawing class, as in introduction/enticement to the 3-year drawing course. I won't join, because it's €350/year, 2x4hrs per week, which is too much commitment, but the free class was fun. My daughter is in their youth programme.

phoebe1989seb

Some super champagne moments there, everyone 😄

Mine today has been managing to move our two heaviest/bulky sofas (the Sweetpea & Willow is 7' long with lots of decorative timber trim that increases its weight, whilst the art nouveau one is 130 years old, high-backed and curved...not to mention quite fragile with legs in awkward places, lol! 🤣🙄) on my own whilst DH is at work.

I also had to drag the 12 x 10' rug sitting beneath them into its new position...in itself a faff! Half way through moving the sofas I almost gave up...but stopped for a smoothie break, regrouped and on my next attempt, succeeded 😁 

So pleased with my efforts, especially as it gives a better idea of how the room will ultimately look (once the structural stuff at either end is complete) 😉

sugarbaby125

Phoebe you and your husband have so many skills between the both of you. You are making great progress on your home fabbing. 

My Champagne moment yesterday evening was going to my local Odeon cinema to watch No Time To Die with my son and daughter. It was lovely having a shared cinema experience with the both of them. I really enjoyed the film and so did they, but they did not rate it as highly as I did. I think it was a really fitting end to Daniel Craig's reign as James Bond.  I saved £13.05 on one of the tickets with my CEA card.   

helensbiggestfan

Ooh I am really looking forward to seeing the new Bond Film.  I do love all things Bond.  The exotic locations, the clothes, the cars, the glamour.  I am old enough to remember the tremendous impact of those early films.  At the time Britain was still quite a grim, grey and boring place, struggling with the aftermath of the war - then along came Bond and the Beatles and suddenly the 60s were awash with colour, fun and glamour.  London started swinging and Britain was leading the world in music, fashion, film and the arts. Heady times.   It was if we had all been sleepwalking and we had suddenly woken up.  It was exhilarating and exciting.  

I was only thinking the other day about my next house move.  If I do go for an apartment I want it to be all sexy and luxurious a la Bond.  I loved "Ms" flat.  Very sophisticated and elegant. That's what I am after ........luxury, style, elegance, comfort and all mod cons.  And with an amazing view.  😂🤣. I saw a nice one on Rightmove the other day, it had no less than 3 balconies, each one with amazing city scape views, one overlooking the river.  I'm sure I will find what I want when the time comes.  

Phoebe I too am in awe.......you are really cracking on now.  I have been busy too.  Outside almost done - at least for now. And I've made a start on reorganising my kitchen.  The builder has dismantled and disposed of the wardrobes in the second bedroom. Tomorrow my son will help me set it up as a study.  Then I can get stuck in and make serious inroads into the decluttering.  

Champagne moment......getting my car insurance down by £150. Wahoo.  I also saved a good chunk on my house insurance last month.  At least the savings will help mitigate the surge in utility bills when my fixed rate deal comes to an end next month. 

 I think what with soaring energy costs and rising food prices there are going to be a lot of people struggling this winter. I am very fortunate,  I will be able to swallow the increases. 

I will need to be even more inventive if I am to create champagne moments on my lemonade budget.  😉. 

MandM90

Oooh Phoebe jealous of your finds and progress. We bought our latest pile of bricks in May and can't really start it until we sell up in England. In the meantime it's a bit of a mad house, with hidden rooms behind panels, a garish orange dining room with the previous owners 14 seater table and a snooker room we don't use. All crying out for some attention but we need to live in it first for a while, find and architect and...actually have some money!

My champagne moment today was homemade mushroom soup with a drizzle of truffle oil! And the most insane pink sunrise this morning.

helensbiggestfan

Good morning my lovely friends.  

My life seems to be full of Champagne moments of late.  Enjoying one right now, sitting in bed sipping my coffee, watching the sun shining through the window. It's going to be a lovely day.  

I have lost 3lbs and my Blood Sugars are coming down nicely.  Even my fibro is behaving.  

Since I last posted I have spent time with family and friends, bought some nice chazza shop bargains, cleared out my shed, saved £150 on my car insurance renewal.

I have cleaned out the spare room which I was using as a dressing room/junk room and it is now reinstated as a proper study. 

 (The top bedroom is now a tip....but I will tackle that over the winter.)

Today going to plant bulbs and potter in the garden.  

Life is good...

I have to say I love love love being retired.  No more daily commutes, no more tedious clients, no more dealing with obnoxious customers.....just total freedom to do what I want when I want.  Yes I sometimes think more money would be nice but at what cost.  Freedom is worth more to me than money. 

 As long as I can afford a few simple luxuries such as my good coffee and a few treats I'm happy. 

As the saying goes "the best things in life are free". But I would take it a step further and say "the best things in life aren't things". 

 ❤️