Seasidegal's Scrimpy Retirement Diary!

redofromstart

What a lovely surprise that must have been.  So pleased for you.

milann

What a great start to 2025.
Love the photos 👍

Seasidegal58

Awwww - thank you so much guys. Rather a shock when I logged in to the NS&I site - but a very nice shock!
@TallGirl - I've been reading your diary and enjoying it. You're very financially savvy!  I'm up to February 2024 at the mo!👍😀

Very mixed on the weather front today. Cloudy a dry, then rain and we've not long had an enormous amount of hail!  And bitterly cold all day!

MSE SCRIMPY THINGS - 2025
A NSD yesterday and today. 

I had an email the other day from my DBS pension administrator confirming my new increase for 2025. However I have to log in to my account to view it, which I can't whilst I'm up here as I have no mobile signal at the croft as 02's coverage here isn't great. I need the mobile to receive the OTP security number via text in order to log in to my pension account.  So I'm going to wait till I get home. 

The interest rate on my Sh@wbrook Easy Access ISA is reducing this week and I need to transfer the plan to a better rate so will be doing some investigation. I still want a plan that is easy access but some of those with the higher interest rates still penalise you if you take out more than three withdrawals a year and tbh, I like an easy access account to be a proper easy access account!

WEIGHT
Mounjaro dose day today. I'm still not tracking calories properly till I get home but we've nearly finished up all the Christmas naughty grub. DD has been cooking healthy dinners so I'm hopeful that there won't be an awful shock on the scales when I get home. 🤞

TallGirl

I am impressed you reading through all of my writing thank you. Hope you find a good home for your ISA having flexibility is great as long as you do not lose too much interest. 

Seasidegal58

Thanks @TallGirl. I have two other Cash ISA plans that are on a high fixed interest rate. I like to have an easy access one as well in order that I can withdraw any cash I need quickly and without penalty - i.e for emergencies and for large periodic payments such as service charges for the flat, any renovation or large furniture/tech purchases, etc.  I do have a Marcus non-ISA easy access account as well with just with a few hundred pounds sitting in it at the moment. 

I did my zoom Pilates session this morning - today was not a day for venturing out!  Hail storms first thing, then sleet, then rain, then icy snow. A real hotchpotch!


I've been drawing up a list of things to do when I get back home:

- Ring the bathroom fitter to see if my new mirror and shelf has arrived and arrange date for him to come and fit them. 

- Source new laundry basket and light for bathroom;

- Ring up Sky and try to negotiate down my monthly bill as I'm out of contract now on TV, broadband and landline. 

- Buy new annual travel insurance policy. 

MSE SCRIMPY THINGS
Apart from Pilates session, nothing else spent today. 

WEIGHT
Just musing over things when I get home - I'm going to hit the diet and tracking, plus definitely up my walking.

milann

It’ll be interesting to see how much weight you’ve lost with the medication.
Safe journey when it comes to the time to go home. We had snow and ice here last time I spoke to Dd and it was 12 degrees near her. 

Seasidegal58

If I stay the same weight as when I arrived I'll be happy with that @milann. Anything actually lost will be a bonus!
Im hoping things will be ok travel wise when I fly home on Sunday. There hasn't appeared to be any real hold ups either at Inverness airport or Gatwick where I'm flying into so fingers crossed!🤞
I'm more worried about DD's journey that day back to the North of England as she's going  by train and there's been some bad disruption weather wise on the line she'll be travelling on. 

beanielou

It’s minus 2 here. Bet it’s cold where you are. 

Seasidegal58

It's currently 3 degrees here at the moment @beanielou - as we're on the the Gulf Stream coast it's often not as cold as Scotland can be inland or on the East Coast where you can get the cold coming in from Russia or Scandinavia. 🥶. Funnily enough, checking the weather report down south at Seasideville, it's currently colder there at 2 degrees!

Seasidegal58

Still very cold here. We had really bad hail yesterday morning!  I was doing my morning zoom Pilates in the big family room upstairs which has velux windows fitted. In the end I couldn't hear my teacher as the hail was hammering down so hard!  After the hail it brightened up but then we had snow dumps on and off and so have ended up with a snowy scenario outside. I must say the clouds cleared last night and the stars were absolutely beautiful - the best I've ever seen them up here. They are never so lovely in Seasideville owing to the light pollution. ☹️. Very cold but bright today. The lane outside looks very icy but the gritters have been out on the busier roads. Although I'm still not looking forward to the hour and half drive to Inverness airport on Sunday!
So I've just been chilling - DD and OH have been working upstairs and I've been re-reading one of Susan Howatch's marvellous novels - Glittering Images, and been watching some of the YouTube vloggers I follow. Bears have been outside enjoying the snowy conditions. 

MSE SCRIMPY THINGS
Nothing spent apart from my Pilates fee for yesterday. 

I received my PB winnings into my current account yesterday and have moved them over to my Marcus easy access account. I can't pay the £2,883 into my DCS plan yet until I get home as the pension provider sends out a OTP number via text to enable you to log in and, of course, I can't use my mobile. I'll keep the rest of the winnings in the Marcus account though until the new tax year when I make another annual payment to the DCS. 

WEIGHT
Again DD has been cooking very healthily but we've had a few treats too - like the Amaretto hot chocolate she made from a Nigella recipe!😋. We have a vegetable spag bol tonight, only with fusilli instead of spaghetti, and an apple fool.  She's on a mission to use up all the veg and fruit before we leave on Sunday.
 Mounjaro wise I haven't had any bad side effects since I've been up here -  little bit of bloating and feelings of fullness, but nothing too debilitating. I did bring some Imodium Instants with me but thankfully haven't had to use them!