Budgeting by the beach

DaisyCheerings

Yesterday I managed to get out and cut my grass, along with some weeding.  Both jobs were long overdue.  It's like a scene from Day of the Triffids in some areas.  I also don't know my weeds from my flowers, but thank goodness for a phone app that gives me a good idea of what's what.  I still have a huge amount of weeds, but I'll just do a bit each day to try and get it looking better.

Today, I woke up at 5am and it's so light that there's no way I'd be able to get back to sleep, so I took a stroll down to the beach.  I forget how lovely it is to start the day hearing the waves lapping up the beach and just seeing the day waking up.  At around 6:15am, as I was making my way back, still walking along the seafront, there were 2 groups of people in the water.  A group of 3 and a separate group of 4 ladies.  A dog walker went by with his lollopy black lab who saw the ladies in the water and charged in.  One woman got into a bit of a panic vocally, and the dog jumped out again.  It's a shame because he looked so excited to see these like minded individuals in the cool water and seemed to just want to join them and enjoy the fun.  I thought it was odd though that the owner didn't call him back, considering how nervous one lady obviously was.

Two loads of washing done, and all washing up finished and put away.  I have more weeding to do when it cools down a bit, and I also need to give the kitchen a proper clean.  I can't see me doing both of those though as weeding on the hottest day of the year is going to wipe me out.

I have 2 weeks until pay day and it's going to be a challenge.  I don't have much planned though, and it's so hot that I'm not eating so much, so hopefully I can make what I have left last those 2 weeks without too much stress.  I need to get a few bits of shopping tomorrow, but nothing major or expensive.  This just relates to my personal expenses budgets like days out, shopping and diesel.  The other budgets get their funds put aside and left alone.

OK, let's hit those weeds.

  

doingitanyway

You are living the life I am aiming for, so I will be following you!

One of my criteria is be less than a 15 minute walk from the sea, so I was very jealous to read about your early morning walk by the sea. I often wake early and also love to swim in the sea. 

You worked hard today and got loads done. I hope you relax this evening.

DaisyCheerings

Hello doingitanyway.  Living close to the sea is so lovely.  The beach I live near never gets overly busy either so it's great in that respect too.  I'm also trying to work up the courage to go for sea swims too.

Are you anywhere close to being able to move to the sea?

DaisyCheerings

My current home priority is to get on top of the gardening.  The area out the front of my house has a lot of wildflowers so I don't like touching them while the bees are enjoying them.  But this means I don't do anything at all out there and it's getting very overgrown.  Last year some friends came to visit who love to do gardening and it took the 3 of us two days to get the back and front looking clear.  This year it's just me, which is good as I need to learn these things, but it's feeling a touch overwhelming. Many of the plants have dried up now and so the bees can't enjoy those ones anymore.  On Thursday and Friday it was way too hot for me to even attempt to do anything, but yesterday morning was nice and cool so I pulled out many of the dead flowers which has cleared it somewhat.  There is one tall yellow flower left, but I can work around that as that seems a bee magnet too.

This has shown me that I need to do something to regain more energy as I am finding that a lot of this work is exhausting.  I know gardening isn't the easiest of tasks, but I'm struggling after about 20 minutes and really want to stop and rest.  I still think this is due to poor dietary choices as well as being generally unfit, so I've been looking at removing certain foods from my diet to see if that makes any difference.  My stomach is often bloated looking, so I think that will be the first issue I try to combat and I think the 2 will coincide in sorting out energy and stopping the bloat.

I also found my journal that I was writing in before I moved.  I felt the same low motivation and low energy about packing my old house up as I currently do about gardening, but I guess I had no choice at that time but to push forward, so I think I need to use that same motivation here. Just get on and do it rather than think too hard about what needs to be done. 

Other than the packing notes, it's so interesting to read back on a journal that was written, particularly as it was written from my old life.  It was so nice reading back to what I was doing and how I felt, so I think I'll pick that up again.

On a financial front, I've started thinking about Christmas gifts.  Every year I wait until November/December to start buying gifts for people and it works out so expensive.  Everyone also gets standard gifts then too, as I don't have a chance to visit new places to see if I can find something different.  This year I've been on a couple of small trips and also have some more booked, and so I'll be looking for little things that I know my friends and/or family will enjoy.  I'm buying gifts for a person as I see them, rather than trying to find a person a gift (does that make sense) because I'm seeing things that make me think "x person will love this" and buying it, rather than coming up with a name and trying to find a gift for them online or in a shop nearby.

I think I'll end the weekend with a relaxing evening and a film.  I hope the weekend has been kind to everyone and that it was a good Father's Day.

Purplelady65

Well done on your move and your plans. I agree with you about being on the lookout for suitable gifts and buying them when you see something suitable throughout the year rather than having a list of people to work through in November for Christmas. That’s what I’ve started to do as well. 

Re your energy levels do you think it’s related to your vitamin D deficiency? It’s unlikely you’ll be able to get your levels up just by being outdoors as the UK doesn’t get enough sunlight and it’s also difficult to get sufficient vitamin D through food as well. I was feeling tired a couple of years ago, a blood test showed I had a vitamin D deficiency so I take a high dose vitamin D tablet every day and it has made a big difference to my energy levels. 

Lykke

Morning - I’ve just been reading your posts and could be reading about myself 🤣 corporate job ✅, low vit d ✅, need to exercise ✅, need to loose weight ✅, clutter ✅ - the only thing that’s missing is the house near the sea which I’d love one day! 

On the vit d front, please don’t dismiss the supplements completely. I have ponies and dogs and also run so spend a lot of my free time outdoors but was still low. I’ve felt so much better since taking a good quality supplement. I actually feel more like my old self and not permanently shattered. Some mornings I’d roll out of bed and my first thought was how long til bedtime! 

Good luck with everything  😊

DaisyCheerings

Thank you Purplelady65 and Lykke.  I'm going to get my Vitamin D supplements and start them tomorrow.  Both of your posts are so perfectly timed as I made some notes today on my low energy and how it gets to me.  My mind is always very willing but my energy levels hold me back, so I will definitely take the supplements and let you know how I get on.

Lykke, reading that you spend so much time outdoors and PurpleLady65's reminder that we get such a small amount of sun, it's motivated me.  Thank you both very much.

DaisyCheerings

I finished reading through my journal and, as stated above, it really highlighted my lack of energy and how frustrated I get with it.  I love the days when I plough through a to do list, but those days have felt few and far between.  I hadn't realised how overwhelmed and low I'd been feeling during what should have been a very exciting time, but when I think back I only remember the excitement. I'm happy my memory tricks me in the best way!

I spent some time today cleaning my personal work machines and doing some experiments.  One machine is really expensive so I've been scared to take it apart in case I can't put it back together properly.  I haven't tried it yet, but I am confident all is well.  I'll use it again at some point this week.  I've also just spray painted some signs, which are now in the workshop to dry.  I've only painted solid colours but will start to experiment with multicolours on a single item soon.

This week's food shopping has been done, and I've kept in budget.  I need to buy some diesel for the weekend and one more food shop and that should suffice until pay day.  I may need to spend something on Saturday as I'm meeting up with an old friend who I've not seen for 6 or 7 years.  We are meeting by the seaside (not here, an hour away as it's central to where we both live) so hopefully just a small lunch to buy.  I may take a cool box and a packed lunch in case there's a chance we can have a little picnic on the beach.

This week I need to prioritise getting more of the area out the front cut back and cleaned up.  Hopefully the weather will be cool enough that I can get out there during my lunch breaks again.

That'll do for today.

doingitanyway

DaisyCheerings said:

Hello doingitanyway.  Living close to the sea is so lovely.  The beach I live near never gets overly busy either so it's great in that respect too.  I'm also trying to work up the courage to go for sea swims too.

Are you anywhere close to being able to move to the sea?

Getting closer all the time 

You are doing so well and working really hard on the new house. 
Your gardens (front and back) sound enormous. How big are they?

DaisyCheerings

Hello doingitanyway.  It's good to hear you're on a path to move nearer the sea.  I'll have to catch up with your diary to see how you're doing.

Thank you for saying I'm doing well.  It sometimes feels like an uphill battle.  My gardens are actually quite small, but because they worry me so much I must talk them up.