Simple living in the country - back to basics

KajiKita

Deleted_User said:

@KajiKita, talk about fate - I've just been reading your diary on here! Very inspirational and I admire your strength and perseverance. Considering starting my own thread...

Thank you! I am moving to Dumfries and Galloway, so Southern Scotland, though I'm from Glasgow originally xx

Awww, that’s very kind of you, but really I am a rank amateur compared to others here. I am trying to work on my Frugal-Fu but it’s taking some time! 😉 I have entrenched habits, expectations and demands …. But I also have a goal to get savings behind me and then mortgage free, so hopefully I am setting new habits and expectations 😊 (I originally wrote that as ‘will set’ but thought “No, be more positive and assertive, I can do this! 💪”)

Hope the house move goes well for you 🏡 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 and absolutely start your own diary 😊 Every little comment I receive on mine sparks another thought process or is another lead on something else to learn 👏❤️

KK

[Deleted User]

KajiKita said:

Deleted_User said:

@KajiKita, talk about fate - I've just been reading your diary on here! Very inspirational and I admire your strength and perseverance. Considering starting my own thread...

Thank you! I am moving to Dumfries and Galloway, so Southern Scotland, though I'm from Glasgow originally xx

Awww, that’s very kind of you, but really I am a rank amateur compared to others here. I am trying to work on my Frugal-Fu but it’s taking some time! 😉 I have entrenched habits, expectations and demands …. But I also have a goal to get savings behind me and then mortgage free, so hopefully I am setting new habits and expectations 😊 (I originally wrote that as ‘will set’ but thought “No, be more positive and assertive, I can do this! 💪”)

Hope the house move goes well for you 🏡 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 and absolutely start your own diary 😊 Every little comment I receive on mine sparks another thought process or is another lead on something else to learn 👏❤️

KK

Keep at it! You're doing so well and I love that positive and assertive attitude, need to adopt that myself! 

Yes, it would be lovely to start a diary and have some feedback, as well as the ability to look back in years to come when I no longer have a mortgage!! 

KajiKita

Deleted_User said:

Keep at it! You're doing so well and I love that positive and assertive attitude, need to adopt that myself! 

Yes, it would be lovely to start a diary and have some feedback, as well as the ability to look back in years to come when I no longer have a mortgage!! 

Well let me know when you have set it up and I shall add you to my follows 👍😊

KK

Cheery_Daff

Evening chums 😊

Welcome Frugalista, and yes, do start your diary! I waffle on in a ridiculous fashion on mine, as you will have noticed 😂 But it is SO good for making me focus on all the things, and following other people's inspires me to think about all kinds of things I wouldn't have considered 😊😊 Do let us know when you start it! 

So. We have been to the seaside, and it was excellent fun 😁 Got there about 3 yesterday, and left about 1.30, so not even 24 hours, but it was SO nice to get away. 

We went to Blackpool (did I say that?) and it hadn't even occurred to me that the illuminations would be on yet, so it was all rather jolly. It was also the World Fireworks Championship Heat 1 yesterday (what even is that?!) There were tens of thousands of people on the prom, I've never seen anything like it! 

Sadly, they faffed around and delayed the start, and ten minutes in the heavens opened and it absolutely poured down, and there was a mass exodus of thousands and thousands of people, (including us) and we all missed the end 🙄 To be fair, there were so many kids, and it was already 8.50, and they'd be standing round for over an hour already 🙄

Anyway. Hotel was cheerful, sea view from the bed 😁 Had a nice cup of tea yesterday, a mediocre curry under weird blue lights (they clearly forgot our order and we had to wait 45 mins and ask twice for it 🙄), the world's most expensive cup of tea today (nearly £14 for one tea, one coffee, and one piece of carrot cake - which they forgot to bring and I had to go and get myself). 

Altogether spent about £185 including the hotel (but not including diesel, which I think probably worked out about £25). Well within what was sat in the holiday budget, and leaves us about £165 towards our wedding trip (2 nights in November - Hotel is already paid for, including breakfast, so just meal/drinks the first night - rest of food will be at the wedding).

Not much else to report. Happy wheel was up £1 yesterday, and down £10 today 🙄

MOT tomorrow, must get a bin bag and clear out some of the rubbish before we take it 🙄😂

[Deleted User]

Aww, thank you both! I posted my first entry earlier today, not particularly engaging but I'm quite a private person so it feels a little strange. I'm sure I'll get into the swing of things! It is here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6391492/frugalistas-journey-from-mortgage-application-to-mortgage-free

Sounds like you had a lovely trip Cheery, though for £14 I'd be expecting my tea and cake to be brought by a personal butler! 

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, good stuff, I'll pop over shortly! Don't worry about trying yo make it engaging, make it useful to YOU! 😊

I confess I hadn't realised what we were getting ourselves into with the cafe 😮 we'd wandered round a LOT and were in high need of a cuppa, and after yet more wandering just said 'fine, let's go in here'- more of a cafe bar than what I'd count as a cafe, and I made the mistake of not looking at the menu (dodn't even see a menu...) and just ordered at the bar 🙄 Won't be repeating that again in a hurry, and yes, I was at least expecting it to be brought by the staff, especially after they said 'sit down, we'll bring it over'! 🙄😂

Operation 'warm up the study' has begun. Going to be a right mismatch of rugs, but should make a difference, the floor is SO cold in there 🙄 I hadn't realised quite how big the bedroom carpet offcuts were - one of them is easily big enough to do the stairs, so I don't really want to cut into it, might as well save it for that! Trying to decide whether to cut the other one to slide under the bookcase, or whether to take the plunge and dismantle and rebuild the bookcase (which is floor to ceiling for an entire wall, so not exactly a small job, and one which will NOT be getting done tonight). 

Going to see if Mr Cheery has any plans that need it to be intact, and if not, I'll cut into it. It's not big enough for a whole room, and there's nowhere else that needs a bit of carpet... I'd dismantle the bookcase if we were actually having a new carpet fitted, but just to put rugs down, it seems a bit overkill...

Cheery_Daff

Hmm, having properly rolled out the long piece, it tapers quite dramatically at one end, so won't do for the stairs, so I'm going to cut it. Mr Cheery reckons there's also some (different) offcuts in one of the outbuildings - goodness knows what state they'll be in, but it's worth checking. 

Decided I'm NOT going to shift the bookcase, but I will need to shift the desk, and I'm not doing that tonight - not since we have to take the car for an MOT in the morning, and be back in time for a meeting at 9am 🙄 Maybe tomorrow night...

themadvix

Glad you had a good time Cheery!

 It sounds like your office will be much cosier once the rugging has been completed. 😊

Karmacat

Glad you had such a good trip, Cheery, sounds great.  I'd never been to Blackpool before I went on a works trip from Birmingham, and it was fantastic to see.  Excellent work on the carpet offcuts too, and I'm sure you don't need to move the bookcase - the books insulate the floor, don't they?  **whistles innocently** I worked so hard on moving my bookcase earlier this year, to open up the room, and this is the room that most needs the floor insulated, but there's no way I'm moving that again!

Anyway, hope the car MOT and the meeting are going spiffingly.

Cheery_Daff

Thanks both 😊

Delighted to report that the car has passed the MOT with no additional work needed, hooray! Very pleased about that!