Getting FIREd up 😀

South_coast

Yes, that's a fair point 🤣! I'm clearly not on the verge of retirement any time soon anyway, as my percentages show!

Cornish_mum

Great progress! something similar happened to our numbers this month; but I thought I must have made a mistake so I wanted to double check them at the weekend. CM

South_coast

Thanks CM - I was too amazed to check if I was wrong 🤣!

South_coast

In other news, I wonder what insights the box that transmits what I watch on telly to a market research company for £15 a month gleans from me watching an episode of Rosemary & Thyme from 2004 🤔🤔🤔???

edinburgher

I have opened a LISA - don't quite know what to make of it but I blame you!

South_coast

*Inserts obligatory statement that I am not a financial advisor and you must do your own research* 🤣

South_coast

Lidl had tomato puree 😍!

(Must be the first time in at least 6 months)

South_coast

Good morning all 😀!

Wow, I can't believe I have gone this long without posting! Partly because I've not had anything sensible to say (not that that usually stops me 🤣), but mostly I am T-I-R-E-D. I am feeling a bit perkier this morning though, so I thought I'd report back on my seaside bolthole mini break the other week!

So a few observations:

Traffic: Including two sets of roadworks, it took me 3 hours to get there. Now, there won't always be roadworks (the second set are removing a major bottleneck), but realistically the traffic is never going to be better than it is in February. My hotel was right next to the railway station, so getting the train would be an option, although that would mean getting the train back to work on a Monday morning as I'd need to retrieve my car (I came home on Sunday this time), which would be an EARLY start so probably not very feasible

Catering: Because I was in a hotel rather than a flat, I had to source all my own meals on the go. I didn't feel that I could bring a takeaway back with me (bad form when the hotel has a restaurant), so had to go in for al-fresco dining (slightly nippy in February!) I definitely missed making my own pizza on Friday night - Domino's did not measure up!

Budgeting: Er, I didn't allow for one! Whoops, slight schoolboy error there 🤣! Now completely skint as there is far too much month left 🤦‍♀️

Packing: On a Thursday night while I've still got a day of work ahead to think about is not fun! I feel like I took a LOT with me (I went for two runs while I was there, so I had a whole bag just of sportswear). Of course, if I had my own place, I would have things there (but not if it had to be rented out to cover some of the costs). I probably would have brought food with me instead in that case though 😮

On the whole, an interesting experiment. I escaped from my own life a bit, wandered about (and checked out their Lidl, obvs 🤣) and looked in a few estate agents' windows. I've refined my Rightmove search slightly now I've got a better idea about areas in the town, plus made it more specific to what I would need rather than what would be a good holiday let (a little studio would be plenty and no need for parking - 38 hours in an absolutely massive car park was £7.30, much cheaper than a parking space 🤣) It's still 99.9% a complete pipe dream, but my curiosity is definitely piqued 🤔

SuperSecretSquirrel

I just read back for a reminder of your "little place by the sea" idea (page 85, 16th Oct, if anyone else is wondering...)

It does strike me that maybe a camper van would suit your purposes. You aren't specifically looking to profit, more just help cover some costs (depending on these costs an airbnb might suit you better, as in renting one not owning one). Having to book an airbnb makes it less of a "disappear on a whim on Friday after work" thing. Depending on the area a rough camp or even last minute camp site booking with your own van might work.

Small space, self catering, and you can even keep it stocked with some running gear, swimsuits, books, long life foods, etc, so you won't be packing from scratch each time you go.

If it was a tidy modern van, depending on the mileage you do in day to day life it might make sense to use it as your daily drive, not having to maintain, tax, and insure a car in addition to the van could help quite a lot with the costs.

The bonuses would be that you're not tied to a single location, maybe not having to worry about your long term empty property, plus it has to be a lot cheaper to run a van than a flat. The main downside would be you can't in normal times expect a van to appreciate in value - but it doesn't sound like that's the aim of the game here. Also, you might really hate the idea of roughing it in a camper 🤣

South_coast

Morning SSS, thanks for your thoughts (and for the page ref - I foolishly assumed avid readers would instantly know exactly what I was on about 🤣)! A camper van is a great idea, but it's not for me I'm afraid! Three main reasons: There is a height restriction on my car park at home (as in, a bar over the entrance), so it would mean running two vehicles, which I could not be *rsed to do; 2) I can only sleep if I am absolutely at the right temperature, which could be tricky to achieve in a camper (I'm also a very light sleeper, so other people around could easily wake me up); 3) I need my own (flushing) toilet 🤣!

I would have preferred an Air BnB this time round, so I got the proper "living there" experience, but the prices were upwards of £110/night whereas the hotel was £82 for two nights (I'm a self-contained kind of girl - making small talk with hosts would be too much like being at work). It meant I spent more on food, but not that much. No idea why, as you'd assume it would be cheaper across the board out of season, probably the b*ggeration factor of getting the place ready for someone that's only going to be there a couple of nights, then having to do it all over again. 

So basically I'm a bit of a princess 👸!

At the end of the day, if it came down to a choice between a second home and early retirement (which it would, by several years), I'd go for ER every time. Where I actually live is already lovely, and if I didn't have work to think about I probably wouldn't feel the need to step away from normality for a bit of a breather every now and then. So I think that's a vote for the status quo 🤷‍♀️?