From £6000 ----> £9000 in 2023.

Skint_yet_Again

Wow that looks fabulous. The water looks cold though 🥶😆

NinjaSavingKat

My 71 year old Dad came in with me. We made so much noise screaming due to the cold and so much whooping and gearing ourselves up for that ultimate dip under that a seal came up to see what the fuss was about. Popped his head out to watch us then disappeared. So so worth it. 

NinjaSavingKat

Good Morning All. 

Just thought I would drop in and update you all on the fun I am having. 

So, its my intention to cycle to work more often. I don't like doing things the easy way as its now starting to get dark and muggins here needs to get a very good light to prevent being squished by cars. However I did it this morning - took precisely 10 minutes as its all down hill. Was SO MUCH FUN!!!

On Thursday I went to the local bike repair place and picked out a new gel saddle. I have been using a boys one for years and if I am going to do this long term I need butt support!!! I got a water bottle holder (how did I not have one of these??), a mini pump that attaches to the bike and a mini mud guard. A few tweaks of the bike and with the equipment I picked out it cost me £77.94.- all paid for with Vinted sales and cat-sitting jobs. Meow.

So...

Driving to work = 25 miles a week. (5 mile round trip x 5 days a week)
Driving to the gym costs me = 60 miles a week. (12 mile round trip x 5 days a week)

The intention is get fit enough  to cycling every day until it gets impossible (snow/ice) and then consider walking.
Then consider cycling to the gym as well 3 times a week. 

This will cut weekly petrol from 85 miles a week to 34. 

Fingers crossed.

I have tanked up the car. This cost £50. It usually lasts 2 weeks. For September I want it to last 4 weeks. My determination knows no bounds so I will make it work. 

HOWEVER - there HAS to be an outlay for a good high beam front light on the bike. Its impractical to even consider winter cycling without one in the countryside. Over the years I have collected almost everything else. 

Another 8 items on Vinted on Friday with some interest. So hopefully will claw this money back as soon as possible. 

Annual leave booked in September to see friends in London for a quick overnight stay. They are only in the country for a short period before heading off on missionary work in Nepal and I haven't met their youngest baby who's already 3! Working on logistics and budget so that will be in the next update.  CANCELLED. We couldn't figure out the timings between us and their own family so we have postponed our get together for next year and two weeks hiking in Nepal. 

Quick search for the front light I wanted at £95. Found it for £54. So purchased 2. One smaller and cheaper one also on sale from £70 to £40. This is all considering flights will not have to be paid for now and I still don't want to die on the roads. Few more spoke/wheel reflectors to purchase and I should be all set. Lit up like a christmas tree. 

Thanks for listening....;-)

Skint_yet_Again

The more lights the better for the bike! Also consider if you are wearing a helmet you can get lights that flash and they are more noticeable to me as a driver. Downhill to work sounds great but I wouldn’t like the uphill bit on the way home 😆

NinjaSavingKat

Yes as a car driver and previous motorbike rider myself I need that flash mode to truly know that there is a cyclist there. Which thankfully these expensive ones have. I truly do not understand people who leave it to chance.

I also have one that's red and flashes under my seat and a red flashing one that attaches to the back of my helmet. I have a backpack cover that's bright yellow with reflective bits on it, reflective straps for my legs and arms and bright yellow jacket with reflective bits. 

I am currently searching for spoke lights (already have reflectors) that don't make me look like a 5 year old. 

Uphill will be interesting today! 

savingwannabe

It's great that you have planned to cycle and that you are buying lights at a good price. Nepal sounds like a trip of a lifetime. Wonderful to look forward to. 

NinjaSavingKat

Greetings all...

Dentist today on a cancellation. Chipped tooth fixed and check Up. £117. 

Next appointment to replace temporary crown that's been in situ for 3 years in 8 weeks. £434.

Bikes lights. £114.

Thrills.....🤣🤣🤣🤣

I was hoping to see the savings hit a clean £3k this week but alas. It ain't to be.

Next few weeks will get tighter as I claw this money back through wages and overtime and Vinted. 

Now then. Do I cancel my annual leave in a few weeks time (4 days) or keep it and use it to catch up and cook and plan and scheme...

Thoughts?..

MovingForwards

Take the A/L unless you think the days will be used better later.

Cycling sounds fun, especially downhill! Nepal is going to be great.

NinjaSavingKat

Morning All, 

So precisely a week later and one has cycled to work and back 3 times. That's a grand saving of 15 miles and in my wee car so that's £3.48... . One of these trips was technically unnecessary so I was not going to use the car. I just had to swing by for something.

So only 2 actually trips to "work" as such. This week I have OT on Friday for a few hours. So with 6 journeys @ 30 miles total that's £.6.95. Might not seem a lot but I need the last tank up of fuel @ £50 to last 4 weeks instead of 2. The full week of 85 miles apparently costs £19.70 if you can believe the online calculators. 

Uphill does seem to be a bit more difficult I must say. It takes me at least 20 minutes to get home with one stop or 2 to catch my breath as its super steep. 

This morning was much much darker than last week. Lights came yesterday and were duly fitted and I am glad I got two. It was absolutely lashing it down this morning! It had been raining all night and the roads were flooded. My brakes weren't as good as I was hoping in the extreme rain so I had to ride them the entire way - at one point I dismounted as I was so terrified I wouldn't be able to stop. They are new as well so maybe need to be worn in a little better.

I had to wear a heavy duty raincoat with a hood under my helmet so I kept my hair dry at least. Everything else was drenched. I now have bits hanging up in the hottest places I can locate here at work to dry out before cycling home later.  

Sundays are hard work - I am always at the gym on Sundays so I have to get home, eat, change and get back out in the car. All after getting up at 0530. So might need to rethink this as the gym closes early on Sundays here.. One day I will go straight from work to the gym as I am technically doubling back on myself. But not yet.

Gym programme per year is costing anywhere between £22-£26 a month due to inflation as its an American programme and I am charged in USD so there is also a conversion fee each month. Only a few pennies but I wanted to eradicate the unpredictable. So I paid £237 on Friday to cover the year. That's saving me £73 in the long run. I have been on this programme for 2 years so far and don't see it needing to be changed. I see strength increases and physique changes so I know another year is easily done.

The gym is costing me £26 a month - paying up front is only a 1 month saving. Not sure I want to do that yet considering I have to go elsewhere and pay in to a different gym when they close on bank holidays etc. Might be time for a new gym but this is a leisure centre and the cheapest around town. Something to think about

Just means the savings have taken bit of a bashing this week. 

Spoke with a dear friend last night. We are hot on each others tails when it comes to the savings. She suggested I readjust the £6k target to the end of January. I told her the target is leaving me with no extra funds for anything - and this isn't good. So I need to sit and think things over. 

Mother and Father are returning to Grannies home tomorrow - they scoot between both at the moment. SO.. I intend to gut the house and pretend a visitor is coming. Gonna CLEAN from top to bottom. My darling mother is a hoarder and I don't care - she is amazing. But there is a little cleaning to be done, albeit there is a lot of my junk floating around too. I have been too tired to care recently.

I have plans for my annual leave days as well to re-do my own little bedroom into a more minimalist space after watching too many Japanese shows about using small spaces wisely. I also plan to do some batch cooking to see how far what I have in the house will stretch too. 

Pulled up some ears of corn last night for dinner. So so impressed they even grew for me. There are more to come as well. We have such an array of food coming its almost unnecessary to go to the shops. (Cauliflower / broccoli / beetroot / butternut squash / kabocha squash / gherkins / tomatoes / kale / chard / broad beans / leeks / carrots / turnips / Chinese cabbage / kohlrabi / sweetcorn / peas  and hopefully lemons come November).
Mother bakes bread every week as well. 

I make my own tofu as well. Simple once you know how. I used Vinted sales to buy a few bits and bobs I need like a tofu press. It can be frozen as well so I make it once a week and usually have enough to last a few meals.  I used the left over bean pulp (okara) to make burgers last night. I think they will be sausages in future as they form well and taste lovely. I made a batch to freeze and the rest of the Okara will be a pie crust as we have hundred of apples to use up. 

So food wise I am good. I have nothing else I need to buy. Needing to fix an outhouse we have though to accommodate a heap of logs/blocks we intend to buy before it gets too cold. The house is draughty and as much as you could put the heating on it doesn't make as much of a difference as having an open fire going. I also don't want my elderly parents having to worry about fuel over winter. 

My list for those annual leave days in a few weeks is getting longer and longer as is this post. I will end it here..

Time for another cup of tea. 

NSK

savingwannabe

I am so impressed with your cycling!, this will increase your fitness for sure. It's fab that you can garden and be so creative with food. I am a bit useless. I hope you do take your annual leave as you work so hard. A very very inspiring post. Well done NSK.