Find the SecondStar and soar, and then straight on till the morning…

SecondStar

I got the rest of the rabbit patch weeded, dug over, and partially levelled, and it’s looking really good.

We drew out a design yesterday, and priced the remaining materials - my partner showed up with 5 x 10ft lengths of timber to form part of the structure, as I’m not able to fit the 10ft lengths into my little car. He had bought me flowers for Valentines, but this was the type of present I really cherish and value!

The remaining timber, sand, paving, screws, and corrugated roofing will come to around £340. I’ve got about £305 left in my DIY fund, but will be getting paid from my secondary job next week.



I responded to next door’s estate agent to propose that we do our own work to repair the dividing fence - £200 total, so £100 per property. This will cover the cost of 4 new uprights, post crete, and screws, and my partner and I will do the work. I’ll pay for this from my primary job, when I get paid at the end of the month.

It’ll be up to them as to whether they accept, but I don’t fancy paying over double that for their ‘contractor’.



I also managed to stain the shed, in a brief 1.5 hours when the rain was off! It’s now a very smart dark oak colour, and looks brand new. I’m very pleased with it.



The grocery budget is still being stretched, but holding strong. I made a big pot of soup last night, and have 4 meals left from it, and there’s also baked potatoes, pasta, and bread, so the rest of the month should be fine.

New_in_the_fens

You are making such great progress with everything! I have just had a fence replaced in my garden and it now looks much smarter - bought the panels almost new off Facebook. 

It now means I can start sorting that section - it’s really motivating to see things coming together!

SecondStar

New_in_the_fens said:

You are making such great progress with everything! I have just had a fence replaced in my garden and it now looks much smarter - bought the panels almost new off Facebook. 

It now means I can start sorting that section - it’s really motivating to see things coming together!

Thank you! I always want everything to be done with a snap of the fingers, but it is much more rewarding to see your gradual progress, isn’t it?



I got a reply from the estate agent this afternoon - next doors landlord has agreed for us to do the repair work, and will reimburse their share of the cost. I’ve ran it by my partner, but it’s to be a nice day tomorrow, so hopefully we can get it fixed up. It’ll be lovely to have a secure boundary again.

I had planned to get the timber we have all stained down and ready, but the weather has been against me. It’ll be a job for tomorrow, whilst my partner is drilling out the old post holes and I can’t be much help for that!

Once I get paid from both my jobs, I’ll order the sand, flags, and remaining timber for the run, but the things needed for the fence come first.



I got a lot of Waterstones gift vouchers for Christmas and my birthday. I’d already bought a couple of books, but I decided to treat myself to a Jellycat cuddly toy which I’d seen last autumn, but which had been out of stock since before Christmas. It’s the ‘Medium Smudge Elephant’, and it’s just the cutest thing - so soft and snuggly and comforting.

I went back and forth over whether it was too childish, or a ‘waste’ of money - even though I was using vouchers which had been gifts! - but I’ve only had it for a day and it’s already brought me so much joy.

It’s the nod to my signature, and a reminder to buy both the bread and the flowers - that a purchase isn’t a waste if it’s something in which you find value, and which brings you happiness. You don’t have to justify your decisions to anyone, as long as they’re justified to yourself.

Every day, that evil little voice which belonged to my ex gets quietened. The one which judges, shames, guilts, belittles, criticises over and over and over. It’s been quashed with the physical, mental, and verbal reminders to myself that I am capable, strong, intelligent, loveable, and loving. Every time I pick up a paintbrush, wield a drill, hug a loved one, make a colleague laugh, or do something special for myself; that evil voice gets further away.

SecondStar

Some exciting updates!

Partner had some of his own projects to finish up yesterday, so the fence will be done on his day off on Wednesday. Thank goodness he only works a 4-day week, or else we’d never get anything done! We went and bought the supplies today, so they’d be ready to go - 5 posts, postcrete, and screws - for just under £80. And the landlord’s contractor was wanting to charge over £500!

We had told the landlord £200 - £100 per property - and they’ll pay their half after the work is done. I didn’t mind footing the whole cost, I just needed their permission for us to do the work, but their financial contribution is useful.

Partner put together the base frames for the rabbit run yesterday evening, and put up 2 of the corner posts today. It’s looking much bigger now that the footprint is in place, but it’s very exciting to see the vision come to life.

I have all of the current timber 1 coat of stain yesterday, and will do a second coat this week if the weather holds. I’ll order the sand, flags, and remaining timber on Tuesday to be delivered, and then we can really get to work. 

Now the very exciting bit - one of my old school friends sent out save the dates for her wedding, and it’s going to be in Delhi!

My friend is British, her fiancé is Indian, and they met in Berlin where they both live, and so when they got engaged we weren’t sure where the celebrations would be - turns out it’s India!

It would be a once in a lifetime trip, and not a country I would’ve ever considered holidaying in, and so it seems as though it would be foolish to pass up the opportunity, if I’m able to take it. It’s a 3 day celebration, and my friends have very kindly paid the accommodation for the 2 nights, but some of us are thinking about making it a week-long holiday - the flights are the expensive bit, the accommodation, food, travel, and excursions are comparatively cheap.

For a quick and dirty breakdown:

Flights - £700 each, conservatively

4 nights stay, if 2 nights are covered - £60 / night, £240 for the week

Spending money - £500 each, for food and trips

Vaccinations - £165 each

Visa - £25 each, I think

So around £1,510 each. About £125 to save each month, for the next 12 months.

It’s not a small amount of money though, and an awful lot can happen in 12 months, but I’ve run the numbers a few times and I think I can swing it whilst continuing to pay into my emergency fund, and keeping a little bit back for misc. personal spending, and DIY budget. We will hope and pray that nothing breaks for the next 12 months!

There had been non-productive chat about arranging a friend get together around Easter time, for us old school friends, but I’ll not be able to afford that now, and will see them all in Delhi instead! My partner and I had also wanted to visit my hometown in the summer - I had been saving both for the friend trip, and for the hometown trip, and combining the 2 pots together will bring me to £300 short to cover both of us for the trip. Saving £65 / month between now and June will have that trip fully funded.

I don’t mind paying for both of us - he was keen to go, but it had been my idea and my desire to show my partner where I grew up, and go and see my family and some local friends again. If he is able to contribute towards it I won’t say no, but I’ll be able to afford it for us both whilst still saving for Delhi. If we do end up splitting costs, then anything leftover will roll towards Delhi anyway.

I’m a bit overwhelmed already, the trip will be challenging on lots of levels, but I think it’ll do me good to expand some horizons!

becksport

Hi SecondStar,

You are doing amazingly well.

Just read your last post and wanted to comment as I am off to Delhi today for 2 weeks to stay with my friend who is working out there. I wanted to give you a breakdown of my costs:

£350 - flights with Virgin from Heathrow
£50 - Baggage x 2 suitcases (worth getting as everything is really cheap out there) hand luggage was included with the ticket but it cheaper to buy the economy light ticket and pay for baggage than the standard economy ticket with baggage included.
£22 - Visa

The vaccinations should be covered by your GP as you only need the basic ones if visiting. No-one I know has paid for them.

Not sure when you are going but you are saying 12 months which may be around this time of year. Look up the flights on Google and set up a price tracker so they alert you when the price drops. I am certain you can get them for a lot less than £700 each.

If you are travelling all that way I would try and stay for as long as you can due to jet lag and length of flight etc. Decent accommodation (£20 night) and food (you can eat out for a couple of pound a day) is so cheap out there it really wouldn't cost much to stay for longer and if you can save some money on the flights and vaccinations then that should cover it. 

I hope that helps.

Purplelady65

How exciting - a wedding in India sounds amazing! I’ve been to India and as the OP has suggested I’d echo the suggestion to stay as long as you are able to. It will take you a day or so to get over the flight and as accommodation and food is cheap out there it won’t cost that much more to go for 2+ weeks than 1. I went for over 3 weeks and travelled around Rajasthan independently. It is a fascinating country but one of the highlights of my trip was going to Agra and visiting the Taj Mahal. The building is absolutely stunning and it’s not that far from Delhi (around 3 hours). I would highly recommend a visit there if you’re able to. 

SecondStar

Thank you both so much! I’ll be posting a lot more silly questions and queries, I’m sure.

We would be flying to Heathrow, having a layover, and then onto Delhi, which is why flights are working out a bit more. They’re currently around £560 / person, which includes all 4 flights, plus 2 x checked bags each. I just like to aim higher rather than be caught short! The same for the spending money - from what I’ve read we could get away with half the amount we’re aiming to bring, but I’d rather budget higher and bring home change, rather than worrying about overspending whilst I’m there.

That’s good to know about vaccines, I had been looking on the Superdrug pharmacy page and hadn’t appreciated that you might be able to have them done at the GP. Will discuss with them closer to the time.

The bride and groom are putting together a wedding website shortly, which should have more details of timeframes, travel, and accommodations on; and I’ll chat with my other friends about how long they’re aiming to go for, and what dates. It’ll be wonderful to go somewhere so far and so different with a bunch of my oldest friends!

All I’ve done for the last few days is Google about Delhi, it’s been fascinating. My internet tabs range from hotels, to camel rides, to buying SIM cards, to lehengas.

I also tried my first semi-proper Indian meal last night! I have some issues around food, and Indian cuisine isn’t one which comes naturally to me, however I know I won’t be able to go unless I start to familiarise myself with the food. It’s definitely a big motivation to expand my culinary palette, and my partner is being incredibly supportive of it. Yesterday he brought home some onion bhajis (delicious), pilau rice (had had before, did enjoy), a tarka daal (a little spicy, but also nice), and some gluten free pita bread (couldn’t get gluten free naan). If you’d have told me a year ago that I’d be sitting down and eating multiple dishes of Indian food, I would’ve never believed you. I am very proud of myself, and plan to try at least 2 different types of Indian food per month, between now and next Feb.



Speaking of my lovely partner, he’s currently out doing the dividing fence - removing the sodden, rotten stumps of the old posts is proving very difficult, and it’s a good thing he’s a patient and amenable type!

SecondStar

Photo is behind the spoiler, as it’s quite large.

The fence is back up!! Please excuse the muck, the rain had started by the time I was taking the pics for nextdoor’s landlord.

The relief that I feel is honestly overwhelming. I hadn’t realised how not having that sold divide had been affecting me, I feel like every muscle in my body has relaaaaaxed.

I tested the dark brown wood stain that I have over the red which is currently there, and it doesn’t make much difference. I’ll probably have to get a brown wood paint instead to cover the red, once the algae and grot have been power washed off. I’m very, very pleased, my lovely partner has played a blinder as usual.

And I tried a second Indian dish for dinner afterwards! A potato and cauliflower curry, with more onion bhajis, and it was delicious! I had expected the potato to be more solid and chewy(?), but it was actually really soft and tender, and melted into the sauce which was nice. It was spicier than the daal, but I enjoyed that, surprisingly.

I want to try lassi and a paneer curry next!

in_need_of_direction

Have you priced flying from Dublin? The lower taxes can make a difference sometimes 

SecondStar

in_need_of_direction said:

Have you priced flying from Dublin? The lower taxes can make a difference sometimes 

Yes, seems to be even higher for some reason, and the layover in Heathrow would still be the same. Seems as though it’s the London - Delhi bit that’s expensive, which makes sense!