Small steps lead to big changes...

jwil

ladyholly said:

Beautiful wild flower meadow and well done on the weight loss. I too. am very overwight and constantly struggle to try and lose some.

Thank you, it's so hard isn't it   

NeverendingDMP said:

Lovely flower fields. Good luck with the garden/jungle. We have a similar problem after all the rain. The garden is closing in on itself. Some of the bushes have shot up from what was shoulder height and are now as high as the bedroom windows and I don't really know how or where to start

It's crazy isn't it, just how much it can grow even in a week or two!  DH went out and tackled ours yesterday, it's looking better but still lots to do.

beanielou said:

I am going to go against the grain & say you need to replace the sink.
You could also do the toilet & then that just leaves the bath to do at a later date.

Thank you, that's my plan, but just trying to get the motivation to do so.

WinterWarrior said:

I would go for an insurance claim now 2 items are damaged. You should get the complete suite from the claim as it’s an odd colour to match. We all pay for insurance and so rarely make a claim, but in this instance I think it would be worth doing. 

beanielou said:

WinterWarrior said:

I would go for an insurance claim now 2 items are damaged. You should get the complete suite from the claim as it’s an odd colour to match. We all pay for insurance and so rarely make a claim, but in this instance I think it would be worth doing. 

This.   

Thank you.  I'd never thought about this.  I tend to consider insurance for the house falling down rather than anything else that I could pay for myself.  I'm not sure as we'll pay for it in increased premiums, (and I'll need to check our terms and excess) and we've already decided that we are keeping the bath, so I'd rather keep control over it I think.  I'll speak to DH and see what he says.

jwil

Today's PAD - £2

Jan - £141
Feb - £139
March - £89
April £149
May - £79
June - £270
July - £253
August - £54

jwil

I'm very pleased with myself this morning, I got up and did a loop walk near my house.  It's just over a mile, so a good start to the day.  It's uphill the first half and downhill the second, so I get the worst bit out of the way early.  I put the couch 2 5k app on as well, to remind me to walk quicker periodically.  I'm going to try and get in the habit of doing this regularly again.  I need to attach my healthy living to my retirement plans, as I have lots of determination to retire early, I need the same motivation for my health.  Being healthy enough to enjoy early retirement is as important as having enough money.

I do need to do it as soon as I get up as I easily lose interest once I get started on 'life'.  I did this a few years ago and it made me lose weight without making significant changes to my diet, so it would be a good start and a habit I should get back into.  My diet, although not anywhere near perfect, isn't terrible, as I do eat a lot of fruit and veg.  So I think a lot of my health issues stem from my lack of activity.  I was always big but healthy before Covid, and my issues have started since then, which probably has a direct link to inactivity, particularly after I had the fall which stymied my activity.

savingholmes

I wouldn't claim on your house insurance as they make sure they get more than that back in future premiums.

Good luck with increasing your activity. Every little helps.

jwil

savingholmes said:

I wouldn't claim on your house insurance as they make sure they get more than that back in future premiums.

Good luck with increasing your activity. Every little helps.

Thank you

jwil

I've thought about it a lot this morning, and I'm not going to go through insurance for it.  The replacement of the toilet and sink are not actually too high cost, it's the tiling, flooring and all the other stuff which will add to the cost, and they wouldn't do that.

It's not what I get insurance for, which is if the house falls down or something really major happens.  I'm the same with car insurance, I'd only ever claim if the car was seriously damaged etc.  I never get accidental insurance unless it's included in the price, so I'm not sure if I'm covered anyway.

This is a planned job anyway, so we'll stump up for it.

jwil

I've been busy ordering the school uniforms this morning, plus a few bits of other clothing, and a kitchen bin as ours has got a hole in it.  I have spent a fortune, and whilst I did use the £5 voucher, it barely touched the sides!  However, I shouldn't need to buy anything else all year, and I've got most of the stuff little jwil needs for his residential as well.

I need a few frugal months to cover the costs of this month for sure!

The laptop was also playing up a bit so I've spent some time moving photos off onto an external hard drive, and deleting some stuff, so hopefully that's eased things a little.  I can also delete some stuff from my icloud now that I've downloaded it all.  I'm not paying extra for storage!

I rejoined audible yesterday so that I can get a couple of books (including ahead of the new Strike book coming out which I will want).  I went for the annual option with 12 credits rather than the monthly option.  Saves a bit of money per book.  Another not entirely essential spend! 

doingitanyway

I'm so impressed with you walking the loop. It has a gradient on the first part so sounds perfect. Keep going. We are MSE so I understand why the focus is on money but health in retirement is of equal importance if not more. 

I will be saving for housing costs so I will join you with a few ultra frugal costs 

jwil

doingitanyway said:

I'm so impressed with you walking the loop. It has a gradient on the first part so sounds perfect. Keep going. We are MSE so I understand why the focus is on money but health in retirement is of equal importance if not more. 

I will be saving for housing costs so I will join you with a few ultra frugal costs 

Thank you.  That's why I like this particular loop as I get the worst bit over to start with! 

I've continued my spending, as I've looked for a lightweight raincoat.  My only other coat is a fleecy one, so far too hot if it rains in this weather.  It gives me another excuse not to walk, particularly if I'm going to work, so hopefully this will remove that as a reason.  I'm looking for a second hand one though so not too bad.  Just waiting for my offer to be reviewed, but I have a couple as back up if it isn't accepted.

Good luck with the savings, I will be cutting back hard next month (and hopefully not spend too much for the rest of the holidays).

beanielou

Look on Vinted.