La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life) - on a tiny budget.

ladybird1106

Primark are selling fleece lined leggings. My youngest says they keep their legs really warm. 
Love 🐞

helensbiggestfan

Transformation Tuesday. 

Feeling tired and lethargic today, and asking myself what steps I can take today to further my journey of transformation.   I'm still working on improving my skin care, so I think a facial is in order today.  Today a mini skin peel.  One small step for a woman. 😉

Remembering the tortoise and the hare....

Thanks for the heads up re Primark's  fleece leggings. I will certainly take a look tomorrow.  Looking forward to lunch with my little sis.  😁.  

helensbiggestfan

Wellness Wednesday. 

Rather a lot of aches and pains today and it was very cold earlier, and the pavements were like an ice rink, so I splashed out and took a taxi into the city.  Also, the buses were a bit iffy this morning (no idea why)  and I didnt fancy standing freezing at the bus stop. I don't usually drive into the city these days, parking is difficult and expensive. I have a bus pass so I don't have to pay bus fares but a taxi ride is only £10 so it's not a deal breaker.  By the time I was ready to come home the buses were fine again.  

Met my sister for lunch  (and various alcoholic beveridges 😁.). It's our Christmas tradition, my sister and I and our "pretend sister" (long story) always meet up for our equivalent of a slightly boozy Christmas office party type lunch.   Popped into Primarni but didn't buy anything, although my sister had a splurge.  

Wellness Wednesday  ...........I bought some eye drops and a pack of Gina from Superdrug.  Last of the big spenders.  😂🤣. Tomorrow I get my follow up blood tests done.  Not looking forward to that......I'm such a needle phobe. 😱

Anyway feet up now, a light supper and curl up with Netflix.  

Christianne1957

May I join this thread? 

I am finally finishing work in January 2024 and will be living on my State Pension + a small works pension so trying to trim costs whilst enjoying retirement 

Willow1983

hi, mind if I join in too? I have followed your threads from the beginning and you are an inspiration! I really need to get my act together as I will be 60 in May and need to lose at least a stone to feel good about myself.  I think COVID and lockdown have made me into a bit of a recluse/frump 🙁 and I have let myself go a bit too. I have rejoined the local gym and have started going to classes more for the social aspect too and plan to really push myself to try and be 60 and a bit fabbier 😬

helensbiggestfan

Thrifty Thursday. 

Good Morning Lovely Ladies.  Have done my weekly financial round up.  All is good.  Food expenditure still a bit on the high side, but part of that has been restocking the freezer and cupboards in case of bad weather, so I'm not too concerned.  

Hello Willow and Christianne.  How lovely to "meet" you. The more the merrier. 

Willow.  I think Covid affected lots of us in ways that we are only starting to fully appreciate.  I have spoken to so many people who say that they feel that they either "lost themselves a bit" or that they went through some very big emotional and/or lifestyle changes because of the lockdowns.  

A lot of people had to dig deep physically and emotionally to get through such an unusual experience and many feel they have changed irrevocably in the process.  As a result many people have made huge lifestyle changes, moving house, changing jobs, taking early retirement,  divorcing, marrying, having children. Some people did become reclusive and are now finally ready to reengage with the world again. 

Stay happy, positive and focussed and all will be well.  And remember, it's all about the journey, not just the destination.  

Christianne . I am sure you will love being retired.  now long now. 💃. Wahoo.  I can thoroughly recommend it. I truly love being retired. I love the freedom and most of all just having "time". Time to do all the things I never managed to do before - one of which was an extended tour of the Amazon and the Caribbean, taking a leisurely six weeks.  It would have been impossible  to take such a long  trip whilst I was working.  Having the time to do things slowly and at your own pace is really such a luxury and for me is one of the highlights of retirement.  Even something as simple as being able to give my family my complete undivided attention when they visit. I make no attempt to clear up after them, I just enjoy them and then clean the house when they've gone.  

I have plenty more adventures on my agenda, all in good time once I've moved house. Watch this space.  😂. You ain't seen nothing yet.!!

I'm sure you will be ok money wise.  One thing I have found is that once you retire your money seems to go a surprisingly long way.  Perhaps because you have more time to plan ahead, to shop wisely but also I think because your priorities change.  Things that seemed so important when I was younger just seem totally irrelevant to me now. I decide what is important or of value to me and spend accordingly.  I

As you all know I love clothes but I really don't  spend much on them.  Luckily my style is fairly classic and simple and I'm perfectly happy with good quality preloved.  My three most recent acquisitions, a Jacques Verte cashmere coat, a faux leopard fur and a Monsoon sequinned evening jacket all came from eBay.  £66 for all 3 and all three are showstoppers.  They are all classic pieces that won't date and they will see me out. In all honesty I probably won't need to buy another coat or jacket ever again.  I will of course.  😂.  I can't resist a show stopping coat. 

There's an old saying that the best things in life are free.  I would take that one a stage further and say that often the best things in life aren't actually things at all.  Time with people I love and care about is the most precious of all. 

Those that have been kind enough to follow this thread have probably gathered that my biggest expenditure this year has been my dental work. I also spent a bit on a course of chiro treatments, but it was all planned and budgeted for.  I deliberately cut back in some areas (such as holidays and bucket list trips).  I think that is my definition of La DolceVita......living well by making deliberate spending decisions rather than letting money just slip through my fingers like I did when I was young and foolish. 😂.   

It's all very personal of course and there is no universal one size fits all.  We should all do what makes us feel comfortable and happy. After all, once we are retired we no longer have to please a boss, or fit in to a workplace culture.  We don't have to buy into the whole capitalist structure.  We are as free as birds.  Any commitments we care to take on are a matter of choice.  

I do think it's inevitable that as we age we probably need to spend a bit more on health and well being, maybe some therapies that aren't easily available on the NHS, maybe vitamins etc.  that is certainly the case for me. I don't begrudge it, I regard it is an investment in my quality of life and, hopefully my longevity, so I make sure that I budget accordingly.  

  Obviously Christmas comes with extra expense but I don't mind.....I love Christmas, I enjoy giving presents and spoiling my family.  We don't go mad but we do like to enjoy the season, socialising and entertaining.  And of course having young children adds to the magic. 

 It was lovely yesterday to see my sister and my "pretend sister".  My sister still works and is a very busy person so we don't see each other as much as we would like.  It's therefore always extra special when we do get together for a girly lunch.  We like to push the boat out a bit, go to one of our favourite restaurants and we don't skimp on the menu, (or the wine and liqueurs). Ha ha. Naughty  but oh so nice.  

Speaking of naughty but nice. ........

I am just about to have lunch.  Today I shall be tucking into a Cornish pasty.  One of my favourites. Ok not the healthiest of lunches but then I only indulge about twice a year so no real damage done.  

Still no sugar.......👍

joedenise

Absolutely agree with you about your money seeming to go further once you retire!  To be honest I don't really understand why we always felt skint when we were working!  It really doesn't make sense as we definitely don't have anywhere near as much money now but we are managing to have a couple of All Inclusive holidays next year plus a month away in our motorhome (which we've had for 10 years now and paid cash for our of my retirement lump sum).    We'll also have the odd weekend or few days away in the motorhome when it fits in with the various medical appointments which seem to occur far more often than they used to!

As you can tell we prioritise our holidays but spend very little on takeaways but eat healthily on a fairly good budget.  It helps that I love to cook from scratch.  For example I bought some skirt beef a while back for about £7 which I split into 3 lots - 1 lot was used to make Cornish pasties and the other 2 lots were frozen.  This week I bought loads of stew veg for less than £5 and today I have used one of the frozen lots of beef and about 1/3 of the veg plus a can of mixed beans and made a stew which will probably do us 3 meals.

The rest of the stew veg I've chopped and made up stew packs and frozen to make more stews later on.

Hope you enjoyed your Cornish pasty today - I know both DH and I enjoyed the ones I made recently!

helensbiggestfan

Joedenise . Thanks .......Yes I did, it was yummy...

Loving the sound of your holidays and the trips in the motor home.  My husband always said we would get one for our retirement but alas, as you know he didn't make it, dying at just 57. Hey ho.  As the old Rolling Stones song goes "You can't always get what you want". 

 I don't feel quite brave enough to do solo motor home trips. I feel safe on cruises.  I am hoping to "do" either Canada In The Fall (September/October). next year or the Iceland/artic circle, which would better around July/August time. It just depends on the house move and the timings so I'm not booking anything just yet.  I also want to fit in a Belguim trip with my sister.  

Your stews sound lovely, you can't beat them in winter.  A little tip I found.  I love to add wine to enrich my stews and casseroles but I don't always have any already opened.  So instead I use port.  You can have an open bottle for ages and it won't go off, you don't need a lot, just a nice "glug" and it adds a lovely rich flavour and depth, especially with red meats.  I often slosh a bit in gravy too.  

My sister introduced me to a lovely Italian hazel nut liqueur yesterday.  I've ordered some from Amazon.  😂.  Luscious just by itself and fabulous in coffee. Another one to add to my list of favourite tipples.  

Oh dear ....I sound like a bit of a lush but I don't drink every day......Honest.  

Although maybe I should because there's  an old Italian saying....."a meal without wine is like a day without sunshine". 😁.   My Belgian aunt drinks red wine every day and she's 97.  

Maybe she's on to something........

joedenise

Thanks.  I didn't have any red wine or port so I used a red wine stock pot plus a beef stock pot so it will have the richness of red wine in it!

I definitely need to get to Lidl's this week as they've got some pretty good deals on red wine and Prosecco!  Both DH and I only drink red usually but do occasionally indulge in a Prosecco but usually for special occasions!

Don't think I've ever had a hazel nut liqueur but then don't often drink them although may look out for this when we're away on our next AI holiday!

skogar

Helen - That navy and red outfit sounds great - very cheerful. Good to hear that you had a lovely lunch. Another fan of hazelnut liqueur here.