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

Wednesday2000

Wellness Wednesday is very apt for me today as I have felt slightly under the weather the past few days since the man painting our house left on Saturday night and I started really coughing and shivering with chills yesterday. I took ibuprofen and fell asleep and then woke up and called my husband and said he should get me a Covid test. It turns out the decorator just tested positive for Covid as my husband had got a text from him. He is very ill with it, but I think last time I had Covid in March I had a fever for three days so it was milder this time for me. All these jabs I've had must be doing their job!

I am feeling much better today and I am up, showered and dressed. I'm sipping a hot chocolate, but I'm about to make a green smoothie and I am going to batch cook a huge veggie soup with lots of garlic, onion, spices and olive oil and add some white beans for protein.

I was going to go out to Canary Wharf to see some musical acts in a cafe this weekend, but I am just going to stay in and rest instead.

One very good thing is my dog has been in at the kennel for 12 nights while we were having work done to our house and she is home today. That is the longest I have been away from her since she was a puppy. I'm looking forward to having her back. I did call the woman dropping her off that I have had Covid so to keep her distance.

I'm just having a restful day on the sofa reading and watching TV. I saw a 99p kindle book on the Monevator blog a few weeks ago called What Should I do with my Life? by Po Bronson so I'm going to start that today. I want to have some NSDs (non-spend days) and making my way through the books on my kindle is a good start.

helensbiggestfan

Wednesday.   Sorry to hear you are poorly.  Take care and  Get well soon.  Snuggle the dog, read and rest.  

I got a  Dr Rangan Chattergee book from the library yesterday. "Happy Mind, Happy Life.  I like him,  I often listen to his podcasts.  

Right really must get cracking......

Humdinger1

Totally agree re cutting back on carbs and sugar.   I've just managed to reverse type 2 diabetes by doing that.  I didn't believe the celeb 'clean eating' campaign...but when doctors advised me to do it, I listened.   All it needed was van Tamm (Helsing?) and Whitty to climb the podium.  The consultant told me early on that fat had been unfairly vilified and it was driving people to high-carb  diets, which in turn was driving an explosion in diabetes.   So my blood sugar was 3 times what it should have been.  Since June I've lost 2.5 stone and my blood sugar levels are now normal. I am exercising every day but diet is the key I think.  Having read the books Dr M*k* M*s*l*y, he says that you can't outrun a bad diet.  I'm eating rye bread as that often gives a lower sugar spike than other breads.  Oats are a no-no for me (everyone is different) as send blood sugar soaring.   Hope I haven't bored everyone to stupor but this has revolutionised my life.  Love Humdinger xx 

Debsnewbudget

I am loving the new names for the week and trying to follow on. I bought a new waterproof winter coat yesterday and got a mid blue rather than black. 

angela110660

thank you for the Rangan Chattergee book suggestion Helen - I have just put a reserve on the audibook version through our Library Borrow Box. Such a great free service

Bluegreen143

What a lovely, inspiring thread, hope it’s ok if I lurk! 

Firstly, wanted to send love to the many of you who’ve shared about hard times, health issues and bereavement in the last few years ❤️

My mantra for the year is “joyful frugality” and finding that sweet spot where life feels so full and meaningful that spending money almost seems irrelevant. Prioritising what brings me happiness and dropping what doesn’t. 

I love the image of you at 90 toasting a life well lived. I’m 34 so 90 is a little way off at present but what an inspiring image. 

I think it’s about individually identifying what brings us happiness and fulfilment and for me I’ve found the opposite re my appearance though I know many do find it empowering to make the effort. 

I’m finding for me it’s freeing now to realise I don’t need to spend money trying to look and be different to who I am… to embrace feeling comfortable in my own skin and clothes, to welcome the grey hairs and mum tum rather than bowing to the pressure to be work on my appearance. I wish I’d had the confidence in my twenties to not give a **** about the societal expectations to be slim, sexy, fashionable. For me it feels empowering to have pretty much given up makeup and painting my nails, but I know for others it’s the exact opposite. 

That said I recognise I’m not going to feel my best scruffing about in stained joggers all the time so I think I do need a little boost with nice floaty dresses, focusing totally on what I find beautiful (but also comfortable- I’ve given up wearing heels for example) and not on what is seen as fashionable. 

Brambling

I'm another lurker de-cloaking   

A friend added a comment on FB today which made me think of this thread.  It seems today is National Get Up day (more in the  US than over here)  which is about being fearless in the face of falling or as she quoted it “We all fall. It’s how we get up that matters.”   Fittingly it seems it was introduced by the U.S. Figure Skating 

Finance willing I'm hoping to retire early next May on my company pension so I'm hoping for ideas on here to start 'doing it now' 

Debsnewbudget

Brambling said:

I'm another lurker de-cloaking   


Finance willing I'm hoping to retire early next May on my company pension so I'm hoping for ideas on here to start 'doing it now' 

Try living off the pension amount you are going to receive until May.  It will help you realise what you can do when you do retire, as well as boosting your savings. 

Jellybaby

Debsnewbudget said:

Try living off the pension amount you are going to receive until May.  It will help you realise what you can do when you do retire, as well as boosting your savings. 

This is exactly what I'm doing and it's surprising what you achieve, learn you want to keep or don't in many cases! For me it's taking a lot of the fear and 'will I manage' worries away and giving confidence in finding ways to adapt - also reinforcing that I'm absolutely doing the right thing 😁

helensbiggestfan

Brambling......Old Japanese proverb......Fall 7 times, get up 8 times. 😉

or as someone I know says.....you are never done (with anything), the only time you are finished is when you're dead.  As Churchill said "never give up". 

Re living off a pension. It is quite surprising how little we actually NEED. Wants, are, of course, another matter.  I would love a Mercedes sports convertible but my Ford Fiesta is perfectly adequate.........

I can honestly say, it is possible to live simply, elegantly and well on a tiny budget.  It does require creativity and imagination and yes, a bit of work but I treat it as a game. I have learned such a lot from the blessed Martin Lewis (All Hail) 😂🤣 and this site.  It helped me avoid bankruptcy.  I really do feel that I live in abundance and lack for nothing.  I make savings in some areas so I can splurge in others.  I stick with my little Fiesta so that when I travel by train I can afford first class. I can afford the odd nice holiday or trip. If I were to put myself in hock for my dream car I wouldn't be able to do those things. 

Bluegreen.....interesting post.  I agree, there should be no hard and fast rules about how we should look.  We should dress to please ourselves, not our partners, or our mothers or our kids.....purely to make us feel good about ourselves.  Sometimes we have to make concessions and follow dress codes, for work for example but even then we can be creative. For many years I was "Corporate Woman" and business dress was a pre-requisite for doing business but I still managed to hang on to my own personal style and identity.  

As a young woman I adored fashion and design, studying it as part of my degree course.  I was a reasonable dressmaker at one point and loved designing and making my own clothes.  I loved to follow the trends, putting my own personal slant on the fashions of the day.  Now I prefer to think in terms of style rather than fashion.  As Coco Chanel said  "fashion changes but style endures".  I love vintage and good quality classics. If I had to describe my personal style I would say I aim for "classic with a twist".  Good tailoring and nice fabrics. 

I think it's about being  "happy in our skin".  And yes, of course some vanity is involved.  Who doesn't like to look nice and receive compliments.  I may be 71 but I still like to receive the occasional look of admiration from a handsome man.😁. I still like to flirt.  

I recently went to a Bowie tribute concert. There was a man there giving me attention, asking me to dance, flirting with me and being very complimentary.  He was in his early 40s 😱😂😂.  Not my type but pleasant enough.  He may of course, have been looking at me with "beer goggles". Or maybe he should have gone to Specsavers. Ha ha.  Maybe he was a pervert who had a thing about older women. Who cares, I didn't take him seriously. It was fun and a nice ego boost.   

We all like to dress down and wear something easy and comfortable, especially when having an at home day.    For me the test is......would I be embarrassed to answer the door.  Casual and relaxed, hell yes, but I draw the line at stained or torn clothing.  That is strictly reserved for painting or diy.  

The other day I was in a supermarket where there was a little girl shopping with her daddy.  She was dressed in a Disney Princess outfit. She was happily chattering away, dancing and skipping about, loving her dress and basking in her daddy's attention and indulgent smiles from other shoppers. 

Deep down, Isn't there a tiny bit of that little girl in all of us......the part of us that can still appreciate a beautiful dress that makes us feel a little bit special.  Or is that just me........

Humdinger......well done on reversing your diabetes,  that is a fantastic achievement. Give yourself a well deserved pat on the back.