Slow Living - Doing It Old Style!

mrs_slapshot

Hello everyone. I found this thread just after Christmas and have just read all the way through. Loving hearing about how you all spend your time. 

I’ve been thinking for a while that I’d like to slow down - I was a single mum for 9 years (til my son reached 18, although still single now and he’s nearly 23!). Had some pretty challenging jobs over the years and tbh I’m knackered! I work 32 hours over 4 days, and I love my Mondays off. My job is well paid but stressful, and there seems to be more and more added to the workload. Over the last couple of years we’ve had some really untimely deaths in the family which have caused me to take stock. I’m 58 and have a very small previous work pension, a personal pension and my current work pension - and a small mortgage of around £33k. I worked out the other day that if I ‘retire’ at 59 I’d have enough to pay off my mortgage and, if I took an annuity from part of my personal pension, I’d have enough to cover basic needs until 67 (state pension). The thought equally terrifies and excites me! I’d still have to do some work, part time (after a few months off) but I could hopefully find something a lot less stressful than currently. 

If I had my time as my own I would do much of what you all do - exercise, walk, meet friends, cook, organise and clean. I’d also do some online courses that I bought and haven’t got round to….My son bought a dog recently and he’ll be moving out to love with his girlfriend in a few weeks so it’s a chance for me to reset my space and my routines. But I will miss him and the dog enormously. They won’t be far though so I could help out with dog sitting occasionally. 

im really struggling with my sleep at the moment and keep waking up in the middle of the night with intrusive thoughts. Can’t remember who posted a link earlier to the mental health resource site but I’ve bookmarked it to look at - and made a note to talk to the doctor about potentially going back onto HRT. 

I’m hoping over the coming months I can come to a decision about retiring at the end of the year - I think I’m worried about finances, and how I would find a job again if I needed to. I think I’m also worried about losing my work ‘community’ - I have a great boss and teammates who I would miss a lot - but I also feel like now is the time to slow down a bit (will be hard for me though). 

Well that was more rambly than intended! Hope to post updates but really enjoying reading all of yours 😊

Moorviews

mrs_slapshot - my sympathies with the sleep situation. 

Yesterday I had a lovely late afternoon walk in the gathering storm, listening to the wind in the trees and enjoying the milder conditions. Prior to this I had also managed a half hour with my book, on the sofa in front of the fire. First thing yesterday, I decided to get on with some sewing that I wanted to do before I could get distracted into other activities. I really enjoy the focus when I am making something. 

Floss

mrs_slapshot said:

... I’m 58 and have a very small previous work pension, a personal pension and my current work pension - and a small mortgage of around £33k. I worked out the other day that if I ‘retire’ at 59 I’d have enough to pay off my mortgage and, if I took an annuity from part of my personal pension, I’d have enough to cover basic needs until 67 (state pension). The thought equally terrifies and excites me! I’d still have to do some work, part time (after a few months off) but I could hopefully find something a lot less stressful than currently. 

I would recommend having a phone appointment with PensionWise - it's a free service available to all funded by the government. They can give you all sorts of advice & helpful information for planning life after work.

Florafauna

Hi @mrsslapshot. I'm the same age as you and still work full time in a demanding job. I am considering the same thing after the summer. I can't really go part time in my job but I'd also like to kinda slow down and just have more time and heads pace for other things.
Could you go part time where you are now? Maybe also be a good idea to find some social activities before your son goes. And well done for raising your son. I was a single parent for a number of years andd it's the hardest job I've ever done

mrs_slapshot

Floss said:

mrs_slapshot said:

... I’m 58 and have a very small previous work pension, a personal pension and my current work pension - and a small mortgage of around £33k. I worked out the other day that if I ‘retire’ at 59 I’d have enough to pay off my mortgage and, if I took an annuity from part of my personal pension, I’d have enough to cover basic needs until 67 (state pension). The thought equally terrifies and excites me! I’d still have to do some work, part time (after a few months off) but I could hopefully find something a lot less stressful than currently. 

I would recommend having a phone appointment with PensionWise - it's a free service available to all funded by the government. They can give you all sorts of advice & helpful information for planning life after work.

Pensionwise is a great suggestion- thank you!

mrs_slapshot

Florafauna said:

Hi @mrsslapshot. I'm the same age as you and still work full time in a demanding job. I am considering the same thing after the summer. I can't really go part time in my job but I'd also like to kinda slow down and just have more time and heads pace for other things.
Could you go part time where you are now? Maybe also be a good idea to find some social activities before your son goes. And well done for raising your son. I was a single parent for a number of years andd it's the hardest job I've ever done

Glad to know I’m not on my own. 

I think if I went part time I’d have the same amount of work in fewer hours and less pay…

Ive got a good social circle, but I would definitely look at expanding it. 

Thank you - it’s been very challenging at times and continues to be even though he’s an adult. But I love him to bits!! 

Florafauna

Lovely evening tonight at a local musical amateur musical production, home by 9.30 and straight to bed. A slow wild night out😁

Smudgeismydog

Had an unplanned slower day yesterday, as I’ve got a stinking cold. Instead of being out with work colleagues all day, I was at home.

I thought I’d take advantage of the warm, blowy conditions and managed to get 2 loads of washing on the line, and I also walked into town to post a Vint*d parcel, and pick up some birthday cards. Have to be honest, that wiped me out, so I went back to bed for a little snooze before the kids came back from school.

Another early night and I’m feeling a bit brighter today

leftatthetrafficlights

@Wednesday2000 - £6 seems excessive for a meditation practice!! 😳 I  think you're right that it's easy to fall out of practicing mindfulness but it's important to keep coming back to it. 

@Cherryfudge - that sounds like quire a journey!! I'm glad the tutor is nice 😁 I'm glad you enjoyed your walk! 

@mrs_motivated - I'm pleased you're feeling better now and hope you got some sleep 🤞 

@Florafauna - I'm sure the scarf will be enormous soon! You'll have to put a piccie up of it along with the skirt so we can admire your handiwork 😊 

@zcrat41 - I hope that you've not had too much damage from the winds - thankfully it looks like we'll have a break from them for the next few days at least 🤞 

@Moorviews - welcome!! 😁 I totally understand being an introvert and needing space!! After interactions, however much I enjoy them, i need time to decompress. Up until a few years ago I also had adult offspring living at home and ended up telling them that they needed to cater for themselves as I couldn't deal with the lack of information about their plans - it may be worth considering doing the same 😉 

@mrs_slapshot - welcome!! 😁 Retiring can seem scary but if you can afford it, I'd highly recommend it! 😉 I don't miss anything about work (admittedly I'm asocial so it's been easy to walk away from the people) and love being able to please myself 😁 I hope your sleep improves, I find that acknowledging thoughts then letting them go and concentrating on the sensory when I can't sleep helps a lot. 

@floss - good suggestion with pensionwise 😁 

@Smudgeismydog - I hope you're feeling better today 🤞 there's so much going around at the moment 🤦‍♀️ 

I've spent the last couple of days catching up on bits in the house and watching a variety of WFPB programmes on Netflix and YouTube - I feel a bit sluggish at the moment with the weather being so poop over the past couple of weeks and not getting out for a walk, plus I've not eaten as well as I normally do as I'm trying to minimise my spends this month and use stuff up. I've also drunk far too much this month and that's got to stop! 🤦‍♀️ Anyway, as of tomorrow I'm back on the healthy path - I am making my meal plan later and getting some shopping in the morning. I won't get much exercise done this weekend as I have my grandbaby after school tomorrow until Sunday but it's going to be a very active and fun one so I'm looking forward to it!! 😁😍 

CRANKY40

Sorry, I've been missing for a bit but I'm all caught up now.

Slowdown your stained glass is beautiful. 

Today I tidied one of my pantry shelves and put a couple of things that didn't look too great in the bin (crystallised ginger and I have no idea when it was last used) and I have bagged up the plastic tubs that they were in to go to the charity shop. I usually half kill myself doing the whole pantry at once but this year is about moving slowly but with purpose right? 😄

I moved on to the mug cupboard afterwards as I felt I could clear a couple of things. Some unknown sweetener tablets went in the bin. I didn't even know we had them and I'm fairly sure they haven't been used since we have lived here (almost 10 years). 

I've been for my dentist check up (need to go back in 4 weeks for a filling), stopped in town to collect my son on the way back (he's been to uni) and I'm going to do some knitting now until it's time to make dinner. 

Take it easy everyone 😊