Slow Living - Doing It Old Style!

Florafauna

It's been a good day today. Busy day at work with the bonus of a yummy free raisin bagel. Good valuation from the estate agent, another one visiting on Wednesday then we'll decided who to go with. More knitting of the never ending fancy scarf now, fire burning and cuppa at my side.
Seeing my lovely sewing friends tomorrow for tea out before our sewing class. 
All sums done and retiring in September - not real yet.....
Have a good evening folks

Floss

Not such a slow day for me - I'm working onsite today & tomorrow so up & out by 7.25am & home at 5.40pm. Fishcakes from the freezer for tea, and I'm now tucked up on the sofa under my new heated throw (a welcome gift from my local cancer charity, who had them donated to them) ready for quiz night on BBC2.

ETA Whisky the tortie seems quite keen....

Smudgeismydog

Gorgeous cat Floss ❤️

Instead of an hour and a half commute to the office this morning, after dropping my daughter off at the train station, the dog and I went for an hour long walk. I enjoyed looking for signs of Spring and even though it was quite blowy, I felt so much better for it.

Brie

Gardeners have come and gone.  I'm one of those who loves the idea of gardening and do a bit of pottering but can't abide the hard work it really needs to maintain a place.  So £40 every 5 weeks or so is my treat to myself.  And as I say they've been today, just ahead of whatever big storm is coming.  They tidied up the bit under the arbor leading to the hot tub so that one might actually be able to go that way and hang up a towel.  The younger one cleared up all the residual mess left by the kitchen debris clearance that didn't go the way their website suggests.  Grass has been cut and various other bits looking better.  Tomorrow I've got a day off work so will sit in the lounge, watch the storm toss the trees etc about knowing that all the daffs that got planted last time they were here will be bopping about happily for me to see.  

Elisheba

mrs_slapshot said:

I also meant to mention that a video popped up on YouTube the other day which is from a channel I think a lot of you would find interesting. This is the video (about retirement, of course!). Hope you enjoy it. 

https://youtu.be/e8a-qnZ1C8w?si=LKyHZqO_3FMd-88V

Lovely video 😁. Thanks for sharing. Really makes me think.

Florafauna

Hey Slowsters 
Great evening with an early pub meal then my sewing class. Have cut out my latest project, a summer dress and will start sewing it at the weekend. Second estate agent visit tomorrow, we can then decide who to go with. Couldn't sleep last night mix of nerves and excitement about all the changes ahead in the next six months.
I'm just trying to breathe, keep calm and carry on. 
Sleep well everyone 

leftatthetrafficlights

It's been busy on here!! 😳😁 I've had lots going on as dh is on leave so have only been able to skim read occasionally so will have a proper read next week - welcome to all the newbies, hugs to all that need them and have a fabulous slow rest of the week! 😁 

Prudent

I have loved reading through all your posts.

I took early retirement eight years ago now. I had to pause as I type that as the years have flown by. I made the decision because I was trying to juggle a highly stressful full time job, being an unpaid carer for my adult daughter and my own long term health conditions. I knew I had to do it as my health was steadily getting worse, but at the time it felt like jumping off a cliff financially. 

Thankfully I had paid off my mortgage, had decent savings thanks to being part of MSE since its early days and unexpectedly I got an small ill health pension. My union had told me they thought I would be unsuccessful as conditions around ill health retirement had tightened up so much. My partner had also moved in with me a few years prior to my decision so had started contributing to the bills which also helped.

I have absolutely no regrets other than wishing I had done it a few years earlier. Finances have been totally fine. I always lived on much less than my salary and I have always been frugal and quite content with an inexpensive lifestyle. I am grateful to this forum for making me resourceful. I have a much better quality of life and I am glad I traded less money for more simple pleasures. 

Floss

It's been my non-working day today - I am currently working 75 hours a fortnight over 9 long days, but from 1st April I will be dropping 1/2 a day a week so 9 x 7.5 hour days with alternate Fridays off. This is part of my plan to stay well enough to work & maintain my pension contributions, while enjoying life alongside work.

Anyway, it's like having an extra Saturday every other weekend 😊 Today was taken up by collecting new specs, shopping for new knickers & socks for my big-birthday cruise next month, and picking up some Chinese bits to celebrate Lunar New Year.

I'm also on leave Monday & Tuesday to use the last of my accrued leave, with the joy of the cat's MOT, a colposcopy and my IFA annual review 😳

leftatthetrafficlights

I've got 9 pages to catch up and comment on so I hope you'll forgive me for doing it in stages!! 

@moorviews – thank you for commenting on my meals! I have been vegan for a very long time but have, in the last couple of years, become a bit lazy (and curious) and included many more UPF foods into my diet due to their availability. I am determined to cut that out now though and keep them to the bare minimum (I still use certain stocks and condiments which are not part of the WFPB ideal) as I have really felt (and seen!!) the detrimental affects of UPF’s on my body. I’m sorry that you are so affected by your diet, do you have allergies/sensitivities? 

I think that having the hands off approach with your adult offspring will benefit you and them – I know that when I did it with mine it made a difference to their understanding of budgets, planning and cooking so it was great for all of us! 

I had a lovely time with my grandbaby, thank you ... Your comments on time with a growing small person not being relaxing or slow but an immersive and grounding experience really resonated with me – I have one of my grandbabies for a sleepover once a week and for a full weekend once a month. It’s a real privilege to watch him develop and grow plus the comedy value is outstanding!! 

Crochet is beyond me – I did it as a child but that was many decades ago but I know that lots of people find it very relaxing. Reading is my biggest relaxation tool – I love it and can just lose myself in it completely ... Good luck with the camper van search – I’m a hotel person myself, I like a fully functional bathroom and room service on tap!! Using more natural cleaning products is always a good thing – as well as generally being better for your skin, it’s much kinder to the environment and your pocket! 

My DH still works (I couldn’t afford to retire if he didn’t) but he loves his job and the social aspects of work – I had grown to hate mine and I’m asocial so retirement is suiting me fine. He’s been on leave for the past week and a bit and I must admit that although I’ve loved having him at home, I looking forward to the solitude when he goes back next week! 

@floss – I’m so sorry to hear of your cancer surgery and treatment but can totally understand how it changed your views on work and retirement. I think that we are all guilty of taking things for granted and it’s such a shock when we have to face something so devastating. Well done for paying off your mortgage and getting your savings in place so that you can retire early. A challenging boss and frustration with the environment is difficult to deal with – I think that if you can afford to, a less hours less demanding job would definitely improve things so it’s worth a look!  

@zcrat41 – I’m glad you’re finding the comments on retiring interesting; I wish that I’d thought more about it when I still had 20 years to go – I’d have probably saved more!! I must admit that if I ever did think about rejoining the workforce (I’m only mid 50’s so it’s still possible, just incredibly unlikely!!) it would definitely be in a less stressful and busy role than I previously had. The carrot and coriander soup sounded lovely as did the fire, games and pizza day – my kids watched gladiators the first time round but I hated it so thankfully I can escape that now that they are adults!! 

@Cranky40 – sorry to hear that you were widowed when your son was still young, it must have been incredibly difficult. It’s lovely that you can support him with his travelling to uni. Well done for doing all the calculations with your pensions – I am grateful that I never have to do my own calculation for anything as I hate maths with a passion and I have a very capable family member who takes that burden from me! 

Thank you for sharing your experience of working in a very different environment to your previous job, I’m sure that it will help others to know that it can be done very successfully and enjoyably. 

@florafauna – I’m so glad your dental bone graft went well! Dental work is always such a trauma and exhausting in my opinion! Coming to a decision on retiring is always difficult but I think that if you know that you’re no longer getting the joy from your work that you used to get it’s a good decision to make. Moving closer to family sounds exciting  but I must admit the idea of moving house at all horrifies me! I’m very lucky that I adore my house and it’s location plus my family is very small and the majority live close to me – I may need to make alterations to my house if our mobility needs change dramatically but we’ve already considered that and have a plan if it is needed. 

@wednesday2000 – sorry to hear that your husband is unwell, I hope he recovers soon. I think that we tend to make adjustments quickly to our budgets once we are in a position where we have to; having concerns is perfectly natural but I think that our financial needs change when our lifestyles do (I’m thinking the two cars, commuting costs, clothing costs etc) which is why so many of us live well on comparatively little. 

I’m glad you’re feeling better now after your filling, having a bed and book day is never a bad thing! Your beach walks sound lovely!

@christianne1957 – congratulations on your recent retirement!  It sounds like you definitely made the right decision and I’m glad that you are feeling much better for it. 

@cherryfudge – I’m not surprised that having two jobs is stressful! When I was younger and trying to become mortgage free I worked two jobs for a while. I think the getting used to it and the different needs of both was mentally challenging but once I’d got my head round it all, I quite enjoyed it.  I’m so sorry to hear that it was such a shock to leave your job and that your husband had such a difficult time in his previous employment but pleased that he seems to have found a job that works for him now and you are seeing the benefits of having more time.  It’s a shame that you are worried about your income – particularly as you are both working; it’s good that you have a buffer in your current account to see you through for a while and that you are thinking about skills for  alternative work should you need them. It may be hard but an improvement in health, whether that is physical, mental or both is worth it’s weight in gold. 

@mrs_slapshot – don’t worry about hijacking the thread with retirement talk it’s obviously a really important topic for a lot of people and hearing about other’s experiences and thoughts will be really helpful for a lot of contributers!  

I’m glad you’re enjoying the ‘Die with Zero’ audio book – I’m like you though, I much prefer hard copy books! I did try an audio book once but spent so long deciding that I didn’t really like the narrator’s voice that I lost the plot of the book! The joint dog walks sound lovely – the absolute joy on a dog’s face when it’s out and about is one of the things I miss about not having dogs anymore, it was so uplifting.....

I hope your decluttering and bookcase construction went well – nothing wrong with being excited about getting organised in my opinion!! I hope your early bird quest is working too – I’m absolutely an early morning person, I really can’t do late nights!!

@floss – thank you for the signposting to Pension wise – I know that many people will find it helpful. A 9 day fortnight sounds like a decent compromise if you can’t do a 4 day week 

@katiehound – thank you for finding options for the hard copy of the book and the saharan dust cloud! The last time we had a dust cloud come our way my car looked like I’d driven it as a dune buggy!! I didn’t notice it this time but haven’t been out in my car much and it’s rained so often it probably cleaned itself off!! 

@Brie – thank you for the reminder of the pension forum on this site. I know that it has a lot of knowledgeable people on there and some good advice/ideas are given. 

@zaxdog – I hope the malfunctioning vacuum is sorted now and well done on collecting kindling while walking the dog!! I know that I could never do that when I had dogs, they always thought that they were just new toys for them!! 

@dND – I love the fact that you are taking advantage of the time you have now to think and explore options! I’ve noticed that it is saving me lots of money doing the same – my car insurance, house insurance and breakdown cover were all due recently. Normally, I did a cursory peruse of different options but this time I really took the time to look around and saved myself hundreds – literally!!

The botanic gardens trip sound fabulous 😍

@Floriannatwobob – what a nice idea doing something for yourself on your non-working day! Being mortgage free will be wonderful – it’s the best thing I ever did! Once I’d finished it, I totally refurbished our house and garden then built up a savings pot which enabled me to leave my job 18 months ago without any concerns

I'll be back soon - I need a chamomile tea!! 😂