From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Greying_Pilgrim

Ha ha Cherryfudge - my detail is driven by the desire to do it once, and then not have to do it for a while 🤣 DH is cleaning? - ✅ And I get that sometimes that is great. I mean if you're doing say like the washing up every day, then you don't want to be getting out the fine china, the punchbowl set and the pickle forks every time, but DH expects to be able to just do what is in front of him - which is welcomed (by me), but then if still after 1/2/3 hrs of work you're watching cobwebs wafting behind the telly……..🤣

So, I tested out the travel mugs. Yesssss! 9hrs later, the water was still hot. I got DH to put his finger in too, and he agreed that it was a great heat retention. Had it been a hot drink, you still would have had to approach it carefully when drinking. When I put the water in as a test last night, one thing I was immediately impressed with was that there was no real warmth around the top of the mug when it was closed up. Our existing mugs go warm/hot immediately - which is obviously why they don't retain heat for any slight length of time. I think I may keep one of those. Not to take on trips, but maybe they might keep a drink that is taken outside warmer for a smidge of time? A ceramic mug tends to cool off very quickly if DH is outside tatting.

Happy St. Patrick's day!

DH is impressed with me being able to sort out my pension stuff - although it's not yet fully sorted, but I'm getting towards it being in a state, that if I was to die……. which actually, I have to say, is as important to me as looking to 'bridges into retirement'. Hopefully we can begin to sort out his paperwork too - rationalise and then look to have it accessible moving forward.

Although we're not in a position to go that way yet, the whole 'Swedish death cleaning' concept appeals much more than the hoarding tendecies of parts of my family. One of the US-based frugal utoobers was talking about decluttering (as a good thing), but that chazzers are overwhelmed and everyone's stuff - cheap & expensive - is piling high. Again, I can see the need to really move towards considered purchasing, and 'boots theory'. Not always possible to implement - I get that, but the times where we have saved to buy the better option, has usually paid back in spades. These travel cups are a good example - I should have bought them first, and from the Farmers Mercantile when I saw them there, as they were even cheaper than I've paid on offer…… 🙄

In theory it is 'soup & pudding' for tea today, but I am aware that I need to start using up the savoy cabbage that was in the green box. It has limped back towards life, from where it was, but it won't last forever, so some sort of 'bowl' would be a better option than soup. I will give it some thunks.

Right, I better hop to and get some snap packed. Ta for popping by.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Phew, right, I've been in a flurry of admin, and I've been finishing off (hopefully) the information to have my online pension schemes up and operational, and - fingers crossed - functioning how I/Fam. Greying need them to in the future.

I wandered into Greying Town, as I had to do a bit of banking. I passed the share table, and there were a few root vegetables left, so I popped coins in the box and took a couple of tatties and a couple of sweet potatoes. I wasn't interested in the white bread. Thankfully, it appears that the bossy volunteer who had a habit of tapping the 'voluntary'/suggested' contribution sign appears to have been re-deployed.

I've been considering re-joining the NT. We've got a great deal of value/pleasure/fun out of using the newspaper vouchers, and whilst I don't like that we were treated like 2nd class citizens by some of the gatekeeper volunteers, I've enjoyed being with LG/DH, and exploring new bits of sites we've visited before and new sites to us. I'd like more of that in our lives, and think that it's the way I want our leisure time to be. We don't seem to be the types to yomp up a mountain in our spare time 😭 so NT/EH visiting is perhaps a second best option? We certainly have got in some steps/miles in our recent flurry of visits. I was considering whether to get life membership. I think we're probably past the tipping point for that now, and I have to take into consideration that when LG has fledged the nest, DH may not want to go out and about - and who knows where we will be with driving rules/types of vehicles, and affordability in our retirement years. So I've thought about it, done the sums, and it's probably better to plump for family membership for a few years, instead. I love our EH membership, and that will continue for the time being. EH has the advantage of having more "free" open access sites, but there are still plenty of interesting places that we've yet to visit.

DH is in agreement with the 'investment' in membership.

I did buy a couple of groceries in Greying Town - including some YS'd seeded bread in hB. I'll dig out my receipt and update my siggie figgies. I also got some more shampoo.

Coming back I heard a distinctive bird call, so I whipped out the app - I was listening to a nuthatch, amongst other birds. The app also picked up greenfinches, but I couldn't discern their call, nor see them. I moved along and stopped again, when the app picked up another nuthatch, which I got to see this time, preening itself high up in a tree.

Right, I best crack on, seems to have been a productive, but bitty morning and currently the afternoon is running away with me.

Greying X

Jellytotts

I had a greenfinch on the feeders yesterday. I think it’s probably the first one I’ve ever seen.

We alternate between EH and NT each year which keeps us with a supply of things to do when we go off on a jaunt. Will probably give it a miss for a year or so now though as we’ve just put our house on the market so jaunts will be few and far between whilst we hopefully get sold and sort a new property.

Although maybe moving into a castle with fortifications might be a better idea given global events.

Oh and I’ve always found cabbage freezes just fine if you slice it, never bothered blanching it.

Greying_Pilgrim

Thanks Jellytotts - I probably might have tried freezing it, had it been bigger and in slightly more lively condition when I got it. As it turned out, it had quite a loose 'core', so I thought I would use half of it for tea, but ended up using it all.

So tea ended up being brown rice, broad beans (steamed), steamed savoy cabbage (from the green box), italian-esque Ragu - which used the bag of Linda Mc vegan mince, and made a load a couple of weeks ago (I pulled a punnet from the freezer, assuming it had lentils in it - wrong, doh!) and the last cherry plum tomatoes from the green box. It was OK, a tiny bit "worthy", but 3 clean plates later, we're fed and the bank ain't been busted, so…….. I think there are only a couple of (large) easy peelers left from the green box now 🤔 oh and 2 bananas. With the exception of half an apple, and parts of some banana, and those…. 5? strawberries, I've used everything - which given it's a 'waste' box, I think is pretty spiffy. I go into purchasing the green boxes with my eyes open - only purchasing if I can use the contents, and I'm OK with blemishes and squidges, but won't buy the shop's contribution to the compost pile.

Pud will be yoghurt and 'some' banana……. 🫤

I've been thinking some more about badmemory's point about saving something to retirement. There's no doubt about it, my pensions (for which I'm very, very grateful to have been enrolled), ain't gonna cover much of the annual bills - especially if we're talking at a future date. I know - I'm talking daft aren't I? Talking about finding money to squirrel away for the future, having just talked about spending a wodge of cash on NT membership……. But we have got to try to live 'in the now' too - moreso (perhaps) because we have LG, but then I also know too many folk who've not made it to their pension age, or passed away not long after retiring. I know we all hope for a long and healthy life, but nothing is guaranteed. Anyhoo, I don't want anyone to think that I don't listen when you kindly mention things, and I'd always rather have a go at trying to see if I could come up with a solution, rather than simply ignoring a viewpoint.

Ta for popping in. Greying X

Blackcats

I'm really pleased that progress is being made on your pensions and especially that the right boxes have now been ticked for beneficiaries etc. once I started looking at pensions, savings etc it was both reassuring and motivating and I managed to knock 2 years off the retirement age for my work pension. I'm still waiting (grudgingly and impatiently) for state pension but I bridged 2 years for work pension and can now bridge to age 68.

My two penneth worth is that NT membership absolutely fits with a tow bar and new flasks. I think family Greying will get their money's worth +++

VintageHistorian

One thing to add to the consideration of NT lifetime family memberships - When I used to work for them (a number of years ago it must be said), we had no mechnism for checking which children were on the lifetime membership and I know for a fact that some Mums used to bring child plus cousins and friends in on their family membership. We also once signed up one woman who insisted on naming all 9 grandchildren on hers 😅

That was before the barcode card they have now so I'm not certain if that still stands but it might be worth phoning and querying something like "will we be turned away if we have a second child after purchasing and don't get it updated?" 😉 Then if LG wants to take a chum with them it's an "of course" instead of "oh dear that'll be another £x for the ticket".

Greying_Pilgrim

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81927486#Comment_81927486

Thanks VH - I have signed up (for annual membership), but that child bit is slightly misleading, as it says quite clearly " 2 Adults and all children/grandchildren aged under 17". Well, your children may, or may not live with you, and your grandchildren may or may not live with you. And I agree with your point, you may start out with 1 child, and end up with 10 grandchildren. How do foster carers go on? That is one way EH beats NT hands down - each adult can take 6 kids in, period. And by having to name the child, you're paying as much for 1 child, as someone else pays to bring 6 grandchildren in at a time ☹️

Greying X

VintageHistorian

Hence the fact that we didn't particularly check, you just pointed at the children you were bringing with you and we put it through the till, no one was willing to argue about how they were related (plus people who visit as kids are more likely to revisit as adults and adults pay more than kids so it's a long term investment).

rtandon27

Back when my OHs children were young we bought a family membership to NT. His kids never came with us even once but we took two of my 'adopted' girls from across the pond, several young cousins on both sides a nephew and a godson - they never once questioned how the children were related to us, even the ones who looked nothing like either of us! They ranged in age from 5 to 18 and the eldest who was most happy to pay for herself was the one who looked most like OH! One of the old dears at the NT place commented that it was nice to see a girl of her age out for the day with her Dad and step-mom!

Greying_Pilgrim

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81927557#Comment_81927557

And to be absolutely fair to the NT, it clearly says on the newspaper vouchers '2 adults', it doesn't specify how/that you have to be related. Me and a gal pal used a voucher last summer to take our kiddos to a castle, and it was all fine - whereas a female chum purposely wouldn't come with us this past HT when we were using a voucher (it was just me & LG, she could have joined us) because she was adamant that she wasn't covered by the voucher. Mind, with some of our encounters with the vouchers, I wouldn't put it past some volunteers, at some venues to query your inside leg measurement, sleeping arrangements and relationship history………. and they still wouldn't give you a site map 🤣

I totally agree with the POV about children visiting NT properties are more likely to return as adults - you see the generational groupings as you go around. I do wish they would just make it that you could bring up to X children, like EH do.

Anyway, with a bit of luck and the wind in the right direction, we're set up to be eligible to visit places for the next 12 months, so 🫰we get some good visits in, and have fun together. Plus on holiday there is at least one EH venue that we've never visited, so I will try to see if we can get there too. Although we're drifting towards having too many things, and not enough time to do them 😁👍

Greying X