Next steps; grip-relaxing bimbling, and avoiding the temptations

beanielou

Glad all went well.

Suffolk_lass

Yes, I agree @peb with plenty of choice. I think that a lot of people eat their cheese too cold. In contrast, last afternoon/early evening (26c) it was a dilemma whether to have it out and running away (soft cheeses) or too cold to taste. We settled for leaving it out, under cover, with the air-conditioning set a degree lower and the glasses of peeled celery in water, in the fridge. That worked well.

Suffolk_lass

Back to the rhythm of life this morning, with me awake before 04.00 thanks to the early morning light and high temperature here. I need to get washing done as Mr Sl has arranged for us to go up-county to meet friends on Wednesday and stay two nights at a pub in the campervan (just what we need in a heatwave!). I shall have a think about what food to take - I am sure we will eat in the pub one of the nights, but having something light in the open is one of the pleasures of this form of posh camping. I must check he has sorted out someone to feed the cat. I have already cancelled the milk delivery.

So at least a day sorting the van out (which includes renewing the insurance), and a vet visit (poor dog has been paying too much attention to his rear and I think he may have got dehydrated and has blocked glands) before Wednesday

This, along with visiting my bees and retreating them for the mites that feed on the larvae. 3rd treatment for 3, 2nd treatment for 6 and first treatment for the grumpy ones I downsized. Not looking forward to it, I need to get my book from the truck and update the loaned equipment to the teaching apiary as I was there yesterday.

A quick check of the bank accounts this morning and the last credit card of the month along with the broadband are leaving the account today, and I have already Tilly-tidied the roundings into the savings account. With the (bigger than ever before) PB win at the beginning of the month our "savings" total may yet exceed £2000 this month. Not bad for two pensioners being frugal!

Last night with no food prepared I did a favourite for us - egg and potato salad, while Mr Sl was out in the cooler temperature with the dog. I need to think about this evening but just not feeling very foodie at the moment in this weather. The grocery budget is nestling just under £200 at the moment, - I allowed £225 this month. Cherries and strawberries are our undoing. We love them. I think it will be touch and go whether we make it but a £3.10 refund from the dairy will help. My pension won't arrive until 3rd July so eking it out for two more weeks is unlikely. We shall see! Have a good week!

Watty1

That is a very impressive savings total for the month. Loved reading about the safari supper. What a lovely idea

KajiKita

Impressive savings! Wish I could manage that much 😊

Good luck with the bee treatments and I hope they are calmer, you don’t get stung today.

KK

Suffolk_lass

Thank you @KajiKita - no stings got through my suit or hand protection and all hives were treated at two apiaries. I have three more at a third apiary to visit but that is for first thing tomorrow, before we go and meet our friends. The delay is so that the spacing between the treatments is 6 days.

I received another £13 to add to my sales/savings total yesterday, selling two more jars of honey to a regular customer in the next village. £19.37 needed to hit the £2000 savings ambition for June. It is boosted by the sale of 54 jars of honey at the County Show - so almost £1300 is not "normal" scrapings. Ooh! a £4 lottery win to add - nice, but not what I was hoping for! - I have a short list of local houses I would view if a £1m came our way. Just saying (ticket cost is the fee to dream!)

KajiKita

Glad to hear about the no stings and the treatments are on track (almost) again. I’m assuming the grumpy colony is one treatment behind?

I’ve been lurking in the savings thread and realised that it’s an interesting approach. I moved £50 from the joint house current account to the linked savings account yesterday (house EF fund) and earned £29.38 in interest on one of my savings accounts yesterday and had my standard monthly savings go out of £390 from current to easy access savings. These are both ‘savings’ 😊 I am unlikely to be able to save enough though to join the thread! 😉 At least in the short term. 😊

KK

Watty1

For me just lurking on the savings thread is enough to inspire me. It was a savings thread that encouraged me to move my first £10 into an ISA. From tiny acorns and all that … naturally I didn't tell them my success 😂

Suffolk_lass

@KajiKita & @Watty1 - don't say that! some very modest targets in the challenge and the game changer for me was Tilly-tidying. Initially, every day a transaction left the account, I tidied to the next pound (or £5 if I was feeling flush) and then the habit and the little thrill of seeing the savings growing started to nibble away and I went to £10 rounding down. Every time the total in the savings behind the current account acquired a £1k, I paid it down against debt, which quite quickly got to be just the mortgage. I rounded the mortgage up to the next £500 once the debts had left just that and so a modest monthly OP was happening.

Then a Regular Saver each while we were working meant £6000 plus interest also overpaid off the mortgage each year when they matured.

Now my savings totals include dividends on shares that are sitting as a small cash reserve in my S&S ISA (and his) and sales of honey, plus any wins.

It wasn't a case of missing out, but I had the mindset that I wanted to minimise the interest we paid out, so I also tracked the interest we were saving by paying down earlier. I loved seeing the interest going out dwindling. I the (I think) eight years we prioritised it, I did also buy 3 cars (one from new), paying from emergency fund, 0% credit card and a £10k loan for the consumer protection, (paid off early), and I took out a 0% loan to replace all our windows, with the final payment the month before I retired, so the drop in monthly money was less noticeable. We also had foreign holidays every year, along with Scotland trips and camping long weekends.

We only don't do all those things as dog cannot be left (and sleeps with us, so leaving him with others, other than DS) is a no and bees mean travel is more limited and after the swarm season if possible. And my car still works so we still have it.

Not showing off, just explaining the path to debt free, hobby focused retirement (the best thing ever about working, is when you stop imho) x

Watty1

I love your path. My own was just to focus on the need to rebuild any pot. My initial goal was to have enough to cover immediate household bills for a month. Then I realised I needed more so I just worked more. Friends thought I was mad to spend weekends working but the extra work gave me extra income and that went into savings. I read the savings thread for inspiration and motivation but once I knew I could cover a months bills I wanted 2 months 😀 and gradually it grows