More WIRE than FIRE, simplifying, saving and savvy spending

ShyAndRetiring

  Wow, Wednesday already!

Thanks for stopping by @Humboldt ... we truly are very lucky to be surrounded by nature, and we don't ever take it for granted, just enjoy it as a blessing (whatever the weather)! Hope you're enjoying a good week too. 

Mine's been a little mixed as we've had couple of incidents: the dog (on the lead, minding his own business) got set upon by two off-lead dogs, in two separate incidents, two days apart. In one of them, both OH and I ended up on the ground too. At the time we were thankfully more dusty than damaged, but it's caused OH more of a problem than we thought so he's now off his feet again for a few days    Our pup has now lost a lot of confidence and I'm cross that instead of relaxing into our walks, we now feel hyper-vigilant! 

All the other stuff ...

Extra £ / Surveys etc

• Surveys: £9 / £10 

Spending

4 / 5 NSDs so far - helped by a focus on work and wanting to steer clear of the supermarket until everyone's holidays have finished!   Already feel that September is going to be much more spendy though, as I've started to sort out what needs attention as the seasons change ...

Sorting 

• Annual boiler service now sorted and booked it for start of September.
• I've started sorting some plant and garden-related items for a community project OH and I will be involved in (volunteering) from some time in October, I think. Have picked up some pre-loved plant pots from a neighbour to help get this started and am sorting through my unused seeds to see what is still in date and will still be viable for growing in 2026.
• More old footwear dumped ~ 53 / 365.

Saving 

• My replacement shoes bundle arrived and I am very happy with it! The sandals in my favourite brand are unused and there was an extra pair in the same brand I hadn't even realised were included. These retail at £30+ a pair from new and there are 3 pairs. The trainers (my intended purchase) are fine and there was also a pair of M&S canvas shoes which will be good too for walking and working. For what I paid (£17 with postage) I reckon I have saved at least £100 and will not need to buy any footwear for next year at all (unless my wellies need replacing). As I paid with my extra survey money gained last week, it feels like a win-win.   
• Cashed out my survey money from this month so far to pay for the above and added the rest to my Xmas saving pot which currently stands at £234 of free funds for Christmas!

WIRE antics

I read somewhere, I think on a retirement thread, that it's a good idea to consider the things you enjoyed as a child, to help inspire what you might like to pick up with in retirement. So, whilst waiting in chairs at a medical appointment, I started making a list of potential hobbies / interests which will be good to have more time for, once my pace slows next year. In no particular order:

• Taking nature photos
• Gentle birdwatching (for the joy of seeing them, not yomping around on a quest to find rare ones)
• Out for walks
• Growing things
• Needle crafts
• Pen pals
• Puzzles
• Local history
• Spending a whole hour or so in the library (rather than a quick in-and-out)!
• Singing / choir

I still do some of those things anyway - the dog walks and taking photos are a natural fit with daily life, but I like the idea of picking up with things like pen pals too (used to have lots back in the day when I was at school, and then later on when we used to host foreign students in our home, I kept in touch with many by post).

It seems pretty clear from that list that I'm a bit of a home-bird, but it would be nice to travel a little bit and have a few holidays too, once OH's health is on an even keel and if the £££ allow! However, we're agreed that the important thing is for me to stop working so we have more time, even if it means there are limits to £££ and holidays. We'll see how it pans out, but it's given me / us lots to think about.

All Good Things

• Looking at that WIRE list of hobbies, it feels like I have lots to look forward to.
• Saw a Sparrowhawk today, fabulously fast.
• One of my neighbours was very upset to hear that our pup had been bullied by other dogs. She made a point of bringing hers across to see him so he could get a bit of confidence back with a friendly sniff!
• Now that both the daily dog walks are back to me for the time being, my step count is going to be marvellous!  

Busy rest of the week ahead, and even a bit of rain to look forward to, it seems! Hope everyone is doing well, S&R.

Humboldt

Morning @ShyandRetiring so sorry to read about your dog related incidents.  I hope that the irresponsible owners were made aware of the impact of their actions.

Thanks for the tip about considering things that you enjoyed as a child to help inspire new hobbies/interests when retired.  I hadn't really thought about it, but the majority of my hobbies/interests have remained the same since childhood, and it's great to now have more time to pursue them.  I guess some might think that retirement is about not doing much, which is fine if that's what you want, but my days remain busy.  The key point being that they are filled with things of my choice, rather than what I had to do. Have a great weekend x

ShyAndRetiring

Humboldt said:

Morning @ShyandRetiring so sorry to read about your dog related incidents.  I hope that the irresponsible owners were made aware of the impact of their actions.

Thanks for the tip about considering things that you enjoyed as a child to help inspire new hobbies/interests when retired.  I hadn't really thought about it, but the majority of my hobbies/interests have remained the same since childhood, and it's great to now have more time to pursue them.  I guess some might think that retirement is about not doing much, which is fine if that's what you want, but my days remain busy.  The key point being that they are filled with things of my choice, rather than what I had to do. Have a great weekend x

Thanks @Humboldt .. it's the drawback of living in a popular (but hidden away) area - there are so many second homes and pet-friendly Air BnB's and caravan parks which are rammed full in the summer, but sadly not all the pets are friendly themselves! Pooch is still a bit nervous, but things should calm down next week when the schools are back and hopefully he'll have forgotten all about it by next summer! 

I think you're exactly right about keeping busy but with things you'd choose to do, rather than the things we used to have to do in exchange for the daily wage! 

Hope your weekend's been lovely too! S&R x

ShyAndRetiring

  Oh dear, I've not been online to do Friday's update and it's also the end of the month, so a few round ups due today!

From this week: 

Extra £ / Surveys etc

• Surveys: £11.50 / £10 - happy with beating the target again.

Spending

5 / 5 NSDs achieved, not quite sure how!

Sorting 

• More items left the house yesterday, including a bag of clothes for family member and a box of items for charity auction ~ 73 / 365.
  

Saving 

• Nothing popped into savings accounts apart from my survey money into Xmas pot, although we have saved money as we've progressed through the month.

Steps

Good week for steps, largely because of picking up with both dog walks for a few days - total of over £100k steps, with daily average of around 14,500. Am sure I feel better for it and do want to keep up the pace (!) once the autumn and winter are upon us.

WIRE antics

Nothing more directly for WIRE more this week, really!

In general, just trying to have a gently purposeful day today as yesterday was an under the weather day for both of us (mojo temporarily left the building  as the rain settled in).

Did some volunteering this morning and have come up with a few good ideas and grant options for the charity to take a look at, so that's all good!

PM will be all about house-type bits, getting the dog out again and reviewing August / setting goals for September, as it's a busy one and likely to run away with me if I don't!

Hope everyone is having a lovely one, S&R x

ShyAndRetiring

  Quick review 

ShyAndRetiring said:

   AUGUST AIMS & ACTIONS

Getting the month's aims laid out here, so I can be a bit more accountable than I have been lately.

Extra funds

• Aim for £10 pw (at least) from surveys (Sat to Fri).  All successful there, have cashed £71 earned this month and have another £5 still pending!   

Spending

• Aim for 4 / 7 NSDs per week (Sat to Fri).  Achieved   
• Decorating spending challenge of £100 (see also Sorting section) - rugs are not included in this as that £££ has been sourced from MOT underspend!    No progress due to lots of time and health factors. Decorating won't get done in September as we have too many visitors planning to stop by so this will be kicked into October, as I'd still like to get the living room sorted before the end of the year!

Saving

• Find a suitable alternative savings account to replace one which has just matured and downgraded to an instant saver with piddly interest. Move the funds across once opened.  no action as need to keep the funds accessible for car replacement. Literally frozen and caught in the headlights by this!
• Monitor fuel spend closely this month and Sept so that:
•          (a) savings from petrol pot can go towards transport cost for wedding in Oct; Achieved   £40 extra into the pot.
  
•          (b) we'll have a realistic idea of what we're spending currently, which will help with decisions about our next car (have no idea about economical cars etc)! Achieved   

Sorting

• Sort all cupboards and bookshelves in living room / dining area, as prep for decorating. Achieved   
• Sort out paint to find the left over paint that some of the redecorating will be done with, as we want to keep the same colour on those walls, just maybe extend the area using that colour a bit. Achieved  although some compromise is needed about exactly how the area will be extended - we have very different ideas about this! 
• Source some more white for walls and ceilings from trade outlet which welcomes non-trade, as it's very MSE compared to a certain orange-signed shop! Achieved, just haven't bought it yet as we have nowhere to store it if it's going to be hanging around until October before we can use it!   

WIRE stuff

• Send in paperwork / online form for pension claim in Jan, as the provider has stated it needs to be in 6 months before the pension starts (at age 60). Achieved   
• Start looking at costs to replace car and make decision about whether this would be best coming out of lump sum due with pension starting in January. Achieved    likely to source new car before then with cheeky dip into existing savings.
• Run some more spreadsheet / savings drawdown scenarios based on decisions made about lump sum above. Haven't really done this yet, although did chase the other 'lost' pension instead!

Debt

• Clear 50% of rug debt (currently 0% interest). Not achieved, as have had other expenses, have paid £80/£190
• Start looking at costs to replace car and make decision about whether this would be best coming out of lump sum due with pension starting in January.    Achieved, existing savings will likely be used 

All Good Things 

I'm truly blessed that good things happen every day for me. However, after everything that's gone on with OH since March, I have had very little social contact outside of the home, and I'm now struggling with this a bit.

So, in August I aim to see / speak to / contact a friend (or one of my siblings) each week. I'm including my siblings in this because although they all live relatively closely (two towns over) we barely see each other lately, if we're not busy with our own stuff then one or another of us is busy helping the Older Ones, which makes it hard to catch up, so I must make the effort.  

 Achieved ... have made a real effort with this and although I've not physically seen many friends, I've had plenty of text contact and photo sharing, which has been nice!

 
There we go then! Hope everyone else has an awesome August, S&R x

So that's August done ~ hope it's been kind to everyone else! 

ShyAndRetiring

   SEPTEMBER GOALS  

Extra funds

• Aim for £10 pw (at least) from surveys (Sat to Fri).  
• Check T0pCashB@ck and set a target for helping Xmas funds.

Spending

• Aim for 4 / 7 NSDs per week (Sat to Fri) - may be tricky as likely to be a spendy month, but hey, will give it a go!
• Limit 'extra' spending to budgeted amounts, eg: the decorating, the car, boiler servicing etc.

Saving

• Try to hit £300 in Xmas pot (using free money).

Sorting

• Aim to get another 70 items out of here in September, though recycling, repurposing, regifting etc, avoiding landfill if possible.
• Sort at least 2 estimates for replacing gas fire / sorting chimney / hearth (issue arising today).
• Finish sorting wedding prep so that we're ready for it in October.
• Several medical appointments for both of us again this month, here's hoping the medical issues get sorted and stable for a bit! 

WIRE stuff

• Check NEST pension for draw down options (to add to spreadsheet) for 'staircasing' savings drawdown in between 60th birthday (stopping work) and SPA at 67.

So ... let's see shall we! Wishing everyone else all the best with goals and aims for September, S&R x

Humboldt

Morning @ShyandRetiring, fabulous progress on your August targets.  Very inspiring.  Wishing you a fab week x

ShyAndRetiring

  Thanks @Humboldt ... it wasn't a 100% success month, but it's all steps forward, which I'm good with! Appreciate your support.

My midweek round up has the same theme of somewhat mixed success ...

Extra funds

• Surveys: £3 / £10 so far

Spending

• Aim for 3 / 4 NSDs per week so far, but this may be the extent of it.
• Paid for boiler servicing, budgeted for out of house pot.
• Invoice for family transport for wedding has been paid, but had to use the credit card so debt has gone up temporarily. 

Saving

• £50 win on PB so this has been reinvested!  very pleased for this cheeky boost to the funds.

Sorting

• So, the boiler and heating got serviced successfully, but the gas fire (and chimney space behind it) were condemned!    The issue re-dates us, and is to do with combustible materials in the chimney area, which is a leftover from an old back boiler apparently. So now need to get quotes as it'll involve a builder / plastering etc as the whole hearth / mantel etc has to come out. 
• Will also need to look at budgets again in context of doing this and car replacement before the worst of the winter. Meh! 

WIRE stuff

• I've signed back up to Royal Mail post surveys. This pays in points (for a £25 Amazon voucher) and free stamps. This way, my return to penpal-ing should be a relatively free hobby to pick up with over the winter and once I stop work. I already have lots of stationery - a bit like my yarn stash really!

All Good Things

• Making friends with a new neighbour when walking the dog this afternoon. The dogs got on well, too!
• Enjoying reacquainting with my autumn wardrobe ~ especially as it's hoodie weather.
• The Gladioli I planted earlier in the year are now ready to cut, so I have a nice vase in the hearth ~ much better than looking at the defunct gas fire! 

Hope everyone is warm and safe, terribly windy here but very invigorating after a day at the computer! S&R x

Humboldt

Hi @ShyandRetiring sorry to read about the gas fire issue.  If you have not done so already, it might be worth checking out the 'In my home (includes DIY) MoneySaving thread'.  The same thread also has a 'Is this quote fair?' section which may also be of use at some point.  

Humboldt

Hi @ShyAndRetiring, just sending you my best wishes and hope all is well x