Hope is not an Effective Financial Strategy

Correct, too much rain and too little snoozes!

Stumbled on a great little farm today. Lots of farm animals with pony rides, feeding chickens and so on that the little 2 loved and then a farm machinery museum for the nerds of me and the DS1.! There was also a great play barn that was made of straw, with jumps, platforms and rope swings. Kids had a great time in there until DS1 took it too far and ended up with an ankle injury. Obviously it was my fault for not seeing that he was about to jump the kids equivalent of the grand canyon through those extras eyes in the back of my head! with the x-ray vision to see through walls (I accept I may be being a tad dramatic)!

So back at van and I've took the little un's swimming for an hour whilst DS1 iced his ankle. And am now sat outside as its not raining and the fact that its chilly will not stop me enjoying at least 1 hour on the decking with a cold beer or 3!

Chocolate making factory in the morning, and I'm certain the ankle will have miraculously healed enough for him to make his own body weight in chocolate!

Natwest switching cash is in, but I can't transfer it out without the card reader as I've not used the account at all yet. That's a nice little overpayment job to look forward to on Sunday evening. I have used the wet time to do lots of diary reading and pension research, which I'm really enjoying (sad I know) and I'm feeling increasingly in control of the retirement planning rather than it being in control of us!

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement Humdinger. You deserve some credit for persevering, welcome aboard! Since our financial 'rebirth' and our more responsible use of money, I really can say that financial related stress levels have steadily evaporated with every month.

I don't tend to talk about our money journey with people, but occasionally when things slip out (usually hearing people complaining in the pub when we've had a few pints) peoples reactions to our position tend to be envious now. I even overheard Mrs SJ glorifying our position with her friends and siblings (even mentioning pension plans), and pimping me out to sort all their finances out (me in the background with wide eyes and pursed lips silently screaming 'stop talking'! So perhaps I should give her a smidgen more credit .

I've also been musing recently on my dog walks as to whether age has become a factor in us being more finance aware, and I include friends in that as well. Personal finance does seem to come up in conversation more and more, its just that not everyone seems ready/willing/brave enough to do something about it. With every year I also get more resentful of 'stuff'! The clutter in our house really gets to me at the minute. Now I appreciate most of it comes with kids but we really need to be better and removing redundant stuff out of the house. DS2 and DD's rooms have recently been blitzed and whilst I've sat staring at the rain for most of the week away I've scheduled in DS1's room (I suspect he has his Grandads hoarding tendencies) and our excessive towel & bedding cupboard for Sunday afternoons job list. Then I'm tackling my wardrobe next weekend!!

Wow that was a long post...I blame the heavy rain outside...!

I see what you did there...;)

So the wet weather finally seen us off! I suppose 9 days in a caravan for 5 of you (when all but 2 nights and mornings you can't kick the kids out because of the rain - well not everytime), starts to take its toll. DS1 wanted to come home, so Mrs SJ took the kids swimming and I stayed back to pack, load the car(s) and clean the van. Made it home an hour before kids bed, and I must be honest once I was showered and in bed I was glad we came home! Washing machine on the go already, so hoping for a dry and windy day.

Typically I've been awake since 4.30am! Hayfever started which then kicked off my asthma (not bad, but enough to be a nuisance), so I decided to get up at 5.30am and have a cuppa. DD has a birthday party to go to with nanny and grandad this afternoon, and I am planning a big dog walk and a snoozey afternoon with the cricket.

In money news the good part of coming home is that I could get my hands on the Natwest switch bonus. So £125 plus an extra £18.69 that was sitting in the account has been transferred and promptly OP'd :money:.

5 days to payday and the big spreadsheet dabbles can start again :j