Catching up with old friends, and keeping the finances on track

Well, we've had a busy and productive weekend.  Good weather Saturday had everyone out in the gardens.  Along the back fence and one of the side fences to our little garden are areas of neighbouring gardens that have been 'left' untended.  Both those gardens are very big (in excess of 100' in length), and the bottom 20-30' are  now more wild than cultivated.  The problem for us is that there are now very tall overgrown 'hedges' and trees, supporting rampant growth of ivy, bindweed and bramble which is tumbling over into our patch.  N had a chat with one of our neighbours on Saturday, and he was quite happy for us to give that hedge a good trim, which we have done.  At this time of year, of course, everything is in full growth, especially the plants we don't want so much of!

We had a great time Saturday visiting our friends who have returned from the US.  Even though we haven't seen them for nearly 5 years, it was just like picking up where we left off.  Lots of chatting, reminiscing, drinking and an excellent barbeque.  Perhaps a bit too much drinking on my part ;)  Slightly fragile Sunday morning!  But gosh, it is good to see them all again.

It was beautiful yesterday, and we spent the afternoon in the garden, reading and dozing.  It was very pleasant.

Today I have tried to start the new month (and the second half of the year) as I mean to go on.  To-do lists are really keeping me focused on what needs to get done, and a few things that I want to have a go at.  I find it's better to have a manageable list rather than setting myself too much and then being disappointed if I don't cross much off.  N and I  sat down with a coffee after breakfast to do the meals for this week - that's something which does seem to be helping, and it eases the pressure on N if there's a few ideas planned ahead.  Sometimes we do something different but generally we stick more or less to the plan for the week.  It also means that a couple of times I do the cooking/meal preparation to give N a break and me a chance to get my hand back in the kitchen.

The last few loaves I've baked have all had air pockets on the crust, but the one today looks like a little volcano!

To day I made bread, and tried a recipe for a banana and walnut cake which has baked up very well - really light instead of the very stodgy one I cooked a couple of weeks' ago.  I'll have to try this new recipe again to make sure this time wasn't a fluke, and then I shall add it to my recipe cards.

We went along to the grandchildren's sports day this afternoon, and joined other mums, dads and grandparents cheering the youngsters in a variety of running, relay and 'other' races - glad to see the 'egg-and-spoon' race is still going strong!

I've been trying to spend a little time each day getting paperwork up straight, notes written up and scraps of information put somewhere sensible so that I know exactly where to go if I need to find something specific.  I'm getting there gradually.  Being organised makes such sense, and I get annoyed with myself if I allow things to slip.  We are seeing the benefits of proper organisation - meal plans I have already mentioned; to-do lists hopefully ensure things don't get missed or forgotten; paperwork filed correctly can be located immediately it's needed.  

Having cash for the month in the housekeeping purse has been another really valuable tool for us.  Recording our expenditure has become second-nature for us, and it has been very useful exercise to see where the money goes on a monthly basis.  We have been under our allotted budget every month so far simply by being sensible with our spending.

We often wonder why it is that some people max themselves out with money, spending almost every penny that they earn.  What does it take to change that particular mindset?  I have never liked being in debt.  I baulked against credit cards that were offered to me, never used an overdraft and when I have needed to take out a loan I made sure it was repaid as a priority - as a single-parent at the time I was very conscious that it was all down to me if things went wrong so I did everything I could to ensure that didn't happen.  I was extremely fortunate that I bought and sold property at just the right time (bought when the prices were low and then sold several years later at the height of the market, and then bought a cheaper house than the one I'd just sold) so I was able to be mortgage-free, and that was a wonderful feeling.   A few years later and N and I nearly took on another mortgage to buy a bigger house, but realised just in time that that would have shackled us with debt and the obligation to repay it for many years to come.  It made more sense to us to stay where we were, in a small property that was bought and paid for, and that is a decision we have not regretted.  It has allowed us both to leave work earlier than many people are able to do.  We have both always lived within our means, have been careful with our spending and saving and continue to do so.  It is because we have been prudent with our money that we are in the position we are in.  We do not have a luxury lifestyle by any means, we shop wisely and appreciate the value of money.  We have worked hard for our pennies and now expect them to work hard for us!

Oh, and I found a pound coin on the ground today!