A while back, I promised a review of this book that I recently bought from the CS. I'd heard about it on YouTube and in the blog world, so was interested to read it and see if it had anything to offer me in terms of improving my financial situation. This post is a long one, so it may not appeal to everyone to read it. If you persevere, however, you might find it useful, as I did this book.
This book was first published in 1992, (the edition I read dated from 1999) and is based on the financial program followed by the author Joe Dominguez in the 1960's, to free himself from 'wage slavery' and achieve financial independence.
The program itself is a 9 step plan to transform your relationship with money and achieve said financial independence. The main premise of the book is that money is time out of your life and the authors pose the question that, if you had a choice between money or your life, what would you choose?
This book suggests that both are possible and that you don't have to be a slave to money for your lifetime. Instead, with a bit of financial planning and frugal living, you can actually free yourself from a job you don't enjoy and get your money working for you, so that you can do the things you want to do in life.
The authors suggest that work dominates our lives and there seems to be no real choice in life, but to work the majority or our waking hours, in pursuit of money we need to live or enjoy the hours outside of work. They suggest that there is another way and by following the nine steps in their program you could be more financially independent and have more choice in how you spend your time whilst here on this planet. Here is a summary of their 9 steps:
Step One - Making Peace with the Past.
This step involves firstly looking back at the amount of money you have earned ever since you first started working. They ask you to include part-time jobs you had as a teenager, fulltime jobs, side hustles, all paid work undertaken and calculate exactly how much you have earned in your lifetime so far.
I must admit that I did question the need for this step, but the authors warn against skipping steps. Although I was reluctant to actually do this step, as I don't have any records and really can't remember what I earned when in the past, I did make some rough calculations although they probably weren't very accurate.This was all I could do really.
The authors also encourage you to create a balance sheet for what you have to show for all the money you have earned. Combined, these two activities are a bit of an eye opener and did help me to comprehend this step, as you get to realise how much money you have completely wasted in your life so far, which in turn helps you to make a commitment not to repeat the same mistakes going forward.
Step Two - Money Ain't What It Used To Be
In this step, the authors ask you to work out exactly how much you currently earn. Your real hourly wage, as opposed to the one you think you're earning.
To do this you have to take into account all the money you spend on work - getting there, dressing the part, keeping up with colleagues, socialising when you're not at work to wind down from it, or shopping to treat yourself at the end of the week or in your lunch hour, etc. This was a really interesting step, because they argue that once you take all of the above into account, your hourly wage plummets to ridiculous levels and this does make you wonder if it is worth all the effort.
In this step, they also encourage you to track every single penny and see where all your money goes, which itself can be very enlightening.
Step Three - Where's It All Going?
This step is all about discerning your unique spending and income categories for each month, in order to ultimately work out your monthly expenses. They ask you to convert the dollars (or pounds) you spend in each category, into hours of life energy, using the real hourly wage computed in the previous step. This helps you to contemplate whether the things you purchase or spend money on, are really worth the life energy you are spending to pay for them.
Step Four - How Much is Enough?
This step asks you to consider what fulfilment you receive as a consequence of the money you spend each month. Was the expenditure in line with your life values and how might your expenditure change if you didn't have to work for a living? In addition, it encourages you to ask how much is enough? Do you really need everything you think you need?
I have to admit that I found the activities you were required to do in this particular step a bit onerous and didn't actually complete them, but I did enjoy reading the chapter, as it does make you consider what the important things in your life are and what is worth spending money on and what is not.
Step Five - Seeing Progress
This step required you to make visible your life energy by making a wall chart to show your income and expenses each month. On the same graph, you plot two different lines, the amount of income you receive each month being one and the expenses you pay out the other. By doing this on a regular basis, paying attention to it and by following their 9 step plan, they argue, you will gradually see your expenses reduce and your earnings increase and the gap between the two lines on the graph will represent money you can save and invest.
In their words, 'financial independence is money in the bank'.
Step Six - The American Dream On a Shoestring
Step six focuses on the pleasures of frugality, minimising spending and basically saving money.
It provides hundreds of examples of ways you can save money in every area of your life. By so doing, you can lower your monthly expenses, increase your consciousness in spending, and thus learn to 'choose quality of life over standard of living'.
Step Seven - For Love or Money: Valuing life energy
This step focuses on work, how to value your life energy and increase your income. In this chapter they consider the purpose of work and how we can redefine it and get our life back. They also consider the implications of such a course of action and suggest new options for paid employment to maximise your income, whilst keeping it consistent with your health and integrity.
Step Eight - The Crossover Point - The Pot of Gold at the End of the Wall Chart
This step was probably my favourite step of them all. It provided a lightbulb moment for me. For this step, they ask you to plot any income you receive from investments or savings onto the same graph as the one with your monthly income and expenses.
By doing so, you can visualise how you are working towards financial independence and how, as this investment income gradually increases, you can gain financial freedom. When your income from investments crosses the point of your monthly expenses on the graph, at this crossover point you have enough investment income to cover your expenses and everything over and above that you earn is your choice, as it is more than you actually need. You have thus 'broken the link between work and money - in your own life' and it is time to celebrate. If you so wish at this point, you can stop working for money and do other things instead, such as volunteering on projects that give you greater satisfaction or spending time with those you love.
Okay, you may say, but how on earth am I ever going to save enough, to earn sufficient income on it, to support myself, especially with the vagaries of the financial markets, inflation, low interest rates, etc. Well, I can't guarantee that you can, but they do give you some options to consider in Step 9.
Step Nine - Managing Your Finances
This step suggests ways of managing your finances in order to achieve your financial independence. As such, it talks about ways of investing your capital to get returns and income, how to make sure you have six months expenses available as a cushion, and how the surplus funds, as a consequence of continuing to practice the nine steps, can be used to compensate for emergencies, inroads of inflation and replacement of high value items or re-invested to produce an endowment fund, etc.
In conclusion, this book was a great read. I have bought myself some graph paper and I have started to plot my progress. It may take a long time, but it will be an interesting journey. Even if I don't reach the ultimate destination, attempting the journey is important to me and definitely worth the effort.
Disclaimer: Please note that I am not a financial expert, nor do I profess to be. This book is written with the American market in mind, but it's ideas can equally be applied to the financial market here in the UK. It is not a get rich quick type of book and I am not suggesting that anyone follows the financial advice it offers, but it might help anyone in other ways who are wanting to achieve more financial freedom.
This review has only briefly summarised this book. There are much more detailed explanations of each step, which make very interesting reading and I would definitely recommend reading it if you are interested in, as the title suggests, 'transforming your relationship with money and achieving financial independence'.
My only regret about reading this book, is that I didn't read and act on it 20 years ago.
Friday, 9 June 2017
Thursday, 8 June 2017
Freebies, Frugal Measures and Frugal Fails 7
Here we go again for another episode of Freebies, Frugal Measures and Frugal Fails.
Recent Frugal Fails were as follows:
1. I got so hot and thirsty on a couple of Wednesdays that I've worked at the CS, that I've bought a fizzy drink on the way home to refresh myself. I never ordinarily do this, but sometimes it just has to be done. I need to try not to make a habit of it though.
2. I paid £2.99 for a fruit fly trap at Lakeland, which just doesn't work. (Be warned) It could have been worse, as the original cost was £5.99 and I got £3 off with a voucher.
Not too many fails, which is very good news.
Freebies and Frugal Measures recently included:
1. Using another two £8 off a £40 spend vouchers to get money off my groceries at Waitrose this last couple of weeks. It's meant changing my shopping routines a little, but it was worth it for the savings, which were double those offered using some Tesco vouchers I had. I love it when the supermarkets compete for your custom using vouchers off your shopping.
2. I used part of the Waitrose money off saving to buy a new pair of oven gloves for the kitchen, which I've been needing for a while.
3. Also as part of shopping at Waitrose, I made sure to use my loyalty card to get a free broadsheet newspaper each time I visited and on one visit a free cup of tea too.
4. I started harvesting lettuce from the garden last week. It should save me at least £2 per week from the grocery budget, for as long as we have any available. Not a huge amount, but every small saving helps.
5. More free seeds. This time borage, cape gooseberries and red basil.
6. I bought this lovely small orchid from Tesco the other day, reduced from £5 to just £1.65, to replace one that seems to have died on me.
7. I've worked two consecutive weeks at the CS and have not bought anything, which is good for me.
Recent Frugal Fails were as follows:
1. I got so hot and thirsty on a couple of Wednesdays that I've worked at the CS, that I've bought a fizzy drink on the way home to refresh myself. I never ordinarily do this, but sometimes it just has to be done. I need to try not to make a habit of it though.
2. I paid £2.99 for a fruit fly trap at Lakeland, which just doesn't work. (Be warned) It could have been worse, as the original cost was £5.99 and I got £3 off with a voucher.
Not too many fails, which is very good news.
Freebies and Frugal Measures recently included:
1. Using another two £8 off a £40 spend vouchers to get money off my groceries at Waitrose this last couple of weeks. It's meant changing my shopping routines a little, but it was worth it for the savings, which were double those offered using some Tesco vouchers I had. I love it when the supermarkets compete for your custom using vouchers off your shopping.
2. I used part of the Waitrose money off saving to buy a new pair of oven gloves for the kitchen, which I've been needing for a while.
3. Also as part of shopping at Waitrose, I made sure to use my loyalty card to get a free broadsheet newspaper each time I visited and on one visit a free cup of tea too.
4. I started harvesting lettuce from the garden last week. It should save me at least £2 per week from the grocery budget, for as long as we have any available. Not a huge amount, but every small saving helps.
5. More free seeds. This time borage, cape gooseberries and red basil.
6. I bought this lovely small orchid from Tesco the other day, reduced from £5 to just £1.65, to replace one that seems to have died on me.
7. I've worked two consecutive weeks at the CS and have not bought anything, which is good for me.
Wednesday, 7 June 2017
Craft Room Decluttering and a DIY
A couple of weeks ago, I found myself with some free time one Monday afternoon, on account of not needing to do any additional grocery shopping, and as a consequence, I decided to do a bit of decluttering in my sewing room and start a small DIY project.
The first thing I did was empty a small laundry bin that was filled with fabric. I decided I didn't want more than half of it any more and put it on the donate pile. Probably about 6 or 7 pieces were donated, the rest I relocated.
At the same time, I decided to look through my stash for some fabric to make some new cushion covers for the living room. I just feel like brightening the place up a little for the summer months. I found a few fabrics that could possibly work, and tried them in situ to help me narrow it down to one or two choices, setting them aside for when I can find the time to make them.
In the process of looking for fabric, I came across some of the fabric that I used to cover the top of the ottoman in our bedroom. There was a piece that was exactly the right size to fit the stool under the dressing table to make it match the ottoman. It's a vintage Sanderson floral fabric, that has a beautiful cabbage roses print.
Although I liked the fabric that was already covering the small stool/ottoman, I wanted the room to be more co-ordinated, so I decided to re-upholster it in the matching fabric. Here's what it looked like before.
As you can see it's a lovely vintage floral fabric, but this was my first DIY upholstery project and the finish wasn't great, as I put too much wadding under the fabric. Once I'd pulled it out, the original wool wadding was still there, so I just used that on its own and it looks much better.
The first thing I did was empty a small laundry bin that was filled with fabric. I decided I didn't want more than half of it any more and put it on the donate pile. Probably about 6 or 7 pieces were donated, the rest I relocated.
At the same time, I decided to look through my stash for some fabric to make some new cushion covers for the living room. I just feel like brightening the place up a little for the summer months. I found a few fabrics that could possibly work, and tried them in situ to help me narrow it down to one or two choices, setting them aside for when I can find the time to make them.
In the process of looking for fabric, I came across some of the fabric that I used to cover the top of the ottoman in our bedroom. There was a piece that was exactly the right size to fit the stool under the dressing table to make it match the ottoman. It's a vintage Sanderson floral fabric, that has a beautiful cabbage roses print.
Although I liked the fabric that was already covering the small stool/ottoman, I wanted the room to be more co-ordinated, so I decided to re-upholster it in the matching fabric. Here's what it looked like before.
As you can see it's a lovely vintage floral fabric, but this was my first DIY upholstery project and the finish wasn't great, as I put too much wadding under the fabric. Once I'd pulled it out, the original wool wadding was still there, so I just used that on its own and it looks much better.
I re-used the same lace to finish off around the edge, as it was a good colour match for this fabric too. I'm very happy with the results and the fact that I now have a lovely co-ordinated bedroom.
My next DIY job, when I get the chance, is to make the new cushion covers for the living room. I'll keep you posted on progress.
Monday, 5 June 2017
A More Productive Weekend
This weekend has been a bit more productive one than last week, on Saturday anyway. I think I must have just needed a few days to take stock, before getting back on track.
I spent most of Saturday doing my kitchen or Zone 2 cleaning and my Weekly Home Blessing. The kitchen took the most part of the morning. I needed to clean away as much of the flyspray that I'd been spraying everywhere to rid the house of the fruit fly infestation. I think bar a few isolated flies, which I'm now tackling when I see them, we seem to be rid of the problem. I won't leave them in future, now I know what the outcome can be. Having a full on swarm is no fun at all.
Anyway, I worked my way around the kitchen, re-cleaned all the window sills where lots of the dead flies had dropped, cleaned the windows inside and out this time, cleaned down all the worktops and cupboard doors and then vacuumed and mopped the floor too. I didn't need to do inside the cupboards or clean the oven or fridge interior this time around. I'll tackle them thoroughly again next month.
I did do a few extra jobs on my way round. One was to take down the kitchen curtains and wash them for the first time since making them, probably two years ago now. I was a bit worried that they or the linings might shrink, as I'd never washed them before and they are cotton, but they were okay luckily. They are now ironed and re-hung.
I also cleaned off the blackboard and rewrote the reminders and cleaned out another corner that I had missed last month. It's so much easier cleaning this room regularly, as it just doesn't get as grimy. I don't know why I've never done this before.
Later as part of my WHB I vacuumed and mopped through the rest of the house. I even found time to finish a little DIY job that I started a couple of weeks ago, which felt satisfying. (A post on the subject is coming up soon)
Sunday, I didn't really do anything. OH was out all day at a cycle race, LB had friends round and it got a bit cold outside, which meant that I didn't want to garden, so I spent most of the day inside watching Netflix and YouTube and chilling out. Naughty, but nice.
This week, as previously explained, I'm reverting to cleaning Zone's 5 and 1, the dining and living room, instead of doing them last week. Now LB is back at school, I should find it a lot easier to motivate myself to clean on the days when I'm not at the CS and can get back into the zone again.
I spent most of Saturday doing my kitchen or Zone 2 cleaning and my Weekly Home Blessing. The kitchen took the most part of the morning. I needed to clean away as much of the flyspray that I'd been spraying everywhere to rid the house of the fruit fly infestation. I think bar a few isolated flies, which I'm now tackling when I see them, we seem to be rid of the problem. I won't leave them in future, now I know what the outcome can be. Having a full on swarm is no fun at all.
Anyway, I worked my way around the kitchen, re-cleaned all the window sills where lots of the dead flies had dropped, cleaned the windows inside and out this time, cleaned down all the worktops and cupboard doors and then vacuumed and mopped the floor too. I didn't need to do inside the cupboards or clean the oven or fridge interior this time around. I'll tackle them thoroughly again next month.
I did do a few extra jobs on my way round. One was to take down the kitchen curtains and wash them for the first time since making them, probably two years ago now. I was a bit worried that they or the linings might shrink, as I'd never washed them before and they are cotton, but they were okay luckily. They are now ironed and re-hung.
I also cleaned off the blackboard and rewrote the reminders and cleaned out another corner that I had missed last month. It's so much easier cleaning this room regularly, as it just doesn't get as grimy. I don't know why I've never done this before.
Later as part of my WHB I vacuumed and mopped through the rest of the house. I even found time to finish a little DIY job that I started a couple of weeks ago, which felt satisfying. (A post on the subject is coming up soon)
Sunday, I didn't really do anything. OH was out all day at a cycle race, LB had friends round and it got a bit cold outside, which meant that I didn't want to garden, so I spent most of the day inside watching Netflix and YouTube and chilling out. Naughty, but nice.
This week, as previously explained, I'm reverting to cleaning Zone's 5 and 1, the dining and living room, instead of doing them last week. Now LB is back at school, I should find it a lot easier to motivate myself to clean on the days when I'm not at the CS and can get back into the zone again.
A Strange Week and a Shopping Day
It was a strange week here, last week. The Bank Holiday weekend was very quiet. LB was off enjoying herself with her friends every day, and the half term week was pretty much more of the same.
I felt a bit redundant if I'm honest. It's just as well that I was working at the CS for two days during half term holiday, or I would have been twiddling my fingers at home waiting for LB to come home. (Well, maybe not, but you know what I mean).
I guess we're facing another transition in the household, whereby LB is getting more and more independent and busy with her own social life, leaving me feeling a bit surplus to requirements. OH is busy with his business or cycling, so it doesn't affect him much, but I've been feeling it a bit.
Please don't think for a minute that I begrudge her her independence. I really don't. I'm very grateful that she has found her tribe, and that she is happy to hang out with them. After all, you want your children to be happy, social creatures. I guess I'm just learning to let go.
I did get to spend some time with LB on Thursday afternoon. She met me from my Zumba class at 11am and we headed to the high street where we live, to do a few errands.
We visited the central library, where I took some books back and borrowed a whole bunch more. I seem to have got through the stock of non-fiction books that interest me at our local library, and this library is much bigger, so I found lots of books I liked here.
Consequently, I took home 7 personal finance books, which should keep me going for the majority of this month. A couple of them are on the subject of finances in retirement, which isn't pertinent just yet, but I'm doing some research, to make sure I'm getting on the right track with regard to investing for retirement.
We also did a bit of shopping and June's budget took a bit of a hit, as I bought LB a few bits in a couple of shops, using money from her budget, of course. I also bought a couple of things for me, which wasn't so good, as I really didn't need this new pair of black suede sandals, but wanted them because they I liked the way they looked on and they were new (in a CS).
I wore them for the rest of the day and they're pretty comfortable, so I think I'll get good use out of them this summer and hopefully beyond.
I also bought myself a t-shirt to wear at the CS this summer. It's light and a bit transparent, but can be worn with a vest underneath. I get so hot now the weather has warmed up and really need more and lighter clothing to wear on a daily basis.
Finally, on my busman's holiday, I also found this lovely little photo frame in the CS for £3.50. It's from The White Company. It is new and unused and I thought it would make a nice Xmas present, but I may actually keep it for us and put a photo in it.
The rest of the afternoon, was spent doing a mammoth grocery shop at Waitrose, Lidl, ASDA and Poundland, whilst LB went off to meet her friends again. A bit of a shopping marathon really, but I have probably bought enough food to make meals for at least the next two weeks, save for topping up on a few fresh items weekly. It felt very nice to stock up again, as things had really got down to the bare bones at the end of May.
When I got back, I spent the afternoon and some of Friday doing a bit of financial housekeeping to get me set up for another frugal month. (Hopefully!)
I felt a bit redundant if I'm honest. It's just as well that I was working at the CS for two days during half term holiday, or I would have been twiddling my fingers at home waiting for LB to come home. (Well, maybe not, but you know what I mean).
I guess we're facing another transition in the household, whereby LB is getting more and more independent and busy with her own social life, leaving me feeling a bit surplus to requirements. OH is busy with his business or cycling, so it doesn't affect him much, but I've been feeling it a bit.
Please don't think for a minute that I begrudge her her independence. I really don't. I'm very grateful that she has found her tribe, and that she is happy to hang out with them. After all, you want your children to be happy, social creatures. I guess I'm just learning to let go.
I did get to spend some time with LB on Thursday afternoon. She met me from my Zumba class at 11am and we headed to the high street where we live, to do a few errands.
We visited the central library, where I took some books back and borrowed a whole bunch more. I seem to have got through the stock of non-fiction books that interest me at our local library, and this library is much bigger, so I found lots of books I liked here.
Consequently, I took home 7 personal finance books, which should keep me going for the majority of this month. A couple of them are on the subject of finances in retirement, which isn't pertinent just yet, but I'm doing some research, to make sure I'm getting on the right track with regard to investing for retirement.
We also did a bit of shopping and June's budget took a bit of a hit, as I bought LB a few bits in a couple of shops, using money from her budget, of course. I also bought a couple of things for me, which wasn't so good, as I really didn't need this new pair of black suede sandals, but wanted them because they I liked the way they looked on and they were new (in a CS).
I wore them for the rest of the day and they're pretty comfortable, so I think I'll get good use out of them this summer and hopefully beyond.
I also bought myself a t-shirt to wear at the CS this summer. It's light and a bit transparent, but can be worn with a vest underneath. I get so hot now the weather has warmed up and really need more and lighter clothing to wear on a daily basis.
Finally, on my busman's holiday, I also found this lovely little photo frame in the CS for £3.50. It's from The White Company. It is new and unused and I thought it would make a nice Xmas present, but I may actually keep it for us and put a photo in it.
The rest of the afternoon, was spent doing a mammoth grocery shop at Waitrose, Lidl, ASDA and Poundland, whilst LB went off to meet her friends again. A bit of a shopping marathon really, but I have probably bought enough food to make meals for at least the next two weeks, save for topping up on a few fresh items weekly. It felt very nice to stock up again, as things had really got down to the bare bones at the end of May.
When I got back, I spent the afternoon and some of Friday doing a bit of financial housekeeping to get me set up for another frugal month. (Hopefully!)
Saturday, 3 June 2017
Saturday Morning
It's 12.40pm on Saturday Morning and I'm sat at the kitchen table eating my regular daily salad and pondering on the last fortnight's events.
I haven't mentioned it here on the blog, but I've been very preoccupied for the last two weeks, since the Manchester bombing, mainly due to the fact the LB was due to attend a concert last night at the O2 and we were considering whether or not to let her go, even though she'd been saving up and looking forward to it for the past six months.
At the end of the day, her safety was our priority and no amount of money paid for a ticket was worth compromising that. The world that we now inhabit doesn't allow us to take for granted many of the pleasures that we once did. An incident like this can happen anywhere at any time, and although we all say that it's not going to stop us doing what we want to do, sometimes we may still think twice before going into crowded spaces at times.
In the end, of course, we relented and took her to the concert, although part of me was hoping the artist themselves might cancel. To their credit they didn't. The said artist, was Shawn Mendes, a young 17 year old performer very popular with teenagers today, and who like Ariana Grande, was from the US and on a much awaited tour. We didn't want to disappoint LB, but would have done so had we thought that the risks were too high, although how on earth could we know for sure whether this was the case. If people want to find a way to cause destruction on major scale, they will.
Anyway, we went along with her and her friend last night, after discussing the matter with her friend's parents. Whilst the girls went into the concert, we had a meal in the O2, then retired to a bar to wait for them to come out. It wasn't a wholly unpleasant evening. We would have preferred to drop them off and pick them up, but after Manchester, there was no way we could do that, and anyway, we had reassured her friend's parents that we'd be there the whole time, so we couldn't and wouldn't renege.
I felt very emotional in the foyer of the O2 both before and after the show, when the thousands of young people and their parents were filing excitedly in and out of the building. Obviously, I couldn't help but think about all those affected in Manchester and what a callous, vile act was committed against the innocent people there, who were just enjoying a night out or collecting their children from a similar much longed for event. It was very surreal and I'm sure I wasn't the only person there thinking the exact same thoughts.
Security was reasonably tight with all bags being searched before anyone could get into the building, but the world, for young people and their parents, is never going to be the same again. From now on, every time our loved ones go to a concert or a large scale organised event, we are going to be thinking about Manchester, and so we should.
They should be remembered and prayed for and shown the love and compassion that they deserve, but never sought. Our lives can carry on as normal from today. There lives will never be the same again.
To the supposed 10,000 people who lied about being at the concert in Manchester to get free tickets to the benefit concert next week, (excepting some of whom might have had tickets not bought from official vendors and therefore not traceable) - Have you no shame or respect for the victims of this atrocity? For one minute think about what your behaviour is demonstrating to the victims and the bereaved. Be a human being and have some compassion. The world doesn't revolve around you.
I haven't mentioned it here on the blog, but I've been very preoccupied for the last two weeks, since the Manchester bombing, mainly due to the fact the LB was due to attend a concert last night at the O2 and we were considering whether or not to let her go, even though she'd been saving up and looking forward to it for the past six months.
At the end of the day, her safety was our priority and no amount of money paid for a ticket was worth compromising that. The world that we now inhabit doesn't allow us to take for granted many of the pleasures that we once did. An incident like this can happen anywhere at any time, and although we all say that it's not going to stop us doing what we want to do, sometimes we may still think twice before going into crowded spaces at times.
In the end, of course, we relented and took her to the concert, although part of me was hoping the artist themselves might cancel. To their credit they didn't. The said artist, was Shawn Mendes, a young 17 year old performer very popular with teenagers today, and who like Ariana Grande, was from the US and on a much awaited tour. We didn't want to disappoint LB, but would have done so had we thought that the risks were too high, although how on earth could we know for sure whether this was the case. If people want to find a way to cause destruction on major scale, they will.
Anyway, we went along with her and her friend last night, after discussing the matter with her friend's parents. Whilst the girls went into the concert, we had a meal in the O2, then retired to a bar to wait for them to come out. It wasn't a wholly unpleasant evening. We would have preferred to drop them off and pick them up, but after Manchester, there was no way we could do that, and anyway, we had reassured her friend's parents that we'd be there the whole time, so we couldn't and wouldn't renege.
I felt very emotional in the foyer of the O2 both before and after the show, when the thousands of young people and their parents were filing excitedly in and out of the building. Obviously, I couldn't help but think about all those affected in Manchester and what a callous, vile act was committed against the innocent people there, who were just enjoying a night out or collecting their children from a similar much longed for event. It was very surreal and I'm sure I wasn't the only person there thinking the exact same thoughts.
Security was reasonably tight with all bags being searched before anyone could get into the building, but the world, for young people and their parents, is never going to be the same again. From now on, every time our loved ones go to a concert or a large scale organised event, we are going to be thinking about Manchester, and so we should.
They should be remembered and prayed for and shown the love and compassion that they deserve, but never sought. Our lives can carry on as normal from today. There lives will never be the same again.
To the supposed 10,000 people who lied about being at the concert in Manchester to get free tickets to the benefit concert next week, (excepting some of whom might have had tickets not bought from official vendors and therefore not traceable) - Have you no shame or respect for the victims of this atrocity? For one minute think about what your behaviour is demonstrating to the victims and the bereaved. Be a human being and have some compassion. The world doesn't revolve around you.
Thursday, 1 June 2017
Flylady Update
It's been an unusual week on the Flylady front this week. After a month of quite in depth cleaning of the house, I just didn't feel like doing any cleaning over the Bank Holiday Weekend and intended to clean Zone 5 or the living room at the end of this week.
I had forgotten that where a week is spread between the last few days of one month and the first few days of another, you are required to clean in two zones, i.e. Zone 5 and Zone 1 in this instance, so I found myself playing catchup before I'd even done anything.
In the end, due to some specific occurences this week, I decided to jump to Zone 2 this week and clean the kitchen, and then clean Zones 5 and Zones 1 next week, before returning to Zone 3 the week after that and then being completely back on track.
The reason for this change was an infestation of fruit flies in our kitchen. Every summer we tend to get a few fruit flies flitting about around the compost containers, and to be honest they've never really bothered me that much, but this year was different as a few fruit flies led to a full scale infestation with hundreds of the things flying around the kitchen. It was gross.
I googled a few natural solutions and tried them, i.e. leaving out the dregs in a wine bottle to trap them, and also leaving out various containers containing vinegar. I also tried swatting quite a few, but I didn't really enjoy this as it seemed too violent a death. The former solution did work to a small extent, but the problem was just getting worse and I felt I had to get on top of it, so I brought in the big guns and bought a fly trap and some fly spray.
An evening of exterminating them followed and I think we're now down to the last few, which I'm hoping to completely extinguish in the next day or so. I don't enjoy killing any of God's creatures, but these little flies are a real nuisance and were expanding in number at great speed. Something really had to be done.
As a consequence of attacking them with a noxious spray, I decided that the kitchen would definitely need cleaning to remove any traces of the toxic spray and the many dead bodies. OH decided to help me by pulling out the fridge freezer to see if it was where they were breeding and I got the chance to clean behind and under it, which I haven't done for a long time and did want to do the next time I was in this zone.
I've still got to clean the cupboard fronts, windows and work surfaces in this zone, but these are the main jobs I will be doing in this zone this month as it is still pretty clean from a few weeks ago.
I do think that I inadvertently encouraged the flies by using an isopropyl alcohol cleaner on the cupboard fronts when cleaning last month. After researching about fruit flies I came to realise that they are attracted to alcohol, so I certainly won't be using this cleaner again in the kitchen to avoid the same thing happening. Be warned, it's ability to cut through grease is not worth the hassle of trying to resolve a fruit fly infestation!
I had forgotten that where a week is spread between the last few days of one month and the first few days of another, you are required to clean in two zones, i.e. Zone 5 and Zone 1 in this instance, so I found myself playing catchup before I'd even done anything.
In the end, due to some specific occurences this week, I decided to jump to Zone 2 this week and clean the kitchen, and then clean Zones 5 and Zones 1 next week, before returning to Zone 3 the week after that and then being completely back on track.
The reason for this change was an infestation of fruit flies in our kitchen. Every summer we tend to get a few fruit flies flitting about around the compost containers, and to be honest they've never really bothered me that much, but this year was different as a few fruit flies led to a full scale infestation with hundreds of the things flying around the kitchen. It was gross.
I googled a few natural solutions and tried them, i.e. leaving out the dregs in a wine bottle to trap them, and also leaving out various containers containing vinegar. I also tried swatting quite a few, but I didn't really enjoy this as it seemed too violent a death. The former solution did work to a small extent, but the problem was just getting worse and I felt I had to get on top of it, so I brought in the big guns and bought a fly trap and some fly spray.
An evening of exterminating them followed and I think we're now down to the last few, which I'm hoping to completely extinguish in the next day or so. I don't enjoy killing any of God's creatures, but these little flies are a real nuisance and were expanding in number at great speed. Something really had to be done.
As a consequence of attacking them with a noxious spray, I decided that the kitchen would definitely need cleaning to remove any traces of the toxic spray and the many dead bodies. OH decided to help me by pulling out the fridge freezer to see if it was where they were breeding and I got the chance to clean behind and under it, which I haven't done for a long time and did want to do the next time I was in this zone.
I've still got to clean the cupboard fronts, windows and work surfaces in this zone, but these are the main jobs I will be doing in this zone this month as it is still pretty clean from a few weeks ago.
I do think that I inadvertently encouraged the flies by using an isopropyl alcohol cleaner on the cupboard fronts when cleaning last month. After researching about fruit flies I came to realise that they are attracted to alcohol, so I certainly won't be using this cleaner again in the kitchen to avoid the same thing happening. Be warned, it's ability to cut through grease is not worth the hassle of trying to resolve a fruit fly infestation!
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