Downshifting Update 3/08 - A New Car and A New Shed

I'm now nearly seven weeks into my new gaff and everything's starting to come together.   There's still no doorbell and still no functioning cooker hob and no storage in any of the rooms, so I'm living with what we coaches call "tolerations". I always encourage my clients to rid themselves of as many tolerations as possible and it takes a surprising amount of energy, which could be better used, tolerating such things as bumping into stuff wherever you go.

I need to do some drastic clutter clearing which is ironic as I am the most minimalist of everyone I know. One of my 0800 Handymen recommended a plastic shed to store my stepladder, two green plastic crates with workshop materials in them, the mop and bucket, the ironining board and hoover, the cleaning materials, the inflatable pool chair in which I float, tan and read books while gently sipping a G & T on holiday (!), my two shopping trolleys, an array of useful plastic storage boxes, the fan I use in the summer when its hot and my four or five suitcases.   Well a girl has got to have luggage for the UK, for Europe AND for international travel, doesn't she?   Although I wont be using my international luggage via Heathrow any time soon!

Oh, and I've decided to buy a new car.   The Beetle Cabrio is SO not the right car for on-street parking in Streatham Hill. Apart from anything else, it's done nothing but rain since I moved here.   Don't ask me why, but I have settled on a Nissan Qashqai which is really quite dreadful.   The spelling, not the car. This means my new cat and my new car will both be spelling mistakes or made-up words.   I think the main reason I chose the car was that it will EAT speedhumps and I am fed up of creeping over them like a little old lady because the Beetle was so low.   Sad to lose the soft top, for now anyway. But the Nissan is SO the right car for Streatham Hill.   Ha ha, getting into this now, which - let's face it - is the only way for not only is resistance futile it is very, very unattractive to the Universe when it comes to the things you do want.   Works like a dream for the things you dont want though.

April projects - get the doorbell and cooker working, take delivery of new car and use it to go to the dump with clutter (the Beetle was also totally unsuitable for that having no boot whatsoever), find a way to feel confident about commisioning relatively expensive storage solutions in bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. Ditto landscaping and gardening - a HUGE project but the clocks going forward turns one's thoughts towards Spring and Summer dans le jardin.   Rid myself of clutter tolerations wherever possible.   I already know that EFT will be the answer to the confident commissiong of yet further expenditure. 

As soon as the finances settle down, I will publish a proper accounting of the profits and losses of downshifting so far.   Accelerating towards Financial Freedom now - and towards the next speed bump!