Well things are starting to move quite quickly. We have been without a car now for almost a month and we have got on just fine. We are renting a car this weekend to do some days out & visit Manchester to get some business done. We ended up getting a really good deal and it was £60 for 4 days for a super economical small car.
The biggest thing is the house listing. After a month of waiting we finally got the house on the market & a sign up outside. Less than 24 hours later we have viewings lined up & hopefully things will move quickly. I’m excited to move on & start the next chapter of life. I know that won’t be in St Helens anymore & I’ve made my peace with that. The fact is apart from my good friends & a few family members I have very little tying me to this place now & it’s time to get back out there and start living again. Paying for this quasi-mansion has almost killed us. We have all this space & it’s lucky because once it’s all paid for each month there is very little money left over so we are trapped in it.
We are still not sure where we will end up next. Perhaps Manchester or Amsterdam. Perhaps somewhere completely obscure.
We have a hell of a lot to sort out in the Meantime. Everything is going into a small storage unit & we know when we eventually get another place to call home it will be considerably smaller. This means that all of the furniture we have accrued to fill this house has got to go. Some of it has already gone and other pieces are up for sale as we speak.
Another thing I’m thinking of down the line, once all debts are paid & we are free of the stress that entails, is the purchase of another car. I’m a real sucker for Land Rover. I fell in love with the brand young and it will always have a place in my heart, but in the 21st Century it’s not the wisest purchase. I’m really wanting to go down the electric car route. The Renault Zoe has really caught my eye & the Nissan Leaf (latest revision) is a great prospect with its 130 mile range.
Being self employed makes obtaining credit for cars quite difficult so I’m thinking of saving a massive chunk of the money, if not all of the money to buy one outright. For a car like the Zoe that is £14k, but I’m hoping by the time we have ourselves right & aren’t spending all of our cash on debt repayments that we will be able to save relatively quickly.
A car is the only thing I’ll ever willingly spend money on. It gives a great amount of freedom & also allows your to live somewhere idyllic but still take part in city life. It’s a delicate balancing act when you run your own business from home. You don’t have to live anywhere in particular, but when you have the choice of living anywhere it’s a really hard decision. Not many people would understand that & most would think I’m talking complete bollocks but it’s true. Let me explain.
If you live in a city, you have access to everything on your doorstep. You have bars & events, clubs, education, culture, life. But with that comes expensive rents, overcrowding, poverty, crime, lack of countryside & no peace & quiet. With a rural life it’s all the complete opposite. I guess we are looking for a happy medium.
This post turned into a bit of a rant so i will leave it there. Hopefully some of it resonates with at least one person out there.
