I had a great holiday – enjoyed catching up with all the family, but as always, it was over far too quickly.
Not quite as action-packed as my last holiday but I still managed to squeeze quite a bit in:
- A day out at the trampoline park with my niece and nephew – I did realise that I shouldn’t really be flinging myself around on American Ninja-style apparatus at my age but I couldn’t help it!
- A karaoke session with the siblings – we sang all our 80s and 90s favourites!
- Five days in Koh Samui, Thailand where I snorkelled, kayaked, ate a lot of yummy food and stayed up til 3.30am watching England in a nail-biting penalty shootout!
- A foot massage evening with the siblings
- An outing to celebrate my sister’s birthday
- Ten pin bowling session, scoring 73 in the first game and 150 in the second – clearly the first game was just a warm up, haha!
- A game of badminton
- Lots of dim sum and sushi!
I didn’t know that planes with open propellers were still used commercially!
Budget Blown
As with previous holidays, I hardly bought anything for myself (just snacks and green tea teabags!) but I spent a lot on eating and drinking out and of course, I had to treat the kids and ended up spending a lot more than planned.
So much so that I had to borrow from my sis so she will be wanting to collect on her debt either later this month but maybe I can stall her until next month…
Some people buy souvenirs on holiday….I buy toilet rolls!
As always, I leave home with a heavy suitcase (full of stuff for the family) and end up with a light/empty one and as with my last trip, I stocked up on toilet rolls for my return trip home.
Toilet Rolls
Why toilet rolls? Because they’re something I will use, I can store them away and I needed to fill up my empty suitcase!
I usually buy Tesco brand, £3.35 for 9 rolls, 2-ply, average 220 sheets per roll.
The HK ones I buy cost £2.88 for 10 rolls, 3-ply, average 340 sheets per roll.
And that’s with a crappy Sterling exchange rate. There will, however, be no need for me to buy any more on my next trip – the stash I have will last a long time!
On the subject of spending, I successfully used my Starling card in both Dubai (airport) and Thailand – am very happy with the app so no doubt, I’ll be using it again on my travels.
Thoughts and Ideas
As mentioned previously, I didn’t do any blogging while I was away but while I was lounging by the pool in Thailand, I jotted down a few ideas and thoughts about my investments.
I’ve now got more of an idea of how I will use my SIPPs and ISA for income when I pull the plug on full-time work. It’s still only a loose idea and I’ll see how things look at the end of year as I’m overdue an update on my investments plan.
I’ve realised that I’ve been coasting along when I could probably make a lot more effort with my expenses and my savings. I guess a bit more focus won’t do any harm and might be enough to make a difference. I have family staying with me later this month so perhaps the focus will have to come after they leave!
Some clowns, plus a couple of guys wearing white make-up…
A shame that ‘football didn’t come home’ in the end as this trip was very much entwined with the World Cup, with various plans being made around catching the timezone friendly (and some unfriendly) matches.
I almost miss the ‘Three Lions’ song which has been played endlessly everywhere!
I shall still enjoy watching the final as a neutral and also look forward to catching the Wimbledon finals – tennis has been forgotten with all the football excitement!
Have a great weekend all!
If anyone ever questions your stock of blogrolls, just wink, touch your nose, and say “supply chain disruption”.
Haha! I’m not sure what I’d say if I was stopped at the UK border with those bogrolls….
“I didn’t know that planes with open propellers were still used commercially!” If you want some fun then you need to get yourself on Trans Maldivian Airways which not only gets you propellers but also pontoons at no extra cost 🙂
Hi RIT
I’ve always loved to go to the Maldives but such a trip is out of my budget although I know I should go there before they disappear! I’m not too sure about pontoons, the propellers seemed daunting enough!
LOL filling empty space after a trip abroad with toilet rolls…takes the biscuit! You seem to have a good balance weenie between enjoying life, family and saving/investing. Enjoyed reading about the holiday…were you anywhere near the cave rescue? I was following the news on that story hour by hour and so pleased with the final outcome.
Haha, well I could have been daft and filled the case up with new shoes and clothes!
The boys had only just been discovered when I got to Thailand, so it was all on the news every day. The cave where they were was quite a bit away from where I stayed (about 500 miles north). Such an incredible effort, truly an international rescue, without the Thunderbirds!
Sounds like you had a great time. Mrs YFG and I usually do the opposite to you, taking toilet paper out with us due to crappy hotel loo roll!
I did, thanks YFG. I’m usually ok with hotel loo roll but will take my own if I’m staying in a basic self-catering apartment.
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Glad you had a great time. As DIY Investor says, you do seem to have a good balance in life. I’m not surprised you coast a little sometimes with your expenses and savings – when life is good, there’s far less urgency. But underneath you have the fundamentals solidly ingrained in how you live, so you’ll never stray too far off course. You’re a great example of enjoying life now and saving for later.
Thanks FT9T5. I could only be on this journey with some sort of balance – too extreme and it makes me unhappy and the lifestyle is unsustainable; not focused enough then I’d never reach the goals I’ve set. I do need to be careful that I don’t coast too much!
Glad you had a fabulous holiday Weenie, jealous of all your awesome adventures.
And the toilet roll hacking is hilarious!
We still have propeller plans in the UK, London City has a few as do the remoter parts of Scotland. It’s not the most confidence inspiring when you see the pilot go out and turn the propeller to check!
Haha, glad you liked the toilet roll hacking – I’m surprised people haven’t thought of it previously!
I’d only ever flown on bigger plans so hadn’t experienced propeller planes before, although having flown internally before, maybe I just never noticed. Now, I’m always going to check, which I don’t think is a good thing haha!
Wow that beach looks amazing!
Just a little bit jealous not gonna lie, we went to rustington on the south coast the other week and there was a noticeable lack of Palm trees 🙂
Still, can’t complain about the weather!
The football was ultimately disappointing but we did very well to get where we did. Bring on the Euros!
It was amazing but it actually rained a little that day, except the rain was warm, not like the Manchester stuff!
Absolutely, bring on the Euros – it’s that that came home! I just can’t wait for the normal season to start.
maybe that could be your new side hustle, importing toilet rolls. ; )
I’d have to import a huuuuuge number to make a big enough margin, but thanks for the suggestion!
I am glad you had a good time on holiday weenie, last time I went to Amsterdam I partook in some karaoke too…Very funny bringing back toilet rolls hehe. Yeah the combination of hot weather, England doing well with a feel good factor from fans was great to behold.
Chris