When life gives you lemons
You don't have to make lemonade.
On Tuesday, during my weekly call with my telephone friend,1 my online supermarket order arrived. As I tried to wrestle a couple of new things into the tiny freezer, whilst keeping the conversation going, sadly an old bag of frozen lemon wedges didn’t make the cut.
I mentioned this to my friend, and she suggested I use them to make lemon marmalade. Now, I don’t really eat marmalade but I figured I could give it a go. I didn’t want the lemons to go to waste, nor did I want to consume them all in a day!
I found a recipe and got cracking. I ended up with an (accidentally) burnt lemon marmalade and a very burnt pan, which I am still battling with.2 Still, it felt great.3
This week, there was an article exploring how we can make our clothes last longer. I learned so much! Specifically: use washing bags, close zips and open buttons before putting in the wash, and reduce the spin intensity.
We don’t get taught how to use a washing machine in the optimal way. There’s no incentive for anyone to do this; machine manufacturers want you to get through more in your lifetime, and the people selling clothes and laundry products want you to buy more.
This sort of stuff used to be covered in home economics at school, which then became more academic in its focus, turning into subjects like Food and Nutrition, and Textiles. It was a good thing; because it moved away from girls being trained to be housewives. But the downside is that we lost a lot of knowledge we may have otherwise learned.
Nowadays you can learn about how to cook and clean and maintain your home via the internet (TikTok has so much cleaning content). But you have to seek out this information yourself. And you need to have a reason to do so.
It might be because you want to live in a less wasteful way; throwing away less, making things last longer. It might also be because the homestead aesthetic looks easy, and less tiring than the alternative (see ‘tradwife’ stuff, which is a whole other dark thing).4
For me, I know that the cost of unnecessary expenses (be it a new washing machine or a bag of lemons) has an impact on my financial situation. It’s why this article on laundry was so helpful for me, why I regularly clean my machine, why now, when life gives me lemons, I’ll make marmalade.
1. Are mini-retirements for you?
What are they?
Instead of saving all your time and money until after retirement, to do the things you’ve always wanted to do, why not do them throughout your life?
Take a mini-retirement! Ideally more!
Why are they growing in popularity?
Younger generations are far more likely to freelance or do contract work than previous generation, so they have more flexibility
There are also tax advantages to not working a couple of months a year; this could keep you in a lower income tax band
Why isn’t everyone doing this?
There is a downside to flexibility; precariousness
Can you cover your on-going payments while not working? Not just mortgages/rents (which could be offset by sub-letting your place while you’re away) but also things like insurance (particularly relevant for Americans, who still have to pay for essential health insurance)
Can you get back to earning quickly when your break is over, or would you have to spend time while you’re off trying to line something up?
What are some of the options?
Line up a new job and simply ask for a later start date, one that allows you to take a month or two off beforehand
Take a “bridge job” — like freelancing part-time or working at a coffee shop — to make ends meet while you explore other interests
Take a sabbatical (if offered by your workplace)
2. 17% of UK adults have no long-term financial goals
Some research out this week explored how people approach financial planning. Key insights:
The most common long-term goals (in order):
Retiring early (22%)
Leaving an inheritance (21%)
Paying off the mortgage early (20%)
No surprises here, but important to know that there is a 1% difference between each of these; it wasn’t like one of them was significantly more of a priority than any other
People renting property are among the least likely to plan for wealth transfer and often experience greater financial discomfort compared to homeowners.
Renting historically has been viewed as a ‘bad’ financial decision since your home was traditionally how you built your wealth (since house prices increases would allow this)
Now people are more aware that you can rent and still create wealth (through investments); it doesn’t mean that, compared with homeowners, renters will always struggle more financially,
This research is probably reflective of low interest rates and therefore cheap mortgages; in a few years, the ‘financial discomfort’ gap between homeowners and renters will likely narrow
The assets people want to pass on are:
Family home (72%)
Cash lump sum (55%)
Family heirlooms (30%)
An investment portfolio (17%)
A property portfolio (17%)
No surprise about number 1
Cash is interesting; it’s easy enough to do, but I wonder if people are thinking about the inheritance tax implications. Succession planning is important and means that you are thinking about transferring stuff well ahead of time (gifts passed on more than 7 years before you die are usually exempt from inheritance tax), and finding (legal) ways to shield your stuff from the taxman after your death
3. When buying a house, we might be looking at the wrong things
I say ‘might’ because this isn’t the most reliable study. But there’s something in it.
Zoopla got prospective homebuyers to wear eye-tracking glasses while looking at properties, and pulled the research together. Plus it ran a survey.
It found that:
Mirrors, plants and pictures got more attention than flooring, walls and features
Only half of homebuyers checked the boiler
Only 25% check the water pressure
13% test how comfortable the owner’s bed and sofa are(!!)
20% ‘spend under 20 minutes looking around before making an offer’
It’s awkward when you’re doing a viewing. And more so when you don’t really know what you’re doing yourself. Just remember to check the important things, such as:
Are there signs of damp or damage that you would have to pay to fix?
Do the plumbing and electricity work well?
What would it look like empty?
Especially in a competitive market (both if buying or renting), when there’s pressure to move quickly before someone else makes a better offer, it’s so important to focus on the important things.
Zoopla actually has a good checklist to refer to, so you can be more prepared.
✨ Other things! ✨
MONEY
The people refusing to pay their water bills in response to the sewage crisis
Virgin Money launched a savings account with 10% interest - but you have to be an existing customer of the group, and it applies to a maximum of £250 a month, for 12 months
Home repossession claims in England and Wales are at their highest in five years - but below pre-Covid rates
A young(ish) writer for MoneySavingExpert SO nearly got scammed - crazy
LIFE
A modern-day etiquette guide that is such a joy to read, and also simply fabulous
Food delivery companies are now raking in the profits, because we’re hooked
I made a super easy salad this week and was kinda amazed by how delicious it was; finely chopped cavolo nero, a diced flat peach, courgette ribbons, butterbeans, goats cheese, pumpkin seeds, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon. And now I am here for salad inspiration. Share your recipes!
I would love for this newsletter to help more people. Do you have one friend you could share this with?
I tried baking soda and vinegar, but the most effective (yet expensive) approach has been to use a dishwasher tablet. So far, I have used four(!!). Getting there…
Taste TBD; I need to procure some bread so I can try it on toast.