Pound v Dollar, latest

Speaking of sales, the Daughter just got six really cute dresses, two pairs of shoes, and a petticoat from LindyBop for about £100 total (free shipping). They are having a heck of a clearance sale! 

Speaking of sales, the Daughter just got six really cute dresses, two pairs of shoes, and a petticoat from LindyBop for about £100 total (free shipping). They are having a heck of a clearance sale! 

Ooh. It was payday. Must check that out!

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Ooh. It was payday. Must check that out!

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This......is why people don't have money in their savings. ........ I'm just reading an old Terry Brooks book........after the original expense it's now FREE.

"Buy 'em while the pound is still worth something" is what I told the Daughter. Especially when she was getting them for like twelve quid each.    She'll need the dresses for work, eventually, and she can't buy the fabric to make them out of if she sewed them herself, for what they cost. (She can sew quite well, by the way.    )    They're really cute. She's lost a LOT of weight in the last two years, so she does need some new clothes, and I hope she enjoys the heck out of 'em. [Plus, she had a 20% off coupon that took that much off the total sale price on top of it all.]

I mean, I dont have much savings because I was unemployed for 8 months while paying my student loans etc. But professional clothes from a well respected label on sale, I would spent a small bit on because they are flattering and look nice. I also can't read traditional books, but my library loans ebooks which makes me happy. I am saving for a wheelchair, and a visa, both about the same price heh. The current drop in the pound has made my student loans more expensive so I am not happy.

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I understand.....I was kidding about the clothes buying. I'm not much of a clothes buying person, even when I was still working. I blow money on other things.

I understand.....I was kidding about the clothes buying. I'm not much of a clothes buying person, even when I was still working. I blow money on other things.

I blow money on indulgent food, booze, and power tools.  But I have half my income going into various savings schemes right off the top, and I view those deposits as bills: I pay those first, and buy food and booze and stuff with what's left.  (One of the savings accounts is for the council tax, water bill, and car insurance I pay each spring... it used to also go to visas, but I've finished with those, finally, so yay!... but, essentially, this savings account is a bill.  The other two are proper savings.)

I understand.....I was kidding about the clothes buying. I'm not much of a clothes buying person, even when I was still working. I blow money on other things.

Yeah, I'm not a "clothes" person either. I brought a dozen pairs of jeans over when we moved, and pretty much wear a pair with one of three sweatshirts I also brought over.  And the same pair of shoes. Which, sadly, are finally wearing out and will need to be replaced. I did bring a very few "professional wardrobe" items with me, thinking I'd just supplement them here if I ended up working. But after having looked in the shops I find that my tastes do not really match what is on offer, and in the very few cases where I find something I really like that is made well it's obscenely expensive here. So I don't buy it. And since I'm not working, I don't really need to.

I think in the  years I've been here I've bought a sweater at a thrift store, some wool undershirts from Aldi on sale, a windbreaker (what do they call those here? the lightweight waterproof jackets with the hood?), some fleece jammies,  and a couple of t-shirts. Oh, and a button-down Oxford shirt from a charity shop as well. If I had a closet full of a uniform I'd be just as happy wearing the same thing every day, as long as it's comfortable. I really don't enjoy clothes shopping.

The Daughter, on the other hand, inherited the "style" gene that I didn't get.     She does complain that people here in Glasgow dress way down way too much - she's gone to receptions and things and dressed conservatively but nicely, and said she was way over-dressed. (Everyone else showed up in jeans.) And then there's the makeup thing. She absolutely hates the "Instagram" makeup face that is so popular here now. I have to agree, it does look very much like what the hookers were wearing down on the boulevard when we left SoCal.... The Daughter just loves her makeup, though. Has boxes of it and applies it pretty skillfully.  The last time I had a "makeover" on a lark I ended up looking like I was 90 - every single wrinkle (and I've got a lot of 'em) was magnified and they tried to draw on some lips (I have very thin lips). It didn't end well at all.   I had to nip to the restroom to scrub it all off before I could go back out in public! 

So I waste my disposable income on hamsters, tropical fish, old books, and odd bits of hobbies that grab my fancy. It's kind of odd. When I was younger I thought that when I was older and if I had disposable income it'd make such a difference.  In a way it has - I don't worry about paying the rent month-to-month like when I was younger, or having to keep a miserable job to keep the insurance. But otherwise, life is pretty much the same. I do the same kind of things I did when I had almost no spare money. Odd how that turned out.

We just had solar panels + battery storage installed yesterday.  Now seemed to be a perfect time to move $s over.

We just had solar panels + battery storage installed yesterday.  Now seemed to be a perfect time to move $s over.

Oooh, tell me more.  How much peak power is your system able to produce?  What did you get?  I really really want to get some solar panels.  We have some high-pitch south-facing roof that would be ideal throughout the year.  But I just don't know how much we can produce in the limited area.  I want a 3-4kW system.

Oooh, tell me more.  How much peak power is your system able to produce?  What did you get?  I really really want to get some solar panels.  We have some high-pitch south-facing roof that would be ideal throughout the year.  But I just don't know how much we can produce in the limited area.  I want a 3-4kW system.

We have 13 panels each generating a max of 300W so 3.9kW max. The Lithium Ion battery is quite slim and small and holds 2.4kWh of charge. Easy to add another battery or 2 if we want as it is self install, just a couple of cables to connect it to the existing battery. Cost with VAT £1,050.

Our solar panels and battery storage was completed in a single day and by 6:30 the panels were generating a tiny amount of power in the misty rain. However, the battery came with 56% charge and that supplied us all during the evening. Today is mostly cloudy but still enough to recharge the battery and feed into the grid. We have an old analog meter with a spinning wheel. It has been fun watching the wheel spin backwards and see the mechanical numbers on the meter roll backwards.

I placed the order and paid the deposit on the 26th and we were up and running on the 1st. Amazing really.

We have 13 panels each generating a max of 300W so 3.9kW max. The Lithium Ion battery is quite slim and small and holds 2.4kWh of charge. Easy to add another battery or 2 if we want as it is self install, just a couple of cables to connect it to the existing battery. Cost with VAT £1,050.

Our solar panels and battery storage was completed in a single day and by 6:30 the panels were generating a tiny amount of power in the misty rain. However, the battery came with 56% charge and that supplied us all during the evening. Today is mostly cloudy but still enough to recharge the battery and feed into the grid. We have an old analog meter with a spinning wheel. It has been fun watching the wheel spin backwards and see the mechanical numbers on the meter roll backwards.

I placed the order and paid the deposit on the 26th and we were up and running on the 1st. Amazing really.

I think after we decide whether or not we're doing a loft conversion, I'll start saving for solar panels and batteries.  By then, the costs will maybe have come down some more, and hopefully the efficiency of panels will have gone up even more, so I can get more power from a smaller footprint (our house is small but our needs are great!).

We have 13 panels each generating a max of 300W so 3.9kW max. The Lithium Ion battery is quite slim and small and holds 2.4kWh of charge. Easy to add another battery or 2 if we want as it is self install, just a couple of cables to connect it to the existing battery. Cost with VAT £1,050.

Our solar panels and battery storage was completed in a single day and by 6:30 the panels were generating a tiny amount of power in the misty rain. However, the battery came with 56% charge and that supplied us all during the evening. Today is mostly cloudy but still enough to recharge the battery and feed into the grid. We have an old analog meter with a spinning wheel. It has been fun watching the wheel spin backwards and see the mechanical numbers on the meter roll backwards.

I placed the order and paid the deposit on the 26th and we were up and running on the 1st. Amazing really.

I don't know diddle about solar panels. This sounds like a fairly large set-up. The £1050 you quoted was just for the extra battery? Almost hate to ask.....but what was the cost for the 13 panels etc?

I don't know diddle about solar panels. This sounds like a fairly large set-up. The £1050 you quoted was just for the extra battery? Almost hate to ask.....but what was the cost for the 13 panels etc?

I don't know diddle about solar panels. This sounds like a fairly large set-up. The £1050 you quoted was just for the extra battery? Almost hate to ask.....but what was the cost for the 13 panels etc?

Total cost including battery, panels and installation was £7,500 and we paid up front.  Long time investment, need to plan on staying put at least 10 years, but a great feel good effect in generating our own electricity.  70% of real estate agents polled say that solar panels on a house make no difference to the price, so it is not a good investment as a house improvement.  If we can halve our electricity bill, saving £250 / year then it will an ROI of 3.3% in the first year and the longer we get those savings then the ROI increases  as the initial capital cost is “paid back” by the savings. The salesmen will quote double those savings but I take that with a bag of salt.

Total cost including battery, panels and installation was £7,500 and we paid up front.  Long time investment, need to plan on staying put at least 10 years, but a great feel good effect in generating our own electricity.  70% of real estate agents polled say that solar panels on a house make no difference to the price, so it is not a good investment as a house improvement.  If we can halve our electricity bill, saving £250 / year then it will an ROI of 3.3% in the first year and the longer we get those savings then the ROI increases  as the initial capital cost is “paid back” by the savings. The salesmen will quote double those savings but I take that with a bag of salt.

Yeah I looked online......looked like it would pretty well be 10 years to break even. I don't plan that far ahead. Although I like the idea of producing my own electricity.