Having sold and moved out of our house, August was a truly nomadic month for us. We stayed in 6 different locations, helped friends and family lay the tiled floor in a new garden room and put a the mist coat on new plaster in a new home office. We also house sat for 2 different dogs (and 2 chickens) for complete strangers! The beautiful weather continued which made a few nights in the camper van between stops, a breeze.
We have been so busy helping with DIY, exploring new places, playing with animals, watering plants and collecting eggs that we haven’t had too much time to dwell on the fact that we are essentially homeless. I have barely given work a second thought; I certainly don’t miss it. It will be interesting to see if the novelty starts to wear off as we head into autumn and the weather inevitably turns more typically British.
The Scottish house purchase continues, but painfully slowly. We have not been very impressed by our solicitor’s sense of urgency (or lack thereof), but starting again at this stage of the game with someone else would be costly and time consuming and they may not be any better, so we plod on. The seller’s representative does not seem any more energetic, so we are trying to minimise the number of separate queries that go back and forth. I am hoping that this time next month I will be able to share that we have concluded missives (the Scottish equivalent of exchanging contracts in England), and the deal is legally binding. Please send positive vibes 🙂
August saw our first housesit through Trusted Housesitters. This is a platform I signed up to at the end of June. I was unsure how well it would work for us, but figured it was worth a try for the £99 fee (or actually £78 as I took advantage of an offer). For the price of 3 nights on a campsite, we could have limitless free nights in houses in return for caring for pets and plants. That was the theory at least. I was a little sceptical about how easy it would be to get started, but the site offers to refund your subscription if you are not successful after 3 applications, so we didn’t have too much to lose. It turns out, we are just the kind of sitters people want. There is a lot of opportunity out there as people have started travelling abroad again, and the number of new lockdown pets has increased much faster than kennels capacity. The first week our profile went live, we had 3 unsolicited invitations to sit, and so far we have been signed up for 4 out of the 5 sits we have applied for. The 5th found a family member to fill the role, so no longer needed someone.
The process is very simple. We set up a profile telling homeowners about us and our experience caring for animals and plants and add photos that hopefully don’t make us look like serial killers. We had to provide ID (passport or driving licence) and were also able to link to AirBnB and LinkedIn profiles. Homeowners do the same, advertising for specific dates and introducing their pets and homes and what the sitters’ responsibilities would be. Sitters can then apply for specific sits and the homeowners get to chose who they would like to talk to on the phone or a video call and ultimately invite to sit for them. You can then sort out the details of when to arrive etc directly.
Homeowners and sitters can leave reviews and feedback similar to AirBnB, and I was worried that with no reviews, being new to the platform, we might struggle to attract opportunities. In fact, you are able to request reviews from people outside the platform who know you. We asked the friends who’s dog we have house sat for to supply reviews and this seemed to do the trick. I think it also helped that we are a professional couple, with no children or dogs in tow.
Perhaps it is inevitable when applying to sit for houses in areas we would like to be, but so far, we have had a lot in common with the homeowners we have met. Both have asked us to keep them up to date with the next instalment of our adventure and have invited us to pop in for a cup of tea and a chat if we ever find ourselves in the area. I found further proof a similar mindset on the wall in the downstairs toilet of one house:
That initial period when you are in the house with the homeowner, so they can show you the ropes and introduce you to the animals, is a little bit awkward. You are sort of a guest, but not. We try to minimise the duration of this transition as much as possible, but depending on when they are due to set off on their travels, this is often overnight. The two sets of owners we have met so far have been very welcoming and we have had plenty to chat about to keep conversation flowing, but it does feel a little weird.
So, while we have been galivanting around the countryside, how has the freedom fund been performing in August? You probably won’t be surprised to hear that it is down around £38k since the end of July.
- Freedom Fund Value: £1,184,881
- Monthly expenses: £2,290* or a withdrawal rate of 2.3% if we were to maintain this rate of spending
- Income: £0!
- Miles walked to end July: 1235 vs. a target of 1165**
Our monthly expenses were virtually the same as last month. We spent a bit less on groceries as house sits allowed for more efficient meal planning, but spent more on fuel travelling around the country, as well as an increased bill for storage. The latter should balance out next month as we have paid in advance for a longer period. The fact that we have been able to benefit from free accommodation for all but 3 days of the month (which were spent on a campsite), has enabled us to keep costs down. I dread to think what a short term let would have cost during the school summer holidays, and we certainly wouldn’t have paid for properties as large and comfortable as those we have enjoyed looking after.
With dogs to walk, I started racking up the miles walking again, with another 140 miles added to the 2022 total during August. It’s a good thing, as I have well and truly settled into extended holiday mode and this is not good for the waistline. Luckily(?) I don’t have access to bathroom scales, so don’t really know the true impact, but I am sure the more frequent evening glass of wine or two and the tendency to indulge rather too regularly in tea and cake on our travels is starting to take its toll.
During the month, we have moved northwards up the country, and the landscape has changed dramatically. Not just in terms of the permanent geography, but also the state of the grass and trees. From the tinder-dry drought conditions in the South West, South East and East Anglia, where autumn has come prematurely, to lush green grass in Yorkshire. Despite evidence of increased rainfall, we haven’t really been affected by it yet. I think this may about to change as we head to Southwest Scotland for a few days before the next house sits in Northumberland and the Scottish Borders.
Our August in photos:
*Includes £500 per month personal allowances (£250 each), which may not be spent in the month, but which is not tracked. Some of it may show up in the freedom fund in the future, if savings build up and are invested.
** I challenged myself to walk the equivalent of Lands End to John O’Groats and back in 2022. This is the longest overland distance between 2 points on the UK mainland.
Source link