Our big fat list of things to save for

I had to have a little chuckle to myself when Tom and I were chatting the other day about going away in the van (Tom has a VW T5 Transporter) this year, and he explained that he’d really like to do a lot more work on the van first – fitting some reclining chairs, redoing the flooring and generally renovating the inside again. The reason I laughed is that we seem to be saving for several things at once at the moment and I don’t think we can add a camper-van renovation into the mix! I think we’ve hit that age where you want to make where you live really lovely, but you still haven’t lost that wanderlust and desire to travel, so we’re juggling lots of savings goals at once at the moment.

So when I was asked to write a blog post on a ‘once in a lifetime’ spend, and what we’d buy if money was no object, I thought, “Stuff once in a lifetime, we need all of this stuff now!” So I thought I’d tell you about all of the reasons we’re currently siphoning money into a savings pot and will be foregoing lots of nights out, dinners out and new clothes over the next 14 months or so….

 1. Trek America trek in September 

img credit: timecapturer.com 

In September we’ll be heading off on the Westerner 2 trek with Trek America, visiting the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Yosemite National Park, San Francisco and Big Sur to name a few.  We have a rather hefty amount to pay off in July, not to mention needing to save for spending money for the trip itself so we can afford some of their extra activities, and lots of yummy American food!  I have a feeling this is going to be one worth eating beans on toast for a couple of months for though, we can’t wait!

2. Wood Burning Stove



This might seem a little odd, but it’s something Tom and I have wanted for ages, can you imagine how cosy it would make our living room! We have a rather empty fireplace at the moment and we’re desperate to fill it with a wood-burner by next winter.  Tom has even started building a wood-store in the garden ready for all the wood we’re going to need! (Excuse the mess, we’ve just pulled down a load of decking and are working on the garden!) Bodhi, as always, is on hand to inspect any changes being made!



3. Our wedding

Perhaps I should have listed this a little higher up the list, but of course we’re also saving for our wedding in April next year.  We are trying ever so hard to do it on a budget, but having booked the venue, the photographer and with the quote we have from the caterers we’ve already gone over our estimations and our inching towards our intended max budget!  Luckily both of our parents are kindly helping us out but we still want to save a lot ourselves so that we can do the things we really want to do!

4. A new kitchen

I’ve mentioned before that our kitchen is not entirely to my taste, with green cupboards and a really odd layout with a freestanding oven and a separate utility room that’s a bit too small to house much in.  We painted the floor white in February but we’d really love to give it a complete makeover and get a kitchen designer in to redesign the layout and put some really smart new work surfaces and units in.  We spend a lot of time in the kitchen so it makes sense to turn it into a place that we love!


5. The honeymoon

I really have no idea how we’re going to save for a honeymoon – especially the sort of honeymoon we’d like! We’d really like to take a good amount of time off work (perhaps 6-8 weeks if possible) and go to Bali, Australia and maybe Fiji too.  I realise that’s very ambitious even in terms of the amount of travel but it seems like a great opportunity to tick a few places off the wanderlust list! At this rate though it’ll be more like Bognor than Bali!

6. A new bathroom

A new bathroom is also on the ‘to save for’ list.  At the moment our bathroom has three peach walls and one white one where Tom had a burst of energy one weekend and then ran out of paint.  It also has lots and lots of wooden cladding with gaps in and zero storage, meaning horrid boxes of toiletries everywhere!  We’d love to do the same as the kitchen and get a proper designer and fitter in to get it done properly!

So that’s my ‘once in a lifetime’ splurge list except for we’re trying to fit it all into a two-year period – oops! This blog post topic was suggested by Everyday Loans and I fear we may end up needing one of our own if we don’t stop expanding the ‘to save for’ list!

What would your ‘once in a lifetime’ spend be – or what big ticket item are you saving for?

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