Cliff Ton 10,473 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 27 minutes ago, Jill Sparrow said: I hope you've had better luck this month, CT. So far I've not heard anything. I'll hang on a few more days before I seriously fall out with them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,307 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 Do you check on the site, using your holder's number? Results are on today. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJ360 6,733 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 Was up early this morning..waiting for the forecast 'Indian Summer' heat to kick in so I can catch some rays. So I sat in silent reflection, over a coffee, in the living room.. Mrs Col still being at our Daughter's.. As I gazed absentmindedly across the road I got to thinking how well the chap opposite has done for himself. He started a business decades ago which has employed him, his wife, several family members, very gainfully indeed. And yet for reasons I won't go into they've also had a lot of unhappiness... I started strolling mentally around the street, or at least our little cul de sac, which has 6 houses on our side and a mix, including some smaller houses on the other side making a total of about 14. I concluded that almost everyone has done better than us in wealth terms.., mostly by managing to stay in gainful employment through most of their lives and in several instances both partners ending up with decent pensions after a life of uninterrupted decent pay. I've detailed my own rather 'uneven' working life, so I won't bore you with all that again, but it was a world away from the above... I also noted that many have had pretty good inheritances. I'm not talking country estates, but the proceeds from 'average' houses and lumps of cash after parents passed on etc. We've inherited nothing of monetary value.. Our neighbours include three female single occupants.. two, women who went through messy separations/divorces decades ago and never settled with anyone else. One hardly ever sees her only child, who went abroad. Another, one of the 'original' occupants, like us.. who 'lost' her husband a couple of decades ago after the dramatic midnight arrival of an ambulance on 'Blues and Twos'.. whose occupants were unable to save him. Another family seem to have been afflicted with a mix of both congenital and acquired 'special needs', so that of the two surviving out of four, only one lives in the house now.. Although we get on tolerably well with everyone in our cul de sac, and are 'closer' to a smaller group, there's a 'core' group of us at one end, who all bought 'off plan', and moved in within a few months of each other, 47 years ago. One is widowed but has supportive children and grandkids. One couple have 'loadsamoney' and two highly qualified kids, but are very unlikely to ever have any Grandkids and I know that hurts because they pretty much say so.. Two other very successful couples have only a single child each, both with health issues and very unlikely to present them with Grandkids. The remaining couples, again..seemingly very 'comfortable', are on their second marriages and seem to have 'complicated' families... All of the above might seem like me being very judgemental, although I've tried to stick to facts. I also really can't know how happy or otherwise people are, except where they make things obvious.. but I came to thinking about us... No money to speak of, but no debt. We don't always see 'eye to eye', but we're still together after 50+ years, and we have two very hardworking, loving and successful daughters, who've given us three brilliant Grandkids.. (So far..).. It could be much, much worse. Right.. the grass needs cutting... 5 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,473 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 14 minutes ago, Jill Sparrow said: Do you check on the site, using your holder's number? Results are on today. I normally wait until I get an email notification....which is usually around the 3rd-6th of the month. However, based on your comment, I've just looked at the NSI website and this month I've got the biggest monthly win I've ever had. 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,307 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 Well. Col, no matter how much people have in the bank, there are no pockets in shrouds as they say. My mum's favourite saying was that money doesn't buy happiness and, as ever bless her, she was right. It doesn't and can't. Happiness comes from within. I'm quite happy with my life. Never married, no children. Never wanted either, even remotely. I own my own abode. I won't starve, nor will my cats. I have a clear conscience and my time is my own to do with as I like. I don't compare myself with other people. They are them and I am me. I've never wanted to be anyone else. Just as well because it isn't possible. Mum's other favourite saying was Count Your Blessings. I have many and I'm very grateful for them. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,307 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 6 minutes ago, Cliff Ton said: However, based on your comment, I've just looked at the NSI website and this month I've got the biggest monthly win I've ever had. Good, isn't it? Well done, CT. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,144 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 Money may not buy happiness but it enables you to be miserable in comfort! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,307 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 I didn't realise you were miserable, Phil. Cheer up. It won't last forever Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,144 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 At my age that’s very true. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,473 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 37 minutes ago, DJ360 said: No money to speak of, but no debt. We don't always see 'eye to eye', but we're still together after 50+ years, and we have two very hardworking, loving and successful daughters, who've given us three brilliant Grandkids.. (So far..).. It could be much, much worse. And The Beatles wrote a song about it. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJ360 6,733 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 I appreciate that we aren't interested in money..or the happiness it most definitely cannot bring.... so purely from curiosity.. I was wondering what level of investment in Premium Bonds leads to the pretty confident expectation of some sort of win every month? ...Just curious.... Whenever Premium Bonds are discussed, I recall my dear old Mum, way back in the late 50s. She had a single Bond, whose number started 1AB57 or thereabouts...acquired as a gift associated with a purchase. or summat. Back then the winning numbers were published in the papers and she'd be heard 'tutting' and then declaring.. "Not a bleddy 1AB among 'em!" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,307 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 My mum also had one bond and scanned the printed results avidly every month. She'd often say, "That one's really close to mine!" Alas, hers never won a bean. They say it's purely a matter of luck, which I don't believe, but the more you own, the greater the chances of winning. Maximum holding is now £50k per person. It was raised from £30k a few years ago. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brew 5,422 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 1 hour ago, Jill Sparrow said: My mum's favourite saying was that money doesn't buy happiness I agree in general terms however I would point out that the lack of money causes a lot of misery. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJ360 6,733 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 1 hour ago, Jill Sparrow said: Happiness comes from within. I'm quite happy with my life. Never married, no children. Never wanted either, even remotely. Of course I wouldn't disagree with that. So long as you are living your chosen life and it's making you happy, there's no 'right', or 'wrong' style. Oddly, even up until getting married, I never really thought deeply about 'the future'.. or what I wanted from it. I lived very much 'in the moment'. These days, apart from odd reminiscences, I look to the future much more than I ever did in the past.. even though logically, there's a lot less of it.. if that makes sense. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,307 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 In the moment is the best way. You can't change the past and, by and large, you can't influence the future so why worry about either? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJ360 6,733 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 4 minutes ago, Brew said: I agree in general terms however I would point out that the lack of money causes a lot of misery. I reckon the vast majority are content to be able to pay the bills, feed and clothe themselves and their families etc. Those who can't, for whatever reason, do indeed suffer in many ways.. and those in that position seem to be increasing in number as the 'wealth gap' widens. Above the 'poverty line', there seem to be very diverse views and ambitions. Again.. I think most of us are content to try to improve our lot in life steadily, and honestly, and yet even there.. I have a couple of friends who frequently express a feeling that somehow they've been 'cheated', and despite having much more wealth than me.. are unhappy that they don't have more. At the other extreme are those who will never have enough.. They include many, such as the Grant Schapps 'spiv' type, who are quite ruthless and amoral in their pursuit of wealth, and on to those whose pursuit of 'wealth', seems to be more about power than money..such as the likes of Murdoch, and 'Sir' Phillip Green. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brew 5,422 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 I didn't plan my life, in fact other than a plan to live forever, I've never made a plan for the future at all. Life just seems to happen. The past is a foreign country and the future unknown territory. One has gone and the other might have dragons so I'll just stay here and see what comes along. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,473 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 Exactly. I just wake up every morning, and then see what happens. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
plantfit 7,604 Posted September 2, 2023 Report Share Posted September 2, 2023 As one of my old managers used to say "There is no plan, it can't go wrong then" Rog Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beekay 5,160 Posted September 4, 2023 Report Share Posted September 4, 2023 58 years today !!! And they said it would never last. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,307 Posted September 4, 2023 Report Share Posted September 4, 2023 She deserves a medal the size of a dustbin lid. Congratulations to you both and have a lovely day. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,144 Posted September 4, 2023 Report Share Posted September 4, 2023 58 years! You wouldn’t get that for murder. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MargieH 7,607 Posted September 4, 2023 Report Share Posted September 4, 2023 Happy anniversary Barrie and Tina cx Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nonnaB 4,895 Posted September 4, 2023 Report Share Posted September 4, 2023 2 hours ago, Beekay said: 58 years today !!! And they said it would never last. Happy anniversary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IAN FINN 809 Posted September 4, 2023 Report Share Posted September 4, 2023 Congrats you two HAPPY ANNIVERSARY when do you get your medal Beekay? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.