Well this is a turn-up for the books isn't it! I know, I know, I thought it was the end of Penny Wise too! But you know what? I missed her. And I missed you. Not that I've been idling about and resting on my laurels mind you! No sirree, it's been a busy old time but jings it feels good to be back. I guess I should let you know that things are a bit different in Penny's world than where we last left off however…
For starters, as you can see I'm now the shortest in the family. But as you can also see, there are now only three of us - just me and the boys. Saying goodbye to Noel after more than 20 years was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I married a good man; a very good man and an excellent father. We went through some horrendously tough times and came out stronger the other side. And we were finally living our dream at the beach - this was supposed to be the easy part! But when I met Noel we were teenagers - just a year older than Liam is now. We were still kids. Now we are 40. As you would expect, we've both done a lot of growing and changing during that time! But instead of growing closer together, we grew apart. We wanted different things; we weren't the same people any more. In the end, trying to stay together became more heart breaking than being apart.
So it's onwards and upwards. At the moment, the boys and I are still living at the beach. They both have jobs, are busy with sports and are happy at school. They have grown into wonderful young men and we make a good team. We're living in the same house and for now we still have a vegetable garden and a freezer full of food. We've got it pretty easy - but it's not going to last. Our house is on the market and once it sells, who knows what the future holds. We'll be going from the freedom and security of owning our own home to trying to find a rental property and managing life and everything it throws at us on a single income. It's going to be one heck of a journey but I feel well-armed. Why? Because I have eight years' of Simple Savings knowledge up my sleeve and thank goodness I do because by crikey I'm going to need it!
