Man make fire

Yesterday, I returned from a camping trip for my lovely friend Janine’s 30th birthday. Janine her husband, sister and closest friends all ventured north for bonfire & barbecue fun on the beach.

I’ve mentioned before that I think this is a fantastic way to spend a birthday, saving money rather than splurging on a party in a hired venue. J’s in-laws have a static caravan up north so a quite few folk slept indoors, whilst the remainder (including me & my husband) pitched our tent for the night.

We picnicked in the sunshine on the way up, just near Bruar and then continued up to Forres, a town just before Findhorn, to buy our barbecue goodies. We all put £10 in the kitty for the food, which turned out to be far too much so we got £5 back (score!).

The evening was spent collecting wood and building the bonfire at Findhorn sand dunes. The boys had a great time making fire and keeping it lit. In fact they got so carried away that they brought back a whole felled tree, which didn’t exactly fit in the bonfire, given that nobody had brought an axe!

It was a lovely night and a great way to celebrate J’s birthday.

Sunset over Findhorn Sands

The expensive part came on Saturday. My husband & I only planned to stay the one night so we headed back around about lunchtime. We weren’t even on the road for half an hour before we heard a rattle, and then just seconds later, the clank of the exhaust. Oh dear.

I have AA membership through my bank (that’s Automobile Association rather that Alcoholics Anonymous to those not in the UK – this story isn’t going to take that strange a tangent!) but I didn’t have the number on me. I tried to look it up on my mobile but there was no reception. Eek!

Luckily, a passing contractor pulled over to see if we were okay. He looked under the car & secured the exhaust to the tow bar loop with cable ties, which he explained would melt once the exhaust got warm, but he offered to show us the way to Frank’s Garage, who would be able to sort us out in the meantime.

Frank’s was all you would expect of a garage based in rural North East Scotland. A man of very few words directed us onto the ramp and secured it with thick copper wire instead. He didn’t charge us anything and said it should hold for the 3 hour journey home.

We’ll have to take the car to the local garage on Monday. Fingers crossed they’ll just be able to reattach the exhaust and that there’s nothing wrong with the exhaust itself- could be pricy!

So my money saving tip today is… Don’t own a car unless you really have to! We’ve already spent over £700 this year on maintaining our car (new brakes & tyres), not to mention £385 on insurance and more ££s on road tax. It’s really expensive, and strictly speaking, we don’t NEED it. But it has dramatically improved our quality of life, and allowed us to go camping for our holidays in July. Sigh. I fear it may have to go if the bills keep coming in at this rate.

My next post will be more up-beat, as I will be typing with my freshly manicured digits. Watch this space.