Crossing the Line

 We’ve only gone and done it!

17 months after arriving in Sicily, we can say we’ve made it, yeah? That we’ve gone from arriving here with a couple of bags full o’ hopes and dreams ... and loadsa research notes ... to settling into our ‘kiwi4everhome’.
What do I mean by this?
I mean not only do we have about every document, card and permission we need to both legally and permanently reside here: Our home is finished, done, and as near as damn it complete!

Our pre-renovated kitchen.

It’s fully furnished, (most) boxes are unpacked, it’s double-glazed, has a new kitchen, and all major renovation works have been completed.
So that’s it: We’ve got our house in order.
We’ve crossed the line.
Okay, and of course, there’s still the “rats and mice” things to do. But nothing that can’t be done at our leisure, and over this coming Summer. Nothing that’ll hold up our (ongoing) enjoyment of living here on our island in the sun, in the Mediterranean.
It’s been one hell of a rollercoaster ride though: Ups, downs, and lotsa going round and round in circles, but we’ve arrived. We’ve made it. We’re here now.
And this is forever, by the way, ‘cause we ain’t for moving. When I stated, way back in March 2020, we were looking for a ‘forever home’, that’s exactly and precisely what I meant.
Now some believed then (and maybe still believe now) we’d only end up moving again?
That won’t be happening!

Being First

Along with getting our house in order, we’ve also gotten a car.
While it is, of course, our second most expensive purchase here, it’s been so worth it ‘cause it’s granted us something wonderful: Independence.

Let's celebrate our independence!

Independence from the somewhat archaic and often disorganised modes of public transport available to us in our wee corner of the world. And independence from relying on the many wonderful friends we’ve made here who’ve gone out of their way (literally!) to transport us all about the place.
However, as we all know, for every ‘upside’ there’s so gotta be a ‘downside’, and the biggest downside, besides the cost of fuel right now, are our fellow road users!
I say ‘road users’ because it’s not just other drivers: It’s the moped and motorcycle users; and don’t start me on the pedestrians!
The late, great Clive James, in his “Postcard from Rome” programme, got perhaps the best answer I’ve ever heard to the question when he asked: “Why do Italian drivers drive the way they do?”
His taxi driver answering: “Because we must be first...” Which does about sum it up, I have to reckon!
Said driver also stated that road signs, and road rules, could (and should) be ignored when inconvenient...
We can confirm this to be the case. I will say though, that most of the local drivers here are pretty good overall. They f’sure have far more patience than we’ve observed elsewhere in Italy at least.
Still drive like lunatics though!

Money, Money, Money...

So, our house is now a cosy home, and we’re fully mobile ... but what about the dreaded ‘F’ word: Finances?

Balancing budgets...

Those who’ve been following me since the beginning’ll know I’m a little annaly retentive! If there’s any way of doing it, then I’m all for firing up a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet.
One ‘positive’ from 30-plus years in IT!
So, I’ve been doing end-of-month spreadsheets. Beginning with “1 Total Funds - 23rd October 2020”, created a month after we arrived here, and up to last months: “16 Total Funds - 31st January 2022”.
And no, you’ll get no details!
What I will say is that well before landing here, I’d worked out what I thought was a good, do-able, monthly budget. One designed for two (older) non-working adults, with no in-house kids, and no outstanding or future debts (e.g. no mortgage, borrowing, etc.).
I know, I know: “Okay Boomer” right? In my defence, I opted for unemployment as I can’t get a state pension for another two years.
Anyways, one thing I did uber-research was the Sicilian cost of living. Specifically concerning Ragusa province, where possible, using several ‘comparison’ websites covering the costs of food, utilities, transportation, entertainment, etc.
Long story short? Factoring out buying the house, car, renovations, etc., I reckoned we could live comfortably on a comparatively modest budget here. And, over this last 16 months, we’ve been spending around 90% of what I’d reckoned on per month.
That’s f’sure not bad!

More Soon...