Income Supplement

I am not a greedy person to be chasing extra income so often but I do want to pay off our mortgage and so give us a bit of freedom and financial security.

I dont want to be working the hours that I do now in 10 years time. We dont really have any income except my salary at the moment because the old man started his own business and it takes some years before it can stand by itself.

We have decided that we need some additional income to help towards paying for finishing the family house in Crete and also make some lump some payment towards the mortgage.

When we decided to buy and renovate/build on to the house in Crete is was to be a family house & we didnt expect to share it with anyone. However we have had a lot of our friends ask if we will be renting the house out. Well we wont be advertising it or renting out as such but we have decided that if friends want to stay there and in exchange make a contribution to building costs then that is okay with us.

So now we have to think about getting some furniture into the house. I like second hand furniture myself but that isnt really an option in Crete. No-one buys second hand but also they are a fairly frugal people and not prone to change for the sake of it. This means that second hand goods just aren;t really available. So we have the choice of new & good quality, often imported from Italy but also China & Poland (I never knew that furniture came from Poland before.)The main problem, aside from cost, is that it tends to be a little more otstentatious than I would like.

Next choice is to bring a van or container form the UK with second hand furniture from here. Thisis quite expensive and it would have to be a good saving overall to make this viable. At the moment we are considering asking the builder to build in cupboards for us. Apparently this is a popular option. We then thought of buying hotel style pine bed. Quite cheap but how comfortable? Maybe the builder can also make beds.

My friend Sue, whose house is about 5km from our house in Crete, has some beautiful handcarved Cretan furniture. It is really is beautiful to look at but I dont think my deilate bottom half can handle it. I find the chairs and sofas so painful that sitting straight on a marble floor is preferable. Then ofcourse there are the traditional Cretan dining chairs with the rafia seats. SO beautiful to look at but like sitting on a cheese grater for me! If I opt for bauty will I ever be comfortable with it. Is it a silly idea to collect furniture here and then drive it all that way??

Oh dear, so much to decide. I dont think I will be getting contribution to building costs from friends any time soon unless they relish the idea of sleeping on an inflatable mattress.