Property News · May 5, 2018

‘My salary nosedived after I moved to Orkney, but I’m happier here’


Cathedral custodian and writer Fran Hollinrake on how she makes ends meet after she swapped city life for an island homeWe moved to Orkney for the good life 15 years ago. It was a bit of a leap in the dark, for we’d only experienced the island from our honeymoon and holidays and we knew it would be a one-way trip because we could not now afford a home on the mainland. My husband and I had been renting a tiny flat in Edinburgh and we swapped that for a three-bedroom, 18th century house on the harbour front on Orkney for which the rent was 40% less. My salary nosedived, however. I had been manager of a tour company in Edinburgh earning £16,000 a year. When we decided that we were tired of city life I worked freelance for a while, earning about £6,000. I then got a job with Orkney Islands council looking after the 12th century St Magnus Cathedral. I’m now on £17,000. We have very little disposable income and, because on Orkney winters are long and prices high, we live in borderline fuel poverty. There are only six hours of daylight in the depths of winter and our electricity bill is £2,000 a year. Solid fuel costs us £25 a week.When we made our lifestyle change we accepted that we would have to be more self-sufficient and spend less on clothes and nightlife and non-essentials. Prices are higher here because everything has to be brought across the water, and locally produced things tend to be high-end and more expensive. Yet I find it easier to live frugally here than in Edinburgh. It’s the Orcadian tradition to make do and mend. Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
Read more…‘My salary nosedived after I moved to Orkney, but I’m happier here’

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