the daydream fund challenge thread

COOLTRIKERCHICK

HI all,

talking of garlic, had a very bad year for it.... so i really do need to get some into the ground this weekend.... I planted it in early spring this year, so maybe that was the problem?

With what is going to happen around us, and the uncertainty of if the develoeprs will buy us out or not etc... IF they dont, then we will not havent a chance in hell of selling our houses in the future..plus with interest rates being sooooooooooooooo low, I am panicking a bit that its only going to be a matter of time interest rates will shoot up, so we have come to a decision that we might be better off trying to make extra payments off our mortgage. Things are getting quiet with work, and with the public sector set for a right bashing, this could also have a knock on effect with work.

We havent got any pensions and we are no spring chickens:rotfl: so even though i am still keeping my dream alive, We really do need to think of getting mortgage free in the next few years..

once we have paid off our mortgage, we will allways have the equity in the house, or have income from renting it out...if we find the right place:p

choille

You all sound as if you have had good gardening years. I am ashamed to say I haven't really at all & it's looking really neglected now - something else to feel guilty about!

A couple of my hens aren't good - one especially so, one of the young black ones. I don't know if it's the cold or not.

Posted some pics of some of the newbies: http://wildwritingfromtheedge.blogspot.com/2010/11/3-of-newbies.html

The leaves are fairly coming off the trees now.

CBT - we don't have pensions either. I think people are all feeling insecure these days. I'm sorry you have all the uncertainty with these developer guys & I'm sending good wishes to you down the ether.

Poosmate

Hi CTC, I'm glad I'm not the only one who's panicking about the interest rates going up. I'm not making extra payments off my mortgage yet but am paying more off my debts (the one with the highest interest of course).

I am finding that I get rather anxious when the BoE is due to announce what it's doing with the interest rate, there's absolutely no doubt that as soon as it starts to go up the following month so will your mortgage payments! I really hope they are sensible and increase it gradually, like half a percent per quarter so at least we'll have some time to rebudget to take the hit.

My mortgage repayments went down by £45 in November 09, I was in a real financial mess then so the recession was my friend, unfortunately I wasn't able to pay the whole £45 off my debts at the time but it did enable me to sort out my finances, pay a little extra off them and save enough to be able to pay annual bills (car tax/insurance/mot) in cash rather than with the credit card. YAY! Of course, now a lot of other everyday expenses have gone up, that extra £45 has soon been swallowed up.

Still, I broke the cycle, I reduced my debt, I budget better and I know that at least I can reduce payments on my debts to the minimum if I absolutely have to, plus my food bill will go down next year too! Yay! I still aim to be debt and mortgage free in 10 years. Maybe then I'll be able to save enough to buy a small plot of land.

Poo

lostinrates

what a night.

This morning the back garden is covered with apples, and the wheelie bin had left home....fed up with rural life it was heading up to the village. Its a day to huddle inside with boils of warm and savoury broth, but of course, you have to brave it out there. I half flew through the yard where the poor chickens were chatting away, obviously worried. They have sprung a minor roof leak where their parlour joins anther barn, so my guess is its flashing not tiles. I didn't even try to get the barrow in to clean them out....it would end in disaster. The horses are still ignoring any hay put out, but I thought last night they might eat in, and come in to the warm barn provided for them, but no, they are all standing under the hedge, looking forlorn. They didn't want to leave the hedge to come over to me, and I didn't want to brave crossing the pen to them, so I watched for a while, made sure each of them had four weight bearing legs and then stepped back out into the wind to blow back to the house.Small blessing: I have no greenhouse to heck for broken glass, and no poly tunnel to pray is still there.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Poosmate... going back 4 - 5 plus years ago, we were absolutley sinking in debt, duely to a failed business, that my husband hid the extent off it from me, when the shop shut i had to pick up the peices so we had to add another 30 odd grand to the mortgage, and 5 years added on to it, to cover what the business owed, we managed to pay off our credit cards ec a few years ago too, so now i use our credit cards for the incentives and cashaback etc..

we have another 15 years and one month left on the mortgage, we made our first over payment yesturday of £100:T

choille... The way things are changing, I think lots of peole are silently worrying about the future... I dont think the things the government plan to cut over the next year or so is the end of it, I think it might just be the beginning..

The government are making it compulsary for all businesses big and small to contribute to a pension for their emplyees, if the earn over x amount per year... I know my business will not be able to afford the extra contribution i would need to make as an employer, so I will only be able to employ part-timers in the future, so their wages will be under the amount.

The only thing i can think of is that in years to come there will be no state pension... and benifts will have a major shake up too, maybe if you are unemployed you only get 6 months worth of benefit and thats it...so in the end we will be like alot of other countries in the world, if you dont workm you dont have money, and you got to save for your old age, or rely on family to look after you...

choille

Well the poorly little black hen looks better today - quite lively. I thought I mighthave had one less this morning. I wonder if it was the coldness of the day, but it does have the runs. I think I'll worm them all - although you don't know if they were done by the previous owners - - -oh, I don't know.

LIR - Quite a wild night out there, but had the gales from a not too bad direction. I truly hate the wind. It's a bully.

Poo - You've done so well. I stopped smoking in Feb after 32 years on the fags & did expect to put the money I would have spent away, but did I heck. It seems to have been sucked into the general housekeeping - I suppose prices have gone up. We seem to have had a time of clients not paying & that is becoming quite common to have to wait a few months, have to write reminders & almost threaten legal action with some.

CBT - You too have done well to get on top of your debts after your bad time. I do admire people who can really climb out of debt.
Yes, I agree about it being the beginning of belt tightening by the government. I was quite taken aback at what people are having to pay in rents in say London & if they are on the dole then they get housing benefit. They are talking of capping/cutting that - so will there be a big exodus, will people who are commuting swop houses? I doubt it but many people will be in a state of unsettledness I suppose.

We don't have a mortgage, well we don't have a completed house as yet, but we do live cheap. We don't really go out! We don't buy videos, CDs. I collect dead wood for the stove - our only form of heating. I mainly cook from scratch, but buy good meat. OH puts £10 occasionally in the mobile so he can phone me when he's away for the day. I don't know where the money goes. I should really have a right good look at our expenses. We do have to travel big distances here. I do go a bit bersek in charity shops, have binges when I go for a big shop. I have more clothes stashed away than I'll ever wear. I bought a tweed suit the other week. Like new, wonderful quality, sounds frumpy but it's not, but when am I going to wear that?
If there were car boot sales in Inverness indoors I should do one or two. There probably is. Sorry rambling on.

rhiwfield

CTC/Poo, very glad to see that low interest rates are benefitting you, but savers are seeing the value of their savings falling as inflation rises above savings rates. The idea is to get savers to spend to stimulate the economy, but those savings are part of our pension and anyhow I dont want another tv, or a blackberry, or any of those fashion consumer goods. And the way that house price increases are viewed as a sign of prosperity is daft, especially in rural areas where young people cant afford the prices.

With uncertainty ahead, highish inflation (especially for food and energy..oil nearly $90 today), job market depressed and public sector spending cuts looming - all this gives added impetus to improving family resilience.

Picking up on Lir's theme of animals needing to pay their way, any spending decision has to do the same. So keeping the house in good repair, building raised beds, planting fruit trees, putting in a polytunnel or greenhouse, growing veg instead of buying supermarket stuff, installing insulation and power generation, all these are geared to reducing vulnerability to some of the future shocks, as is relearning skills. Our fitted kitchen is nearly 20 years old and no doubt Phil & Kirstie would say it has potential but need tlc! Our last integrated appliance has just packed up (microwave) and we put a wine rack in the vacated space made from 2 argos value racks and some skip-dived backing. Looks good too :beer:. The microwave was replaced with a freestanding Cookworks spare and all the appliances are now slot in/slot under....it saves a fortune when they have to be replaced and gives more choice.

Off the soapbox , we've finally had some of the wind and rain thats been plaguing others, with much more later, so got a fire going in the woodburner and doing a bit of tidying indoors.

Hunker down people

Davesnave

Whoops! Pressed wrong button in my haste.....sheep arriving unexpectedly as soon as they are drenched, apparently. Don't know why he's bothering, they'll be drenched soon enough up here!

'Family resilience' is a great phrase, rhiwfield; I shall hang on to it. When DW moans that I'm being tight-fisted again, I'll say, "Just trying to build a bit of family resilience, dear."

Seriously agree with your analysis. Tough times, but we all come out of them leaner and fitter, but hopefully, not meaner.

choille

Great with the sheep. I like having sheep about the place. They actually improve the ground if it isn't very good, but your's looks lush.

Hope your all surviving the gales down there.

lostinrates

sheep are great for ground...at the right stocking rate super for grass.


its horrific out there now. I have to go out and feed soon and I'm dreading it.