The Lights Just Went On!

I_should_be_rich_2

Thoughts on shopping. (Warning: this is going to be a pretty boring post, I am just thinking out loud really...)

Firstly, shopping in general is very expensive where I live. Combination of most stuff being imported, and a weak currency. But some things are definitely cheaper than in UK.

Pluses:
Local fish and seafood cheaper here. Lobster, shrimp, snapper etc whilst not exactly 'cheap' are much much more affordable than in UK.
Local fruits and veg reasonable also. (Actually, we eat mangos, oranges, bananas, passion fruit, pineapple etc straight from the trees in the garden) Not only are they free, but they taste SO good.
.
Chicken is all freerange, and although more expensive than UK is still relatively cheap.

Minuses:
Some things are very expensive here, for example:
- 5/6 medium/large potatoes costs me STG5!!
- Rice, flour, pasta, tinned food etc all very expensive. (tinned tomatoes approx STG1 per tin, small pack lasagne noodles about STG3).
- Decent beef mince approx STG6/7 per lb. Chicken mince would be less.
- Local cheese is cheap (though not very nice IMO - hubby and kids like it). If I want cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan etc I pay very high prices.

So a lot of the staples that people use in OS are not as cost effective for me. Anything 'branded' is exorbitant. For example, I was buying a small box of 'Special K' cereal each week for myself - until I realised that it cost over STG7!! Same for kids cereals, they have now been 'weaned' off Weetabix and Frosties and on to local brands.

Rather than bore you with any more details, for illustration purposes I did a dummy online shop with Asda using my last weekly shopping bill and it was almost exactly half the price in UK. Still came out at STG102, which means I could probably cut down a bit.

I do batch cook at weekends for the week ahead (though this has been more for convenience than MSE). I am going to look at perhaps adapting some recipes to use more 'local' than imported ingredients if I can........see how much difference that makes..............


OK, I've even bored myself with this shopping stuff by now, so won't prolong it any more for the rest of you !

I_should_be_rich_2

pbw wrote: »

i_should_be_rich,

a bit personal i know, but its been on my mind whilst reading this thread...

...which country are you in and what is your occupation, if you don't mind sharing the information that is

Hi pbw, it's not a secret or anything, just that combined with the info I have already given about myself, I am concerned that if I posted country and occupation as well, it would be possible for people to identify me .............I live on a large English-speaking island in the Caribbean however...............;)

SmlSave

I've even bored myself with this shopping stuff by now

I wasn't bored, found it interesting actually

I_should_be_rich_2

Quick Update.

Rang banks back re: dormant accounts and got some more helpful people this time.
So between two accounts that I have been able to get balances on, there is just over 25K (euro). The other accounts I don't expect to have a significant balance but will wait for the statements to arrive. I will keep this as savings, together with some other monies, and probably also add a STG 10K bonus due end of this month. I also have expenses to claim approx STG3-4K. Decided last night we would like to have at least STG50-60K in savings tucked away if possible (thanks StuartGMC for reminder on this!), so goal is to have that by the end of this year. Though I still think we can start doing some overpayments on mortgage at the same time, just maybe smaller than originally planned.

I plan to set up a standing order to one of the 'dormant' accounts for the monthly savings - ie one that we do not have an ATM card for or online access. So it will be 'safe' - won't get much interest, but won't be 'accidentally' spent either!!

We also thought last night that probably one of the reasons for having less money than we should is the amount of 'free holidays' we have provided to friends and family over the last few years. Living on a tropical island has understandably attracted a lot of requests for visits - and we have never said No.

Many of these were close friends and family, but there were more than a few that were not and probably took advantage of us. We have spare rooms so that didn't cost - but as one example one lady (that we only knew fairly casually) asked to stay for a week, and then stayed for a month. Not only that, but she arrived with a friend who had not been mentioned before - and whom we did not know! Electricity and water are very expensive here, and when people are not used to the climate, they will have 3/4 showers a day, have the air conditioning on all night etc so that really adds up. Also need to be fed and watered for the duration. And of course, you do want people to have a good time and enjoy themselves, so we would spend money on taking them places, eating out etc.

It's not going to be easy, but outside of close family and friends (who I will always encourage to visit) we need to be smarter around this.

We also offered to let another friend stay in our spare room for a month when she moved to the same city to start work, to allow her to save for a deposit for her own apartment. She stayed for five and a half months :eek:. Neither hubby nor I felt comfortable asking her to leave or to contribute towards bills - this sounds so stupid now but it is hard at the time. With hindsight we should have agreed something before she moved in, but thought is was just for one month. She only left in the end as I had family coming to visit and genuinely needed the spare room!

The more I think about stuff, the less surprised I am that we don't have more money...............need to toughen up methinks.................

Tesco_points_addict

I_should_be_rich (Love the user name by the way)

I have found it so helpful keeping a diary on here, I have even managed to get hubby involved now, he does the savings spread sheet. (Like you I don't do excel!) We are aiming to pay off our mortgage by the time i'm 40 (38 months and counting:j).

I must warn you about the spread sheet two AKA Stuart & Gallygirl, I see Stuart has already got to you, gallygirl will be next...watch out if you don't put it on a spreadsheet they will you! Most of mine info is still on paper, but susshhh don't tell them! Joking aside it is a really good idea.

TPAx
PS Stuart and Gally

I_should_be_rich_2

I must warn you about the spread sheet two AKA Stuart & Gallygirl, I see Stuart has already got to you, gallygirl will be next

Thanks Tesco Points Addict,

I am saving up Stuart's spreadsheet for the weekend so I can do it justice. Though the cost of the 2 year MSc in Excel that I have had to sign up for in order to understand it all may not help my Money issues!!

nick1977

Not an expert in this area, but are you paying income tax on your property rental or does being abroad make you exempt somehow?
If you are paying it, you may be better off saving the overpayments in a separate account rather than paying off the mortgage, as you can claim tax relief on the interest part of the mortgage payment. By overpaying, the interest portion of your payment will be decreasing faster, thus tax benefit will drop quicker also.
A bit of maths is required to see what's the best route if you are indeed paying income tax.

HTH
Nick

I_should_be_rich_2

Thands Nick,
I am exempt from tax (all legal and above board ).
But thanks for taking the time to think about this and post!

nick1977 wrote: »

Not an expert in this area, but are you paying income tax on your property rental or does being abroad make you exempt somehow?
If you are paying it, you may be better off saving the overpayments in a separate account rather than paying off the mortgage, as you can claim tax relief on the interest part of the mortgage payment. By overpaying, the interest portion of your payment will be decreasing faster, thus tax benefit will drop quicker also.
A bit of maths is required to see what's the best route if you are indeed paying income tax.

HTH
Nick

I_should_be_rich_2

Spending update from yesterday - a total of STG1.70 by me at lunch.
Hubby only bought petrol, but we have a petrol card from work so no cost there.

Only foreseen spend today is pizza tonight - probably about STG15K. We haven't had a takeout for over a month and 5 year old has been off sick from school this week - so been a long week. And just remembered hubby has to Fedex a passport renewal form today for my daughter so that will be approx STG20 (we don't have a local Embassy where we are). We have a great array of passports in our house - all 4 of us were born in different countries :rolleyes:.

Weekly shop is tomorrow, and I plan to go to the supermarket alone for once and spend a little extra time there, looking at local branded goods and checking prices more than usual. I do need to do some batch cooking this weekend - I work 12 hour days average so meals cooked in advance make life a lot easier - will focus on a fish / seafood theme this week I think as that is cheaper than meat here.....if I have time I also want to go to the Membership Shopping supermarket where I can buy things in bulk. So will prob spend quite a bit tomorrow - but hopefully short term pain for long term gain.

wantabetterlife

Hello i should be rich. Love the name by the way. Congratulations on starting your mortgage free journey:TI am reading your diary with interest. I have been making small overpayments on our mortgage for a couple of months but havent really be able to get into it properly as i am on maternity leave at present and will have a big drop in pay so am trying to build up a bit of savings aswell.
goodluck with everything!
WABL