Further financial faux pas and even more disasterous decisions

Helen105

I'm a bit of a gadget fiend myself.
I've no coffee making equipment nor raclette (bit envious there) but missing from your list but in my cupborads are a sandwich toaster, a doughnut maker, a pasta machine, a cherry stoner and a gadget for separating tomato pulp from the skin and seeds.

I was very tempted recently when Lakeland had a grain mill reduced from £60 to £15 but fortunately they sold out before I could make up my mind.

moo2moo

Why would you want to separate tomato pulp from the skin and seeds? The mind duly boggles.

moo2moo

In anticipation of not spending a thing over the next five days I got a wee bit carried away yesterday. With the exception of chicken feed and the imminent vets bill I cannot possibly run out of anything (fatal last words). In total I spent £75 at both Tesco and Lidl purchasing the ingredients for the eight x-mas cakes which I plan to bake today and tomorrow. The fruit for the first four has been soaking overnight so once the coast is clear and the DDs have departed I'll make a start on the first two. Hellish early I know but at least this way I can get rid of those destined for the far flung corners of the UK next time I see my dad. At long last I've purchased a new airer. Can now get an entire load of washing dried overnight which should reduce tumble drier usage drastically over winter. Freezer is crammed full of I can't believe its not chunks of chicken, no really I can't which was £2 for 2 instead of £1.87 each. Picked up a month or sos worth as DD2 prefers this to actual meat. The kid has definate vegetarian leanings. She'd rather munch on a raw carrot than a piece of sirloin steak much to OHs disgust.

Also ordered DD1 a second copy of the ACE dictionary so that she has one for school too. It seems to making a big difference to her confidence and her willingness to try and expand her written vocabulary.

Meanwhile OHs mum phoned to remind him to take a screwdriver and a few other bits to refit her hotel with CCTV cameras. Now know precisely why shes offered to take the DDs out for the day.

Spent a happy hour yesterday weeding the garden pond. Removed a wheelie bin full of pond plants so that its now possible to see the surface of the water. No sign of any fish though. I disturbed too much sludge on the bottom for that. Planning to give another section of hedge a haircut later and do a spot of weeding in order to fill the wheelie bins. Noticed our first courgettes at long last yesterday and spied a couple of ripe strawberries entering the puppies jaws, at least that expalins why we haven't eaten any. Will be giving serious consideration to fencing off the veggie patch next year.

OH isn't planning to depart until 9:30 which is probably just as well as the car is yet to load and DD2 keeps adding things to her pile of essential items. Not entirely sure that a dozen stuffed monkeys are nescessary but they're all packed ready to go. Turns out OH has very bravely allowed the DDs to do their own packing without checking to make sure they have everything. Asked DD2 if she'd remembered to include knickers which resulted in an "Oh no" as she went running of to throw some in her bag. Hate to think what else is absent. I forsee an emergency clothes shopping trip being required if they can't improvise.

Still too dark to do much without waking slumbering animals. Have started my mamoth 500 item declutter with the offer of an outgrown bicycle on Freecycle. Just another 499 items to go.

moo2moo

I'm freeeeeeeee. Only temporarily but I have no one to look after or do anything for until thursday and I can be as selfish as I like and boy do I intend to be selfish. Its quality me time in abundance and so I'm using it to deal with all the really niggly little things that drive me nuts. I've started upstairs by removing any soft furnishing which isn't nailed down and heaping it on the bathroom floor with the intention of washing it all over the next few days. I'm going to start with my room because thats where I'm planning on collapsing in an exhausted heap at some point tonight.

First load of washing is on the line, second load is on the airers and the third load is going in imminently. Have listed the first few items of an awful lot of stuff on freecycle. Its more important that I make a dramatic impact than a v. miniscule amount of cash. Now hoping that people of the internet can be persuaded to collect them asap.

Got sidetracked and weighed the elephant formerly known as the puppy. Now know why she eats so much and why its getting harder and harder to pick her up when shes adament she doesn't want moving. Wasn't expecting her to reach 30kg quite so soon (thats 5 stone for all the old farts out there).

Off to reload the washing machine, chuck the x-,as cake ingredients in the food processor and then rapidly in the oven and then I'm going to whack the giant cobwebs on my bedroom ceiling into submission. One of the many delights of an elderly property is an abundance of spiders and a myriad of crevices in which they hide.

beanielou

Enjoy your freedom!

Pommygirl

Its been good to read other peoples posts, at least its not just me!!
We have just spent money and not really thought about the consequences, and due to various job changes over the years and got better jobs but had to take pay cuts at various times.
Still, no excuses, we still spent money we didn't really have so nows the time to get a grip.

Trouble is I get a panic attack if I look at my bankbalance, so I don't - which is not a good place to start sorting it out!
I am holding on to two points though- I am not in arrears with anything, and my income is more than my outgoings, just.

Situation is this

mortgage £154,000
loans £66,000
credit cards £3000
family £2000
Total £225,000

:eek:

Quite scary when I look at it like this. We are paying out over £2000 a month just on debts!! Thats ridiculous!!
Time to get a grip! But we don't go out, we like a drink and other half smokes, but we don't spend money left right and center.
I am just looking at any possible ways of reducing the debt, increasing income. I am terrified something big is going to break, like the fridge, and we can't replace it.
Well in 3 years one bank loan will be finished, and a secured loan will have 5 years to go, with an insurance policy supposedly due to yield £9000 in two years, so, I need to try and aim to get this all sorted for a 3 year deadline.
The daft thing is, both me and my husband manage big budgets in our jobs, and do it really well - but we are hopeless with our own:(

We have a secured loan with First Plus, does anyone have any experience of getting the PPL back?

moo2moo

Ye crivens. Theres no point having a panic attack about the balance. Its not going to change just because you look at it. Go grab it and open it. It really won't be that bad. Once you've done it once the next time will be easier although you're probably not the best person to have an offset morgage. Imagine goign to the hole in the wall to check your balance and coming away with a teeny slip of paper saying your balance is a negative five or even six figure sum. Now thats scary.

On the very bright side your income is greater than your average expenditure although it doesn't sound like theres a lot of room for [STRIKE]manouever[/STRIKE] (can't spell for toffee today) maneuver (cheated and googled it). There are ways and means of creatively eeking out what you have to make it do miraculous things. If you try hard enough you'll always find a way. Especially when you really have to.

Meanwhile I strayed into the homey part of Mr Ts yesterday and fell in love with two duvet covers, both of which were bargantastically reduced as they've been discontinued. Better still I could use the double clubcard token deal to get them even cheaper but more practically I could also use the same vouchers at the opticians to replace my decomposing glasses rather than playing hunt the microscopic screw on a weekly basis because I've forgotten to tighten it up mid week. Do I need new duvet covers ... well not really... although puppy has munched a corner of one and the other is rather faded but both are still full of life and its not like I'm out to impress a new fella. Besides which the old one wouldn't notice if the bed didn't have a duvet cover on at all. Would I like new duvet covers... hell yes.

Meanwhile the house smells of baking christmas cakes, I've licked out both bowls since the DDs weren't around to comandeer one each. Now I have the delights of washing the enormous array of dishes, sppons and assorted wot not that I've managed to use so far only to repeat this in about four hours time when these come out of the oven.

moo2moo

Have evicted spiders from every room upstairs. Wasn't as bad as I'd imagined. Have also turfed my faithful red hairdryer, the one with the sticky tape holding the handle together as a result of me dropping aged 16 or so. OH bought a replacement last Christmas but somehow this one avoided being turfed out.

Washing load no. 4 is currently underway. Going to have a leisurely cafetiere of coffee whilst submitting till reciepts to Shop and Scan before raiding the fridge for lunch. After that I'm going to move the bed to vac underneath it and have a very thorough tidy up of the bedroom which would be considerably easier if there wasn't half a trainset in the corner to contend with. Have bunged the PS2 steering wheel and foot pedals that lounge on top of the trainset on Freecycle. THey haven't been used in over 3 years, can't see them getting used anytime soon either since the PS2 hasn't been switched on in months. Sadly I enjoy the Simpsons Hit and Run a bit too much to part with the PS2 just yet which gives me the vaguest of vague ideas what to do this evening.

moo2moo

Master bedroom blitzed. Now have to transport OHs empty spare toolbox into the shed. I do not want it in my bedroom thank you very much.

Have also unearthed a toddler step, a wooden dolphin won in a tombolla and a tankard of a golfer. None of us play golf, well technically thats not quite right. OH has a set of golf clubs but loathes golf yet bought them in the first place and won't part with them despite not having played since 1999 on the morning of our wedding at his brothers insistance. Figure that one out. Will be depositing them at the charity shop at some point in the v. near future (note thats the stray items and not OH golf clubs although the thought is v. tempting). Have also removed two carrier bags worth of paperwork from the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet. Am hoping with enough enthusiasm I can get rid of the second filing cabinet since that only has about a third of a drawers worth of stuff in it. Am beginning to run out of steam so scoffing a bag of crisps in the hopes that that spurs me on a bit.

DedicatedDFW

Hi moo - you are doing fab! with the decluttering. I too am decluttering and trying to be extremely thorough - so much so that last night before going to bed I made myself lift out 4 items from a drawer and have popped them onto e-bay today. I had decluttered the drawer in the day and thought 'thats it' as everything in there has a use and then began dwelling on the fact that these 4 bits and pieces though lovely had not been used in some time and i'd rather have the cash and that nice feeling of creating space. I have been feeling very weighed down with 'stuff' of late.

Whilst decluttering today I have a few bits to give away to family and also found a couple of items I bought and am now having second thoughts on - though its much too late to return them :eek: Good news is that as these are brand new and in original packaging they will make lovely presents at xmas so thats a couple of people sorted for now - Hope that doesn't make me sound bad

To make it easier for me I am doing this in small bursts. I list 5 things on e-bay then go and work on a target area be it a drawer, rack in the wardrobe, bottom of wardrobe whatever. Then I take it to be photo'd. Have a bit of a ctach up on here and then list 5 more things.

Hope you've got your motivation back x