A sense of the past explains the present and foretells the future

saorsie

Well now seems as good a time as any to start a diary - no particular reason - it just does! Have been toying with the idea for a while hopefully to keep track with what I've done, where I'm at and which direction I'm heading:

'A sense of the past, explains the present and foretells the future' is a chinese proverb that is inscribed on a lovely walled garden where I walk my dogs and it seems to fit the bill just nicely for my squeaky clean, shiny new journal.

I'm very fortunate in that I don't have any debts as such - however had a lightbulb moment of sorts in late 2009 (funnily enough coinciding with joining this site - spooky huh?!) when I realised that if I continued to spend / waste money at the rate I had been doing for the past 4 years and didn't change my behaviours regarding spending (which I've supported for the past 40 years! :eek:) I would very soon be racking up debt that I couldn't afford to repay and facing very grim retirement prospects in 20 odd years time.

Soooooooo fast forward 7 months and here we are - a much healthier position all round, finances all organised, budgets and spending all accounted for and entered onto spreadsheets which even though I say so myself are a work of art (with grateful thanks to Miss Moneypenny and Eager Learner).

Alcohol consumption has also been considerably reduced as this was a major concern both financially and health-wise (with thanks to the guys and gals on the giving up/cutting down thread who's non judgemental advice and support is awesome)

Housework and de-cluttering is being partially managed by 'Flying' however there is room for improvement - isn't there always?!

Exercise is also going to be more focused as gym membership is £54 per month and I WILL get my moneys worth if it kills me in the process!

Soooooo the purpose of this wee journal is to keep track of all these matters / challenges on a daily basis and hopefully inspire me to:


a) reflect on where I've been
b) continue on the path that I've set myself - which I know is working as I'm a much more contented bunny than I was
c) improve, fine tune and explore new challenges along the way


ooooh and of course it's very MSE writing a journal on line as you don't have the expense of stationery!


-s-

hypno06

I will def be reading with interest!

carlos*the*mackem

hypno06 wrote: »

I will def be reading with interest!

Me too! Great thread title as well...and very true!;)

ClootiesMum

Love your title & your sentiments - goes off to click on the *subscribe* thingy

saorsie

Hi chaps – thanks for dropping by – crikey – will have to stay on track now if you’re all watching :eek:

Mmmmmmmmm now how shall we go about this?

Day 1 (always a good start!)
And I feel the need for some headings:

Finance

• Been a NSD today which is grand – few more of those please
• OH kindly donated 2 x £2 coins which I have gladly accepted. I now have enough to cash into the bank tomorrow and a cool £40 will then wing its way to my MBNA CC which will be paid off this month – farewell 5.6% LOB deal – it’s been nice knowing you.
• M*tched b*tting proving very profitable at present with some tournament in South Africa underway – need to place some more qualifiying bets and not lose focus as mistakes can be very costly

Health and Fitness

• An AFD also – have only consumed 3 units of alcohol in June which I’m very proud of. Slight downside though in that a few of my friends now consider me boring as I no longer go on my previous mad drinking sprees ( I do still socialise but largely stick to lime and soda with the odd unit chucked in) However on the flip side I no longer lose the following day feeling like sh*te and wondering where the £50 that I drew out the cash machine disappeared to.
• Been to Gym with OH this morning – 22 minutes on cross trainer, 25 minutes power-walking on treadmill and 8 lengths in pool – it would have been more as I love to swim however it was a family session and there’s only so many times you can get bashed by an inflatable crocodile before calling it quits!
• Dogs out this afternoon for exercise and well-being (me and them)
• Decided to do mini-flylady approach with regard to personal care / appearance also, so can report that nails are manicured and looking mighty fine – clearly depending on the nature of the daily grooming task, I may not want to divulge too much information on an open forum :eek:

Household

• Will do 1 hour of chores today! Bed is stripped and on line, both sets of gym kit waiting to be hung out also
• Chicken awaiting to be roasted in newly purchased Remoska (ebay bargain) am very excited at prospect of electricity bills plummeting due to never having to use main oven again apparently. When successfully roasted, meals for next few days are sorted – all chicken based obviously.
• I will, will, will vacuum the ground and lower ground floor of the house before the end of the day and the take the cleaner up to the top floor ready for tomorrow. House has 3 storeys and I loathe hoovering so best to split it into bite-sized chunks.

Other stuff

• Devote at least 2 hours to knitting dad’s Fathers day / birthday pressie. Fathers day is only a week away and am so behind schedule. Have decided that I’m going to knit as many pressies as I can this year partly to save pennies and also because I enjoy it and it’s a cheap and cheerful hobby – well ish.

Wel I think that's enough for my maiden post - so will zoom off and actually do some stuff instead of just talking about it

-s-

saorsie

Day 2
Finance
A fairly profitable day today,
Transferred £50 out of my virtual sealed pot (VSP) and paid it off MBNA CC – seems daft having it sat there earning next to nothing in its 0.00000001% holding account when it could be earning it’s keep! :mad: Have also bagged up and paid in £40’s worth of £2 coins and will whisk those straight to the CC when they clear. Don’t you just love the coin sorting machines at HSBC – so satisfying seeing it all count up and knowing that you’re not getting ripped off like the supermarket jobbies.
Had a very MSE trip into the city (walked – more of that later) managed to exchange 40 South African rand that I’d had kicking around for about 3 years (very haveable at the mo I would guess) worth £3.29 thank you very much. The lady refused my 1 US dollar note as it was too tatty and my Thai Bahts were too small denominations but hey ho – every little helps.
Also replaced my eye-liner at Mr B**ts using points and have just transferred the £6 virtual spend out of the allotted budget (health and personal if anyone’s interested) and paid it to MBNA – now that is bordering on obsessive I appreciate however when I add up all the various reward schemes etc M*S, N*ctar, B**ts – there’s a fair bit of virtual cash sat on those cards not earning their keep, so in future, I shall be following this principle (as long as I need the items) and paying the actual cash towards whatever pet project is top of the list at the time.
OOoooh and had to go into work last night to re-set the fire alarm after a power-cut so that’s an additional tenner I shall be claiming – ker-ching

Health and Fitness
Will be another AFD and am thinking about advertising my beer/wine fridge in the local paper classifieds as I no longer need it to store all my alcohol! It’s just sitting there, guzzling electricity with 4 B*cks Blue alcohol free lagers in it which would easily fit in the main fridge – mmmmmmm job for tomorrow me thinks – quite a good time to be selling a beer fridge perhaps!
Not been to gym today, but have walked everywhere including into the city and back, up very steep hill (actually called Steep Hill – spooky huh?)
Have received a freebie pedometer and walking pack in post today from https://www.getwalking.org.uk – quite interesting info esp for people starting out. Am a regular walker anyway and cyclist – am very fortunate to live 10 mins from work and within walking distance of the city centre and local shops so rarely need to drive anywhere. In fact car probably moves about once a fortnight.
Legs and other essentials epilated as part of mini flyladyproject – that bought tears to my eyes as it’s been a while – err moving on! :eek:

Household
Mmmmmmm – this is still on the to-do list pretty much. May need to report back later with progress on this one. Have probably managed about 20 minutes worth of chores today with S&S-ing (swishing and swiping) and general tidying up.
Fresh F&V stuff bought locally and from the market and very cheaply which is good so should be ok if inventive for a few days on the meals front.

Other stuff
Dad’s pressie coming on ok and will do some more later. Have also wrapped up 2 homemade soaps and popped in pressie box for ‘just-in-case’ – these were from a kit but am inspired and may well try making some from scratch – I have a ‘recipe’!

-s-

ClootiesMum

Cool - 2 productive days....

although I would have been tempted to burst the b****y inflateable crocodile

But I'm afraid you must excuse me - free pedometer is required.

Thanks:D

saorsie

You don't know how close I came Clootie!

The Pedometer's not bad at all for a freebie - very simple with just one re-set button and it came in a quality jiffy bag so that has been squirrelled away for future use obviously!

I often send off for things that catch my eye when I'm browsing and then forget I've done it - it's like a mini birthday somedays when the postie delivers

-s-

se999

Hi,

saorsie wrote: »

In fact car probably moves about once a fortnight.

Not spotted your thread before, but spotted your comment about the car.

We had a lifestyle change a few years ago which meant one of our two cars was standing idle most of the time. It took us a while to realise it. When we did the sums it was obvious for us it was cheaper to hire a car, use taxis or use Tesco etc home delivery for big shops than to keep running two cars, especially when you take in all the costs like depreciation, aswell as the costs of actually running them. It could be worth looking at the sums, and how you use the car to see if it's practical to not have it.

Good luck with the moneysaving

saorsie

Hi se999 - thanks for dropping by :hello:

You must be a mindreader as only last night I was browsing at Electric Bikes (wish there was a freebie one of those being delivered by Mr Postie that I'd forgotten about - that truely would be a birthday!) I love cycling but as previously advised, live 'Uphill' as it's known round these parts, which restricts my use a little as I'm not fit enough to cycle up the said hills {there is a choice of them - all vertical!} and it's real hard work pushing my bike up them also esp. if laden. So was thinking that an electric bike may give me that little more propulsion to extend my range so to speak. The one that took my fancy came in at about £1500 :eek: but if it was to replace my car (2.8l gas guzzler :mad:) then that would be a small price in comparison. OH does have his own car so I wouldn't be car-less though would have to plan when I needed to use it as he commutes 100 miles daily on a shift pattern. A good friend who is also pretty much in the same situation as me (lives 5 mins from work and has access to partners car if necessary) has suggested that we share her car going halves on insurance, tax etc - so there are options.

I guess it's the independent streak in me that doesn't want to be beholden to anyone, so though I hardly use it, I wouldn't want to be without, just in case I needed it! Mad I know and as you say - it maybe needs a sit down and a long hard think. It is paid for so if I did bite the bullet and get rid, there's nothing to stop me leaving the money in a savings account and if it wasn't working, just buying another motor - minimum road tax, cheaper insurance, less fuel hungry - mmmmmmmmmm sounds better and better - thanks se999 - you may have just triggered a process!

-s-

saorsie

Day 3

Finance
Transferred yesterdays £40 across this morning and also £110 cheque that cleared. This cheque is part of my stoozing program and seems to be working ok so far – my ISA looks quite contented for the experience and the first minimum payment is £8 to H*lifax (10 months interest free offer – thank you very much!) on an outstanding balance of £800 – oh my word – is it any wonder that people get into bother when these organisations set payments that low – Frankly I was a little shocked! :eek:Have still got another £500 before reaching the limit they set me should I wish to ‘Stooze’ a little more but am not in any particular hurry.
Will be an NSD today though OH has suggested that we may venture to the cinema tonight for a bit of SATC 2 – which sounds good however it will still be an NSD for me as he is paying and we have completely separate finances (house is mine)
A small profit from a m@tched bet + a £10 payout on free scratchies winged their way to MBNA first thing – and all spreadsheets were duly adjusted to take note of this transistion!

Health and Fitness
Still have dogs to walk today and if cinema trip becomes a reality we will walk there and back – which will assist to dissolve the Ben & Jerrys cookie dough ice cream that I am so having!
Toenails painted today as part of mini flyladyproject – this is going well, though may run out of beauty tasks to do before the week runs out – am not very princess-esque am afraid (insert tiara-ed smiley!)

Household
MMmmmmmmmmmmm again – not great – I just need to get on and do it! Housework has never been a love of mine – am very tidy but just don’t mind living amongst dog whiskers etc. have probably achieved about 25 mins today and everywhere looks fine – It’s just not – well sparkling I guess.

Your Stovies are bubbling away in the slow cooker Clootie for whenever the fancy takes us. Did manage to slice my finger on the corned beef can though – forgot how savage those bad boys can be.


Other stuff
May not get too much done of Dad’s pres today though must keep up momentum and do some.
Have sat this afternoon and put 4 things on flea bay – that is such a thankless task but it is good to de-clutter and if a few pennies can be earned during the process then so much the better. Had a major e bay splurge at the beginning of the year and cleared most stuff so these are just bits that I come across when pottering – like the 13 handmade paper fans I bought as work presents from Thailand 3 years ago and never handed out – as you do! Am also part of the local Freecycle network and have donated several things over the past couple of weeks – some belonging to my late husband (sniff) that really needed to find a good home. Wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be and people were lovely in their responses. The small cupboard/wardrobe in the guest bedroom certainly appreciated being relieved of 22 volumes of The Seafarer anyway!

-s-