Tales from a country cottage

ani*fan

Time to stop obsessing about all this and do something useful. Will tackle my to do list, starting with the garden.

Have a lovely Saturday everyone.

Igamogam

You have really cracked this haven't you - well done:j ! Those capital cards needs some serious chomping - is that 30% APR:eek:. Hope the weather is as good with you as it is here - perfect bonfire weather - dry and cold! Enjoy the chilli and I am sure your friends will be generous - its an unwritten rule amongst our friends - 'get togethers' are contribution affairs

Lemon_Tree

i'm of the opinion that those who need to manage their money the most are those with the least so that we can make it go as far as possible. It's little tricks like moving DD/SO to later in the month wherever possible to reduce the time you're in your overdraft and therefore reduce the interest paid which all add up and help. It saved me £5 a month in interest when i figured that little one out which went towards a debt.

rosered1963

Hi ani*fan.

I have just enjoyed reading your diary. I am in a similar position - living in a big old drafty country cottage (rented), married for 3 years, short of money, a vegetarian who, as yet, can't stop smoking! One quick thing I wanted to suggest for you regarding your house in Winter - the best tip I ever got was to hang two sets of curtains one over the other, so you hang one set putting the hooks in alternate holes, and then hang the other set on top. It doesn't look stupid either, and I can't tell you what a difference it has made for us. We also got -16 last Winter and ice on inside of windows for weeks on end.

I hope you don't mind me saying something else - we have lived here in the country for 8 years and in that time due to not being able to heat house properly in Winter, I have gone from being very fit and healthy to rather ill - it's very important to keep warm - Although I have paid off most of my debt, which is great, I would do anything to have my health back.

Good luck on your journey xxx

ani*fan

Hi everyone :wave:

The party was great fun. The weather stayed dry and the bonfire lit easily. There was more than enough chilli and everyone brought snacks with them too including marshmallows to toast. We lit some fireworks OH found in the shed (leftovers from Guy Fawkes night last year) and I ran round the garden with my friend's 4 year old and a torch, looking for hidden treasure (apples). It was just fab. I also noticed as I was clearing up that we were left with more alcohol than we started with. So plenty for the next party which I hope to start planning soon.

I can't believe I did it all with not a penny piece to my name. This 11 day stretch of skint-ness is a real eye opener.

Yesterday was a NSD so 2/15 this month so far and still time for many more.

Back soon. Think I hear a guest getting up. Coffee required.

ani*fan

That's the final guest gone. It always feels so sad when it's all over!

Rosered...nice to meet you and thanks for taking an interest in my money ramblings. I know what you mean about cold old cottages being bad for your health. I'm generally ok but when I do catch a cold or something, it seems to hang around my chest more than before I lived here. Keeping warm is a priority this year, definitely.

Lemon Tree...you've just given me another idea for how to manage my money more easily. My DDs are already staggered throughout the month so with some careful planning, I would have to do much less juggling than before. Will give it some thought then post on here.

Igamogam...thanks for the vote of confidence! And you were so right about our friends. They're a generous bunch.

Our chainsaw made it's debut last night too. I've been a little nervous about using it but it's much easier to manage than I thought. This means we can do some serious preparation of logs for winter now. I'm determined to keep the oil bill low and we live on the edge of a forest so lots of wood around to chop up and burn.

I was supposed to have a friend visit today but she has postponed until later in the week. This means I have plenty of time to recover from last night...I'm bad for waking up early even after a late night so expect to do some serious napping later on today.

The grass needs cut...again. I'm looking forward to this chore finishing for the winter.

Well have a lovely Sunday everyone. I'm off to read some diaries for inspiration. Happy debt busting.

ani*fan

Another NSD for me so that's 3/15.

:j:j:j:T:T:T:j:j

ani*fan

Well, eight days to go and everything is still fine. Actually, due to me overestimating the phone bill I discovered £8 in my current account today. I spent it on petrol. Now I don't need to panic about getting to the petrol station on pay day, although I may have underestimated how much I actually need. Will need to see how it goes.

No cheque yet from music magpie. Wish they would hurry up.

I have a few chores today. These are:

• Arrange MOT with local garage
• Phone capital one - I seem to have locked myself out by putting in my password with caps lock on. Doh!
• Finish reading for uni
• Do some cleaning
• Order oil
• Check bank accounts and cc accounts in usual paranoid fashion
• Think that's about it.

I'm pretty sure we are going to run out of electricity before the 8 days are up. We have less than a fiver left in the meter. I'm dying to wash our clothes from saturday, they really smell of bonfire very strongly. Don't want to put the washing machine on though.

Hope everyone has a lovely day.

ani*fan

Didn't manage a NSD due to discovering £8 and buying petrol with it.

Managed to get most of the rest of my chores done. Oil is due to arrive this week and we are in the unheard of position of actually being in credit with the oil company. Amazing.

The car is booked in for its MOT on Thursday. I'm dreading this. Why, for once, can it not come back with nothing needing done and just the cost of the test? Why? I have my fingers crossed it won't be more than £200 but if it is I will need to find a way of managing.

All is well with the CCs and bank accounts. Nothing untoward has happened. Yet.

I got the cottage cleaned up. It only ever looks this lovely when I'm on annual leave with no plans to go anywhere.

I didnt finish my reading for uni. It will need to happen on the train tomorrow but that's ok. Gives me something to do.

Hope everyone's evening is going well.

AFx

wot-a-mess

Petrol & oil....must cost you a fortune. I think the cost of fuel / energy is a major factor on everyone you talk to having very tight budgets theses days. When fuel / energy prices go up everything goes up. Plus I noticed today that inflation looks as tho it's heading towards 5% & most people do not get the rate of inflation pay hikes these days... rant over

Thought I'd pop in & say "hello"