Jumping aboard!

thriftylynny

:wave::wave: Hiya DS,not been much of an MF mate last few weeks have i,been working 24/7,then when i'm not slaving away everyone wants a piece of me?!! Anyhow, taken some time off which i'd like to say is to escape to The Maldives but fraid it's my bulging garage... yes i'm finally in there sorting & carbooting !! Aaah such a lot happening to you,i'm sorry you've decided to call it a day with your business & have loads of forward thinking on your mind at the moment, but you're a strong & positive lady & if anyone can make it work then you can It's almost a year since you started your diary how fast that time has gone hasn't it??

downsizer3

Thanks for popping by Thrifty and well done for tackling that bulging garage - hope there are a few money spinners in there! Hope you're well despite all that working - is it making a dent in the mortgage?

I've made enough from ebay over the weekend to see me through to the end of the month. Another week to go in what appears to be the longest month of my life!! Flamin' 5 week months! :mad:
A worried friend talking about her overdarft and credit cards at the weekend makes me see how far I've come so trying to focus on that ( as I eat freezer contents and gruel for the next week.....)

Was feeling really down about my job situation over the weekend - need to try and pick myself up. Just not where I thought I'd be at 45. Just feel like a failure but I know its external circumstances etc - still - all that training and college days and all for what - on the dole at 45. Not what I expected. On a good day I think its the start of something new - on a bad day - I feel spectacularly unlucky!!
I won £10 on the lottery though - not quite what I'd been wishing for - but its a tenner!!

thriftylynny

Like you say NONE of this is your fault DS & you've given it your best shot, one things' for sure tho you'll be able to put together an impressive CV,not many can say they've been running their own business for a long time & it really won't hurt to mention how you've been maintaining your household so admirably single handed aswell :A no double that :A:A!!!
My update is over the last 18 mths have almost managed to pay off mortgage 2 of 6.5k :T but have to say that i had the back up of tax credits on my sad wage, sadly they have all ended now,along with any maintenance payments, as my son's finished college (no job of course as yet ) So its on to savings soon as i can, of which i have zero & everyday im at the calculator trying to figure out how i might put something?? aside from my piddly little 1200 p/m salary :mad: Ah well, back to the crappy garage it is then !!!

downsizer3

Its really hard when the TCs stop Thrifty - you get so used to their boost every month. Mine stopped because of overpayment but oooh I felt it!
Well done though for ditching one mortgage - good for the MFW mood that!!
I'm managing to make about £50 - £100 on ebay each month but DD is growing fast so I'm selling hardly worn clothes. At least at 5 I have a few years of that left! I have to buy the clothes first of course.....
I had my car valued - £9-10K so I have a fall-back. Then I looked at car prices as I'd hoped to get a younger, smaller, more economical car - oh about £10k........not sure if its worth the change or not. Confused on that one.
Is it payday yet??

downsizer3

Just read back a few pages on my posts - amazing what you can do in a year isn't it? And amazing what can change.
In Jan 2010 I was living in a big house with a big mortgage and a struggling business and was terrified.
Now I'm in a wee house with a small mortgage and staring down the barrel of my business going belly up. Not terrified though - as I'll cope now.
Guess lady luck is chucking me a few challenges but I'm meeting her head on! :mad: Wish it was different but I'm not alone in struggling these days.

Hey ho - another frugal shopping week - essentials only as we limp towards payday.

thriftylynny

Good morning ds Yes the last year has flown by & i for one am glad i saw the light & started to get my act together, but how i wish i'd seen it sooner & been more sensible with my finances after divorce, then i wouldn't have to worry so much about mortgage op's, emergency funds,etc ! At 53, with my two still dependent on me, i'm getting physically very tired struggling to keep it all going, its been great having these days off & now i'm dreading going back to all that 24/7 crap :(I've been at the calculator all week working out if it might be possible for me to retire by 60, on a very small pension (3k a yr !!) with no mortgage, have to say the thought of continuing as i am till pension pay out at 65 petrifies me,i'm flagging already!! :eek: What's the answer, apart from the rich man syndrome,of course?!!

downsizer3

Funny you should say that thrifty - I've been thinking about retirement and my lousy pension pot too. I think mine currently gives me oooh about £1500 a year :eek:. My industry doesn't 'do' work pensions - never has - although I guess that might change.
I started a thread on DFW to see what others are planning - some say that the state pension would be enough, others have made much better provision. I stopped my pension contributions about 4 years ago as everything went pear shaped but I need to get back on track somehow - and I wasn't doing great even then.

You are working such long hours no wonder you are tired. Is there any chance of a better paid job? I'm wondering whats in store for me after this job and will doubtless take a whopping pay cut. Hence trying to save like mad.
Still gotta sort my old age out though if I don't want to be surviving on dog food.
Any rich relatives likely to fall off the peg? It sounds very mercinary and I don't mean to be - but some people I know have managed to use an inheritance to sort their pension / house extension / lifestyle out?

thriftylynny

Hey ds it's cheerful ol' me again Sadly no chance of a better paid job down here, i'm lucky to have kept this one tbh,so seemingly just have to bear it for as long as i'm fit & able,she says having a 9 day stint soon as i go back next wk :eek: Know what you mean re inheritances, as i see a lot of that here,even living parents slipping my friends the odd 25k here & there,paying for home improvements,private ed etc., Do get a bit of the green eye i must admit,as i'd so love a lucky break!! I'm afraid i proved to be a bit of a disappointment to my parents' when i totally lost the plot during my divorce & we fell out big time for a long time,so think their grandchildren will be in line for most as they lost all their trust in me (old school i'm afraid) !! Any childless rich relatives i have are leaving theirs to their already rich relatives:( But coming on here helps keep us going don't you find? ps i'm fast losing interest searching for lost treasure in my garage, it's all tat !! :mad:

downsizer3

Ah you made me chuckle thrifty - your garage may be tat to you - but there are some funny folk out there who will buy anything. I notice 'cash in your attic' never seems to visit houses with real junk haha. If nothing else the cathartic effect of turfing out junk will earn a halo.
Could you rent the garage out? I could near me - and they sell for £250k!!!!! Mad.

You may have to sponge off your kids if they inherit all the dosh. Surely your folks can see you've settled down a bit?

I tried sugardaddy.com - nay luck there...........;)

downsizer3

Payday - phew!
Usual OP made and debts hit again. I can see a light at the end of the tunnel now - and savings starting to take shape.
By my target of the end of March I'll be nearly there with my savings but instead of ramping up the OPs - I'll be looking for a job! Not quite where I wanted to be. :mad:
I'll be trying my hardest not to spend those savings - they're there for emergencies - but I have to live.
I have a contact for careers advice ( which will cost of course.....) but I need to start focusing now and I need help in finding a new path if I'm not to end up on the dole ( if I'm even eligable??)
Dust off that CV and get it updated, coupled with careers advice - thats my target pre-christmas.