Keeping up appearances.......

HappyNow

Update time! After posting January's financial problems yesterday, I remembered another one. The outgoing tenants in our rental house are going to want their bond back! So that's another £375 I'm going to have to find. Grrr to January. Ah well, can't be helped. I shall just think of January as a month of 'damage limitation', pay everything I need to with a (fake) smile on my face and cut back on everything possible. A month of pretending I really fancy Tesco Value beans on Tesco Value toast for tea I think .

In other news, I have finally done our snowball calculation! If I pay £1000 per month off my un-secured debts, my unsecured-debt-free date will be April 2019. As I had set my own personal target as my 60th birthday (Jan 2019) I am pleased that I should be just about on-target, give or take a couple of months. Then I can start on the mortgage. Of course, that is a long way in the future so there are likely to be unforeseen events/disasters/windfalls along the way, but that's the aim. Now to make it reality........:)

Home-working again so best crack on x

turfy6

Hi Happy, :hello: just read your diary, a consolation on January is that at least your not adding to your debt and have a good idea where your going with the figures. Good luck and I'll subscribe and try to help out if I can with any tips. You've made a great start.

Itsadogslife_2

I think value beans sounds like just what the doctor ordered Happy, I think it sounds good for tomorrows tea also

I think generally January can be a tough month for a lot of people. Keep calm and carry on - that is such a great catchphrase, whoever thought of that is a genius

HappyNow

Thanks for the replies

I am most definitely going to look on this month as a challenge and in a bizarre way I am actually looking forward to paying everything I need to, seeing exactly where we stand and getting on with it. 'Old Me' wouldn't have even realised there was a problem!

Early start at work today, so best get organised (also note I'm using the electric shower during Economy 7 hours - am I starting to take this too far??) and I'll be back tonight x

PinotGrigio41

Hi Happy, sorry that January is looking so tough for you. Looking the same for us ( and I'm sure alot of other people), I think I am going to need to make Januarys budget make last throughout February as well. Not quite sure how we will manage that. I sure we can all jolly each other along and get through it somehow though !

Is Mr HappyNow not starting to ask a few questions now that you have started showering at odd times of the night and day ??!! I am so amazed that you are managing to do all of this without his knowledge and have to give you credit for it. Mr Pinot was initially unaware how bad things were for the first few months while I got my head around it all and came up with a plan, but Im not sure I would have managed it to keep quiet about it indefinately. But then again I am one of these people that needs to talk things through all the time !! Anyway well done so far , hope you have a good day x

Hopelessly_Hopeful

January detox for us all then?! Actually I'm quite enjoying living out the cupboards and freezer. I have a leaky roof and for once I have some pennies to pay for a remedial repair. Hope you will be in this position too before long.

Guess we will all be looking forward to spring and new begginings.

HHX

DawnW

HappyNow wrote: »

A month of pretending I really fancy Tesco Value beans on Tesco Value toast for tea I think .

Do you have an A!di near you?

The prices are about the same as Tesco basics, sometimes (much) cheaper, but much better quality. They even have non-basics things like olives, continental ham, meusli and proper parmesan cheese for bargain basement prices. Fruit and veg are really good value as well, though they don't always keep as well as say, Sainsburys or Waitrose. Their own 'brands' are similar to the most popular ones on the market, sometimes even with similar names and packaging :rotfl:

It is not the most enjoyable shopping experience, but really, really good value. Our local one is really popular.

HappyNow

DawnW wrote: »

Do you have an A!di near you?

The prices are about the same as Tesco basics, sometimes (much) cheaper, but much better quality. They even have non-basics things like olives, continental ham, meusli and proper parmesan cheese for bargain basement prices. Fruit and veg are really good value as well, though they don't always keep as well as say, Sainsburys or Waitrose. Their own 'brands' are similar to the most popular ones on the market, sometimes even with similar names and packaging :rotfl:

It is not the most enjoyable shopping experience, but really, really good value. Our local one is really popular.

Thanks for the suggestion . I've googled it, and our nearest one is 6 miles away, so not too far. I'll be near that area next Friday (maybe even earlier) through work, so I'll pop in at lunchtime.

Tesco is so handy distance-wise, and I actually drive past it most days so there is no petrol wastage, but I really do need to explore the Aldi/Lidl supermarkets for my main shop. My other pledge is to ALWAYS call in at Tesco if I happen to be driving past at about 8pm, because last week I picked up six loaves of reduced bread for 14p each which are now sat in my freezer.

HappyNow

Hopelessly_Hopeful wrote: »

January detox for us all then?! Actually I'm quite enjoying living out the cupboards and freezer. I have a leaky roof and for once I have some pennies to pay for a remedial repair. Hope you will be in this position too before long.

Guess we will all be looking forward to spring and new begginings.

HHX

Ha, I think from a 'Keeping Up Appearances' perspective January is the ideal time to be broke. New Year Resolutions/detox and all that! My two weaknesses are chocolate and red wine, but I won't be affording much of either this month so I've said I'm cutting right back on both for the sake of my health! x

HappyNow

PinotGrigio41 wrote: »

Is Mr HappyNow not starting to ask a few questions now that you have started showering at odd times of the night and day ??!! I am so amazed that you are managing to do all of this without his knowledge and have to give you credit for it. Mr Pinot was initially unaware how bad things were for the first few months while I got my head around it all and came up with a plan, but Im not sure I would have managed it to keep quiet about it indefinately. But then again I am one of these people that needs to talk things through all the time !! Anyway well done so far , hope you have a good day x

Hello Pinot

Well, I have told Mr Happy that things are a bit tight, especially this month. He knows the rental house will be leaving us rent-less for a while and he knows about Little Miss Happy's uni accomodation fees/broken laptop, and that we will have to return the current tenant's bond. In fact he knows about all our bills. But he doesn't realise the level of debt we have - he thinks it's just a matter of being a bit careful and things will be fine.

Here's an example of his idea of 'cutting back'. Last night he said he fancied going out for a meal, but he suggested we just go to the local Italian as it's a bit cheaper than the Thai! Obviously we didn't go to either - and I actually told him that I didn't want to go because of the cost.

I know I'm keeping a pretty massive secret from him, but I actually think he is happier not knowing. If he knew, he would worry like mad and I think he might even get depressed. If telling him would pay the debts off quicker then I would, but in truth it wouldn't make any difference to our finances because I make all the financial decisions and do all the shopping anyway.

Telling him is something I'm starting to think more about though... Maybe he has a right to know as it affects him so much. Or maybe he has the right NOT to know, because the debts are mainly due to my past stupidity, so why should my mistakes make him unhappy?

Hmm, difficult..... I will keep pondering it. I think I should maybe do the same as you, and tell him a few months down the line when I have a plan in place. And during those few months the debt will be starting to reduce, so with each passing month the shock will be smaller. x