The impossible dream

Tahlullah.H

So, no bidding frenzy.  I got what I listed it for so I can't complain.  Also sold a small item, so doing ok on this front.  Need to list a couple more items tomorrow to replace the 2 that have sold.

I remember why I stopped using ebay, it really is soul destroying.

Went shopping and again, spent more than I intended.  Working from home and being in the house 24/7 really does increase the cost of everything.  The food bill is getting silly. But, a positive is that I changed electricity supplier, supposedly saving £140 per year.  Better in my pocket.  It will help to pay the ever increasing food bill.

Tahlullah.H

Today's activities include making bite sized banana and oat pancakes, listing something on ebay - not sure what as yet and completing Session 2 of the MSE/Open University Academy of Money.  Some exercise is also called for at some point.  In reality, I have some work to catch up on, but as its a Bank Holiday weekend, I cannot seem to muster the interest.  It just means I start my working week behind.  No worries.  In the scheme of things, I am lucky to have work.

LeighofMar

Tahlullah.H said:

 In reality, I have some work to catch up on, but as its a Bank Holiday weekend, I cannot seem to muster the interest.  It just means I start my working week behind.  No worries.  In the scheme of things, I am lucky to have work.

I think a lot of us are feeling the same way. DH was getting annoyed the other day because he had to field more phone calls than usual. I told him God forbid he actually had to do his job😜. You are doing wonderful on your mortgage and have come a long way. I think COVID is confusing for so many of us because it makes sense to hold cash during uncertain times, but it also makes sense that if we were mortgage free, you can face many types of disaster knowing the roof over your head is secured. 

Tahlullah.H

Thank you for your comment Leigh.  I agree, we do feel that the sensible thing to do is to hold on to our money.  But I suppose, if we stood back and looked at the problem as a whole, we should be spending our money to help support the businesses around us.  If we don't, when this is all over, there will be nothing to return to.  No normality.  Just lots of people out of work because there is no work because the businesses all closed down because we were all hanging onto our money. It seems odd, but to keep us going, we have to do the opposite of what we feel instinctively is right.

Anyway, I didn't do my course yesterday and nor did I get any exercise.  So, these are on point for today.  I think I might make a cheesecake as well.  All this cream cheese with nothing to do with it.  Why I went and bought that amount of cheese I have no idea. Made sense at the time i suppose.  But I never hoarded toilet roll!

The good thing about this period is the number of no spend days! They are high, but when I do spend, I make up for it!

Tahlullah.H

Pay day today and did the Money Shuffle.  This is always a strange day, as I am always pleased that I can allocate the correct amount of money to my bills, then at the same time, I am short on day to day personal money for the rest of the month because my income went down with the new job in February.  But, for some strange reason, and I really have no clue as to how, I appear to be ahead 1 month in the bills account.  This is truly fantastic, as having a month buffer in case everything goes pear shaped is such a bonus.  But how did it happen?  I can only guess it was when I changed from one job to the other, I made the monthly payment out of the final salary of the old job and the 1st salary of the new job.  And don't even ask how I must have afforded that!  Anyway, all good.

I managed to do some exercise, seem to be doing it every other day at the moment.
The Open University Money course is going ok.  I am half way through the final module.  It's been entertaining to find out how much I already know.  Weakest area has been about investments, so there was no shock there.  Will probably complete it tonight.
Still ebaying.  Just going through a pile of shoes that I will never wear again, along with cocktail dresses that will never see the light of day again.  Perhaps someone will buy them in readiness for next summer.  I am assuming people aren't buying holiday clothing for this year!
Nearly the end of the month and time to update my footer.  The mortgage is heading in the right direction, if somewhat slowly.  
Re-examined my decision to pay off the smallest mortgage.  Still planning to do this, but I will not close it.  I will leave it open with £50 in it so that if I ever need any low cost borrowing, I can just draw down from here, without needing to ask the bank for a loan, etc.  The joy of this mortgage is the access to money when in need at such a low rate.  It seems like madness to close that access for the sake of leaving a bit of money in it to be able to access £30k if I need it.  So, the plan is still there, but just tweaked a bit.  Next year, the 2nd mortgage account will be reduced to £50 (or lower depending on what the bank requires me to leave in the account to leave it open).  It can then sit there gathering dust whilst I pay down the 1st one.

Anyway, nearly June.  Still working from home with no end in sight.  Think I had better go and find something to eat and then do some actual work.

savingholmes

Glad you are keeping okay. Fab to be a month ahead!

Tahlullah.H

The big scandal for today?  I went out and had a KFC !  This is the first time I have eaten out since the beginning of March, when everything went into lock-down.  And it was wonderful.  Not very money saving, but such a treat.

savingholmes

LOL. The kids got KFC delivered recently! They loved it too

Tahlullah.H

It's the small things...

Tahlullah.H

Today, I decided to cancel my YNAB subscription.  I can't decide if this is a great money saving move or not.  To be honest, I haven't used it properly since November and so I just feel at this moment in time, I need the money I would pay in fees more than I need the guidance.  The bank accounts are pretty much running themselves.  I am covering my bills as they come up and actually have £650 saved in my emergency fund, which I am extremely proud of.  I had spoken of getting one before but had never succeeded.  I know I should be clearing the visa card, but as I said before, it is going down slowly and sustainably, and more importantly, I am not using it beyond fuel for the car, which I pay back immediately. I don't need to use the visa for a safety net.  Any money saved is money I don't need to pay out somewhere else, which allows me to make the payments to the mortgage, which is still going down slowly, but regularly.

I joined Prolific Academy yesterday.  Not much happening there, but I have high hopes.  I read Muriel's diary, and she said she was paying for a cruise with her payments from Prolific, so I thought I would give it a go.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  Fortune favours the brave and all that.

Ebay has slowed down completely,  Hardly anything moving, but I suspect that everyone is just as short of the reddies as I am, so it won't hurt to just keep relisting them.  I was thinking about taking some stuff to the Charity Shop, but read in the paper that one of the local shops were complaining about people fly tipping.  I was quite shocked at the vocabulary used.  I would guess that the people leaving donations for the charity to sell and make money towards their good cause did not consider their donation as rubbish to be fly tipped.  Anyway, it made me think I would be better just keeping it all and trying on ebay at a later date, when we have decided on the new normal.

Looking forward to getting out in the campervan, and I suspect the holiday parks feel the same way.