Changing digs and coming out of my cave... for a wee while atleast :)

elantan

Have been studying all week ( apart from today) today I spent the day cleaning the house, better for my head I think as the studying was starting to drive me nuts.

Went to the shops tonight tried Aldo Lido as well as Asna, yes it was cheaper, but we still managed to spend £38 and I will need to shop again before the week is out, this was also before I have been to the butcher's so its not looking like I am getting on top of the shopping bill. I don't feel as if we wasted any money I reckon food prices must just be more than I realistically budged for and reckon I will need to budget better

ZTD

elantan wrote: »

Have been studying all week ( apart from today) today I spent the day cleaning the house, better for my head I think as the studying was starting to drive me nuts.

Went to the shops tonight tried Aldo Lido as well as Asna, yes it was cheaper, but we still managed to spend £38 and I will need to shop again before the week is out, this was also before I have been to the butcher's so its not looking like I am getting on top of the shopping bill. I don't feel as if we wasted any money I reckon food prices must just be more than I realistically budged for and reckon I will need to budget better

Stuff is more expensive these days - don't believe the inflation rate. Lies are to damned lies as statistics are to Government statistics. What I pay for my shopping bill in Aldi now, I would have needed to have half the store in my basket a few years ago.

Butchers/greengrocers tend to be better value than the supermarkets' "normal stuff" if you have the time to go when they're open - assuming you're not going to some "bio-dynamic" place of course...

elantan

You've hit the nail on the head Z, everything is just so more expensive now

elantan

Well today I have been mainly studying and reading mse ... Ed's diary has had a good discussion on it which I rather enjoyed

I am finding that I am daydreaming of retiring ... I entirely blame GG for this but I am delighted for her and wish her all the best, however, this does keep reminding me I need to take note of every single penny we spend so that we can have a start to understanding what our " number " is, so the big red book is out and this time I am going to fill it weekly as opposed to every day as that was a tad annoying, it has been written on the wipe board for every Tuesday now to actually do it.

I have been skiving on MMM and F.I.R.E and early retirement as well but no matter how much I read my debt doesn't go down and my savings don't go up, but I am learning wee things to try, nothing major as we have done all the major things we are comfortable with, I have noticed though sometimes some of the things that are recommended on various blogs whilst interesting ( making your own washing powder, soap etc) take too long, just now I am time short ( and money short) so I am saving all these things for when I have time.

Anyway that's enough procrastinating for now time to get back to studying

oh P.S nothing financial to add

elantan

Just had a wee surprise, a person that owed me £1k has just repaid it all ... now its not a surprise that they paid it ... i knew they would ... i just didnt expect it for another 4/5 years, they have offered to pay dribs and drabs back over the last wee while and i kept saying no wait till you have paid x,y and z off we are not desperate for the money so make it work for you.

Today they phoned and said, that's that money returned thank you very much, we got extra money in and wanted to pay you off, i explained that they had other priorities but they explained why it worked better for them to pay me off and to be fair i would have been the same .

So here i am got £1k spare and i was thinking clear the visa as that is going to start accruing interest this month, and then i thought " but will you replace the money you have used" and the answer was a no, yes i will intend on it, but will i actually do it ... i dont think i would, i would find another use for the money and in a few months time i may find myself in the exact same situation as i am in now, so the money will languish in an account and i will pay the interest on the visa ( it shouldnt be too much) and i will learn my visa lesson, and the money languishing in the account will go towards offsetting the mortgage, if i add all the money i have currently saved towards the offset idea we will be able to cancel the insurance sometime this year, that may not sound like much but to me it's one of those milestones you work towards, cancelling the insurance means to me i have an offset mortgage which effectively means we are in a manner of speaking mortgage free... so this £1k whilst yes it will cost me to keep in the savings if i dont put it towards the visa, it does bring me closer to mortgage offsetting and therefore mortgage freedom ...

Now thats worth smiling about i reckon

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi El, what a lovely start to January - good luck with the exams - I'm sure I read you have some soon?

Best wishes Tilly x x

elantan

Thanks Tilly , Yes i have two big exams next week... then more in March before back out on placement ... yikes ... It will still take me some time to be offset, but today getting that money made me look at how i could use the money to it's best use for us ... that made me realise we could be offset this year... thats good i reckon

gallygirl

Lovely start to the weekend :T:T:T

Karmacat

Thats great, El! How interesting to work out what to do while taking your own psychology into account, and looking at the longer term finances.

beanielou

Fab news for you :j