Aspirations of Frugality and Fun on the Road to Mortgage Freedom

DedicatedDFW

Hello All,

I have not been around on here for what seems like ages - a few weeks is a long time in the MFW world

I have been pondering things alot and making lots of plans - more on this another time.

My money plans didn't do well as unfortunately the car did not perform as well as hoped at the MOT so i have had to move my gutter savings to pay for this I know its good the savings were there but *sigh* anyway.

To make the money back up on the gutter savings i have decided to sell things for this. So today i got 5 new things listed on the bay of e and selected 4 more items to sell - i am out of free listings for now though so will need to await one of those. The 4 items are things i will list at £10+ each so hopefully i can get those on soon and they will sell

I got lots of other little jobs out of the way today too- i had to reply to a complaint i made by putting the complaint on one of their forms :mad: so finally got round to that as its something i needed the computer for and the comp is now very broken

I also sorted out a return - equally annoying as usually can return instore but again needed to do something on-line so i have done that as well now and it is ready to go which will be money back in my account. I have also decided to return a couple of items i was going to keep - again it will be money back in my account which is much needed.

The big birthdays and anniversarys have all come to an end this year - there are still a few to come before xmas / new year but they are not 50th / 60th etc. so more of an average priced gift will be needed.

I have decided to continue with 'the great declutter' or the audit of owned things. I am basically weighing up each individual item in terms of if its useful / pretty or can it just be decluttered and free up space in our home and hopefully make money in the progress? This is how i got rid of 2 of the items today - they are clothes and are now too big and so not useful as i choose to wear other items that fit me better and so i think look better :cool:



Along with the assessing of long-term goods i am also clearing out some food. i am working through the dried / tinned goods shelf by shelf. This is in an effort to use up the more unusual / little used items in there and to stream-line what we do have and constantly need for recipes : - tins of tomatoes etc. This should hoefully make it easier to see what we have, what we need and to put the shopping away when its done.

DedicatedDFW

And as a reminder:

3, Write a list of all financials to be reviewed and actions needed: private pension,
work pension - contact re. increasing payments & find out what works contributions are and if i can transfer the pension when i leave
ISA - have i used it?, what is it giving me?
S&S ISA - what are my commitments? is it a good return?
Savings pot 1: - what is my commitment, what is maturity,
Savings pot 2: what is my commitment, what is maturity,
Stooze card: detailed plan to clear remaining balance
Credit Card: check rewards system - are there any better rewards?
Credit Card 3: Note to self pay minimum each month, clear balance before interest free expires and before june/july next year
Mini Current account: Shall i switch it out? Why do i like having it? Should I open a different current account elsewhere to switch? I know the company i dislike after really bad service so will use for this :T
List of banks transfer rewards
Savings for Loft
Savings for Gutters
Savings for Gate
Savings for - decide on next target
Pay into PB
Mortgage - aims, targets - goal next year already set
MB
CB
- thought i'd pop most of it down so it was out of my head and on paper as it were

slowlyfading

Nice to "see" you posting

Cheery_Daff

I agree, lovely to have you back! :j Sorry to hear about pesky car but yes, thank goodness for savings, they'll be back again before you know it xx

giblet1979

Hey DDFW,
Sorry to hear that things have been so difficult, but you're right, it's great that the savings were there when you needed them (although cars are stupid and annoying of course!). You're doing really well x

Karmacat

Hi DDFW! Sorry to hear about the car - but yes, the savings you transferred, hopefully you'll be able to replace them really soon. Good to hear you're carrying on with the decluttering, and I hope you're enjoying life a bit too.

DedicatedDFW wrote: »

Along with the assessing of long-term goods i am also clearing out some food. i am working through the dried / tinned goods shelf by shelf. This is in an effort to use up the more unusual / little used items in there and to stream-line what we do have and constantly need for recipes : - tins of tomatoes etc. This should hoefully make it easier to see what we have, what we need and to put the shopping away when its done.

Decluttering little used food - absolutely - isn't it weird, the things we collect along the way :cool::rotfl:

DedicatedDFW

Hello All - thank you for posting - yes the car is grumblesome but tis done now :cool: I *do* intend to replace the gutter saving asap especially as we want to move forward with these plans as soon as possible. I had sold an item the other day om the bay so moved the profit over to the gutter savings. I have not changed the amount saved as the aim to replenish this asap.

I paid in my spare change to the bank today which was intended for the gate fund so i have made sure this has still gone to the gate as its hopefully mainly from sales that i'll replenish the gutter and this should keep me motivated with the decluttering

I have cooked 2 dishes tonight to avoid food waste :T

I have alos returned the items i intended to for a refund so that will help when its processed.

Yesterday i decluttered 3 items to the carboot, a further item to sell and 3 free magazines

DedicatedDFW

i'm back - felt like i rushed off a bit there and i did :D - my tea was ready Om nom nom - i *actually* made myself a proper tea :T Ok i didn't eat the protein :cool: but 'Twas a proper tea for me complete with veg and gravy - i am just going to sit back in a full slump :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Confession time - due to our changing shifts i have been too used to just seeing to myself for tea so i will often go for convenience or quick and filling or just plain cheap :eek: But tonight i was so determined i had all my little pans on the go, the oven cooking away and even a glass of vino ready :beer: and what a tasty tea it was too if i say so myself But shh... i'm not *quite* full :eek::eek::eek: - to be honest i get days like this where i feel i could eat all day but i have eaten enough and drawing a line under it now - no seconds for me

To be honest its been a long day filled with many challenges the cooking has been relaxing and i'm happy not to have wasted anything (My Mr. will eat the meat )

Tonight i hope to declutter at least 1 further item before bed and wake up refreshed and focused for tomorrow

Other money saving things today have been picking up some household staples reduced to at least a third in price :T

Refraining from buying reduced items that i cant fit in the freezer

Sticking to walking and travel already paid for rather than paying for other travel

Refrained from buying a much needed clothing item - repeating to myself the mantra 'i can make do, i can make do'

in_need_of_direction

Haven't you gotten turbo charged all of a sudden. Wouldn't want to be in your way. You're doing really well.

greent

Ooh, what a lovely positive sounding post there xx


Decluttering - a permanently on-going task here I try to apply the 'if I was moving house would I want to take this with me?' principle to things - if not then it's a definite go - although that tends to mean I end up with a huge ebay pile and then that becomes another task to do!!


Food decluttering - I'm definitely on this case atm - we have quite a few OOD things that I'm not going to replace once gone - we often have fads on food, buy lots of it/ the ingredients - and then go off it!!!:mad: I'm going to try and use at least a couple of these things a week - at least until people start complaining at me!!:rotfl: I'm also consciously stockpiling less - I have a hang up about there not being enough choice from my childhood. My mum was paid weekly and by payday (Fri) there was nothing really left - she bought enough for the week and that was it. And if we ran out of (say) teabags, there were no more until the weekly shop. However, I live just over a mile away from Tesco, can shop whenever I want/ need to (theoretically) - and (this is what I need to remember) offers come around time and time again!!




Lovely to see you on here xx