Hope is not an Effective Financial Strategy

shangaijimmy

Tryharder - thank you for your lovely comments. As ever this is a great forum to be in!

shangaijimmy

gallygirl wrote: »

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0273785370/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is the book I was referring to Jimmy - a well spent £25 :T.

Took a few days (maybe even a week), but book purchased and has arrived... Will delve in this weekend, as a well earned rest from those dreaded fence panels that will get painted this weekend :cool::(

themadvix

Sorry Jimmy, no offence intended - we all have to do things our way And it's my pet subject!

We use vinegar, when I remember. If there's no white then malt works fine (although I wouldn't risk it on whites, although I'm sure it's fine).

We have cat nose marks on the windows constantly.... I see little point in cleaning them, when I know it'll happen again very shortly!

Karmacat

themadvix wrote: »

We have cat nose marks on the windows constantly.... I see little point in cleaning them, when I know it'll happen again very shortly!

A woman after my own heart

Learning to use vinegar and bicarb etc for cleaning is the next huge prep, I think.

shangaijimmy

Never any offence taken over here! On the whole cleaning thing i can't believe the difference in our dishwasher just for a maintenance clean. I filled the detergent draw with some soda crystals and put it through a hot wash. Far better than those little cleaning pod things you can buy.

Onto the weekends plans. Today is the day that the fence gets a paint... (he says whilst hoping for some rain again). I have football for DS2 this morning and then onto the fence this afternoon. Some rain is actually forecast for tea time, so i may only get half done but i'd be happy with that.

Moneywise Mrs SJ came up with a plan (no prompting from me either) to eliminate 1 weekly shop per month. Her idea is for the first 3 shops she puts in a few extra's that would normally be bought on week 4, and then the final week we would only need milk and some fresh veg. So far the first 2 shops have remained within the weekly budget and there's no reason to think that week won't be. Our freezer is looking full (including batch cooked meals and bread), the cupboard is full of cereals, snacks etc... If things work out then we could save from food budget around £50 or even £60 per month. The dilemma is OP, S&S Isa or 50/50 split (current favourite approach)? We're also due a £4.80 refund for swimming lessons from a cancelled lesson. We were actually away so was missing anyway, which makes it a double pleasant bonus! I'll OP the £4.80 as soon as the direct debit goes out.

51p TT this morning and the pot for the week may get to £6 by tomorrow. That will then be the last OP day of the month. I may need to do accounts posting tomorrow evening (a day early) as I have quite a busy week ahead until Thursday.

Oh and i can't believe that its sneaked up on me but this month we'll get past a significant point. We will have cleared £40k since starting this quest, and dip into the 60%'s of percentage loan remaining :j

Karmacat

Cutting the number of shops might also save quite a bit of time, SJ?

Congratulations on reaching your £40k / 60% milestones!

Suffolk_lass

It's my perpetual dilemma too SJ - OP or S&S ISA - I tend to stash in a poor interest savings account and then OP a lump but I'm thinking of TT once a month to a nice round figure in that mortgage account as well. It will make me look at it regularly and be a bit more diligent. My interest is only point four nine above the base rate so only 0.99 for the mortgage so very tempted to leave it but it sits there, like Jiminy Cricket on the shoulder of Pinocchio - just whispering in my ear.

Our S&S ISA accumulates cash until I buy something, plus £50 a month into each of the three funds (£50 is the minimum we can invest in them on our CSD platform). I usually wait until there is at least £200 before buying something and then look at "Share of the Week", the bloggers I read and the news articles I have saved, to look for strong reliable(ish) dividends, before choosing what to buy. My aim for this pot will be income rather than capital growth at some time in the not-too-distant future when DH stops work, hence the dividend focus.

No such dilemma with my garden. It is definitely piddling in this part of East Anglia!

try_harder

Raining hard here in Norfolk too

greent

try_harder wrote: »

I am loving all the ideas for home made washing powder and washing liquid which i now use instead of my original which was £5 a bottle and now costs 30 pence . Also the fabric conditioner white vinegar and orange peels sounds lovely greent could you please tell me the quantities please and also the quantities for the cleaning spray vinegar and lemon .Thank you ..I might actually start to like cleaning using these

SJ i am so in awe of how versatile you are ,great work all round .Looking forward to your update too

The white vinegar and orange peel - keep adding strips of peel in until you feel like stopping (with tiny holes poked in them from a needle to help the oils in there escape) and then leave it for a while (month or two)

Cleaning spray ...hmmm....I don't follow any set recipes for baking/ cooking, let alone cleaning stuff - it's more a case of:
take 1 empty spray bottle. Add a glug of white vinegar to the bottom (maybe 1cm in depth) Top up with cooled boiled water and add maybe 12 drops of lemon ess oil to the mix and shake vigorously. (Could also try pouring boiled water over citrus fruit peels (lightly grated over to help oils escape) and letting that cool, straining it and pouring that into the spray bottle / vinegar )

shangaijimmy

Karmacat wrote: »

Cutting the number of shops might also save quite a bit of time, SJ?

The only beneficiary of time here of time is for Mrs SJ, and that time will be spent on her bike no doubt!

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

It's my perpetual dilemma too SJ - OP or S&S ISA ...I usually wait until there is at least £200 before buying something and then look at "Share of the Week", the bloggers I read and the news articles I have saved, to look for strong reliable(ish) dividends, before choosing what to buy. My aim for this pot will be income rather than capital growth at some time in the not-too-distant future when DH stops work, hence the dividend focus.

I fear that dilemma is about to begin for me! Quick request - can you advise any bloggers to read?
Our pot will be income as well, though at least 20yrs off for us so plenty of time to focus on it once the mortgage is gone in 2024 (ish).

try_harder wrote: »

Raining hard here in Norfolk too

Well it threatened to rain here all day so i opted for a few inside jobs rather than the fence. Typically the proper rain only came at 6pm, but boy did it come!