Hope is not an Effective Financial Strategy

Karmacat

shangaijimmy said:

I have an ever increasing pile in the garage ready for delivery to charity. I know they'll be inundated with stuff as soon as they open as well, so my pile may stay with us a bit longer. As long as its out of the house and in the garage I'm happy enough. The clothes I have been leaving in drop off bins that salvation army has on our local coop car park.....
I'm going to have to make the effort to get to the only supermarket in walking distance that does this, and see if their bins are open, thanks for the reminder.
There's a birthday in our house today so cause for a cake and celebration. My folks are popping in for cake, candles and a photo before heading back off. Such a shame, as with it being a Sunday in normal times our house would have a been a day long buffet with a procession of visitors, some fleeting many for a while. I'm just preparing (mentally and physically) for my Sunday long run, which is 10 miles this week. So once everyone is up and presents are all opened I'll head out. Its very cold still but that doesn't bother me, and I'm just grateful that there's no wind.

Happy birthday to the house member what a great description of your usual celebrations.  And yikes to a 10 mile run.  Respect, though 

bubblycrazy

shangaijimmy said:

Such a shame, as with it being a Sunday in normal times our house would have a been a day long buffet with a procession of visitors, some fleeting many for a while.

Just wanted to ask about this. I do a buffet for DS birthday and the regular family members come round, but I always wish I could invite the extra family that we don't see as much but my house isn't big enough for everyone at once.
I considered doing what you've mentioned but the logistics made my head hurt, what if everyone turns up at once! How do you organise it?
Fingers crossed we can do these things again in the not too distant future. 

greent

@shangaijimmy - BHF will collect (by arrangement) or you can freepost donations off to them    Post your donations free of charge - reuse, recycle | British Heart Foundation (bhf.org.uk)

shangaijimmy

I got a bit way laid with the day yesterday so haven't had chance to respond to comments but will do during afternoon lessons. Despite cleaning out DS2's wardrobe and drawers yesterday he came down stairs in obscenely tight jogging pants and hoody! So off they came and straight in charity bag! As was DS1's well worn out and now too small dressing gown! We then dispatched them to the salvation army charity bin at the local coop!

I have sorted out my accounts and will post my January update this afternoon.

shangaijimmy

January Update - Month 71

• Closing Actual Balance - £70,224.68
• OP's direct to Mortgage - £41.65
• Mortgage Neutral Savings - £11,039.15
• Mortgage Neutral Deficit - £59,185.53
• Daily Interest - £3.83
• Projected Neutral Date - Jan 2026

shangaijimmy

edinburgher said:

@shangaijimmy - very much agree with you on the "why the heck didn't I get more steps for all this decorating lark" comments! From memory, the only reward I got from my old Fitbit after decorating 60% of our current home was paint splatters on the case that I could never get off. Still, a nice occasional reminder that I wasn't completely useless at painting when forced to do so.

I hate those paint spatters...they just serve as a reminder of how it was since I last painted our kitchen! And sat here now looking at the walls I'm mentally committing myself to doing so at half term!! Step gate continued yesterday as I built a dreaded flat pack furniture bed...and got about 5 steps for it...grrrr!

shangaijimmy

bubblycrazy said:

shangaijimmy said:

Such a shame, as with it being a Sunday in normal times our house would have a been a day long buffet with a procession of visitors, some fleeting many for a while.

Just wanted to ask about this. I do a buffet for DS birthday and the regular family members come round, but I always wish I could invite the extra family that we don't see as much but my house isn't big enough for everyone at once.
I considered doing what you've mentioned but the logistics made my head hurt, what if everyone turns up at once! How do you organise it?
Fingers crossed we can do these things again in the not too distant future. 

Not much advice other than to be honest and firm with people! We book them in for time slots as its the only way! And when its time to go, I get their coats for them  Including at the end of the day so Mrs SJ and me can have some time in our house to breath out, with a drink and left over trifle!!

shangaijimmy

greent said:

@shangaijimmy - BHF will collect (by arrangement) or you can freepost donations off to them    Post your donations free of charge - reuse, recycle | British Heart Foundation (bhf.org.uk)

Good to know thank you. I'm doing ok with the clothes bags, it's the toys that accumulates. Stuff that isn't particularly big or bulky but just quite a lot of it. Our local charity shop has a fabulous array of toys, kids books etc...We've benefited from the shop in the past, so I'm happy to wait as I can't see the pile getting too much bigger. I do however have my eye on a bookcase and a DVD cabinet that of Mrs SJ's...

shangaijimmy

greent said:

@shangaijimmy - BHF will collect (by arrangement) or you can freepost donations off to them    Post your donations free of charge - reuse, recycle | British Heart Foundation (bhf.org.uk)

Good to know thank you. I'm doing ok with the clothes bags, it's the toys that accumulates. Stuff that isn't particularly big or bulky but just quite a lot of it. Our local charity shop has a fabulous array of toys, kids books etc...We've benefited from the shop in the past, so I'm happy to wait as I can't see the pile getting too much bigger. I do however have my eye on a bookcase and a DVD cabinet that of Mrs SJ's...

shangaijimmy

Onto today's exploits. House reclamation I have achieved 4 small victories. The first was a pair of childs scissors that are as sharp as a blunt spoon, item 2 is a childs hat, and items 3 and 4 were childs scarfs. All 4 items just loitering in the kitchen and never used! Oh last night I threw away a pair of my socks, as my big toe was getting cold!

I've also OP'd £1.63 for today and yesterday, so February is off and running.

I do have a small issue that it perturbing me, but in a positive way... So I accept that my spreadsheet with mortgage calculations and the actual mortgage balance will never match due to interest being applied daily etc... In the past I've never really noticed as I'd 'borrowed' some mortgage OP money to buy a new car, and in paying that back I've always accepted the discrepancy and made a quick mental approximate adjustment. Now that the borrowed money has been paid back and I no longer need to make the mental adjustment, the difference is all of sudden like a big red alert in my brain! Thankfully its £169.10 in my favour in that my spreadsheet has my balance higher that it actually is.

Now I'm not looking for any answers or explanations and I'm more than happy to just plod on...however I needed to tell someone as Mrs SJ just looks at me with that vacant look and I know she's just silently calling me a nerd (perfectly reasonable by the way)!!!