Hope is not an Effective Financial Strategy 13 March 2015 at 1:18PM edited 3 March 2020 at 8:18PM in Mortgage-Free Wannabe 4.2K replies 347.6K views

Watty1

Nice to see you here. I'm gradually catching up with those  I once knew then will find new diaries too  

Suffolk_lass

Oh dear re the bees. The way to do it is to join the local beekeepers association, do the beginners course, attend the training apiary days, hang out on the association WhatsApp Group and maybe a decent FB forum and absorb lots of stuff. Spend the winter reading a book or two all before buying your kit (having chosen between the myriad of options) and only then, get your bees. We did not do this in the right order... having said that, we currently have four hives and have agreed to take a fifth.

Only one produced honey (swarms often need intervention to build up quickly and we did not do this) but we have enough for us to be able to share with friends and family - and our fruit in the garden - raspberries, gooseberries, black currants, plums and apples have been astonishingly bountiful this year. It has been a steep learning curve but a good hobby for us to do together and a great early retirement project.

shangaijimmy

Your bee experiences tell me that we have neither the space, nor responsibility levels to have bees! We would be a disaster...far better off sticking to dogs!

Our purchases round up pot for the week totaled £2.96, so that has winged its way to the mortgage this morning. Nearly 1 days worth of interest accounted for. I like that way of looking at it.

Really hoping that September and October can be less spendy months to get that feeling of control back ahead of Christmas!

Cheery_Daff

We decided against bees too after I went on a one hour beekeeping course  and spent the whole time willing myself not to run away flapping my arms and screaming 😂😂 I didn't, of course 😁 We have the space, but learned that it would be far too cold and windy up here in the winter, and nobody else would put a hive here as it would be too much hassle, so not something fir us either, certainly not for the next few years.

Excellent tidying there!

shangaijimmy

First day with all 3 kids back in school! The house seems blissfully, yet unnervingly quiet!

Feeling very unsure whether I have done the right thing with recent gas and leccy switch. There was very minimal difference in comparison between (previous) existing supplier and the one I plumped for. In the end I reasoned I may as well switch just to get the cashback bonus. With the recent price hikes alongside some inflated predictions due to the previous home working and home schooling in the winter I was expecting a larger monthly bill anyway. Now the new supplier has taken the first month upfront, alongside us owing £40. It feels like double whammy to the budget!

First time this has happened as usually I've ended up with cash being credited back during the switch. I can reason that its a case of circumstances and that it will even itself out eventually, but hindsight (I have some thoughts on hindsight in the next post) is telling me that I probably should have stuck with existing supplier on their best tariff. Because of the circumstances.

Grrrr, I'm moving myself from unsure to perturbed 

shangaijimmy

Hindsight is not a good thing.

Hindsight is a slap across the chops that highlights my (many) mistakes!

Cheery_Daff

Well, it's tough now. Trust that you made the best decision with the information you had at the time, and deal with the situation as it is, rather than how it was, or how you wish it would be.

*wags fingers in bossy but kind fashion* 😁

Karmacat

Sympathies, Jimmy!  You have to have gas and elec coming in, and a new contract is such an unknown, grrr.  I'm going to be switching myself this month. Trouble is, the forecasts don't really apply to me - single person who's extremely frugal - they always overestimate savings.  All we can do is our best, and then live our lives  

greent

I feel the pain on a double whammy - switched last month so had old pymt come out and new supplier took 1st mth (£180 ish) up front too - ouch!!

Suffolk_lass

Re electric supplier - We were moved last year (Dec old one went bust, Feb it was finally moved to Scottish Power) - when I did the comparisons I elected to stay with them on a new tariff. Ours is electric only. A smallish 3 bedroom cottage, almost £190 a month even with economy 7. On the other hand, we use very little oil for heating as our (electric) range (on from October to May) heats most of the house so we just turn it on once a month to stop the CH pump seizing (and it does hot water).