From debt to freedom...

Cherryfudge

That's a horrendous interest rate! If you could even repay £20 of capital a month, it would eventually have a noticeable impact. I think it would be a good area for payment-a-day. A penny a day - say 30p a month - £3.65 a year: it's a small amount but it would save you nearly £1 after a year if my Maths is right. (It may not be!)

Honeysucklelou2

Hadn't thought of PAD. It would help as the interest is calculated monthly. I made an overpayment this year from the electricity refund which brought the interest down by £3 that month. Thank you for that idea Cherryfudge

helsbell

Honeysucklelou2 wrote: »

It is interesting to go somewhere very different for the day. I'm usd to rural living and only shop in Mr T's for food or small local shops for other things. It's always quite a shock to visit a city and see how vast the choice of products, the size and variety of the shops and the number of people! I don't have mains TV either so don't see adverts which is very useful at this time of year as the children aren't exposed to lots of Christmas marketing but it makes me realise how easy it would be to spend if that was my daily or regular environment. It certainly made me appreciate my area anew.

I totally agree with this, although there is a mindset element as well. I live in a city, but I don't go to shopping centres or into town very often. I also don't watch live TV very often, so adverts are minimal. Although there are obviously things that i want to buy, I'm not drawn into the 'look how happy you would be if you just buy all these shiny new things' scenario very easily now. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I'm tempted but I'm much better at going away and think about it than I used to be. Most of the time I completely forget about it so it really wouldn't have been worth the money.

Honeysucklelou2

Wow, over 10 days since I last posted! I've been busy in the world of work which is likely to remain very busy until the end of term.

Last weekend turned out to be quite spendy as I had to get new glasses. It sounds a lot (£230) but that is for 2 pairs (I'm good at losing a pair every now and again), the sight test and an anti glare coating on the lense. I thought the anti glare would be useful given the amount of driving I do at night. I've tried to think that it's been 4 years since my last optician's visit so if one considers the cost over the years it doesn't seem so bad.

Honeysucklelou2

Last weekend also saw the arrival of chicks! Someone locally offered us some 3 day old chicks at a very good price. I used to use an incubator to hatch eggs a few years ago but didn't do any this year. The younger ones were too little to really remember lots of chicks everywhere so they have been enjoying watching them and helping to feed them etc. They should be at point of lay by Easter which will certainly help as DS1 eats 4 eggs a day on his own.

Cherryfudge

Chicks! Lucky you! I'm looking forward to getting mine but it won't be this side of winter. How many do you have?

Honeysucklelou2

25! It's amazing how accustomed you can get to the sound of cheeping and tuning in to their different cheeps. I'm hoovering several times a day as they scratch the sawdust everywhere but worth if all to watch them grow and change everyday.

Honeysucklelou2

My head is very much in the sand regarding Christmas. I have bought 3 packs of cards so far that are still waiting to be written. I have no ideas at the moment, except for the toddler. Having DD1 home for a while will be the best present.

Honeysucklelou2

DD4 helped me to menu plan last night so we did an evening shop.
Menu for the week-
Sat - fish portions and chips
Sun- pasties
Mon- macaroni cheese
Tues - veg curry
Wed - children eat with the ex
Thurs- kale hash
Fri- Jacket potatoes

DD2 made poached pears in wine last weekend, with homemade shortbread biscuits and chocolate sauce. It is a recipe from her course which she is keen to make again this weekend. I got the cheapest bottle of red wine for the recipe. It's not a dish I can afford every week but she was desperate to practice it before she got assessed on it as part of her course.

Honeysucklelou2

Off to look at a further Ed college today for DS1. It will be quite interesting as the 2 oldest DDs went to the same college but this is a different one today. I'm hoping DS will see something that will inspire him and motivate him to work hard for his GCSEs.

DD2 has her theory test next week so she'll be deep in revision. I must get the Christmas cake cooked today as the fruit has been soaking in brandy for about 2 weeks now;) I aim to start to get cards written today so I'm not in my usual -having to send it first class because I've left it too late- state.