A Budgeteer's Adventure

CharlieKat

Well I've cleared out a kitchen cupboard - the one that holds all the pans etc. This yielded 2 items to part with - 1 to be gifted and 1 sentimental item which had lost its none stick base neither use nor ornament so it has gone too. Cupboard looks alot better now :T

Have fed the cats, moved some washing and now the dryer is beckoning me to move some more - best wriggle on

CharlieKat

Not as much done last yesterday or so far today as I'd like - got to accept that i have low energy and can only do what i can

103/500 items decluttered so far - aim to reach the 500 before Christmas! Not sure why not the end of the year as I'm not expecting to keep any 'unwanted' gifts this year I don't mean to sound ungrateful but a top 2 sizes too small and with the labels removed anyone? I now just very quickly get the unwanted items out of the house

chipping away at my wardrobe of clothes still - i don't think i have alot - especially now with the weight gain and getting rid of what doesn't fit but still probably too much stuff. I may have a count up later and set a target number of clothes to get down to :eek::T:D

Got to dry my hair, it takes a long time to do and we have visitors arriving for a brief while in a bit - will mean my loungewear will need to be changed out of too :rotfl: I can't help it - i like to be comfy at home :rotfl:

Mortgage ponderings

have been thinking about mortgage rates and what my rate is and what rates are being offered at the moment.

i have to remember i was very lucky to finally be able to remortgage - computer said no everywhere scenario but the underwriters looked at it and i was accepted :T the rate was less than half of the rate i'd been stuck on and less than a 1/3rd of what i'd been stuck on for a long time. i'm glad i took the longer 5 year term - with the debt accrued from being out of work and car etc i wouldn't have been accepted now - especially as my income is so much less than it was. So i am grateful to have got the deal which i have and i'm grateful to have a job which is allowing me to keep up with my payments.

i need to do a proper income / expenditure analysis or probably more like musings... My wage last month was £1200.05 My mortgage payment, including overpayment, was £1199.96.

CharlieKat

116/500 now decluttered - a bowl, slippers and a focus on clothes has seen the tally rise.

Totted up the clothes I have unless any are hiding in the washing - drumroll....

92

92 items of clothing including coats, jackets and workwear - it DOESN'T include pj's, underwear or sportswear.

92 was too many for me - I've already dropped it to...

84 with a target of 50 and a hopeful target of 40

Not sure how realistic this is but I'm conscious I want LESS whether this is a reaction to overspending on clothes when younger - a culmination of poor self-esteem, the friends I had at the time and a parent encouraging me to max out credit cards and skip payments on them.in order to buy more fashion items :eek: Or whether it's a step towards a simpler more minimalistic lifestyle and a conscious move away from excess or something else I don't know... BUT I am embracing it.

I'm not wasteful & have identified a couple of things in an earlier post that aren't good to anyone but that I need to wear more to get the wear out of them before recycling.

There will be some careful thought given to the remaining items with thought given to how often to worm & occasions to wear.

I hAve some specifically summer clothes - shorts & dresses for the very hot days we occasionally get & I have jumpers which can pretty much be worn any season in this country :rotfl: All will be given thought as I need to reduce these items, ideally, by over 50% :eek:

Once achieved I'll address other areas :T

Now to start a new book

CharlieKat

132/50 decluttered

84 on clothing

Just getting my update on on decluttered items before i forget the number And the clothes is just a reminder of what the total was - when the washings finished i'll be able to update both figures as I know more items have gone :T

Whilst i now have a very limited workwear wardrobe and casual clothing wardrobe come to that, at least now I'm (hopefully ) not wearing clothes that didn't suit me / didn't make me feel good, just because i already had them :T

I decluttered some bits in the living room yesterday, tidying bits away and having a bit of a clear out and i really think its made a big difference :T

I need to update my sig as i know i've reduced the amount on the card in my sig. Unfortunately I do need to go more into debt as i need to pay for a professional qualification I'm hoping if i pay for this one (which i'm supposed to have already started) for the next stage i can ask work to pay or contribute. I've not signed up to the course yet as it is pretty upsetting having to increase the debt - but i HAVE to do it. Maybe i should use this as encouragement to clear more things out :think: Not sure how much there is left to clear out :rotfl:

Upping my income has mainly consisted of selling bits on the bay, I need to look at what else i can do to increase my income - the professional qualification could help with that as, if the opportunity came for more hours, I'd be well placed for that with my qualifications... But i do need something more immediate than that really.

I've been reading the threads on here and noticed for a lot of people how, if they're in a couple, both are on board with the MFW journey or one agrees with the journey and follows the decisions of the thready regarding targets etc. i sometimes wish my Mr was on board with the journey But he isn't because he doesn't believe its possible for us with our limited income. I have tried to discuss this with him many times and it isn't worth the frustration as he refuses to try and see. That said, the good thing is he makes sure we do fun things like going to gigs or on hols etc. so in some ways i think we have a balance. When i get a bit down and think its a lonely journey then i should remember thar

CharlieKat

A few more items decluttered takes my total to

137/500

but to add to that is the number of clothes i've parted with - now down to:

71

so Total decluttered

150/500 :T

I've thought of a few more bits of clothes to part with too:T so have put them to one side to try on and consider :cool:

This last lot of decluttering (the 150) is really making a difference to our home - i'm sure when i achieve the 500 (which doesn't include items my Mr parts with) then our home will be a much nicer and easier place to be :T

I notice from the other diaries i like to read that i probably like to read them for the moneysaving and for the way people share parts of their lives which is inspirational in other ways - as they might mention something that i didn't know was happening but am then aware and can try and do it if i wanted to. So i'm going to try and include bits of our lives on here too - i think i started with too much fear of being identified :eek: as i have a number of friends / family / colleagues who come on here

Well there's nothing exciting to report this weekend :rotfl: I met up with a friend yesterday although her choice of venue wouldn't have been my choice and i spent money on food and drink which wasn't worth it Still i'm trying to cultivate the friendship so just have to take it on the chin :cool:

My Mr has a busy couple of weeks of work so just wants a quiet weekend this weekend which I will like too :T As it means i'll have a bit of time tomorrow to list the bits I've sorted for sale :T I will try and list some things for my Mr too - they won't add to my money or declutter total but the house will be better for it once they've gone :T

So a quiet night in tonight with a film and a glass of wine :beer: lovely

Scrimps

Its a shame your OH doesn't think it can be done but the other side of the coin may be that at least you're not both obsessing about paying off the mortgage earlier and he can remind you to have fun and go out to gigs etc. It seems to me that you're doing really well so don't put to much pressure on yourself, especially if he is not on board.

There is definitely something psychological in clearing clutter when starting to over pay a mortgage....mine was a similar debt accrual to your story and I think the decluttering was kind of shedding that past and moving on.....the extra money from selling things helps too

EatingTheElephant

You may find that when the OPs start to show a difference Mr CK may start to take notice.
My hubby complained for the first time last week and got a £10 voucher and is now keen to OP, it’s taken a few years though! He pays for the fun stuff in our relationship too like eating out so it works out a good balance as we don’t get miserable

CharlieKat

Scrimps wrote: »

Its a shame your OH doesn't think it can be done but the other side of the coin may be that at least you're not both obsessing about paying off the mortgage earlier and he can remind you to have fun and go out to gigs etc. It seems to me that you're doing really well so don't put to much pressure on yourself, especially if he is not on board.

There is definitely something psychological in clearing clutter when starting to over pay a mortgage....mine was a similar debt accrual to your story and I think the decluttering was kind of shedding that past and moving on.....the extra money from selling things helps too

Hi Scrimps thank you for stopping by and your lovely words

I definitely agree that me and my Mr do seem to have a balance simply because we both focus on different things - him on fun and me on the mortgage I am quite focused on things when i've made my mind up to do something - thank you for saying i'm doing well - it's so often difficult for me to appreciate anything i've done. This, i think, is due to comparing where i should be if i hadn't been made redundant. I'm planning to try and appreciate and enjoy things more - more on this later.

I'm definitely loving the changes in our home with the decluttering - the aim is to make the cleaning easier :rotfl::rotfl: But i agree - with the clothing i feel like i'm perhaps trying shed that part of my life - linking the clothes to who i was when i wore them and how i'm different now.

I'll look out for your diary

CharlieKat

EatingTheElephant wrote: »

You may find that when the OPs start to show a difference Mr CK may start to take notice.
My hubby complained for the first time last week and got a £10 voucher and is now keen to OP, it’s taken a few years though! He pays for the fun stuff in our relationship too like eating out so it works out a good balance as we don’t get miserable

Hi EatingTheElephant and thank you for your encouraging words

How lovely that Mr EtE is on board with overpaying that's great news :T

Er confession time Mr Kat doesn't know the balance of our mortgage or how long is left to pay it off. I'm actually happy with this now - it was hard at first being left to everything myself but i know if my Mr saw the overpayments and where we are now he'd want to stop overpaying altogether and spend on more nights out / takeaways / holidays and to me, there is already too much spent on these categories.

He probably spends more going out than i spend overpaying. I did try and chat to him last week about budgets, thinking of whats being spent and maybe going less for 'it's the weekend so i'm going out' approach Every. Single. Weekend. as well as a few nights out in the week... I do of course benefit a few times from this when we go out together and it is nice to socialise - I just had no clue the amount he was spending on it and was quite shocked - as he says though, it's his money.

i'll have a read of your diary too

CharlieKat

hello all

It's so lovely to pop in and see i've had visitors

before i forget decluttering is now:

215/500

clothes will need to wait until i've counted them up but a few more items went :T

this last lot of decluttering has made such a big difference an i really feel our home is benefiting from it, and so we are too :T

I'm just getting ready to go out but thought i'd quickly pop in. This week has seen a busy week in work and no nights out until we went to a charity do on Friday. I spent £11 in total and even won a prize on the raffle which will make an ideal gift for someone and finishes off my Christmas shopping nicely :T

We're going out for a birthday celebration in a bit - so a few drinks and meal but should be nice to see people and catch up too.

Money news i've sold a couple more items on the bay which have all been paid to the card in my sig.

Realised I need to work out percentages too:

I pay just over 10% of my net wages into pensions

I pay 14% of my net wages to credit cards - and any extra i make but this is the regular minimums i pay

I pay 6% into savings - i'd like to start paying into a stocks and shares isa but not really sure where too look for setting this up. i don't really have the money to pay this but think this £50 a month would be too important for my future not to cut back on other items.

Right - better dry my hair and get ready to go