I’m taking control of my life, now.

savingholmes

Well done on the bonus and the money shuffle. I think definitely choose an option for becoming debt neutral that doesn't include beating yourself up

EssexHebridean

That sounds like a lovely treaty thing to work to save for - good planning! (As for that company - I wouldn't either, even if right now I'm close enough to that residential street to go and find them if it all went horribly wrong - I suspect they wouldn't be there!) 

boxofpaws

@Suffolk_lass- where did you get all that useful information from? You sleuth!
@savingholmes - I will at least celebrate that milestone anyway
@EssexHebridean - I am waiting until the new one now anyway, so a bit longer to save!

I haven't logged our spend in a while so let me do this now
£8 Prime (now cancelled, will use Mr P's)
£40 Ukraine war - (work was matching contributions too)
£4 ITV hub (i went to cancel and they offered 3 months half price so am keeping that for now)
£2 Ink subscription  (goes up to £3 from next month)
£99 -2 new pairs of boots  (Cl@rks sale)
£27 - mirror - gift for sister
£27 - mirror, cos I liked the one for my sister
£8 feet for keyboard (they broke)
£2.50- Apple storage
£13 - bird feeder
£23 - lunch out
£16 - new t shirt
£9.50 Mothers Day gift and card
£4 - online game subscription. I need to cancel this, although I do play the game, I probably shouldn't. 

£283 "spends" - includes £77 for charity and gifts, £116 for clothes and shoes. £20.50 on subs which will change to £7.50. £60 "stuff"

I will post over my grocery spends here in a mo. The plan is to use all this info to plot out a new SOA as there is so much changing over the next few weeks

Suffolk_lass

Since you ask... I admit I am a bit nerdy but post pandemic I want my spend to make a difference to our economy. I used to work for a Government agency and it is in my nature to check that a company is paying their taxes in the UK. I may not be able to influence where goods are manufactured, but I can make sure that the distribution centres (warehouses) are here in the UK so they are paying business rates to help run local services, and hopefully employment taxes to UK based employees so that income tax, national insurance and possibly corporation tax are all contributing to the cost of our economy.

My checks take a few minutes and are all free. If you want to check things for yourself, I do it this way:

• On the company website I look at the address they are using (at the bottom of the home page, or in "about us" or contact us), and then check that on google maps in street or satellite view so I know if it is a residential or business premises. This also works if you did into them on big river company or the bay of E.
• There is usually a reference to the company's registered name (or VAT number separate search) or company registered number - these can be put into the search bar for Companies House here and from there you can see if they file UK accounts, whether they are making money (or about to do out of business) and who the directors are, where they are registered and how many other companies they are associated with.

It's really simple, is not fool-proof but is a good indicator of whether I want to buy from them. For example I used to buy certain garden protection goods from a UK company, but they closed up everything except their admin in the UK and moved abroad where warehousing is cheaper. SO they are employing people abroad, not providing employment here. So I buy their goods from a local garden centre if I can't get them elsewhere. At least the garden centre is employing people in the UK.

It's also why I don't really use Lids or Aldos as for example their distribution centres are in Flanders and their orders by 4pm are picked, packed and dispatched onto containers that ship to London (Purfleet), arriving in time to reach stores by opening the next morning. I can't say where their northern distribution centres are but the palettes get offloaded at the stores and unloaded straight into display space from the much smaller back-room stores. I am using Morries as their farms are currently still their own and in UK (not all their stock is UK, obv). I could say more....

Drawingaline

Suffolk_lass said:

Since you ask... I admit I am a bit nerdy but post pandemic I want my spend to make a difference to our economy. I used to work for a Government agency and it is in my nature to check that a company is paying their taxes in the UK. I may not be able to influence where goods are manufactured, but I can make sure that the distribution centres (warehouses) are here in the UK so they are paying business rates to help run local services, and hopefully employment taxes to UK based employees so that income tax, national insurance and possibly corporation tax are all contributing to the cost of our economy.

My checks take a few minutes and are all free. If you want to check things for yourself, I do it this way:

• On the company website I look at the address they are using (at the bottom of the home page, or in "about us" or contact us), and then check that on google maps in street or satellite view so I know if it is a residential or business premises. This also works if you did into them on big river company or the bay of E.
• There is usually a reference to the company's registered name (or VAT number separate search) or company registered number - these can be put into the search bar for Companies House here and from there you can see if they file UK accounts, whether they are making money (or about to do out of business) and who the directors are, where they are registered and how many other companies they are associated with.

It's really simple, is not fool-proof but is a good indicator of whether I want to buy from them. For example I used to buy certain garden protection goods from a UK company, but they closed up everything except their admin in the UK and moved abroad where warehousing is cheaper. SO they are employing people abroad, not providing employment here. So I buy their goods from a local garden centre if I can't get them elsewhere. At least the garden centre is employing people in the UK.

It's also why I don't really use Lids or Aldos as for example their distribution centres are in Flanders and their orders by 4pm are picked, packed and dispatched onto containers that ship to London (Purfleet), arriving in time to reach stores by opening the next morning. I can't say where their northern distribution centres are but the palettes get offloaded at the stores and unloaded straight into display space from the much smaller back-room stores. I am using Morries as their farms are currently still their own and in UK (not all their stock is UK, obv). I could say more....

This is so interesting. I was just starting to look companies up at work before I lost my admin job. It's amazing what info you can get if you want to.

We shop most things from the posh green supermarket as hubby works for them so we get discount. He gets annoyed with how low-key they keep a lot of what they do/have/grow themselves. He thinks they should advertise better about their environmental and local connections. Prior to him getting the job we shopped from Morrie's as I liked the store. I have always found l1dl and @ldi too chaotic and hard to navigate. Don't get me wrong, when hubby was out of work we shopped there, but now we have a little more choice. And that means we can afford to shop with employment and environmental factors a little more in mind.

boxofpaws

@Suffolk_lass Oh wow, what a helpful post! I will definitely do this more often. I also try to be mindful about where I shop. We shop at Sainsbo mainly because of the animal welfare standards. This is for fresh meat, and also all own label stuff has the cruelty free bunny. I do love Ald1 Prosecco though.

@Drawingaline - I work for a big company that gets a lot of bad press but is actually very conscientious. We deliberately don’t advertise the amazing stuff we do, I think mainly because the reason we do it isn't to make money. Frustrating though. 

boxofpaws

It’s been a long old mo since 29th March, but just posting across my grocery spends

2nd March - Sainsbo
£69.34 groceries 
£1 toiletries.

8th - Discount shop
£10.80 coffee 
£35.95 cat food
£2 h/hold

11th March - cat food £29.99  

12th March Sainsbo
Toiletries £1
Hhold - £4.50
Alcohol £37 (beer stock up for the husband)
Groceries £90.97

23rd March Sainsbo
Toiletries £2.50
Hhold - £1.50
Alcohol £37 (another beer stock up for the husband and for another family gathering coming up)
Groceries £39.89

6 bottles of wine x £8 = £48

£401.39 of £400 

I also bought some food for a family gathering on 23rd. I am not sure whether or not to include this- i think it should be the entertainment budget but we did eat the leftovers for a few days. This was £60.25

Food Grocery spend was £211 - only makes up half of our grocery spend - astonishing!

savingholmes

It is always interesting to see how budget pots breakdown when we look in more detail. I'm always shocked by things like cat food costs, moisturiser, shampoo, shower gel, washing powder, etc

boxofpaws

Hmm SH, it’s been a bit of a surprise, that’s for sure.

I looked back at my SOA a few pages ago and I have only accounted for small amount of the £283 spend. It’s not the end of the world and we can afford it, I guess. But it will slow down the escape plan. Somewhere in the middle is what’s required.

In other news, my 81-year-old mother tested positive for Covid on Friday, and I have been at her house since. The good news is she’s feeling much better, the bad news is I am being driven slowly round the bend. I gave her a brass bell to summons me when she needs me. And I’m a terrible nurse! I vomited twice giving her a COVID test. Ridiculous! I think she got it from one of the social group she’s gone to, certainly nobody else in the family has got it (yet). I haven’t dared to see my husband because I really don’t want to give him this, what with his brain tumour and all, and I am pining for him in quite a pathetic way. I’ve been quite strict on handwashing, ventilation and masks and so far, I’m still testing negative. 

The mortgage advisor has given us some numbers - 2.13% for a 5 year fix. Obviously we were never going to get the 1.26% we have right now but I think it might be worth going for the long fix.

Got to go 🔔 

savingholmes

Sorry about your mum. My parents both have it too. Similar ages but too far for me to play nursemaid unless they were desperate. I'd have to go and live there... which wouldn't be great. I also think I am high risk so really don't want it. 

Understandable that you are missing your DH. I think too parents have a special gift for sending kids around the bend...