Get a grip woman!

Karmacat

Good luck with this!  Hope you can achieve it all today

Suffolk_lass

I didn't paint the doors because the weather forecast was fab for yesterday so we both spent the day clearing the garden ready to plant more veg and save more on our groceries this winter.

If you are wondering... Having just read the revised rules for the forum I feel I must explicitly relate the content of this diary to money saving.

Today's forecast is meh so the plan to refresh the kitchen (to avoid buying new) is going to start today...

I forgot. We won £25 on the PBs - I forgot to check if it is one of the new ones that entered the draw in August - I might do that in a minute.

Karmacat

Oh!  I'd better read those rules ... thanks for the heads up.  Glad the moneysaving planning on the garden went well

Suffolk_lass

I thought I should do a bit of a money-saving and debt reduction update (it has been a while)

Debts

£110,621 - £8,691.99 (£101,929.01 paid so far) - Mortgage

£3,476 DH's car cleared this

£8,755.54 - Barclays Finance for double glazing cleared this

Total £122,852.54 now £8,691.99 - that is £114,160.55 paid off so far

Savings

Originally debts exceeded savings by £71,990.57 - now there are realisable savings in excess of £122,000

3 bad things -

• Mortgage still there
• We are spending a little more than our pension income most months
• Our savings are gradually reducing - we are in that window between stopping work and reaching State Pension Age

3 good things

• Our grocery shopping bills are on track to stay inside our annual budget, despite some bulk purchases
• We have just won £25 on the premium bond I bought this summer (3rd draw)
• Our BS Bond is due to pay out next week and will pay off our mortgage

themadvix

I can foresee some problems with the new rules... the vast majority of us hardcore MSErs have the money saving so ingrained that, as you highlight above, we don't feel the need to make it explicit when we are money saving - and our diaries are exactly that, reports of our lives centred on money saving. At what point is the money saving considered significant? It might be a remortgage for some (potentially savings thousands), but for lots of those on these boards (DFW), it's saving a penny or two here and there that makes all the difference.

Good to see a financial update though SL!

rtandon27

Totally agree TMV! - It's so important to see money-saving as part of a whole life rather than the be all and end all of a diary!  The chit-chat is often the equivalent of sharing tips over the garden fence.  Even though I'm "part of the furniture" on these boards, I rely on the day-to-day experience of others to remind me to keep on track with my own daily efforts.  Surely the positive camaraderie is what keeps the boards going?
(...and in keeping with the new 'rules', it's been a NSD in these here parts - cause you know...working from home 😉)

(...and SL I love your financial update!)

Suffolk_lass

Someone was saying there was a particularly toublesome thread that has had to be removed (a bit like arguing down the pub, it had a tendency to get a bit heated. I do hope those of us who have completed, or nearly completed our debt journeys don't fall foul. It doesn't feel as though we are doing any harm but I guess the space we take up wittering, still has to be funded. But it's amazing how often I google a question and the answer is in an MSE Forum thread that goes back a few years (our heritage threads) 

That yellow reminder banner is everywhere too:

• Important update! We have recently reviewed and updated our Forum Rules and FAQs. Please take the time to familiarise yourself with the latest version.

Suffolk_lass

Our money-saving refresh of the kitchen may be in jeopardy. I had an unknown call from Haywards Heath that I did not recognise or answer yesterday. Six hours later I got a text from B&Q saying they are going to phone from a private number as they need to talk to me about the tempered glass splash back (that has been on order since 15th August and for which they have been paid since then) that is due to be delivered with the new drawer fronts next Saturday. It might be a coincidence.

Typically as we have started to plan the order in which the bits need to be done (splash back up before wall cabinets, for instance) if there is a problem it messes up all of the parts dependant on it being in place. Cupboard contents already all over the dining room table!

themadvix

Suffolk_lass said:
 But it's amazing how often I google a question and the answer is in an MSE Forum thread that goes back a few years (our heritage threads) 

This is so true - MSE is a wealth of knowledge!

Hope the kitchen situation is resolved and B&Q are just ringing to update you in a good way.

Suffolk_lass

No call yet... We have ploughed ahead and taken down the left hand cupboard and DH has removed the extractor. The bit of bendy extractor tunnel in the wall is damaged and will need replacing. Unfortunately the other end is fixed in the wall so it is more complicated than it should be. I'm suggesting we get a piece and slip it over like a sock, so the old one can stay cemented in. He isn't keen... I want to avoid having to make holes in the wall and ending up rebuilding part of the house, just to put a couple of different cupboards up!!!