Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally

teafor2

Morning HHD I hope you can at least tick over with a bit of tweaking here and there until help for DH's business kicks in. Have a lovely day. xx

HairyHandofDartmoor

Delichon said:

Another one here who loves buttercups.  I even like the dandelions, such cheerful flowers.  Shame everyone views them as a nuisance and kills them off.  We get lots of wild poppies at the end of our garden nearest the fields beyond.  One of my favourite flowers and always a very  welcome sign of summer.

Wishing everyone another lovely sunny day even if we can't go very far afield to enjoy it.

My Mum used to love poppies, they are lovely and dandelions are a nice, bright colour .

HairyHandofDartmoor

Nicnak said:

Sounds like it was the best considering the situation. x

Thanks Nicnak .

HairyHandofDartmoor

Well we should be eligible for the self-employed package if we can survive until June . We earn a lot less than 50K 😭 and we've been self-employed for over a decade. The trouble is I've lost my cover and I know DH will get less business in because he's a B2B service provider and many of his customers are shut down now . The last recession nearly finished us off and this is going to be a worse recession . 

The only bright spots are that we're no longer in debt 🎉, we have a small EG 🎉, I will still earn £200 a month 🎉 and DS1 and DS2 give us keep 🎉. I'm hoping this will keep the wolf from the door until the government grant kicks in in June.

My recent wage (I got paid on my birthday ) was enhanced from my cover🎉. I've set aside April's mortgage payment, paid our £94 water bill for March (no we don't have a swimming pool, that's what people in the SW have to pay 😭), paid our weekly NP0w3r bill of £45, and paid £120 for two months of broadband and landline (Feb and March). 

What I have left, which isn't much, I'll save for other bills that will become due. I'm not tempted to buy anything that isn't essential because we need every penny we have for food and bills.

But I have plenty of books to read 📚 (literally hundreds), we have N3tfl!x to watch 📺, lots of DVDs and lots of houswork  🧽 and gardening 🌱 that need doing, not to mention my college work. So I don't need to buy anything. So much of what we buy are wants rather than needs.

I hope everyone is having a good and safe Friday .

Sun_Addict

Good news that DH should be eligible for the package.  Hopefully you can manage until then.  At least there's nothing much to spend money on at the moment, I've never had so many NSDs. Wow that water bill is expensive just for one month 😮

Willowtree222

I agree about the water! wow! 
You at least have a plan and great news that DH is eligible for some money, albeit June. x

HairyHandofDartmoor

Sun_Addict said:

Good news that DH should be eligible for the package.  Hopefully you can manage until then.  At least there's nothing much to spend money on at the moment, I've never had so many NSDs. Wow that water bill is expensive just for one month 😮

Thanks SA . Yes the price of water is the worst thing about living in Devon 😡😭. A water meter wouldn't be any cheaper with 4-5 adults in the house.

HairyHandofDartmoor

Nicnak said:

I agree about the water! wow! 
You at least have a plan and great news that DH is eligible for some money, albeit June. x

Thanks Nicnak . Yes the price of water in Devon is scandalous 😡😭 and with 4-5 adults in the house a meter wouldn't be any cheaper for us, plus we'd be scared to use water.

HairyHandofDartmoor

Well I'm trying to make myself useful while I'm not working and I'm in quarantine. 

• I've unpacked and put away our dried goods Mr T shop (which we left to sit for 72 hours so any potential virus could die out).
• Done an inventory of the tins and jars in our store cupboard.
• Put some bedding on to wash and now it's drying in the garden.
• Weeded a garden pot.
• Poured two kettles full of hot water on the weeds in the cobbles,
• Bagged up part of a pile of dead branches.

The garden still looks a mess 😭, but it's a start and I'm knackered . When I've rested my sore back I'll bag up some more branches and weed another pot. If I do half an hour a day in the garden it will look tidy eventually, I hope 🤔.

It's amazing how much you can do and how much you can tire yourself out and the garden still looks like you've done nothing 😭. Or is that just me? 🤣

teafor2

Hi HHD Glad you've managed to cover your bills and have some set aside, but crikey that water bill! Ours if just over £40 a month so yours is double plus some. 

I reckon it won't be long before you see the fruits of your labour in the garden if you do a bit every day. At least the weather is nice so we're able to get out for some fresh air. Not sure how we'd all be feeling if it was raining and we were all cooped up inside. Even being able to get the washing on the line makes the house feel better.  Have a lovely day. xx