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

HairyHandofDartmoor

I woke up with a headache again this morning . But I'm hoping it will go as the day progresses. At least it's sunny which will mean dry playtime, it's so much less tiring supervising them outdoors . Although I had to sort out lots of little disputes yesterday, some days the children seem to bicker more than others.

This afternoon we need to calculate, submit and pay our VAT return. I have £1000 set aside from my PPI to pay for it, so I'm hoping it will be less than that. I'm not looking forward to doing that, but at least I'll know how much it's going to be. We can knock off the VAT element of DH's laptop plus a few other bits he bought for the business, so that will help to bring it down a bit.

I'm determined to get more organised with our finances. We have always had a low and often sporadic income, but we've made it worse for ourselves by being disorganised with our money and with poor money management. So from now on I want to be much more focused on spending less, getting bargains when we do have to spend, and earning more .

sashybo

Hi HH, sorry to hear how exhausted you've been feeling. Travelling is very tiring, even as the passenger rather than the driver. Both DH & I drive but I don't enjoy it so DH does the majority if we're driving any distance.

I know you've said you'd rather get another sat nav for the car but even as a back up on the phone a good app is Waze. DH uses it rather than the built in sat nav in his car, just plugs his phone into charge so the battery doesn't die. It's a free app but obviously it uses data on your phone.

Your decluttering progress has been really good btw, inspired me to do a bit of tidying. Not much, but better than nothing. :rotfl:

Seasidegal58

Hi Hairy - hope your headache has disappeared and you're feeling more energised.

I agree that budgeting for a hotel next time is a good idea instead of trying to fit all of that driving and rushing around.

I think it was excellent that you were sufficiently stern with OH about the invoice and the EF. I know from experience that it's so easy to fall back into those bad habits of thinking "oh it'll be ok to borrow that - I'll put it back next month" and then never do it because you've spent on something else! And I like the way you have made it hard to get to the money via the Tesco savings and premium bonds.

Do you use a spending diary or spreadsheet now to keep up to date with your budget planning? It might be worth getting OH involved in this.

Have a good day!
x

HairyHandofDartmoor

sashybo wrote: »

Hi HH, sorry to hear how exhausted you've been feeling. Travelling is very tiring, even as the passenger rather than the driver. Both DH & I drive but I don't enjoy it so DH does the majority if we're driving any distance.

I know you've said you'd rather get another sat nav for the car but even as a back up on the phone a good app is Waze. DH uses it rather than the built in sat nav in his car, just plugs his phone into charge so the battery doesn't die. It's a free app but obviously it uses data on your phone.

Your decluttering progress has been really good btw, inspired me to do a bit of tidying. Not much, but better than nothing. :rotfl:

Thanks Sashybo . I've always found travelling tiring, I'm a bit of a light weight .

I have heard of Waze. We could use it if we can't afford a new sat nav, but the sat nav makes it so easy and less stressful so we'd like to get a new one if we can. It's funny but I always said I wouldn't want a sat nav, but then my mum gave me hers because my stepdad refused to use it and DH and I fell in love with it as it made our journeys so much easier. I'm quite sad that it's gone wrong as my mum gave it to us .

I'm glad I've inspired you to de some tidiying, every little helps .

HairyHandofDartmoor

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

Hi Hairy - hope your headache has disappeared and you're feeling more energised.

I agree that budgeting for a hotel next time is a good idea instead of trying to fit all of that driving and rushing around.

I think it was excellent that you were sufficiently stern with OH about the invoice and the EF. I know from experience that it's so easy to fall back into those bad habits of thinking "oh it'll be ok to borrow that - I'll put it back next month" and then never do it because you've spent on something else! And I like the way you have made it hard to get to the money via the Tesco savings and premium bonds.

Do you use a spending diary or spreadsheet now to keep up to date with your budget planning? It might be worth getting OH involved in this.

Have a good day!
x

Thanks SSG . Yes I think we're getting too old for very late nights and rushing around and trying to fit everything in to too short a time, plus all the stress is bad for DH after his mini stroke .

I'm not determined not to fritter away our EFs. We've had some good luck getting the PPI windfalls, but a chance like that may never come our way again, so I don't want to waste it. If we hadn't had the PPI in the first place then we'd have managed somehow, so I want to pretend our EFs don't exist .

I should keep a spending diary. I'm not clever with spreadsheets so I usually keep a notebook one but they are very effective. DH is usually not too spendy as he works from home, but I do have to watch him when we go out. I have a tendency to fritter on my Saturday rambles, so a spending diary would help with that too.

HairyHandofDartmoor

I woke up with a headache this morning so I'm still tired, this is despite another early night. I'm getting old . I didn't do much before I went to work and I was fine when I got there because adrenaline kicked in, but as I walking away I realised how tired I still felt. I really pushed myself beyond my limits at the weekend and I have to stop doing it.

I was supposed to have a mammogram tomorrow, but I couldn't face it so I've changed it to two weeks time. It's quite a stressful experience and I wanted to make sure I'm back on my A game before I have to cope with it.

I also forced myself to ring and book myself an appointment for a hair cut. My layers are all straggly and out of shape and my hair is resembling a bush at the moment :eek:. I meant to get it cut in the holidays but was too busy de-cluttering!

I'm looking forward to my wheelie bin arriving on Thursday, exciting times :rotfl:.

DH has gone to post DS3's laptop to him (I dread to think how much that will cost!) because somehow between them they forgot to pack it. Never trust two men to pack anything :wall:.

After that we'll have the joy of doing the VAT return, my most hated job on this earth . The only advantage is that we'll know how much we'll need to pay and if there'll be any money left over from the £1000 I've set aside for it.

teafor2

Sorry to hear you're still not feeling 100% back to normal. Lack of sleep always tends to catch up with me a few days later rather than the day after.

I'm like you with hair appointments, I'm getting mine done this week, but it's just another job to cross off the list - I get no enjoyment from it at all

Blimey, fancy DS3 forgetting his laptop - I thought all technology was permanently glued to their hands these days :rotfl:

Good luck with the tax return and fingers crossed you come in under the £1k budget xx

beanielou

Hope you get the VAT return done.

WannabeFree

Hope you get the VAT done.

Also hope you get another good nights sleep and feel better tomorrow

x

foxgloves

I think I shall have to read your diary from start to finish, HairyHand - I'm looking for a new one to dip into & having read your opening post, I can see a few similarities with mine! I reckon we are around a similar age, & I too first encountered the dizzy joys of being able to borrow money at age 19........, meeting the very lovely but similarly endebted (actually, he was even worse!) Mr F along the way. The teensiest flicker of light bulb happened now & again, but nothing more than a damp match & lasting about as long! Our last chunk (not including mortgage) was paid off when I was 46 - the most amazing feeling, but we've needed all those budgeting skills as that year also coincided with me taking redundancy, so drifting back to the bad old ways was never going to be an option. Our lifestyle has barely changed, apart from doing a lot more camping & booking a lot fewer holiday cottages, so that means we must have been frittering pretty much the equivalent of my entire salary back in the Spendy Years!! It's shocking when I put it like that!
Anyway, I shall be starting your diary from tonight - I do find they help keep me in the right mindset.
F