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

doingitanyway

Wow that is some agency fee!

Well done to Redo. A great example of the knowledge and wisdom of this forum.

Glad you had the lovely NT day out. Sounds like you needed it.

Wishing you a lovely Sunday

HairyHandofDartmoor

doingitanyway wrote: »

Wow that is some agency fee!

Well done to Redo. A great example of the knowledge and wisdom of this forum.

Glad you had the lovely NT day out. Sounds like you needed it.

Wishing you a lovely Sunday

I know! :mad:

Yes Redo came up trumps there :T.

It was a nice day out, I find NT places very soothing to the spirit .

beanielou

Happy Sunday

HairyHandofDartmoor

beanielou wrote: »

Happy Sunday

You too Beanie .

[Deleted User]

I hope you and all your followers are enjoying a lovely sunny Sunday:beer:


Glad the tenancy guarantor situation has been sorted, HH. It must be a load off you and your DH's minds:T


Well done on not succumbing to any more clothes spending after returning the clothes that you decided you didn't really want. It sounds as if you had a frugal day but still enjoyed it. I find I get a lot more pleasure from my purchases now. I can afford to loosen the purse-strings a tiny bit since becoming debt-free but still need to make sure the frugal lessons I've learned through the miserable debt-filled years have really been permanently established. I'm finding such pleasure in the few, small, carefully-considered purchases I make these days , far much more than from the mountains of stuff I used to come home with when money was no object and I had a wallet full of credit cards:o


Your coin jar struck a chord:T. I really must get back into the habit of having one again. Once upon a time I used to save every £2 coin I ever received in my change and it's amazing how quickly it mounted up. Then, when my debts were at their most desperate I was resorting to scrabbling round even for every last 1p coin to help towards the groceries:o. No more £2 coin saving for me:(. Crikey, finding a £2 coin in my purse would have seemed like a lottery win in the bad old days. These days I'm like the Queen and don't tend to carry much cash:rotfl:. I've discovered the joys of my contactless debit card and as I rarely spend more than the £30 limit (unless on a big grocery shop or petrol) I tend to use it for everything, however small. Maybe I should start using cash again just so I can have the pleasure of a coin jar for loose change:rotfl:

HairyHandofDartmoor

My sister was messaging me last night about arrangements to sort out the last of my mum's clothes at her house in the summer.

As it was on my mind anyway this morning, I decided to sort through and try to reduce the clothes I already have. I have a large box of my mum's shoes, a large box of her trousers, tops and blouses, and an enormous box with her coats, jackets and jumpers. It gave me great comfort at the time to have them, but I decided that I was ready to whittle them down a bit. So this morning I looked through them all, photographed them, checked the pockets, savoured them for a bit and then felt able to let quite a lot of them go.

In her winter coat pocket I found a shopping list which I'm going to keep. It amused me that all of her pockets had copious amounts of tissues in, if you ever needed a tissue my mum was always able to provide one .

I've whittled her things down to three pairs of shoes and her slippers which have fitted in a much smaller box. I've also kept three jackets, three pairs of trousers, five blouses, four tee-shirts and some lovely handkerchiefs with embroidered flowers and her intitial on. All of the clothes now fit into the large box, so the enormous box and a large box are now empty and ready to store other things. I've got two large and one small carrier bags full ready to be dropped at the charity shop now.

It felt like the right time to do it and I felt ready to let most of her things go, but I was able to do it when I felt ready to, by myself, when I had time to photograph and savour them.

So that's my de-cluttering project for today. I feel sad, but it feels right.

HairyHandofDartmoor

Noella wrote: »

I hope you and all your followers are enjoying a lovely sunny Sunday:beer:


Glad the tenancy guarantor situation has been sorted, HH. It must be a load off you and your DH's minds:T


Well done on not succumbing to any more clothes spending after returning the clothes that you decided you didn't really want. It sounds as if you had a frugal day but still enjoyed it. I find I get a lot more pleasure from my purchases now. I can afford to loosen the purse-strings a tiny bit since becoming debt-free but still need to make sure the frugal lessons I've learned through the miserable debt-filled years have really been permanently established. I'm finding such pleasure in the few, small, carefully-considered purchases I make these days , far much more than from the mountains of stuff I used to come home with when money was no object and I had a wallet full of credit cards:o


Your coin jar struck a chord:T. I really must get back into the habit of having one again. Once upon a time I used to save every £2 coin I ever received in my change and it's amazing how quickly it mounted up. Then, when my debts were at their most desperate I was resorting to scrabbling round even for every last 1p coin to help towards the groceries:o. No more £2 coin saving for me:(. Crikey, finding a £2 coin in my purse would have seemed like a lottery win in the bad old days. These days I'm like the Queen and don't tend to carry much cash:rotfl:. I've discovered the joys of my contactless debit card and as I rarely spend more than the £30 limit (unless on a big grocery shop or petrol) I tend to use it for everything, however small. Maybe I should start using cash again just so I can have the pleasure of a coin jar for loose change:rotfl:

Thanks Noella . It is a massive relief to know that the guarantor insurance is available .

I agree that carefully considered purchases are much more enjoyable and satisfying. I bought the clothes on impulse and that made it easier to return them because it wasn't a considered purchase.

My coin jar consists of 5p, 2p and 1p coins :rotfl:. They are quite annoying coins so I chuck them all in a large coffe jar and when it's nearly full I count them and divide them into the envelopes the bank give you. So yesterday I had a £5 bag of 5ps, a £1 bag of 2ps and a £1 bag of 1ps. They made my rucksack feel quite heavy but it's good to have another £7 in the Christmas fund .

I hope you have a good Sunday .

elizabethhull

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

It felt like the right time to do it and I felt ready to let most of her things go, but I was able to do it when I felt ready to, by myself, when I had time to photograph and savour them.

So that's my de-cluttering project for today. I feel sad, but it feels right.

You should be proud of yourself for this - it's a big step, and only the person involved knows when the right time is. It can be months or years, but you recognise it, when there is no sting in letting things go.

For me it was my father's books, the accoutrements of a well-educated man of his time, but most of the books being now obsolete (although I'd already welcomed his Yeats on to my own shelves). The best result is when the things can be released to benefit someone else, they live on giving pleasure and use. But even if this is not possible, and sometimes it just isn't, there can be a joy in letting go, when you finally realise your loved one's essence is in the right place - your memory.

HairyHandofDartmoor

elizabethhull wrote: »

You should be proud of yourself for this - it's a big step, and only the person involved knows when the right time is. It can be months or years, but you recognise it, when there is no sting in letting things go.

For me it was my father's books, the accoutrements of a well-educated man of his time, but most of the books being now obsolete (although I'd already welcomed his Yeats on to my own shelves). The best result is when the things can be released to benefit someone else, they live on giving pleasure and use. But even if this is not possible, and sometimes it just isn't, there can be a joy in letting go, when you finally realise your loved one's essence is in the right place - your memory.

Thank you Elizabeth . I've got lots of photos of my mum, some of her jewellery, all her family history research, lots of letters and cards she's written to me, plus many little things like her driving license, her NT card, her bus pass, etc. I've also got the big pile of books that was next to her bed waiting to be read and I'd like to read them one day. I also still have the clothes she wore most frequently.

So I do have plenty to remind me of her. And as you say, what made my mum herself is the memories I have. Her clothes are not her, but her influence on me and my memories of her are her. IYSWIM.

Her clothes didn't fit any relatives, but if they go to the charity shop then someone else can enjoy wearing them. She had some lovely clothes and always looked well dressed.

HairyHandofDartmoor

I've had a very productive day today.

After completing my de-cluttering project with my mum's clothes I dusted the surfaces in my bedroom and hoovered up there :T. This wasn't easy as I had to carry a heavy and bulky hoover up two flights of stairs :eek: so as you can imagine it doesn't get hoovered very frequently .

I also washed two loads of laundry and dried them off in the garden. Inspired by my efficiency I then ironed a pair of trousers, a cotton cardigan and four tee shirts for work :T. Then DH very kindly offered to iron two more pairs of work trousers for me as he knows I hate ironing :heartsmil.

So I feel like I've got a lot done today, but have still had a bit of time to sit down and relax. I didn't go outside apart from to put out washing, which seems a waste of a lovely sunny day in a way. But I feel prepared for the week ahead with lots of ironed and clean clothes to wear, whilst my bedroom will feel pleasanter without dust on the surfaces and bits on the floor :T.