The Edcawber Principle

edinburgher

@Suffolk_lass - that sounds fairly expensive... I was looking at £435k level term (I think my first set of figures were a bit off) for 32 years the other day and was balking at the £53 a month it would have cost! 70 for me, or 68.5 for Mrs E.

@greent - think I just about understood that, I was about to make a comment about extra children complicating things, but I just think it's the life stages argument Your DH's DIS is huge - has he been paying in to the pension for a long time? I suppose I hadn't realised that mine will climb up as I get a wee bit more established in the organisation too.

I have been a naughty spendthrift. Bought an air purifier and a SAD lamp I probably sound like I have been on a bipolar spending spree (no offence to anyone who is actually bipolar, I'm related to someone who lives with that particular challenge). The air purifier was purchased because it was on offer, our home has very poor airflow (lots of insulation, opening windows doesn't really help circulation due to positioning and we have several foosty "dead zones" as a consequence). I also cook a lot, our extractor isn't up to much and I worry about the long term effects of that. We also have a cat and don't dust enough  The SAD lamp feels necessary because my mood goes off a cliff every winter and I think it will prove cheaper than a divorce! SAD lamp was budgeted for, air purifier will be paid over 5 months, the first of which was covered by November's budget line for home maintenance.

I feel like I only come to this forum to confess spends now...

Budget trimmed, -£306.76.

Suffolk_lass

Maybe it's come down in price - and it reflects our relative risks - I was an ex smoker (still am) but of fewer than ten years when we took it out and our activities were additional risks at the time (skiing, hockey, that sort of thing).

I have daylight bulbs for winter but these days the lamps they fit are few and far between so they sit there, gathering dust - we found a daylight alarm (a Lumie) made a big difference to our limited SAD (DS worse than me) - mine is definitely evident for the next month - trouble is, if I turn it on, it wakes DH too and his sleep pattern is two hours later than mine.

I'm loving the air purifier idea. Although we (currently) still have plenty of draughts thanks to the age of the house! Certainly the kitchen is very draughty while it is (still!) waiting for the splash-back to come so the extractor and wall cupboards can go back up (you would not believe the clutter). 

That budget deficit management is amazing!

edinburgher

@Suffolk_lass - Mrs E used to have one of those sorts of SAD alarm clocks - a lovely way to wake up (if it's your turn).

The air filter has arrived and I'm surprised and unsurprised in equal measures. Air quality in the living room is surprisingly good for the room where the cat sleeps and where we spend much of our relaxing time. Dust the shutters (for example) and the blimmin' thing lights up like an angry cyclops! The landing was fine as well, which really surprised me as it's "internal" (no windows, no airflow). Our bedrooms weren't quite so good, which is odd, as we probably clean them better. Dust and skin from beds and carpets? I like the way that it cycles down from angry red to purple, to lilac to cool blue when it's happy with the air quality and there's a reasonable wee app with plenty of information. I am sure that we'll get used to it being there in the background (like a dehumidifier) and it feels very grown up to have bought a gizmo whose primary function is keeping our respiratory health tip-top (Even if it's probably a load of middle class ****)

Budget trimming grinding to a halt as month end wends its way gently towards us, -£288.60. I get paid tomorrow, first full month at my new increment, c. £200/month of an improvement from September.

beanielou

Great news on the extra money 

Suffolk_lass

Back in the day I had a negative ioniser but not an air purifier. DH was convinced it was a waste of electricity but the filters went black, if left. Air so much cleaner here in the country than our last house (near Thames estuary and oil refineries) so I packed it away 16 years ago when we moved here... probably still in a mystery box 

greent

I like the idea of an air purifier - our extractor isn't up to the amount of cooking we do, for sure - and I'm an appalling housewife! Which one did you go for? 

DH's DIS is  4x basic salary - if he'd joined where he works less than 6 months earlier he would have been entitled to 10x!! ('strangely' they realised that 10X was too much of a good thing and cut it for new management entrants to the 4x the rest of the staff get) We used to have 3x DIS with our bank jobs, which I thought was fairly standard - but I haven't got a clue, tbh

edinburgher

@greent - we went for the Philips Series 2000i AC2889 - although I should note they specifically say it shouldn't be used in lieu of an extractor fan. Not that they say it isn't allowed to give a wee help out!

Wow! Your DH is on an amazing wage

I got paid today and am thinking ahead to next month. Budget is now balanced for November, but I figure we're perhaps £200 short for December. That's not too bad, I can definitely work with that. YNAB claims our age of money is now 18 days, I have trimmed but won't see the effect until December.

I have just remembered that T5B are canning savings interest from December, not many alternatives available at present. Have two regular savers paying above average for £150/month total (H@lifax kids (4%) and N@twest (3%)). Other than that, nothing doing. Perhaps V1rgin for 2.02% AER on £1,000? Barely seems worth the faff.

A day from hell. One email reply from a head of service simply said "absolutely not" (to a request we're obliged to meet). Onwards and upwards tomorrow? My SAD lamp arrived, it sure is bright.

edinburgher

Edit: Am@zon reduced the price of the sodding air purifier by over £40 and refused to return the difference despite the fact it shipped two days ago. It's going back tomorrow, at their cost @greent It's now very competitively priced if you want one

beanielou

Look at Nationwide. 

Amazzon are bad for that. 🤬

Suffolk_lass

edinburgher said:

Edit: Am@zon reduced the price of the sodding air purifier by over £40 and refused to return the difference despite the fact it shipped two days ago. It's going back tomorrow, at their cost @greent It's now very competitively priced if you want one

I just took a look out of curiosity - It's showing at 75% of the original price (probably RRP) on my link (or almost another £50 saving if you buy the one with damaged packaging!)