Making savings before it's too late

private_helen

Blackscatsreturn- that's a difficult one. I always feel better about giving stuff away rather than throwing stuff out, but as you say some of the stuff is perhaps of no particular wanting to anyone other than family. Are there no wider family members that may want the very personal stuff for their family tree, genealogy research?

An alternative might be to scan all the documents- perhaps put them on disc or upload them to a free site (I use flickr for images), and then part with the originals?

Jaymie_kate

That is quite an awesome list! I could read it over and over again to remind me of all those things. Thanks for sharing!

Blackcatsreturns

Thank you for your views on OH fathers stuff - some helpful suggestions. Money I am glad I did ask because you are right some of this stuff can just go in the bin such as a chipped and cracked jug which probably came from a pub and a hip flask with no lid. Father in law was an alcoholic so actually there!!!8217;s a fair few drink related items in the stash.
I will scan some of the papers and photograph some of the things and then let them go.
I feel better already about the decision making process. I was definitely overthinking some of this.
Thank you.

caronc

Blackcatsreturns wrote: »

Examples of the things are a Toby jug, some postcards from his travels with the navy, an old first aid book that he has written some notes in, his very old driving licence. So things that are personal to him but as I didn!!!8217;t ever meet him they aren!!!8217;t really personal to me but perhaps too personal to put in the bin. Any advice gratefully received. Thank you

I'd be inclined to keep the jug and postcards and dispose of the book/driving licence. Your local ex-servicemans club or historical society might be interested in having the postcards.

abbe89

I've been reading all of your posts, but realised that I haven't really posted anything myself!

Things seem to be going well so far.
-I've bought very few coffees/lunches out since starting my new job. I could go down to zero, but sometimes it's nice to treat yourself! I'm maybe doing it once a fortnight now, not every day - so that's a huge saving.
-my cupboards and freezer are slowly emptying. My current tactic, particularly with the meat in my freezer, is to defrost it, bulk cook meals and then refreeze. It then makes it much easier and more convenient! And it means all I've bought for the last few food shops has been fresh fruit/veg, dairy and the odd pack of ham!
-now I'm working regular hours, I've been able to set my thermostat properly, rather than cranking it up when I finally get in from work!

The one area of my original list I've not done so well on is toiletries - I've still been buying them, but not quite as many. So half a victory at least!

Blackcatsreturns

Spendless and Abb! - little steps add up don!!!8217;t they. I have made small adjustments this year and have managed to use up surplus stocks of toiletries, candles and freezer contents. My mum gave me her surplus stocks of wine so that!!!8217;s saved me buying any wine for the next few months while I use that up! I work from home but found that I would go for a walk at lunch time and end up buying coffee and lunch so now I have a quick bite to eat at home and then go for a walk. It helps to re-energise as well as save money. I have also designated Thursday night as soup night. It uses up the last of the veggies in the fridge and means that weekly meal planning has one less meal to think about. It!!!8217;s quick, easy, cheap and nutritious.

[Deleted User]

Blackcats,you have probably started on the fil things but I know that at first it was hard to get rid of hubbies things, his various sporting medals and so on, lots of things but I found that doing one at a time made it easier. Then all of a sudden I was down to half, then down to a dozen items and now I have six treasured possesssions and funnily enough, all things he made from wood. His input was in them and that made all the difference. I even shredded his letters to me from 1969, no point keeping them for the children to peruse, they were personal.

My personal pension went in today instead of sunday, nice surprise, so I have taken cash out for a small food shop and for my cash wallet. There is £300 in my wallet now. I can also put some money into my bills savings account, I need to put £508 in per month, I don`t know if I will achieve that this month but if I don`t then I will have to make up the shortfall over the following months. I think I will be frugal again, for the rest of february

TM6

If anyone would like to join me on my Fiscal Fast, short term or long term, I would love some new faces / friends to join in or encourage me :beer:


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=73714561#post73714561

Katieowl

Siebrie wrote: »

I have a bit of a sneaky way to save: I put money in a saving account my dh can!!!8217;t see. We are saving for 3 big items this year: the buffer to !!!8364;10,000, dh!!!8217;s every-3-years trip to his motherland, and moving house.

My grandmother always used to say a woman should have some money her husband knew nothing about!!!

If mine knows I've got any I don't have it for long, not that he's profligate, but it always seems to fall to me to sort anything. I prefer he makes the effort occassionally, so I keep quiet

Katieowl

I love my spendy spreadsheet, I'm on month three, and so far it's REALLY helped me see where the pennies are going. I'm not a big spender, but I wanted to see whether there were food savings to be made, and apart from discovering the dogs are costing me a fortune (which I knew LOL) I've discovered that I was spending quite a bit on gluten free stuff for me I shouldn't be eating anyway, so I stopped. We eat far too much cheese - find cheaper cheese! And the thought that I am going to have to own up to myself ON PAPER if I buy something has kept me on track. I've even managed a bit of a living room makeover this month, which by shopping at home first cost me just over £30