My journey to a debt free life

Onebrokelady

Nicnak said:

Hope you're feeling better this weekend.
I'd like a little annexe when I'm older. I actually did look at the park homes as a future thing for me too. I can't imagine being with anyone else, so would just like to look at something for me for the future. x

Thanks Nicnak,it's weird because I went to bed last night feeling very wheezy and literally didn't sleep all night but this morning I actually felt the best I've felt in the last two weeks, hopefully I'm now on the mend 
I've been investigating park homes online where I live and have found several that are suitable for me that are really nice,so hopefully this is an option for the future 😊

Onebrokelady

Yay that's my working week over and I am now on holiday for two whole weeks, I was worried today was going to be difficult because I didn't sleep last night,I must have fallen asleep at 4.30 and my alarm went off at 5.30 but I felt strangely energetic and was fine all day,I'm still full of energy now despite only sleeping for an hour since Wednesday night/Thursday morning 🙀 I really hope I sleep tonight 

I don't have any plans to go anywhere tomorrow daytime but I am going out for a colleagues leaving do in the evening, we are going out for a meal and cocktails,it's in town so I can go on the bus and use my pass but I need to decide how much money to take out with me, pre LBM I would just draw out a large amount of money just in case and then I would tell myself that I was only to use all of it in an emergency, of course I would end up spending the lot, so now I like to plan,I will look at the menu tomorrow and work out my food bill plus a tip and a couple of drinks then I just add on an extra £10 for emergencies  rather than the £ 50 odd I would have taken before,I won't be too late home because after cocktails some of the girls will go to a club so I will leave then, i also need some milk so need to remember to pop into Mr T on my way to the bus stop home 😀 that will save me a trip to the shops on Sunday 😀

I need to do some washing tomorrow and of course it's going to rain all day so I can't peg it out but never mind it won't take long to dry on the airers 

I have plans to do some bits to the house while I'm off so I'm going to make a list of jobs I would like to get done and see if I can actually get them done,I'm buying white gloss paint on Monday to paint the woodwork in the bathroom and I need to fill some holes in the walls then I can paint the walls, it's DD1s wedding anniversary today, they have been married for 5 years which is when I started doing the bathroom and I still haven't finished it five years later🙀🙀 I even have new vinyl flooring to put down that I bought five years ago,I Its been rolled up in my spare room ever since,I used to love decorating but seem to have lost my interest,I'm hoping once I get going I will feel more enthusiastic about it

Apart from that I will be reading and sewing unless the weather suddenly cheers up in which case I will be out tidying the garden,I'm going to do some bits in the garden if the rain ever stops but won't be able to do too much because it's all so soggy out there 

Wilkos are getting their gardening stuff back in and it always makes me excited to get out and do stuff,I might buy some compost and put something in the pots that are attached to my drainpipes in the front garden,I'm not sure what's best plant at this time though,I will have to nip over to Foxglove HQ and pick her brains 😀

Willowtree222

Happy Saturday and yay to the holiday. 
The plan for tonight sounds lovely. A meal out and some socialising will be wonderful. 
I need to put a pot in the front garden, but waiting until the weather is a little better before I do. My front tree is about to start to bloom and it has the most gorgeous white blossom. It is something that I always love and look forward to. It officially marks spring. 
Enjoy tonight. x

Onebrokelady

Nicnak said:

Happy Saturday and yay to the holiday. 
The plan for tonight sounds lovely. A meal out and some socialising will be wonderful. 
I need to put a pot in the front garden, but waiting until the weather is a little better before I do. My front tree is about to start to bloom and it has the most gorgeous white blossom. It is something that I always love and look forward to. It officially marks spring. 
Enjoy tonight. x

Thanks Nicnak, is it a cherry blossom,they always cheer me up,the church yard I go past on the way to town has loads of cherry blossom trees and they look lovely when they flower😊

Onebrokelady

Yay,I managed to sleep nearly all night last night,I didn't wake up until 9.30 but I was so snuggly in my bed I didn't get out of bed until 10am 🙀I've taken the dog out,cleaned out the chickens, hoovered and dusted downstairs and the upstairs landing and I'm now chilling out for a bit

The weather is not looking good for this evening, so far today we have had sleet, heavy rain and sunny spells, it can't make its mind up, luckily the sun came out when I was walking the dog 😀

DD2 has to go into town tomorrow so if it's not awful weather I might go tomorrow instead of Monday then on Monday I can get straight on with the bathroom instead 

I must also update my signature because my SC payment has gone out of the bank 

Onebrokelady

Oops forgot to add,I've opened another savings account for general things, I have built my emergency fund up to £1000 and intend to leave it at that amount, the new savings account will be for anything else that comes up that I don't have expenses for,I didn't want to put it in the emergency fund because once it's in there I won't want to use it for anything else,the understanding is though that if the emergency fund drops down below the current level I will top it back up from this saving account,I just don't want to put all my eggs in one basket, the money that goes into this account will from one off events or unexpected surprises, so the two free council tax months have gone in there and sometimes my dear mum gives me moan to treat myself so that will go in there too and any birthday moneyI'm not likely to be able to put much in each month but will try to put something in depending on my budget for that month, with birthday money I sometimes end up frittering it away if hold onto the cash so I thought if I put it in this account it will be in a safe place while I decided what to do with it and if I see anything I like I can draw it out to buy it
I hope this makes sense 😀

Cherryfudge

That all sounds like a very productive Saturday. Good idea about opening the new savings account, it's too easy to let 'treats' money disappear into general spending.

Willowtree222

I think that mine is a cherry blossom tree  and it does look lovely. 
I would like to do the same with the bank account in the future so think it is a good idea. 
The weather is raining and windy here at the minute. Not good at all. x

Sun_Addict

Good idea to put your treat money in a different pot.  I do the same as in the past it has disappeared into the ether of general spending. I also put £200 to one side when I get paid, split it into 4 lots of £50 and at the end of the week the £50 gets sent to the Emergency Fund if I don't use it.  

foxgloves

Well done on achieving your £1000 emergency fund, OBL. It's a good idea to have another savings fund for other non-emergency things which crop up. I think, really, that's what I'm doing with our Savings Pots (which come with their own extra-exciting spreadsheet, naturally!). When I set our budget for the coming month, I earmark a workable chunk of money - depending on what we can afford that month, as leaving things too low can be a pitfall in itself, can't it? Then I divide it between whichever of our Savings Pots are being 'paid' that month. I think this is kind of similar to what you are proposing in a way, because some things like car tyres, cat's boosters, boiler service, etc, aren't emergencies - they are annual events which should be planned in, so I always used to find it really annoying to have to dip into our Emergency Fund for things like these, but I used to do it if the alternative was going overdrawn or having to use credit. One of the reasons I think I'm being so cautious with the sum of money ringfenced for building work/home improvement plans is that if I make a b*lls of it & over-commit, I will have to raid the emergency fund. I was without any form of an emergency fund for YEARS........but now I've got one, I am so reluctant to dip into it & I bet you are just the same!
F x