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Put away your purse & become debt-averse
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Hello readers,
A useful day so far, but I'm behind where I hoped I'd be with tasks because it took me so long to do my Mid-month Budget Check-in. It's usually pretty routine.......take off an up to date balance, mark off transactions, check what's still to come out of our account, you know the drill......but the really irritating thing was that it soon became very clear that I was £69-17 short on the figure I should have had. Hmmmm, I don't mind the occasional single digit shortage, even £15 or £20, but £69-17? No, that's more than I feel comfortable with 'losing'.
More caffiene. A bit of a stomp around.
Definitely no single payment of around £69 going adrift, which means it was a composite error - or rather, several little things which have been missed as in spent but not committed in my Money Book resulting in a t*ts-up budget.
Hmmmmm. Went through my initial budget workings again. All correct. Had also logged all additional small spends, such as my flu jab, bird food, a tiny overspend on the grocery budget, etc, so nothing dodgy there. In fact, nothing dodgy that I could see for the whole of November. Decided the error must lie in what I think of as the 'Twilight Zone'. This is the few days between 27th of the month, which is pay-day & when I have my Big Budget Day and the 1st of the following month. So my November budget runs from 27th Oct to 26th Nov, iyswim. And yes, there in that naughty Twilight Zone were a few 'items of interest' - some forgotten petty cash, a sack of potatoes from the farm shop, a sneaky Co-op shop for some anniversary treats, a slightly bigger Virgin Media bill which all added up to about £15 less than the 'missing' amount. So no mysteries there, just some silly little things that I didn't notice from that in between period, which had been lurking in the background ready to pop up & yell 'Haha, Boo!' later. I don't know why I didn't spot them at the time. I feel quite annoyed about that, actually, but I think I'd rather that 'missing money' be my error rather than some complicated intractable mistake from one or other provider which ends up costing more in phone calls to put right than the actual sum involved!
OK, well a bit of a tedious saga that - sorry - I am going to make some more coffee, do today's online German practice, then wrap Mr Fs birthday & Christmas gifts while he's out of the house.
Stay warm all,
F xx2025's challenges: 1) To fill our 10 Savings Pots to their healthiest level ever
2) To read 100 books (36/100) 3) The Shrinking of Foxgloves 6.8kg/30kg
"Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards" (Soren Kirkegaard 1813-55)0 -
I do love reading your diary Foxgloves, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside,I'm going to light my candles later,I have several and never use them,I love how they make everything so cosy looking
I'm also loving that you are able to pay your mortgage off soon,what a fantastic feeling,my actual mortgage is now roughly the same amount as the debt I'm paying off,I could kick myself sometimes that I wasn't more financially savvy, I could be making overpayments on my mortgage now if I had been more sensible,but never mind,I'm still proud of myself for taking notice of my lightbulb moment and sorting it out when I did 😊Original Debt Owed Jan 18 = £17,630 Paid To Date = £6,510 Owed = £11,1200 -
I often feel the same, OBL. Like you, I wasn't visited by the massive light bulb until much later in life than many people & was 46 by the time we paid off the last of our debts from the Spendy Decades. Many times I've thought about how different things might be had I (& then we, as Mr F was every bit as bad as me, in fact I'd say he was actually worse) not frittered so much money & had saved it instead. I used to moan about not earning enough to save, which was such a silly attitude. Even a tenner a month would have been £120 towards Christmas gifts for next year & I could have afforded to save much more than that. Just imagine if I'd put away £50 a month from when I started my first professional post in the late 1980s........ it would be a tidy sum now, wouldn't it?
But we both know that we can't go back. I'm grateful that the LBM did come & clump me round the earholes. Better late than never. I can't think of any life situation which is genuinely improved by running up lots of consumer debt. It's such a short termist approach & usually backfires later. I am much happier knowing I won't go that route again.
Let's just keep thinking forwards & celebrating the fact that we have made big changes & adapted well to them.
F x2025's challenges: 1) To fill our 10 Savings Pots to their healthiest level ever
2) To read 100 books (36/100) 3) The Shrinking of Foxgloves 6.8kg/30kg
"Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards" (Soren Kirkegaard 1813-55)0 -
Hi Foxgloves and companions - I think paying off the mortgage will take a while to sink in, but when the first month without a mortgage payment comes around it will feel real and wonderful.
I'm another who has wasted so much money over the years but although I can't identify what most of it was spent on I console myself that I have had some fun along the way. I'm now in the zone where i am probably balanced between the desire to spend and the desire to save. I have a goal of early retirement so I am focusing on saving and I am moving closer to that goal. A more thoughtful and frugal lifestyle now will help me in the future.0 -
I think knowing that your home is yours and no one can take it away is a massive thing. I've always worried about what would happen if we couldn't afford our monthly mortgage payments. I'm sure you'll feel a huge sense of relief when your mortgage is no more
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I'm glad you managed to sort out your budget mishap.Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally
Debt in July 2017 = £58,766 😱 DEBT FREE 31 OCTOBER 2017 :T 🎉
EMERGENCY FUND 1 = £50/£5,000. EMERGENCY FUND 2 = £10/£5,000.
CHRISTMAS SAVINGS = £0/£500. SEF = £1,400/£12,000 PREMIUM BONDS ME = £350. PREMIUM BONDS DH = £300.
HOLIDAY MONEY = £0 TIME LEFT TO PAY OFF MORTGAGE = 5 YEARS 1 MONTHS0 -
Thanks all. It felt even weirder today when I saw the money had landed in our bank account. Even going through everything that has led to this - losing Dad, then losing Mum, selling our old family home, legal stuff, etc, etc, I still sat & looked at our account & it felt completely surreal. It was almost like looking at someone else's account by accident, if that makes sense. So what did I do!? Well, I logged out & busied myself with other things:
Sorted out the compost bin
Did today's online German practice
Wrapped a tiny gift
Jiggled all the laundry around on the heated airer
Had a bath & hair wash
Turned the heel on the sock I'm knitting
Researched nest boxes
Played the piano
Made some bread
Contacted the council about asbestos
Brushed cat
Listened to audiobook
Hunted down recipe for mince pie twigs
And a whole heap of other stuff that had nothing at all to do with thinking about money.
I think I've been in a sort of weird denial today.
Stay warm, all. It was icemongous here this morning. I'm competing with cat for the fireside tonight!
F xx2025's challenges: 1) To fill our 10 Savings Pots to their healthiest level ever
2) To read 100 books (36/100) 3) The Shrinking of Foxgloves 6.8kg/30kg
"Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards" (Soren Kirkegaard 1813-55)0 -
Mince pie twigs? Sounds intriguing!paydbx2025 #26 £890/£5000 . Mortgage start £148k June 23 - now £138k.
2025 savings challenge £0/£2000 EF £140. Savings 2 £30.00. 170 -
Well, I love baking, Honeysuckle, but as the possessor of a naughty gallstone, I avoid pastry as it is one of the butter rich foods which can kick off a bit of an attack. So I remembered seeing mince pie twigs in a cook book somewhere & hunted through to find the recipe. They are made from filo pastry so not the flaky or shortcrust danger zone. They are a little crispy 'twig' filled with mincemeat. I think one of those, with a snowy dusting of icing sugar perched on a saucer alongside a piping hot cup of coffee could be very festive. Best of all, they only seem to require a jar of mincemeat & a pack of frozen filo. I already have icing sugar.
I could eat one now.... despite having only just had my breakfast. I think I must be growing a curly tail!
Anyway, enough of mincemeat twigs.... I have lots of tasks I'd like to accomplish today.
F x2025's challenges: 1) To fill our 10 Savings Pots to their healthiest level ever
2) To read 100 books (36/100) 3) The Shrinking of Foxgloves 6.8kg/30kg
"Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards" (Soren Kirkegaard 1813-55)0 -
I like the sound of the mincemeat twigs. I find the pastry in mince pies a bit much (though my gall bladder is no more, so I don't have that to contend with), so will be trying this. Do you just spread sheets of pastry with mincemeat and roll up?
I have been using leftover filo pastry to make quiche shells recently (a tip my daughter picked up from Slimming World, I think it was) and that works really well with no need for all the blind baking nonsense. Just line the dish with a few sheets stuck together with some dabs of oil, add filling of choice and bake. I made a ham, cheese, mushroom and onion one at the weekend.
It works for sweet fillings as well as savoury ones - peaches baked in egg custard works well, and you can use cheapie tinned ones if liked. Adding a few breadcrumbs or cake crumbs at the bottom of the shell to make it a bit more solid is a good idea for the fruit ones0 -
Congratulations Foxgloves, on getting the money through at long last and finally having it in your hands (not literally I know).
I have had a mince pie this morning already :eek: Any excuse. I can't have them in at home because I'm the only one that eats them so I would literally eat the whole lot myself. When someone brings them into work though... :TNot giving up
Working hard to pay off my debt
Time to take back control
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6290156/crazy-cat-lady-chapter-5-trying-to-recover-from-the-pandemic/p1?new=10
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