Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

Hello Diary Readers, & I'd like to start today's post by saying 'Bah to overthinking stuff'!
I felt a bit stiff when I first woke up this morning, following yesterday afternoon's collision at speed with the kitchen floor & cupboard door, but I am much improved now that I'm gently moving around. I have slight bruising to the palm of one hand plus my wrist (the dodgy one which is very prone to tendonitis) & two bruised knees but I am not feeling like the ancient limpy old crone I thought I would be today, so that was a good start.
I've not really done one job alike so far today - despite it being a crisp bright winter day, I decided to give it another 24 hours before I start flinging my pulled back muscles around the flowerbeds or indeed, doing any kneeling, so I thought I would clear heaps of little jobs which have been hanging around. So I've done a lot of email/online stuff, filing, written a card to our new neighbours, wrapped 2 Christmas gifts, contacted a relative, hung last night's Economy 7 wash on the heated airer, mixed up a sourdough loaf, made tomorrow's packed lunch, checked a few financial bits & bobs, had a good tidy......I could go on....it is just nice sometimes to have a jolly good catch-up.
One task had all the potential signs of becoming a 'frog', so I've had a good look at that today & will make a decision by the end of the day once I've discussed the figures/implications with Mr F. It's a bit tedious, really, but it's become one of those things I keep overthinking & this has now become annoying. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I cashed in a (borderline mis-sold) life insurance policy back around LBM time. I took out a new policy via my trade union. Much lower payments, a guarantee that they would never increase, with a pay-out of £30K to Mr F should I meet an untimely demise. As we were both earning then, it seemed logical to have this as without me, he would also be without my share of the mortgage money each month. It was only intended that this policy cover our mortgage. So now, post-mortgage, I've been looking at all our outgoings, wondering if there is much point to keeping my policy. I can pay it (& be insured) until I turn 70. So even though we are now mortgage-free, Mr F would still get a pay-out should anything happen to me. As the wage-earner, he would keep paying his own life policy, of course. My little policy has no lump sum or cash-in value & I can pay in & be covered for another 15 years. But I've been thinking, now that the mortgage is paid, wouldn't it be better to add this life policy monthly payment to our regular monthly savings account? Over 15 years, it adds up to a significant (though not enormous) sum, though there will be interest on it too, of course. That means there is a tangible pot of cash for us. But no pay-out for Mr F should I 'go under a bus'. I have got to the point where I am just overthinking this now. I think as it is Himself who would be affected by it, given that I would already be on my little Frugal Cloud, I will show him all my figures tonight & see what he thinks he'd prefer. It's been a good policy, as it has been much more affordable than my old rubbish one & also hugely more transparent, but we took it out in different times & now seems a very apposite time to review our finances generally.
Urrghh -I've been properly overthinking it though, & have bored myself even typing this! Well done anyone who has managed to read this far without becoming comatose! I am almost in that state myself & am definitely in need of additional caffiene.
So I shall go & crank up the coffee machine, then see what other jobs I can usefully clear before having a bit of me-time.
Take care all & stay warm!
F x

crazy_cat_lady

Pleased that you're not too sore today Foxgloves. That's good news.
No idea about your life policy but what you're saying makes sense to me...

foxgloves

Yeah, it does to us too, CCL. I am going to cancel the policy today & divert the monthly payment to savings.
Hope you didn't wake at Insane O'clock again today. That was the bane of my working life (almost always 3.15am) & still happens now if I'm stressed about something. Today I sleep through to 5.30 which is good for me, so I hopped out of bed at ten to six & started on my day. You can't have too much term left now. Hope you are all still noro free.
F x

Kantankrus_Mare

I agree.......on diverting the money into savings. You're a tough old bird who will live till you are at least 100 years old. Glad you arent feeling too bad after your tumble!

foxgloves

Yes, that's my preferred option, Kantankrus. I think I just consider financial things much more carefully these days.
F

foxgloves

Hello to anyone reading tonight,
Decided to get all my jobs done early & to spend the afternoon having some leisure time. Enjoyed an hour of fresh air & exercise in the garden, filling 2 big trugs of border-clearings & a third with soggy leaves. Also updated a few financials over coffee, including cancelling that life assurance policy & diverting the monthly payment to savings instead. Then knocked out a meal plan for next week & wrote the shopping list, which looks quite small, so I am hoping for a lower spend than last week.
Oh my days & then it all turned into a pantomime. As we don't bring our Christmas tree in until later in the month, I decided to fetch our old candle arch lights down to put on the lounge windowsill. First I had to move my enormous Christmas cactus plant out of the way, so I decided to put it up on top of a tall bookcase. With hindsight I should have fetched the steps, but I reckoned I could reach so went ahead without them. Are you picking up on the impending sense of doom? I almost got it up there, but with just a few cms to go, it fell & I had a split second to choose between saving the plant or the bowl. I chose the bowl as it's vintage. I bought it from an antique & collectors fair back when I was spendy. So the plant bounced off my head & crashed to the ground, breaking off the base of the plastic flowerpot & spreading compost far & wide, not to mention my hair & cardi. Needed a session with the dustpan & brush AND the vacuum. Plant put ready for repotting tomorrow, as is rescuable.
OK, so after all that, I plugged the candle arch lights in & they're not working!
Bloody marvellous!!
A bang on the head.
Extra cleaning.
Composty hair.
All for no lights.
Mr F says he'll check the fuse. He also bought me a R*pple, which I reckon I deserved.
Hoping to make it through the week without any further mishaps! At least my bruised knees are looking a lot better today.
F xx

HairyHandofDartmoor

Oh dear Foxgloves :eek:. It must be the excitement of paying off your mortgage that is making you dizzy :rotfl:. I'm glad the cactus and bowl survived but it's infuriating the lights don't work and having compost everywhere :mad:. I've been through a phase of knocking drinks over recently due to my sore finger so I'm having to be really careful. I hope Mr F can fix the lights and well done to him for knowing a R!ppl3 was needed in this situation.

foxgloves

He's mended them, HHoD! Apparently they needed a new fuse & one new bulb. It's only quite a cheap one, but Mum & Dad bought it for me for the front window of my flat an absolute age ago - I moved out of there in 1994, so it must be getting on for 30 years old! Anyway, it's looking much more festive in here now, until we get the tree up, which won't be for a while yet, as we don't like to keep it inside for too long. I do have some fairy lights too, around the over-mantlepiece mirror, but I have those up all year, same as I do the ones on my big kitchen dresser.
So my composty hair is all but forgotten.
F x

foxgloves

Hi Diary readers,
Well so far, I'm pleased to be able to report I have neither hurled myself to the kitchen floor or dropped a large Christmas cactus on my head - I realise the day is as yet young & I have plenty of time to complete the hat trick, but I am hoping that this doesn't happen!
Mr F on leave today, so we decided to divide labours so as to free up more time for the weekend. So he's been to the market & to A*di to get the grocery shopping (under budget, I'm pleased to say, as only need to get cat meat tomorrow) & I've been doing my big Friday house clean. The tediosity of this was nicely punctuated by Postie popping a handful of Christmas cards through the door - I am ridiculously excited by Christmas post & then his friend with the parcel van knocked with a package of lovely sock wool from a Very Kind Person! I shall be able to make good use of that, starting with someone in our family who could do with a little cheer-up.
Another exciting thing this morning was that I finally ordered a new laptop as ours is making its way on an almost daily basis to the Tech Graveyard. Now, it had been my intention to order it last night, but when I went online, the MSOffice stuff I want with it had gone out of stock. I considered getting it elsewhere, as wanted to use click & collect & pick the laptop up today. But.....one teeny tiny little consideration.....if I ordered the laptop & the software package together, I could get £20 off. Back n the Spendy Days, I wouldn't have even given this saving a thought. My thought process, instead, would have been "I want my new laptop tomorrow, therefore I will order it & pay full price for the software package elsewhere, it's only £20 more". Now, we both look at things through the lens of sensible money management instead of instant gratification. The options were to pay £20 more (bearing in mind that I use the 'rainforest people' absolutely as little as possible, & not at all if I can help it) or delay ordering the laptop until the discount software packages were back in stock. I decided on the latter, & you know? It paid off because they were back in stock this morning, so both items have now been ordered. I can collect it tomorrow. A delay of precisely one day. I would have waited longer than this, as I don't have to buy things as soon as I have the idea any more.
Anyway, this £20 discount got us discussing 'how big or small ' a saving would have to be for us to ignore it these days. I said I thought £20 was definitely worth saving. Mr F agreed, but then said that if this deal didn't re-appear for 2 or 3 weeks, wouldn't it ultimately be better to 'pay' the £20 for the convenience of getting the stuff bought & set up. I said that I think we should judge whether it is worth going for the saving or the convenience by thinking about the sum of money involved & thinking whether we would go back for it if we dropped it in the street while we were in town. I asked him if he saw he had dropped a £20 note in the market square, would he pick it up or let it blow away? He said he'd definitely pick it up. We then asked the same question with a £10 note, a fiver, etc, & the upshot was that we would certainly go back to pick up a £1 & even a 50p, so if we try to look at a £20 saving in those terms, we are saying, are we not, that it is always worth making. I think it is, unless there are special circumstances. The Old Me back in the Spendy Years - well, I was always so overdrawn that I would have simply said 'Oh another £20 isn't going to make any difference' & paid the full price just to have the item immediately. I must have frittered soooooo much money with this "Wannit now" attitude, it doesn't bear thinking about. I do think about it though, because I sometimes find it almost unbelievable that my attitude to money & 'stuff' has changed so much.
Well, I think I will go & see who I have to snog around here for a decent cup of tea (my tea is execrable, it really is!) & sit by the fire to cast on my 2nd sock.
Stay warm, all. So dark & drizzly today.
F xx

foxgloves

Hello to anyone reading today,
Well, I collected my new laptop & stuck a post-it note onto the 'For action' end of my desk reminding me to transfer the funds across from our 'Tech replacement' spreadsheet pot to our current account so that I can pay it off my 'Just for points' credit card. It does feel good finally to have replaced one of our shonky tech items, but do you know what? I was EVERY BIT as excited about a purchase this morning from a charity stall. There was such a nice festive vibe in town today. The market had lots of crafty stalls & the food stalls looked so seasonal with big shiny chestnuts, nets of shell-on walnuts (it has to be nutcrackers at Christmas!) & bunches of mistletoe. We visited the Christmas Tree Festival at the church & it was so pretty & also thought-provoking as so many children's groups & schools had chosen environmental themes. There were charity stalls too, & I happened to spot a set of beautiful jewel-coloured wine glasses - each one with a different shade. We are not hosting Christmas this year, but when we do, I thought they'd look so lovely on the dining table, I bought them. They were in perfect condition & were priced at 50p each! I had that feeling you get inside when you suddenly spot a little bit of treasure in a charity shop. And I honestly feel as chuffed with those wine glasses as I do my new laptop! Truly this is confirmation that the amount of happiness generated isn't necessarily commensurate with levels of expenditure.
We also went halves on a Christmas Radio Times - Gosh, how expensive are they these days?
So tonight, I intend to do my online German lesson, then cosy up by the fire to see if anything good is coming on TV soon. Mr F is making a big chilli, which will feed us for two days if it is its usual size.
No mishaps today..... though carrying those wine glasses across town & up the multi-storey car park steps, I did think "Is this going to be the hat trick?"
I think I'll light some candles tonight. They do wonders for one's spirits on a dank winter's night.
F x