Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

Gosh yes, OBL. It does feel a hundred times better knowing that those very smelly January credit card bills will no longer arrive. And I think, if anything. February's were even worse.
Can you believe I'm actually knitting a Christmas gift right now? Spreading the cost & not spending more than we can afford are the key things for avoiding the January Bill Horror.
F x

foxgloves

Lemon Tree - Yes, we are planning a programme of works to improve our house. We were recently able to pay off our mortgage 9 years early & this has really prompted us to protect our home - our key asset - by getting a number of problems hopefully put right. I've made a tentative start today by contacting an asbestos removal company & also researching the profiles of local builders. We're not having an extension.... in fact, a small extension added by a previous owner accounts for quite a few of our current problems. Hope all your work goes well, anyway.
F

foxgloves

Hello readers,
Quite a useful day on the whole. I made progress with a project I had intended to finish by Christmas, but didn't get time, so that felt useful & has meant I can declutter a fair bit of paperwork as I go. I managed to scrounge a Pritstick from The Beloved, so was able to finish the rest of my gift tags. They are made from a cut-up advent calendar, some mirror card from my stash & some of the ribbon yarn I brought back from Mum's. They look surprisingly pretty.
I've made myself some preliminary notes on the work we want doing on the house, ironed, put away what must now surely be the last Christmas stuff, baked bread, been down to the greenhouse to cut some salad leaves & rounded up a number of items for using up in a pasta bake for tonight's meal. I need to do a bit of legal stuff tomorrow. The legal process concerning my parents'estate is still not finished & there are still documents going back & forth.
Still got a sore throat & swollen glands in my neck. Bah to lergies! Well, I think this post shows there's nothing interesting to report. The main thing is that my purse has stayed in my bag all day. It has not once ventured out into the light of day & that has to be a Good Thing.
F x

foxgloves

Greetings fellow debt-averse folk,
Well, just for a change, I slept right through to 6.30 this morning & didn't wake up until our cat leapt up behind me & meowed right down my ear. I wish I could achieve this every day, because then I'd be straight up & on with my day, thus cutting out that sort of crepuscular limbo when my brain starts work on turning fairly normal issues into big hairy problems about 46 times bigger than they really are!
Anyway, I digress (again!) Another day in which I have spent absolutely nothing. The nearest I came to spending money was texting Mr F to remind him he needed to buy brown parcel tape. And that doesn't count because he still forgot!
I've had a positive response regarding the legal document I needed to complete & send off this morning and...... insert modest fanfare or drumroll of your choice..... I think I've finally got a result on the bloody asbestos! Admittedly I did build in a bit of a delay myself when I took issue with the local council's policy on the grounds that it favours the more wealthy & unenvironmentally aware. This got me nowhere (even though I am right) & so I wasted a week stomping around moaning. Finding private companies that are genuinely local was the next issue. I'm sure most of us have been swizzed in the past by an ad for a 'friendly local no job too small' plumber, etc, only to find out they are actually a huge national chain & the nearest operative is Doncaster or Uttoxeter or anywhere but local & 'by the way, the call out charge is last year's salary plus your first born' etc, etc. I may or may not have selected one such company when I first tried to get an asbestos removal quote, but that was OK as they completely ignored my emails! I don't know why businesses include an email address if they have zero intention of ever looking at their inbox. Luckily I found a firm this week who are based just a couple of villages away. They do read their emails. And, wonder upon wonders, they answer them!! And they phone people!! Suffice it to say that the wretched stuff should be gone by the end of this week & the price quoted is looking a little less than I'd expected to pay.
Anyone still awake? That must have been so dull to read! But it has really been annoying me & today really felt like progress.
When the Evil Pile has been safely & legally removed, we can get the first of our planned home improvements moving.
I promise not to drone on about asbestos tomorrow.
Cheers,
F xx

savingmore

well done foxgloves, that is indeed a win and great you will have it gone so soon. I would much rather give business to local tradespeople but they do need to treat the. customer with respect and service. read an interesting article over the hols about customer costing little but really being so important for business. may this decade be the decade of us all doing things locally and having that reciprocated with excellent customer service. would make life so much nicer!

foxgloves

I agree, Savingmore. And of course, the other positive thing about using local companies, independent local shops, etc, is that economists estimate 80p of every £1 spent with them goes on to be re-spent in the local economy. It is such a better outcome than buying everything from a very small handful of big tax-avoiding online companies whilst simultaneously moaning about dying high streets!
Customer care is very important. Yes, the first company I contacted had a very attractive professional looking website, but what's the point of that if they can't respond to customers trying to give them business?! My old Nana would have said 'All fur coat & no knickers'!
F

savingmore

i haven’t heard that e pression for along time...made me chuckle:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: but you are right, exactly that. hope they do the job well for you. what part of the house is the asbestos in?

oceandreamer

Hi, Just popping in to say a big thank you Foxgloves. I stumbled upon your diary a couple of months ago just when needed a bit of a nudge (well a massive shove) in the right direction. I'd been chipping away at my debts and never really getting very far for ages and couldn't see why I never really had any money. Then I read what you wrote about budgeting and it made so much sense! I was really lucky to get some back pay plus some money that my DD owed me in the same month so I managed to set up some 'pots'. I also started to take cash out of the bank each week for my groceries and petrol and started keeping an account of what I was spending. Needless to say I was horrified! Anyhow that was a few months back and now I have managed to cut my shopping bills right down and started filling my pots up. Any money that I have left over at the end of the week goes straight to my debts. I'm actually really enjoying budgeting although I can't do it in one session like you - I'd get in too much of a muddle and forget things - so I every time I spend anything I have to rush off and write it in the account book. Anyway, sorry for going on but I just wanted to say a big thankyou for inspiring me to do this - it has made such a difference to how I manage my money.

amber03

Like you foxglove I have already made a start on next years xmas, bought a present in the sale last week and started saving with the supermarket where I work. Some people look at me as if I'm mad, but come Xmas I don't have any problems presents or financial wise. Spread it out over the year. I was ill on New Year's Day (and not self inflicted), took me a couple of days to recover, it's the tiredness that catches me out. Hope your 100% soon.x

foxgloves

Amber03 - Good for you. It's well worth it. I still have sufficient lovely sock yarn in my stash to knit 3 pairs for the men in my life. They are always pleased with them as they last much longer then little shop-bought socks, so that will be a good start & I can knit them over the year, but know that is 3 gifts sorted. I also buy things I know the intended recipients will love all year round, when I see them at a good price. If I can't afford the item at the time, I often make a note of it on the 'Next Christmas' page at the back of my diary. I spent way too many years getting more endebted every Christmas. As Martin Lewis always says, there isn't really any excuse for this, as we should not be surprised to find it is once again on December 25th each year.
F x