Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

Well m'ducks, an excellently useful start made this afternoon on blitzing kitchen cupboards ready for forthcoming mini-makeover. Cupboard #1 done. Looks so tidy, I think we should both be banned from going in there, although that kind of defeats the object! Started with my herbs & spices cupboard, which was so rammed that I could barely get the door shut. Took everything out & wiped jars clean & re-labelled with my freezer pen. I don't like sticky labels on spice jars, as they just seem to get covered with whatever I'm cooking at the time & soon look tatty. Neither do I like tiny little spice jars for storing ingredients I use a lot & buy in bigger quantities. So I use those big coffee jars which come with a glass stoppered-type lid & were saved & given to me ages ago by my F-in-L. They've come up sparkling clean again & with the name of the herb or spice handwritten directly onto the glass with black waterproof pen they look both smart & stuff is easy to find. For the ingredients I don't use as frequently, I am still using a set of little glass spice jars bought from the blue & yellow Swedish emporium a good few years ago. I can get tempted by kitchen gear, not always new stuff as I love vintage too, but both involve spending & I'm happy to say that this afternoon's project hasn't led me to consider any spending at all. After that, I unhooked the herb bunches which had been hanging from the kitchen beam to dry & re-filled some of my jars, then (still very much in the shopping from home mood), I took off down to the veggie garden with the kitchen scissors to cut some bunches of thyme & rosemary which I've tied & hung to dry in the shed.....no point bringing them in just yet while mr f is going to be flinging paint around!
So early days, only the 1st cupboard, but it does make me realise just how much I've changed in my attitude to spending. Back in the day, I'd almost certainly have bought a set of new jars plus some pretty larger ones to decant everything into. Absolutely no need though. Everything has come up lovely with a hot soapy cloth & any spare jars I decided I was keeping for the sake of it have gone in the bag for the bottle bank.
As a nice bonus, on the way down to hang up my bunches of rosemary & thyme, I noticed that the strawberries were ready for another pick, so that's dessert sorted.
Hope everyone's seen some of this sunshine.
Take care now, & keep debt-busting.
F x

foxgloves

Hi Summer Debt-busters,
Another lovely sunny day, though a bit hot for physical work, so have been glad to sit at my desk this afternoon. Today's my Big Budget Day. I've reconciled June's budget, all seemed normal there, apart from having to sub the grocery budget an extra £34. We're really noticing prices increasing again at the moment, just a penny or two here, a 5p there, sugar-tax (which I'm not against, actually, as long as it's not a substitution for education) on bottles of squash, etc. Anyway, we did 'July Budget Week 1 Shop' online this morning (I know, it sounds like a military operation, doesn't it?) & got off to a good start, coming in at 17p below our target spend.
mr f had a little bit of back-pay this month, so I decided to use that to pay our campsite fees. We booked the pitch on a CC, as is usual for planned spending, so as to maximise loyalty points for vouchers, & I've paid it off in full today. He's really busy at work at the moment & is really looking forward to our camping trip, just knowing that bit of back-pay paid for it will make a very titchy pay-rise seem more worthwhile.
I've also logged onto our loan account to see how that's doing. I'd almost got my eyes shut, hoping it would be down to below £3k & it very definitely is, as the outstanding balance is now £2783. My first thought, naturally, was that if we hadn't had that legal bill to pay this month, I'd have had £800 out of the next £1k lump sum to throw at it, & that overpayment would have taken the balance nicely below £2k in total. It can't be helped though. I'm kind of moving on from that one, promise. Our aim is to see those monthly payments bringing the balance down, to keep stashing odds & ends of money in our Loan Pay Down Fund, then to request a final settlement figure & see how they match up. Actually, I could pay the loan off in full today using our emergency fund. It would avoid interest payments, but it would also leave us needing to use credit should we have any money-gobbling disasters to deal with.Our oven, fridge & freezer are all quite old now, & were purchased at a similar time. I can just imagine deciding to use our emergency fund to pay off the last bit of loan & finding that all our appliances have decided to get together & have a hissy fit before expiring their last! So, I think I prefer to plod on. This year, as well as the campsite, we have a few days in an old cottage booked for mr f's big birthday. That's all saved for & paid for, I'm pleased to say. Next year, we have pretty much decided that we'll aim to have a couple of camping trips, no cottages or anything else, & to via the money we've saved from that to the Loan Pay-Down Fund. We both love camping, so no problems there.
Well, I must pack away all this sea of paperwork & hie me away to the veggie garden to cut some more lettuce. Then a cup of tea........I make the most hideous tea, so it's generally something I only drink if someone else has made it for me!
Nearly the weekend, hang on in there, hope the weather holds for anyone planning (hopefully free or nicely cheap) outdoor stuff.
Cheers all,
F x

Kantankrus_Mare

I'd be tempted to pay off the loan and get myself a 0% credit card as insurance just in case anything needed replacing but I guess its what you feel comfortable with.

Picked some elderflowers tonight at the allotment, have a container sitting on garden table full of sterilising stuff. Just checked my recipe to make elderflower champagne for the first time and realised I have no lemons. :mad: Not sure if the elderflowers will keep till tomorrow. Guess I can always pick some more.

Hoping to have courgettes and tomatoes by the end of next week or sooner if this nice weather keeps up.

Where are you going for your cottage break? We have just booked one for a few weeks time in Derbyshire and we have another posh looking one in Yorkshire for my birthday in September.

I realised a few years ago, no matter what you can afford, you need something to look forward to all the time to keep your sanity.

foxgloves

Oooh, your tomatoes & courgettes are further ahead than mine, Kantankrus! We're doing well for cucumbers though. 6 picked already & a another 6 will be ready this weekend. Am growing 'Nimrod' which is a mini variety & they are so beautifully fresh & crunchy.
Re cottages......we've booked one in Wiltshire. It'll be the third time we've stayed there.
I'm sure the Derbyshire cottage will be lovely - I live in a neighbouring county. My old house was very close to the border. If I walked to the end of my road & crossed the footbridge over the river, I was technically in Derbyshire. I often used to drive up to Matlock, Bakewell, Cromford, Buxton, etc. We don't visit so often since we moved but still get over to Hardwick Hall & Bolsover Castle now & again
F
P.S Actually I did wonder about using a 0% CC for possible emergencies if I were to pay that last chunk of loan using our emergency fund.......just till I'd built the EF back up again, but I just feel really averse to having another card. Think I'll continue with Plan A, knowing that at least there is a Plan B if I need it.

Kantankrus_Mare

Its Bonsall we are going to near Matlock. I'm very jealous of you. Its a beautiful part of the country though we havent been since our eldest was 2...(He's now 25! lol)

No cucumbers here yet but little tiny ones have appeared so hopefully wont be long.

Oh and I have changed my mind about the elderflower champagne. I'd left the box of elderflowers in the kitchen and everyone kept saying they could smell cat pee......myself included. They have gone in the bin lol

Onebrokelady

Hi Foxgloves,I've just caught up on your diary again and i must say it's motivated me to keep on trucking with my non spend ways,I have not been here as much as normal lately and although I haven't gone off track with my money I could feel myself getting tempted by ridiculous spends on things I don't need,it's so good to see how others are getting on,I love the story of the flamingo lights,that sums me up completely and had reminded me that the lights my mum bought me for my garden are actually still in the box
Me and my daughter used to share an allotment but we gave it up when she went to uni because I counldnt manage it on my own,I have a nice size garden though so could grow some bits there,the only problem I have at the moment is my chickens,they would eat everything in sight,I have a box shaped pallet in my front garden which I am planning on turning into a raised bed at some point,it's been sitting there for about two years and I still haven't done it,I really must get it sorted for next year though,I'm feeling inspired now so I'm off to tidy up the back garden for a bit:)

foxgloves

Onebrokelady - Hi there, I've just caught up with your diary too. Good to hear from you.
Oh, those bloomin' flamingo lights. Pretty, kitsch, a little bit quirky.....but v v plastic. They will only last for so long, won't be repairable, & will then sit in landfill forever. Like every other bit of plastic churned out since.....well, the invention of plastic...they will never biodegrade. I really did want them, but the feeling did go away & I'm pleased to say has not returned. I appreciate that you recognised the tempting pull of those pesky flamingos. I reckon the same Bad Fairy must have visited both our cradles at birth & sprinkled us liberally with magic spendydust! Thankfully the short-lived pleasure I used to get from buying heaps of stuff has been well & truly eclipsed by loving my budget!
Take care,
F x

foxgloves

Some small saves this weekend - they do add up, don't they?
*Swerved a takeaway pizza last night because I made sure we took planned meal out of the freezer before we went out. I knew we would be likely to crack after a 160 mile round trip & the hot weather. Saving - £19
*Took a flask of coffee with us today when meeting friends for picnic. Saving - £4.60
*Resisted temptation to call into shop to buy a tub of ice cream as we already have perfectly good desserts in the fridge. Saving £3.99.
Hope this is going to get me off to a good start this week.
F x

foxgloves

Well, the frugal kitchen makeover is underway as of today. Mr f was owed a day from work so he's cleaned the tops of the cupboards which I can't reach, & has started undercoating the walls.
Have spent very little so far, as have 'shopped from home' as much as possible. Will report back as things progress.
As he is listening to geeky podcasts while he works, & there isn't room for me while he's in there clanging ladders around, I'm off down the veggie garden to do a bit of maintenance. 20 cucumbers already! When I'm too hot to carry on with that, I'm going to sit in the shade & continue knitting a Christmas present.
F x
P.S I have bought a few things for the kichen makeover, but it pales into insignificance when compared with what I'd have spent on it 'back in the day'. Our aim this time was to have a fresher new look on a spend which didn't adversely impact our budget. Hope we achieve this!

foxgloves

Just stopped for a coffee. Have weeded & tied in the climbing beans, hoed the squash beds, done a bit of greenhouse maintenance - misting, staking up aubergines, that kind of thing. Have also given the watercress a haircut &ngas I can't access the hob atm, have rinsed it, bagged it & shoved it in the freezer to make watercress soup next week. First signs of ripening tomatoes & courgettes are getting bigger. I love harvesting our own homegrown stuff - makes all the hard work worthwhile. Well that's my coffee swigged, shall pop down to tidy tools away, then time for that knitting or reading in the shade.
F