Put away your purse & become debt-averse

masonsmum

I have just read through your full diary and what an inspirational read! Thank you it is just what I needed. I done a budget yesterday and I am horrified to see what I spend my money on, DH and I should have a good amount of disposable income at the end of every month, however we are constantly in our overdraft. I have spent £450 on clothes from 1st of this month! Time to change!

foxgloves

Aww, that's a kind thing to say, Masonsmum. It's still hard to believe I sound inspiring to others on financial matters, as I was silly with money for very many more years than I've been frugal.
I can remember exactly the situation you describe....knowing you 'should' have money left each month, but it's never there.
I can remember back when that lightbulb was about to ping.....mr f & me had been talking about how much we'd like a camper van but that this could never become a reality because we just didn't ever have any spare money. But you know, back then before my redundancy, we had 2 salaries coming in & our household income was just over £56,000. I now look back at those days & think that was a LOT of money. At the time though, we never seemed to have any. What we DID have was 2 overdrafts, 3 credit cards, 2 car loans, 1 consolidation loan (the 3rd one of these we took out to 'sort ourselves out' ) & a personal loan. So a lot of our monthly income was going on repayments. A lot more of it was wasted because we never budgeted & rarely thought about the difference between a 'want' & a 'need'. We spent a huge amount on food, which meal planning has really cut back, & on takeaways which was just pure laziness on our part as we are both good cooks. We saved £2000 a year just by pledging to make & take a packed lunch every single work day. Why on earth were we wasting that big wodge of cash just on bought sandwiches, crisps, etc?!
If you get a budget in place - it can take 2 or 3 attempts to find a system that works for you - you should be able to plug some of the money leakages you are ecperiencing. Hope so, anyway! Best of luck with it!
F

joedenise

Have you bought that you fancied? We absolutely love ours and get away most weekends. Can't think of a better way of spending quality time with DH.

foxgloves

Hi Joedenise,
Sadly no, we don't have a campervan. The sector I worked in was subsequently hit by 'austerity' cuts, leading me to go firstly part-time, then to take redundancy, so we've taken up camping instead, which we love!
We still see owning a campervan as a possibility for the future. If we don't manage to move nearer to the seaside in years to come (not any time soon), then our Plan B is to purchase one then.
I should add that being able to live on one salary was entirely due to the LBM & getting rid of the debts in time!
F

foxgloves

A mad busy day today. We need to go away to deal with a family crisis & of course, as a keen veg grower, it's that time of year when pickings need to be made daily. Then all that fresh produce needs dealing with. We haven't budgeted to be away.....that's the nature of emergencies, isn't it? So I decided to withdraw the coming week's grocery budget as cash to take with us. That will concentrate our minds better than waving the plastic around. Next, I harvested everything in our veggie garden that was ready. Loads of tomatoes, courgettes, 3 cucumbers, 2 pattypans, a lb of blackberries & a final aubergine later, I decided the best plan of action to avoid my twin bugbears of overspending & food waste, would be to do a meal plan. We'll be staying at Mum's house on our own, so no reason we can't cook & no reason to leave our financial common sense at home. So I baked a sourdough loaf & we did a meal plan aimed around using my basket of fresh produce, which we can easily take with us. Everything that didn't make the cut has been frozen to use when we get back. By then, I was on a roll.....went through the fridge & found carrots, an unopened pack of ham, milk & all sorts of things which will be coming with us. Leftover tortilla wraps frozen - enough there for two days of meals (fajhitas & quesadillas) on our return. We will shop when we get there, but the shopping list will now only need to include the outstanding stuff required for those planned meals. "Shop from home first'.....even in the midst of a family emergency. It works! And then mr f went off down the garden to feed the chillies, courgettes, squash, beans, cucumber & sweetcorn, just in case any of them fancy producing another basketful for when we get back.
It's quite stressful - the family problem, I mean - but it helps to have a plan, even though it's just the financial/food side of things at the moment. I honestly don't think I can fit another single thing in our freezer though. I turn into a squirrel at this time of year! Oh well, nearly time to head south to sort a few things out. I may be able to post now & again if I discover a whiff of free wi-fi while I'm out & about.
Keep debt-busting,
F x

crazy_cat_lady

Lots of love to you Foxgloves. I'll be thinking of you, and hoping that the crisis is resolved as speedily as possible. I can't believe how well planned you are, and how level headed, during all of this.

foxgloves

Thanks CCL. Not the easiest of hospital visits today but pleased to say we did leave Mum in better spirits than we found her, so we're classing that as a result!
Re planning, etc.....one of my major ways of handling stress is to maintain strong control over those areas of my life where I do still have some influence. So that's my budget & spending and my diet, for starters.
Ooooh & well done on the weight loss Missis! I'm pleased to say that I've now shifted half a stone of that chunk of weight I regained after my big weightloss a few years ago. Normally when I'm away from home, I wouldn't bother to count calories & things quickly go to pot as I only lode weight reliably when I keep a daily tally. This time, I'm determined to stay in control. My clothes are feeling looser & I shall be mad with myself if I just drift back to sloppy habits (& baking too many cakes!)
So let's keep up the good work. We are worth it!!
F x

Onebrokelady

Hi Foxgloves, wow you have been productive and all the produce from the garden sounds lovely,I'm just off to bed now ( couldn't sleep earlier ) but just popped in to say I hope your family crises is sorted swiftly xx

wishingthemortgaheaway

Hi Foxgloves, (and any other green fingered readers)

What can I plant in the pots at the front of the house that can give me some autumn colour?
Also, could I plant bulbs underneath and then what ever plants are suggested on top?
Trying to get year round colour out the front of the house.

Hope your trip is going well, and the family emergency is subsiding.

Wish.

DawnW

wishingthemortgaheaway wrote: »

Hi Foxgloves, (and any other green fingered readers)

What can I plant in the pots at the front of the house that can give me some autumn colour?
Also, could I plant bulbs underneath and then what ever plants are suggested on top?
Trying to get year round colour out the front of the house.

Hope your trip is going well, and the family emergency is subsiding.

Wish.

Thought I would reply as Foxgloves isn't around atm Winter flowering pansies / violas are nice to put in at this time of the year (you can get all sorts of colours, large or small flowered, and can buy them anywhere), and yes, you can underplant them with bulbs for the spring. The pansies will probably still be in flower then, too So that is one suggestion - you do need to protect them from slugs and snails though! Polyanthus / primroses are pretty too, and will likewise flower through the autumn winter. Or possibly both if you can't decide between them?



Winter flowering heathers are another possibility, though you would need to fill your pots with ericaceous compost though, as they don't like to grow in the ordinary sort