Put away your purse & become debt-averse

crazy_cat_lady

Lots of love to you Foxgloves :grouphug:

Chrystal

Just to say I'm thinking of you. Hope your Mum is comfortable. (((hugs)))

foxgloves

Thanks for all your kind, thoughtful messages. There is no improvement in either Mum's situation or my stress levels, but I'm trying to keep busy, to keep on top of those things I do actually have some control over at the moment.
Kantankrus - Sorry to hear about your Mum too - such difficult times.

So.....27th is generally my Big Budget Day. I was going to do it tomorrow as we'd have normally gone out somewhere for the Bank Holiday, but my heart just wasn't in it, so we've stayed in & I've blitzed our finances into shape for September. Unusually, we've been carrying a small amount of debt on both credit cards this last month.....me because I ended up buying mr f's big birthday present several months before I needed to (it was going out of production!) so hadn't yet saved all the money for it, & mr f because he needed 2 new pairs of specs at a time when we'd also got a dental bill, vet bill & a couple of planned household items on there. Well, I'm so debt-averse these days, that the thought of even just some of that rolling over into another month really annoyed me. I worked through all the figures, checked them 3 times & found that if I let the monthly 'cushion' in our current account go a bit lower than I'd normally like, I could pay both cards off in full. That's with also sorting out breakdown cover at the annual purchase price this month, instead of paying interest to spread a relatively small sum over 12 months. I've allowed £15 extra grocery money to allow for a few preserving ingredients, as it's that time of year, & I don't intend to waste any of our lovely home grown produce (I often use nice home made jars of jam, jellies, etc, for gifts, so it pays off further down the line).
OK, so that all being done, I emerged from Foxgloves HQ (Budget Central!) & went to ask mr f what he thought about keeping to a very small emergency cushion this month in order for the CCs not to carry any debt into the next month & incur interest. He was all for it! I'm lucky, really, how 'on board' he got when I had my LBM, as if anything, he was worse with money than I was, back in the day. I think that whereas my parents were able to bail me out financially a few times, his were not in a position to be able to do this, so his debt was a lot higher than mine, & then of course, we continued to acquire more debt together. Oh, what numpties! Anyway, that all changed a long time ago now & we are both happier for making those changes.
So, I've allowed for all September's regular bills, paying off both cards in full, our 'personal spends' money, mr f's work travel budget, grocery budget, emergency fund, savings piggies and that leaves a small spare £89 in our current account. There is technically no need for it to be touched, as everything we need to buy has been allowed for or there is cash in the relevant 'pig'. Feeling strong about this, as I really do NOT want to go down that old road of rolling debt over on CCs - it's just too easy!
OK, m'ducks, just got to finish a bit of filing, pop a loaf in the oven, then it's time to do something different. Might go for a walk - it's free & good for stress.
Love to all,
F xx

Kantankrus_Mare

Well done on your budgeting and getting the cards paid off with no interest. :T

crazy_cat_lady

Amazing.
I am very jealous of anyone who can make their budget work at the moment (I will get there again soon). It's brilliant that you could manage to pay the cards off

foxgloves

Thanks, Kantankrus & CCL, it was a good feeling. We really do only use CCs for planned spending such as groceries, fuel, etc, as a rule (to maximise points for vouchers) so it was really annoying when it looked like some of the balance would be rolling over. Emergency 'cushion' in bank account will get a small boost soon, as mr f had forgotten he is due 2 small expenses cheques from work. Anyway....better get today's post on........

foxgloves

Hi Debt-Busters,
I am still keeping a lid on my stress levels by keeping busy, & today (apart from cycling into town first thing), I've mostly been keeping busy in the kitchen. It's always important to me that we don't waste a scrap of our home grown produce, but as fellow 'growers' will agree, everything comes thick & fast this time of year & you need to keep on top of it. I tackled blackberries & apples the other day (jam) & froze more beans. Today was the turn of the tomatoes & courgettes (again!). I spent £6 at the butcher on a kilo of mince & made it into 8 portions of meatballs in tomato sauce. I can't recall where I originally got the recipe, but it's quite a good budget one as it includes breadcrumbs, which as all our Nanas knew, stretches the meat content further. So I stood frying off 24 meatballs while listening to an audiobook, with the sauce (which includes courgettes -yay!!) bubbling away on the hob.
Then I used the last bit of mince to make a tamale pie base - I can zizz up the cornbread topping for that when we're ready to eat it - so that's 10 portions from £6 of mince, so I was pleased with that.......& even more pleased that mr f volunteered for a major bit of 'freezer tetris' when he got home! Finally, the remaining very ripe tomatoes were skinned, de-seeded & zizzed up for freezing. That's 2 tins I shan't need to buy.
Loads of windfalls down again, so I think apples will be my next big job.
Right now, I'm happy to be on the sofa & about to get on with reading a good book. Apples are for another day........
Cheers all,
F x

crazy_cat_lady

As you know - I'm in the Lakes at the moment. I've been surprised at how many different jars of preserves that you can buy. All sorts of jams, marmalade, chutneys and pickles - and I'm even more surprised at how much it costs to buy a jar of these things. They would make amazing presents for my stepdad, teachers etc. I am stunned that you can make these things with your own home grown stuff... I have never even attempted to do this sort of stuff - but they look lovely.

foxgloves

I've been making jam since I was 12, CCL. My Mum has always had zero interest in cooking, but Nan was an amazing jam maker, so she taught Mum & Mum taught my sis & me. It isn't difficult. It doesn't need a ton of equipment & ingredients. It's mostly just fruit & sugar and despite the availability of 'jam making machines', you really do only need a large preserving pan (saw a great one recently in a charity shop), a jam funnel & a long wooden spoon. I re-use jam jars as they can be thoroughly washed & sterilized in the oven. A pack of waxed paper/cellophane jar lids costs very little & you can pick up inexpensive packs of pretty labels if it's for a gift. I f so, I re-use nice wrapping paper to cut out a frilly lid.
As preserving has long been a hobby of mine, I also make jellies, sauces, chutneys, pickles, etc, & I love developing my own recipes. I sold all 20 spare jars of my marmalade this year.
A nicely presented jar of something does make a nice gift. I can also raid my pantry to put together a little hamper or two at Christmas. I expect some of the gift shop preserves you are seeing are quite expensive? I can knock out my marmalade (which contains a dash of orange liqueur) to my friends for £1.80 a jar & still make a profit.
Anyway.....enough of jammy stuff, I have such a big pile of laundry to tackle this morning, I don't know whether to iron it or climb it!
Keep up the steps! 12000 is excellent. I know that if I walk a minimum of 7000 steps a day, my daily calorie burn hits 2000+. All I need to do then is ensure a decent deficit between that 2000 & daily calories eaten, so I am always very aware of my steps.
Cheers,
F x

wishingthemortgaheaway

I use my bread maker to make jam. I was a bit sceptical, but it does the job for the odd few jars I make. I can't imagine it would be sufficient for your needs though Foxgloves.