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Put away your purse & become debt-averse
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My school is still trying to email parents now to let them know but the email system keeps crashing 😩. It's ridiculous to give such short notice 😡, it should have been decided days ago.Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally
Debt in July 2017 = £58,766 😱 DEBT FREE 31 OCTOBER 2017 :T 🎉
EMERGENCY FUND 1 = £50/£5,000. EMERGENCY FUND 2 = £10/£5,000.
CHRISTMAS SAVINGS = £0/£500. SEF = £1,400/£12,000 PREMIUM BONDS ME = £350. PREMIUM BONDS DH = £300.
HOLIDAY MONEY = £0 TIME LEFT TO PAY OFF MORTGAGE = 5 YEARS 1 MONTHS7 -
I agree, HHoD. I am losing patience with people who let the government off the hook re Covid management because nobody in the UK has had to deal with a global pandemic for 100 years. I get that. What I don't 'get' is the failure to learn from mistakes & simply to keep repeating them. It has got to the point that when Johnson says "Schools won't close", you can pretty much assume that the closure announcement will be made in the next couple of days. Ditto announcements about tiers & lockdowns. I think it has also given mixed messages about the lockdown rules because Johnson (eventually) says one thing, yet quite a few of his MPs have formed a group which opposes 'anti-libertarian' lockdown measures.
Ah well, sitting here moaning to you isn't buttering any parnsips this morning, is it HHoD? I think I'd better finish my coffee & make a start on my day. Take care,
F x"For each of our actions there are only consequences" (James Lovelock)"For in the true nature of things......every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold & silver" (Martin Luther King Jnr)8 -
foxgloves said:I agree, HHoD. I am losing patience with people who let the government off the hook re Covid management because nobody in the UK has had to deal with a global pandemic for 100 years. I get that. What I don't 'get' is the failure to learn from mistakes & simply to keep repeating them. It has got to the point that when Johnson says "Schools won't close", you can pretty much assume that the closure announcement will be made in the next couple of days. Ditto announcements about tiers & lockdowns. I think it has also given mixed messages about the lockdown rules because Johnson (eventually) says one thing, yet quite a few of his MPs have formed a group which opposes 'anti-libertarian' lockdown measures.
Ah well, sitting here moaning to you isn't buttering any parnsips this morning, is it HHoD? I think I'd better finish my coffee & make a start on my day. Take care,
F xFinally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally
Debt in July 2017 = £58,766 😱 DEBT FREE 31 OCTOBER 2017 :T 🎉
EMERGENCY FUND 1 = £50/£5,000. EMERGENCY FUND 2 = £10/£5,000.
CHRISTMAS SAVINGS = £0/£500. SEF = £1,400/£12,000 PREMIUM BONDS ME = £350. PREMIUM BONDS DH = £300.
HOLIDAY MONEY = £0 TIME LEFT TO PAY OFF MORTGAGE = 5 YEARS 1 MONTHS6 -
Whilst I agree that mistakes have been made by the government , some members of public haven’t helped. Not far from me at the weekend, the emergency services had to rescue stranded motorists that had been out for the day. Not one of them live local, all lived in a different tier. No matter what they have been told it seems to go in one ear and out the other. Not to mention the one person on my Facebook page that is still convinced it’s a conspiracy by all governments around the world. Xx:j Debtfree and and staying that way.:j3-6 month emergency fund, No.61 £140.009
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Amber03 - Yes, there are a lot of idiots around... the persistent party-throwers, people flocking to the peaks & the coast, etc. I have also become aware of how much rule breaking is going on by people who wouldn't dream of throwing a party, but are interpreting the rules to suit themselves..... for instance the concept of the 'bubble', which seems to be whatever people want to do at the time. My sister (teacher) sees kids out regularly with parents, despite the fact that she knows full well that all the kids in that particular class have been sent home to self-isolate. We were able to visit a lovely local park right up to & including Tier 4, but we'd see heaps of groups of more than one family walking around together, having met up in the car park. I can only imagine their thinking was 'Well it's only so & so & their kids & it'll be fine' but with so many asymptomatic carriers, it isn't fine. I think we all get to hear about the party-going morons on the TV news, but in reality their numbers are probably outweighed by people tweaking the rules so as to minimise the effect on their lifestyle.
So yes, I think all of the rule-breaking plus incompetent leadership & the shortcomings in the track & trace system has definitely been a 3-way prolonger of the covid crisis. Hopefully there will actually be a firm achievable plan to get the vaccination programme rolled out so that we can all feel the lockdown period is being used wisely this time. I hope so, even though I'm a very long way down the list, & Mr F even lower!
F x"For each of our actions there are only consequences" (James Lovelock)"For in the true nature of things......every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold & silver" (Martin Luther King Jnr)10 -
Hello Diary Friends,
Well, stuff my old boots! Despite me thinking there might be a further postponement the plasterer arrived this afternoon & chopped out the naughty section of our hall wall which has been badly affected by damp. The Covid situation makes me very wary of having workmen in the house, although it isn't against the current rules for them to carry out work in people's homes. I stayed at the far end of the kitchen which is more than 3m for conversation but most of the time I was right at the back of the house doing jobs & a bit of crafting.
Other stuff today? I've baked a loaf, firmed up meal plans for next week, written a shopping list & placed an online supermarket order. I've also finished this week's laundry & knitted another square for my blanket.
It's very cold here. Felt sorry for our garden birds this morning & gave them some toast along with their scoop of seed mix.
Anyway, stay cosy (& safe)
F x
"For each of our actions there are only consequences" (James Lovelock)"For in the true nature of things......every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold & silver" (Martin Luther King Jnr)12 -
Evening frosty friends,
I think it's going to be icy overnight. After the plasterer had left & I'd wafted the anti-Covid disinfectant around & aired the place, I popped round the corner to the postbox, then went down the garden with the compost bucket & a bag of scraps for the worm composter. When I got back in, I couldn't feel my hands! Started work on tonight's curry instantly to warm me up!
Had a useful session going through the bag of wrappings from Christmas Day which I saved in the hope of recycling. A pile each of perfectly useable tissue paper, gift wrap & gift bags added to my recycled wrappings stash ready for next year. I also recycled our Christmas cards into gift tags. I cut out a Christmas tree template then used it to make a whole pile of tags, which I hole-punched & attached recycled red rafia & gold ribbonny stuff which I saved from Mum's craft hoard. They look really nice & were so simple. All packed away ready for next year. That was a much nicer job than this morning's weekly tediosity of the ironing, anyway.
Well, I think I shall have to go & fetch my poncho, some warmer socks & then light the stove. I'll be amazed if we don't wake up to a sparkly lawn & icy windscreens tomorrow morning.
Defo time to toast my toes,
F x
"For each of our actions there are only consequences" (James Lovelock)"For in the true nature of things......every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold & silver" (Martin Luther King Jnr)11 -
Helloo foxgloves and gang. Not been about much, busy here. Day centre closed, day support and respite cancelled. It means they will be home for 4 weeks maybe longer so no time for me to play/ me time. Our local hospital yesterday had about 90 covid patients in. I'm staying indoors and so is hubby apart from dog walking early mornings. Hubby went to Mr A and got more bread milk and veg. Tomorrow I will be making soups. I forgot to put yeast on the list as I was going to make bread as well. Never mind. Freezers are full so we are ok.. Ive got £500 to pay off of my c.card when we get paid next week. Not sure when the man will be coming to put the new windows in. I think he said end of January. That will probably change now. Lots of noise going on around here. Sounds like a party. They've forgot or not taking any notice of lockdown!!! Figures are high, why don't some people listen grrr
Any way. Keep smiling everyone and keep safe XMortgage free September 2021. Narrowboat brought October 2021
Emergency fund £7500
Christmas fund £14309 -
Yes, too many people still ignoring Covid safety rules, Pixiehouse.
That sounds like a nice chunk ready to be paid off your credit card. Such a good feeling seeing those figures come down.
F x"For each of our actions there are only consequences" (James Lovelock)"For in the true nature of things......every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold & silver" (Martin Luther King Jnr)8 -
Hello Icicles,
Whoa, but it's cold out there! Opened the curtains first thing to scenes of white frosted garden & street, which even though the sun did put in an appearance for a while, did not melt all day. The birds were less than impressed that not only had their bath frozen over, but their peanuts too! Their daily scoop of seed was gobbled in no time.
Back in the Spendy Years, I was a shocker for 'Top-up shops'.....I mean, really bad. We all know what they are, so it won't come as any surprise to hear that the process went something like this: Went grocery shopping with no meal plans, no list & no budget. Two days later (or it could be one, or three), would decide I didn't fancy eating anything I'd got in, despite only having just bought it, so would head off to do a top-up shop. Oh, & just to ramp up the financial damage, this would usually be on the way home from work when I'd be hungry. Of course in addition to buying whatever I decided I DID want to eat that night, there would also be the inevitable chocolate & other bits (not always edible, as I had a terrible magazine habit too) & the 'stopping off for a couple of bits' would somehow turn into a £20+ spend.....on top of the budget-less big main shop I'd very recently done.
Well this sort of idiocy had to stop as soon as we decided to get serious about paying down our debt & I now find myself hating the idea of having to go out for top-up shops. We have done an online grocery order this week, but couldn't get a delivery slot until Sunday afternoon, so as Thursday is our usual shopping night, we are running out of quite a few things. For an unavoidable reason I can't even remember, I had to bump tonight's planned meal to Saturday, so I had to make something from stores today. We do have plenty of store cupboard ingredients in, but I decided to round up all those annoying little use-it-up items & see what I could do with them. Decided on a roasted squash & vegetable crumble. It used up the last of a packet of out of date pumpkin seeds, a remnant of cheese, half a butternut squash, a little pot of frozen chopped red pepper, half a tin of butterbeans, a not-too-brilliant onion from the shop before last & a stick of bendy celery. Other stuff was used from stores as usual. And it was really nice! Tasty & filling.
Well, we'd just eaten that & Mr F said we were getting low on eggs, so he would pop & get some tomorrow so we'd got breakfasts between now & Sunday's delivery, but we have baked beans, we can have cheese or peanut butter on toast or we can make porridge. I must admit he looked very dubious, but I am adamant that we are not going to do an unnecessary top-up shop. I must have spent absolutely HUNDREDS of pounds on this particular cash-spraying grocery shopping activity back in the day, & it has left me very averse to it. It's interesting, isn't it, that we can have loads of stuff in, but just running out of one or two things can have us dropping into the supermarket & then coming out with oodles of bits & bobs. I predict that the Beloved will next pronounce that we have run out of yoghurts........I am ready to counter this by suggesting we eat fresh fruit, fruit compote from the freezer, tinned fruit or a slice of cake which needs using up! Am made of stronger stuff these days, lol.
Ah well m'dears, stay cosy. There's no denying these are bloody weird times & we will have to carry on just trying to control those things which are within our gift to influence.
Love F x"For each of our actions there are only consequences" (James Lovelock)"For in the true nature of things......every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold & silver" (Martin Luther King Jnr)11
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