Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

@Deni_debt-free_dreamer - Great news on the furniture. This is the first time we've paid for internal painting & decorating. We'd normally do it ourselves, but we decided when we were planning our current big refurb project that we'd pay a professional just this once to get it up to a really good standard. We reckon we'll be here around another 10 years, so our hope is not to have to do too much in that time, apart from maybe a lick of paint before putting the house on the market if our long term plans work out.
Yes, shopping from home is very satisfying, especially for those of us who have been spendy in the past. I know how much I used to spend on all these kinds of bits & pieces, & my 25 year overdraft was testament to just how much this constant buying of small to medium priced items adds up.
F x

foxgloves

Very grotty weather here too, @Pixiehouse55. It is annoying for you having a bad back. I have arthritis in my hands (I never thought that would set in in my mid-50s, I thought of it as a much older person's thing) but can do most things. Mr F does any heavy lifting, but he's much stronger than me anyway. I have to ask him to unscrew tight lids off jars as that action really doesn't do my dodgy thumb joints any good at all!
When you refer to 'Sunny WSM', do you mean the place on the Somerset coast? If so, guess who was born there........Me!!
F x

foxgloves

Morning m'dears!
Well, with yesterday having been a lazy bank holiday, I have started today with my deferred Monday morning budget update session. Nothing too fiddly to sort out today. I've updated May's grocery budget & was pleased to see that even with those extra ingredients for this week's planned chutney making, we came in at 11p under budget. I've also updated the Home Improvements Budget, as I bought curtain tape, hooks & sewing thread on Saturday, & our Personal Spends spreadsheet. We have Savings Pots for most things, but we also have a monthly Personal Spends allowance of £100 each. This is for buying absolutely whatever we want. We can add to it if we sell unwanted stuff, cash in our survey earnings, etc, or if we are gifted money, etc. If we have an underspend at the end of the month, it can roll forward, which helps if either of us wants to buy something a bit more expensive. But, once it's gone, it's gone. End of. Nothing else until the following month's budget is set on Big Budget Day. This system works very well for us. It is also interesting to see how several small purchases can reduce the running total by a fair amount. For instance, this weekend, I bought some toiletries, a bakery treat & a knitting book from the charity shop. I also have a modest B*dy Sh*p order to pay for when it arrives, plus a half price pair of sandals, which I'm also waiting for - sandals would normally come from our Clothing Savings Pot, but these are very definitely a 'want' not a 'need', so I am coughing up the cash myself. Back in the Spendaceous Era, I would have regarded this as hardly having spent a thing! My Personal Spends were well in credit as we crossed into May, so I shall be fine this month, but logging down my purchases on the Spends spreadsheet certainly makes me see how much of my old debt must have come from the never-ending stream of small insignificant purchases. 
Ah well, as Mr F & I keep saying, at least we saw the lightbulb while we were still a long way off retirement age.
Coffee time now, & I must get the next lot of laundry on. Such a nuisance having the heated airer back out, but no chance of pegging out today & tomorrow doesn't look too much better. Carpet fitters due early afternoon, so I must crack on.
Stay cosy,
F x

Baileys_Babe

The weather here all week doesn't look conducive to drying the laundry so we too have resorted to the airer in our case paired with the dehumidifier.
I enjoy shopping from home as well as being good for our purse in it good for the environment.

Pixiehouse55

foxgloves said:

Very grotty weather here too, @Pixiehouse55. It is annoying for you having a bad back. I have arthritis in my hands (I never thought that would set in in my mid-50s, I thought of it as a much older person's thing) but can do most things. Mr F does any heavy lifting, but he's much stronger than me anyway. I have to ask him to unscrew tight lids off jars as that action really doesn't do my dodgy thumb joints any good at all!
When you refer to 'Sunny WSM', do you mean the place on the Somerset coast? If so, guess who was born there........Me!!
F x

Wow yes we are on the Somerset coast. We live near the hispital.  How weird is that When!! How long did you live there for?When I was little  we lived in the Britisharea and WSM was our nearest beach to go to, so living hear is weird as ive come back to where I came when I was little.  Ive had several back operations, last one was I  October 2018 I now have a metal Cage in my lumbar area. He done it via my stomach with 18 month recovery. I've done really well. I have arthritis in my hands hips and knees. I still try to do as much as I can though, I don't like to give in. 

foxgloves

@Pixiehouse55 - I wasn't there long, as we were a Services family & moved away when I was about 3, as Dad was posted to another area of the country. We lived in a first floor flat in a big house on Trewartha Park. Somewhere, there is a photo of little me in a red checked dress sitting on a step by the front gates.
That was a big op on your back. I only have arthritis in my hands. I do come from rather arthritic ancestry so am hoping it doesn't flare up anywhere else. I have a bit of a dodgy shoulder, but I think that is very tight muscles rather than a worn joint. We are at a blimming funny age, aren't we?! 
F x

Pixiehouse55

foxgloves said:

@Pixiehouse55 - I wasn't there long, as we were a Services family & moved away when I was about 3, as Dad was posted to another area of the country. We lived in a first floor flat in a big house on Trewartha Park. Somewhere, there is a photo of little me in a red checked dress sitting on a step by the front gates.
That was a big op on your back. I only have arthritis in my hands. I do come from rather arthritic ancestry so am hoping it doesn't flare up anywhere else. I have a bit of a dodgy shoulder, but I think that is very tight muscles rather than a worn joint. We are at a blimming funny age, aren't we?! 
F x

That's interesting foxgloves, our man John girlfriend lives in a big house in Trewartha Park! 
Yes, it was a big op, the first 2 ops in 2011 then 2016 were spinal fusions but my bones weren't strong enough and the screws came away!!  So 2018 he decided that the cage was my only option and if it didn't work there wasn't anything else he could do for me.  Hmm our age is delightful isn't it😁 The big 60 for me July next year!!  I have problems with my neck and going in to my right shoulder, very painful my spinal surgeon wants to do a mri scan to see what's going on, I told him I will leave it for now, I've had enough mri and ct scans for now. Just got to keep smiling and carry on havnt we? At least I've not got Reaumatoid arthritis like my late Dad and my brother!!
Take Care xx

foxgloves

I feel the same about my shoulder, @Pixiehouse55. I'm sure it is tight muscles, maybe something like 'frozen shoulder' from a muscle pull last year. I've had similar before & it has righted itself. I don't think I want to hear that it's another arthritic joint, so I haven't taken it to the Dr to see about an X-ray. I will go if it gets a lot worse, but my thinking is that as gardening season kicks in & I'm moving it more, it will loosen up. 
Yes, we are a funny age! 
I think those houses on Trewartha Park must be big, as Mum said they had a large room they didn't use which they called 'the barn'. They set up a full size swing in there for little me, so it must have been spacious. The landlady lived downstairs & used to complain about Dad taking his boots off too loudly & in the upstairs flat was a family living in the sort of squalor you see on those TV programmes about hoarders. I only have a few v vague memories of living there. I remember the place of Dad's next posting much better. 
F x

foxgloves

Hello Diary Readers,
Oh my days, I think the weather has chucked everything at us today. As the forecast for this morning was sunny & blowy, I opened the greenhouse, watered all the veggie babies, waged war on the evil weevil in my courtyard pots & pegged out some laundry. My new half-price sandals arrived, so I stomped around in those for a bit to see if they fit (they do) & if I like them (ditto), did next week's meal plans, then noticed the sky had turned rather black. Luckily the laundry had dried, as no sooner had I fetched it in than it actually started SNOWING!! Yes, we had about 2 mins of snow, followed by some sleet, then back to rain, so ran out again (not in my new sandals, I hasten to add!) & packed my bedding plants back into the greenhouse. So chilly when I got back in, I needed a coffee to muster enthusiasm for the ironing! I did it though.....upstairs is chaos for another couple of weeks yet, so I can't cope with additional piles of stuff hanging around.
The ironing board cover has worn into holes again. They don't last very long in my opinion, especially as I only iron once a week. I think I can shop this from home, though......not because I have a spare one waiting in the wings, but I do have an old quite pretty sheet which is a bit worn in places, & I intend to use that to re-cover the ironing board. I tend to do something similar every other time, iyswim, so this time will be a re-cover & next time I will buy a new one. I think I can also shop a ground level bird bath from home.....I have been looking at some rather nice ceramic ones in gardening catalogues/magazines, but I re-discovered a large flat glass bowl which I received as a gift years ago which was supposed to be for floating candles. It is quite thick glass & I think it would do the job of a summer bird bath, as well as being an accessible source of water for any little creatures that cross our garden & don't fancy a nifty slurp out of the pond. 
Well, I have pretty much finished my jobs for today. I am making kedgeree tonight, so it's very much a meal from stores - I'm using smoked mackerel from our last fish box delivery, so I don't even need to pre-cook that. I might make that chutney tomorrow, I'll see how I feel when I get up.
Take care m'dears,
F x

foxgloves

Just jotted down everything I would ideally like to get done tomorrow & honestly, it's a ridiculous amount of stuff. I think I may whittle it down to 3 jobs to which I can only add another one when I've crossed one off. This has worked well before because I am never going to be overwhelmed by a list with 3 things on it at a time.
Feel motivated already!
F