Put away your purse & become debt-averse

janb5

Yes lots of the banks have this feature now which is really useful  - other versions are called Tilly Tidy or impulsive spender.  It certainly adds up quickly.

foxgloves

Hello Sunbeams,
Another hot day. Scorching yesterday too, so we were so glad to have picked it as our long-awaited day trip to the coast. We so enjoyed ourselves & I racked up over 300 'active' & 'fat burning' minutes on my Fitbit without even noticing because I was enjoying myself. Mr F is enjoying a week of annual leave so we are doing a combination of going out & trying to progress jobs at home. Today has been a much needed day at home. I've made up for a couple of spendy-ish days by some solid everyday frugal behaviour......dinner from freezer ingredients is currently in the slow cooker, garden produce picked, bed linen stripped so as to make the best of this gorgeous sunshine for free drying. Last night, we were sitting out on our courtyard bench after our long drive back from the coast & there was a creak, then a crack, followed by a crash as we watched a large branch of pear tree break off & fall to the ground. The tree does need thinning out to tbh, but of course with my frugal hat on, my first concern this morning when we could see what we were doing, was to go out & collect up all the pears. The basket from that one fall was so heavy I couldn't lift it to bring it indoors. I shall leave most of them to ripen for our fresh fruit supplies, packed lunches, etc, but as I had all the necessary ingredients in stock, I have made a batch of my secret recipe pear BBQ sauce this afternoon - another 5 tasty jars for the pantry. 
I've also done a belated Monday morning budget check-in. I left it a couple of days because we bought quite a few presents at an lovely Autumn Fair on Sunday & as it seemed a faff for some of the stallholders to issue receipts with their mobile card readers, I figured it would be easier to sort out the different budget pots once the transactions had all appeared on our online banking. We also bought a couple of gifts yesterday so I must prioritise getting my annual Christmas/winter birthdays spreadsheet done so that I don't over-buy because I forget what I already have for various people. So that all took a fair while this morning to sort out so as to keep all the relevant savings pots straight. The next mini-budget session will be when my credit card statement arrives as I shall need to update my Personal Spends with a couple of items & move some more funds across from savings pots. I do know that absolutely everything that is going to appear on this imminent statement is budgeted for.......unlike the Spendy Era when I would look at the balance of money owed & think 'HOW can it be that much?' Well, of course there was no mystery to it whatsoever as the balance was the sum of all the unnecessary spending I had been doing since the last statement plus some older spending which would hang around for much longer, as I could never afford to clear it in full every month. That should have been the clue right there, shouldn't it? Can't afford to clear the bill, so couldn't afford to rack it up in the first place!! Ah well, that behaviour is long past & I won't return to it. I have much more self-respect being solvent. I am well aware that there are people who get into debt from awful circumstances that are no fault of their own. I was not one of them. Despite years of trying to convince myself I was the victim of 'not earning enough', especially not considering my qualifications, the only problem.....& I mean the ONLY one, was constantly living above my means & thinking that budgeting was for squares & wimps. I would never have dreamed back then how empowering it feels actually to be in control of one's money.
Hope everyone is ok & not wilting too much in the heat,
Take care,
F x

foxgloves

Forgot to say.... my September pledge to maximise meals from freezer contents is now reflecting in our shopping lists. Sat with my meal plans for next week & wrote grocery list:
Cheese, yoghurt, eggs, spread, butter, tuna, carrots, cucumber, potatoes, small amount of fruit + 1 Christmas cake ingredient.
Still aiming to via leftover grocery money at the end of the month to the Presents Pot. And to have some much needed space in the freezer. 
F x

Blackcats

Foxgloves - In the past I did look at my credit card statement each month but only to see how much available credit I had, rather than think about how much I'd spent, let alone think about how much interest had been added to the account.  At one point the minimum payment was £50 and interest was about £43 - it only annoyed me because I ran out of available credit.  🤷‍♀️

foxgloves

@Blackcats - I was exactly the same with my hideous flexiloan. Statement would arrive. My only interest was in the gap between its current balance & the maximum amount to which I could help myself without having to go & negotiate with the bank again. Stupid times, eh?
F x

foxgloves

Afternoon Campers,
Where are these promised storms? It's still very close here - just a stingy little shower overnight so far. Hope we get some thunder later.
Useful morning. Visited big garden centre this morning just in time for coffee (don't mind if I do!) & managed to stick to both that list AND the grocery list, as we swung by the supermarket on our way home. Bought compost on a multi-deal & joined their loyalty scheme to get an extra £ off. Chose my usual annual selection of spring bulbs - 2 kinds of tulips & a bag of assorted narcissi. I shall get a few tubs planted from those. I might buy a couple of trays of violas or winter pansies at planting time, but I won't plant up anything else - I've a huge amount of work to do in the garden this time of year without making more work. Bought part of B-i-L's Christmas & birthday presents plus a birthday gift for our very elderly distant relative who has virtually no family. She has dementia & doesn't remember me - she only just about recognises my sister who is able to visit her occasionally, but I think it must still be nice to receive a pretty card & a little bit of something, so I shall keep sending things.
Garden centres used to be a huge source of temptation for me back in the day. I spent a truly stupid amount of money in them - not just on gardening & plants but on the life-style stuff. I was restrained today. Things I looked at & didn't buy: Set of bamboo lidded food containers, tall tumblers with bees on, knitting book, winter dress, purse with three kittens on, handbag, solid hand cream bar. We almost bought a rug for the conservatory now we have chosen the new flooring. It was perfect in terms of colour, design, etc, but we hadn't measured the space we need it to fit, which is slightly alcoved, so despite me actually having it dangling over the trolley at one point, we decided to put it back until we know for sure it will fit. I did make a note of the measurements though & will go back for it if they are suitable. Felt quite proud of myself!
Well, it's another frugal meal tonight, as I am making tomato soup to use up some of our produce  - I always use the recipe from the Cranks book - & I'm going to bake some traditional soda bread to go with it warm from the oven. Sometimes simple things are just nice to have, aren't they?
Still working on my promised knitted items for charity stall. Am bored of current item. Intend to switch to tree decorations tomorrow & knit a week's worth of those instead.
Right m'dears, I must get a shift on as I think the kitchen is borderline bombsite with colanders & baskets of fruit & veg everywhere & although our house is quite informal & 'lived in', I do like a tidy kitchen on my cooking nights.
Not happy about general coviddy-ness of the country. My sister's friend has it atm despite 2 jabs. We still need to be careful (especially to try to mitigate the careless pandemic behaviour of others we may encounter) Remember to stay 1 whole cow apart.
Love F xx

Baileys_Babe

Earlier we had about an hour of thunder, lightning and heavy rain. Since about midday, it has been very dark, but the temperature hasn't dropped.

ladyholly

Foxgloves your list of the things you didnt buy just brought back a very happy memory. My Mum and I used to go round the shops in either London , Manchester or Bristol ( depended on where we were living at the time) and count up how much we saved by not buying the things we liked.  I so wish I had continued to do that.

Blackcats

I like the list of things you didn't buy - I would have liked to not have bought them too.  I would also have included scented candles, lip balm, notebooks, pens and coasters oh and cushions if there were cushions to not buy.  

Pixiehouse55

Hello to you all. Well! Our people left on Tuesday. My lady was very upset and crying the next day saying she wanted me back. I'm trying to be very strong and not go to the day centre to see her. So S and J bedroom has got the wardrobe bedside cabinets and beds sold. We've sold the Coffee table and console table in the lounge.  Still the sofa, TV unit and sideboard to sale. Our bedroom is our gorgeous bedstead and my antique dressing table. Washing machine, tumble dryer and solid oak 8ft length Dining table to sale. When I look at what I've just written it doesn't look that much does it 🤣. It's just all the bits and pieces that we have to sale. 

It's all the cancelling dd to do as well....and breathe.......

So how are you all? Being good and not spending I hope 😁

I think we will be living off of sausages for the next 20 days as that's what we have a lot of in the freezer🤣😂🤣😂
Time for sleep. Goodnight all xx