Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves · 13 November 2021 at 6:24PM

Greetings Saturday Savers,
Today has been a Day of Usefulness. Most importantly, I awoke without last night's headache, so felt like getting on with stuff. We decided to divide labours, so Mr F opted for going out to the market & sorting out the kitchen while I got on with post-holiday budget updates. On paper, everything looks accurate & we would appear to have underspent out designated holiday budget. I shall soon know if this is actually true as Monday is my regular mid-month budget check-in. Hope the initial figures are accurate though, as I could usefully via that sum of unspent money into the Presents Pot, use it for some festive pantry items or even put it back into the Holiday Savings Pot towards next year.
My credit card statement arrived while we were away. I opened it & had a cursory glance (I was unpacking the cool box at the time, so sort of multi-tasking) & the line about 'Amount spent' being in excess of £1000 jumped straight out at me & I could feel my heartbeat quicken - nonsense, really, as I knew I had paid those big transactions off from the Home Improvements Budget - all planned expenditure, & the balance clearly said '£00-00'. I think the big spend figure just momentarily took me back to those days when I barely looked at any statements because I didn't want to see the reality of my over spending writ large. Even though I have now been a reformed character for many years, I was still a naughty unreconstructed fritterer for very much longer.
I even enjoyed clearing out emails today - funny how a holiday or any change of scenery or even a change of season can boost 'sorting out' activity. I caught up on a few surveys too. My goal for PA was to have £100 to cash out in time for Christmas/January sales, & my earnings are currently at £103, so I will get onto claiming that very soon. I also spotted that my Ipsos points were sufficient for another £10 voucher so I have cashed that out to add to my Christmas present stash.
Mr F asked me to supply him with a list of gift ideas. I've done that this afternoon, but have written across the top of it 'Remember you have already bought me a lovely handbag & put it away for Christmas, so please don't go mad!'. I hope this doesn't fall on deaf ears. I love presents, but I find increasingly that I have all that I need & most of what I want. I made sure to include some useful items & things which will provide lasting use/enjoyment like piano music, book, etc.
Well, I shall doubtless be boring the bottoms off you next week when I get into my pre-Christmas jobs blitz for real, so I shall leave you to your evenings for now & get on with mine.
Take care m'dears, still too much Covid around for my liking.
Love F xx

Seasidegal58 · 13 November 2021 at 6:40PM

Hi there @foxgloves - I've just started reading your diary - I must say that your initial post really resonated with me - well it could have been me!😃
I have subscribed and will let you know when I've finished. In the meantime I will be reading your latest posts just to keep in the loop!

Tescodealqueen · 13 November 2021 at 7:09PM

Glad you had a good holiday. For some time now since anything I would want tends to be craft replenishments and Mr TDQ really only wants to update his technology periodically and we do that from personal spends as neither of us would get the right thing for the other we set a £20 limit for Christmas and try to get something amusing, edible and/or cheap but useful (like my pound shop spectacle repair kit) . We find this satisfies our Christmas morning surprise gift opening tradition on a very small budget which we both like and we put more into our travel pot which is a joint retirement indulgence.

foxgloves · 13 November 2021 at 7:57PM

Good idea @Tescodealqueen. It's interesting hearing about other couples' traditions. I used to know someone years ago whose family members decided on a very specific small present limit each year. It was a fun thing while funds were tight, so the amount would be, say £4.72 & the idea was that each present had to cost that exact amount, even if you had to sellotape 3p underneath to make up the value. It must have been 20 years ago at least I heard this story & I've always remembered it because it puts the fun of gifting above monetary value.
F

foxgloves · 13 November 2021 at 8:16PM

Hello & welcome @Seasidegal58. I think there were rather a lot of us silly spenders around. Oh my life, the money I have wasted in the past. I have truly reformed. I simply couldn't cope with the insecurity & stupidity of it now. I started my diary to show that it is absolutely possible to embrace budgeting later in life. I overspent my income from the age of 19 to my early 40s. Last chunk of debt repaid at age 46. I used to think budgeting was for losers & squares. I saw it as a restrictive process, whereas the reality has been the opposite. Being in control of my money has been enabling. Budgeting & saving facilitates more of the things we want to do. And we are happier to be living a much greener lifestyle too, through consuming less & choosing more carefully.
Anyway, do feel welcome to contribute. We like chipping in on here!
F

Tescodealqueen · 13 November 2021 at 9:08PM

I am liking the odd amount gift limit. It sounds like a fun thing to do and might encourage something like it to OH

foxgloves · 14 November 2021 at 10:03AM

It does sound as though it could be fun @Tescodealqueen.

Woken up by squabbling corvids today. Peeped under the blind to see what on earth was going on & it appeared that a magpie had decided to sit on a neighbour's chimney where 3 jackdaws also thought they should be sitting. So noisy, I decided to go & mix up some bread dough. Once I'd done that, I discovered I have a proper dose of Doingstuffitis today. Hope it lasts all week! Have postponed our vague plan to go for a walk at a reasonably local park to get a few jobs done instead. That means a no-spend day...... & hopefully lots of stuff achieved.
F x

foxgloves · 14 November 2021 at 5:48PM

Evening m'dears, Have managed to shift a few tasks today. Just about to nip round the house to close all the curtains & put some warm socks on. Not using much in the way of heating atm, but I'm sure the weather will drop colder at some point.
I've baked a sourdough loaf, also a tin of biscuits for Mr F to take into work tomorrow, sorted clean laundry & we've spent this afternoon putting our downstairs pictures back up. A slight mishap with a dodgy bit of plasterboard, but a solution found before things reached the marriage guidance stage! We don't really do arguing, sulks, etc, but we can both be a right pair of drama queens at times! Other tasks? Mr F mowed the lawn & turned the compost & I made mincemeat. It just needs to steep now & will be ready for bottling on Tuesday.
Oh & I ordered 3 Christmas presents. Now the workmen have all finished until next year & we are back from our holiday, my head is full of all the things I need & want to do between now & Christmas, so I am really going to go for some serious productivity over this coming week.
Who is up for joining me?
F x