Busy Mee's Last Leg

shangaijimmy

Good figures there. Always my favourite time of the month posting figures at the end. I also really enjoy comparing to the same month from the previous year.

Busy_Mee1

Happy New Year everyone.

We got back from the relatives yesterday, having managed to spend the grand total of £11.50 on hot drinks at the motorway services. This was £6.20 on an tea and a coffee at Costalot and £3.30 for a tea and a coffee at Gr€ggs. I thought that the 2nd lot of drinks were a bargain but Mr Mee said the coffee was rubbish. I am going to take a flask next time for my tea ( basically a tea bag and hot water as I drink it black) and then we only need to buy a decent coffee for Mr Mee. I packed up food and snacks so we didn't have to spend on overpriced and rubbish food.

So our only spends so far this year are £3.20 on New Year's Day. Mr Mee needs diesel and I am sending him to Sainsbreeze as I have a till spit for 5x Nectar points. Other than that I am hoping to limp on to the weekend using up the food we have in fridge and freezer. I am tracking all our spends through January and am hoping for an ultra frugal month.

It is DDs birthday in January and we are away with friends at the end of the month, but I am hoping to keep costs down.

Financial Goals for January
£1500 into savings
£200 into holiday fund
Track all spending
£800 budget

Health Goals for January
Lose 4lb
Yoga once a week
Gym at least once a week
10000 steps a day

I haven't braved the scales of doom yet. I am waiting until Friday morning, when I will have had a couple of days better eating and hopefully it won't be too horrendous :eek:

wishingthemortgaheaway

I've never heard the phrase 'till spits' before, but I love it. I think I may just have stolen that phrase. Thank you.

Busy_Mee1

Haha feel free Wishing....I am sure I stole it from someone else :rotfl:

WannabeFree

I've only just discovered your diary Will spend this evening catching up

x

try_harder

Happy New year to you too BM..

Your goals and mine sound very similar this month , i must say i feel very determined mind you it is only the second today

Busy_Mee1

Hello Wannabe lovely to see you over here. I am afraid my diary is a very dull read but might help your insomnia :rotfl:

I feel quite determined Try Harder too, but we are now staring down the barrel of much reduced income at the end of the year

Goldiegirl

Hi, just saw your diary. I retired 4 years ago, so I always like to hear about people's journey towards retirement. .

Regarding your state pensions - it sounds as if you and your husband were contracted out of SERPS. This means you paid a lower NI contribution, and your occupational pension undertook to pay a sum at least the equivalent to the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme.

The good news is, if you continue to pay NI, you can increase your State Pension to the full New State Pension amount of £164.35. If you aren't working you can pay voluntary NIC. I'm currently paying voluntary NI, and will achieve the full NSP amount in 3 or 4 years time.

Hope this is of some help

Suffolk_lass

Busy_Mee1 wrote: »

I haven't braved the scales of doom yet. I am waiting until Friday morning, when I will have had a couple of days better eating and hopefully it won't be too horrendous :eek:

Happy New Year !

I have also been avoiding the scales of doom. I feel I should fast tomorrow - I confess I have just been through the pot of remaining cracking nuts and systematically pigged the last three Lindt balls that were speckled through (so at least they have gone). What am I like! Several weeks to lose half a stone and there it is back again, judging by the waistband on my jeans

Busy_Mee1

Hello Goldie thanks for stopping by and the advice. I suspected that was the case.

I checked to see how much voluntary NI is and it is £14.65 per week, so basically an additional £63.48 a month that I hadn't factored into the retirement budget. Thank you Suffolk Lass for highlighting that for me, we probably wouldn't have checked until we were nearer state pension age as we just assumed we would receive a full SRP.

Once again this shows what a fantastic source of information and support this forum is.