Wittering my way to simpler life 24 June 2018 at 3:11PM in Debt free diaries 51 replies 4.4K views

Smurphington

Good Afternoon, I have been lurking around these parts for some time and decided to not only join MSE but to actually create a diary! The reason for this being that it might help me stay motivated in reaching my goals. I'm in the fortunate position of not being in debt. However I do not possess an emergency fund and have a very small amount in savings. I recently bought a house which has a 35 year mortgage attached to and I really do not want to be beholden to a mortgage for such a long period of time. Furthermore I don't feel that my spending habits are a reflection of my values - I don't see myself as particularly materialistic and find the more I have the more stressed I feel. However that being said I have an over stuffed wardrobe and tend to spend money when i'm stressed or anxious. I want to knock this on the head really and just be happy with what I have.

Ok so a little about my household - we are a household of two - myself and a small person - I work 30 hours a week and budget around £200 for all food and household expenses . Although I regularly surpass this by buying things on offer and sticking them in the freezer which is so over-packed its actually ridiculous.
I love cooking and try to cook as much as I can from scratch - we are vegetarians so I feel I could get this budget down a bit. We enjoy walking and going on mini adventures in the local area which is pretty much nature walks and collecting sticks, stones and duck spotting - we are big fans of that. I also want to get a bit more green fingered and grow some of my own food - mainly in containers. I planted some potatoes in grow bags and we harvested them today and I'm not ashamed to admit it felt immensely rewarding. Anyway I'm going on a bit now so will leave it there and go and make my split pea soup . Cheers

Toni'sfriend

the freezer which is so over-packed its actually ridiculous.

Mine too and for exactly the same reason. I agree you could probably get your food budget down a bit especially if you use up what you have and you could put that towards your emergency fund.
I also love ducks and birds and flowers, etc, etc ,etc.. I don't have a garden but would love to grow my own veg. Making do with potted plants on a porch just now but it looks lovely.
Good luck with your endeavours. I'll be looking out for your diary to see how you're doing.

Smurphington

:wave:
Hello there, yes I agree a few containers or window boxes can look splendid and you don't need a big space really. I'm a big fan of alys fowler and she very much inspires me to do what I can with my humble space.

Honeysucklelou2

I love gardening with my little person and it is amazing how much can be grown in pots. We have lettuce (lolly rosso so purple and green) . I've grown runner beans in a pot before but they do need quite a bit of watering. I look forward to reading your diary .

Toni'sfriend

Oh, I'm going to have a look at that. Sounds really interesting.

redofromstart

hello and happy new diary :hello: Like the sound of your planting, haven't harvested our potatoes yet but there is nothing quite like eating something you have grown. Peas in the pod are my favourite for really fresh homegrown flavour that you just can't buy in a shop.

Smurphington

Well today I purchased an expandable willow frame from Poundland as I'm going to plant some runner beans. I'm unsure what size pot one would need but I'm sure Google will assist me. My tomato plants which I have grown from seed have now been transported into bigger pots so let's hope they continue to stay healthy. As I'm trying to run down the freezer tea tonight is minted home grown potatoes with quorn pie which has been languishing in the freezer for a while and broccoli and peas. I'm sure I will regret the use of the oven!
I have also formulated a new budget whereby I spend £140 on food and household expenses rather than the £200. I will be on the hunt for veggie friendly summer recipes as I find Im more comfortable cooking winter dishes so need to expand my collection

EarlyRetirement

Hello,
Good luck with your runner beans, ours have been out a couple of week and are loving this warm weather! Looking forward to harvesting our potatoes in a few weeks. Enjoy your gardening.

enthusiasticsaver

Welcome to diaryland and good luck on emergency savings fund plus repaying the mortgage early. There is a Mortgage Free Wannabe forum too for people overpaying with the aim of finishing early.

Is the mortgage recent and are you able to make overpayments easily? I agree that 35 years is a long term but even making small regular overpayments can knock years off the term.

Re the savings I tended to treat them as a debt and put an amount aside at the beginning of the month after getting paid. Saved me being tempted to spend it.

Smurphington

@enthusiasticsaver Thank you, I will check this out. It is currently as I'm on a 5 yr fixed term so I'm overpaying by £150 a month- I'm hoping that I can keep this up if I remain living simply

Smurphington

Day off work today so myself and the small person took a stroll around our local park which is beautiful this time of year, it is quite large and you can spend quite a while trekking around it. We stopped off at the playground as well but SP isn't that daring so there was a lot of just pointing things out but they seemed to enjoy it. We then went onto Aldi and I picked up some ingredients for tonight's tea, veggie sausage tray bake - had most of it in but picked some sweet potatoes, peppers and broccoli (brocolli on the side)They were also selling tomatoes for 32p so picked up 2 packets and the majority are roasting in the oven to become roasted tomato soup. I have also used up the black banana on my side board by trying out a good food recipe for banana pudding. We shall see how that turns out