Financial Fasting and other goings on

MuffinTops

Well good evening and happy last few hours of 2017!

I'll give a quick update in that I'm fast approaching 47 years old, single, female and living alone. My financial situation is pretty good, but I have a habit of buying a lot of silly items that don't cost much as one item but quickly mount up to a large total at the end of each month. Having a diary has always been a good way for me to keep some control of my spending as it makes me feel accountable. It also makes me feel quite proud and strong when I manage to keep a good track on my spending habits.

My life just seems better when I'm more frugal. I think I spend as a way to fill some gaps or to distract me. Due to the silly spending I also have a lot of accumulated clutter! So as well as not spending anything on non essentials, I'm also planning on going through my belongings and giving them away or selling them to boost the accounts.

I'm an avid YNAB fan, but that fell through the cracks during the 3 months I wasn't earning any money last year. So now I'm about to update that and get it all ready to go. I also love Bullet Journaling and have that set up for this year which will help keep me organised.

I'd like to sell my house and buy somewhere a bit nicer and in a more peaceful area, but I have things I need to do to my house before I can sell it for a decent value. It all just looks so tired at the moment and that's been reflected in the offers I've received on it. All that takes money as I'm no good at giving that extra little wow if I decorate myself. I want it done properly and looking like the beautiful home it should be.

I've decided this year that I won't be buying anything non essential. I have SO much stuff, a lot of it I expect I've forgotten about so that will encourage me to use up what I have and stop me feeling like my life would be better if I just had those new boots or that great little gadget!!!

So, I think that's enough from me for now! All that's left is that I need to have a specific amount of how much I want to save this year. I'll put it in my signature as a percentage rather than a figure, as I think it will look more fun!

Happy New Year to anyone who wants to join me for this adventure.

MT

rockabillygirl

Happy New Year and good luck with the house sale.

Tinkerbelle2000

Hey lovely. I found you and I’ll be supporting you along the way as always.

Roll on New Year.

Tink xx

another_casualty

Happy new diary muffin
Interesting times ahead. It'll all come together eventually.:)

alan_d

MuffinTops wrote: »

It all just looks so tired at the moment and that's been reflected in the offers I've received on it. All that takes money as I'm no good at giving that extra little wow if I decorate myself. I want it done properly and looking like the beautiful home it should be.

Having been through this scenario recently renovating a 'tired' flat with new kitchen & bathroom, new paint everywhere and carpets in most rooms, I don't feel it's worth the effort. The best offer we received wasn't enough to cover the costs involved and the months taken compared to just selling it as it was.
We should have just sold it 6 months ago in it's tired state at a lower price.

RosaBernicia

Happy new diary MT

Lovely to have you back


Rosa xx

I-Want-To-Move

I'd love to follow your journey. I've set myself a goal of not buying any non-essential items for the whole of 2018 and as a fritterer I think its going to harder than I expect.

nsl101

Hey, right there with you on the spending on clutter to keep me happy when I'm on my own and down in the dumps... I'm doing the same decluttering and trying to raise some cash at the same time...

My Goal atm is to clear my unsecured debt in 2 years... which is eeek, but one of the methods is to keep track of finances and not to buy clutter... so id like to follow your journey too as it may help keep me on track...

MuffinTops

Sorry I've not been checking in for a while. Lots going on, but more about that shortly.

I-Want-To-Move and nsl101, thanks for popping in and joining me on the journey. How are you both doing with your finance declutters?

Hello Rosa. It's lovely to be back. I'll be checking in on your diary shortly for your updates.

Well, it's Wednesday and in tradition I think we need some cheery dancing:



So, I've been a bit AWOL as I'm trying to get myself really organised. I've had a trip to Cambodia too (all booked and paid for last year and spends were already budgeted for last year). That trip was very eye opening and pretty inspiring and I feel like it's pushed me forward a few months on the mindset. Seeing people living with so little and being so happy was a jolt to my perspective.

So YNAB is all up to date and looking ok. My next plan is to get things sold again. I find that when I'm not keeping an eye on what I have, the amount of rubbish I consume starts to creep up again. I need to find a more permanent solution, but in the meantime eBay will be used a lot!

Work is pretty again blah too, so it would be good to pull in the purse strings to help me create a bigger security blanket for whatever the future holds.

So, just a quick recap and I'll be back regularly now to keep myself in check and on track.

Right, on to check other diaries now...

MT xx

EssexHebridean

That sounds like an amazing trip!

I'm making this month one where I try to refocus on the small stuff - the bit things like utilities etc are mostly fairly under control but yes, I've certainly slipped on the frittering side - I'm well aware of it. I'm aiming to use February to break habits and remind myself that "wants" and "Needs" are different things. One thing I've realised is that the increase in frittering for me has been in direct relation to getting the ability to use contactless payments on my phone - I suspect largely because it's just so easy to use and that in turn means I pay by card when I ought to pay with cash. I'm hoping a month of stopping to think, and focusing far more on using cash will help to re-set my frugal mindset!

With you on accumulation of "stuff" too - decluttering features on my to-do list!

kangoora

MuffinTops wrote: »

So, I've been a bit AWOL as I'm trying to get myself really organised. I've had a trip to Cambodia too (all booked and paid for last year and spends were already budgeted for last year). That trip was very eye opening and pretty inspiring and I feel like it's pushed me forward a few months on the mindset. Seeing people living with so little and being so happy was a jolt to my perspective.

I did some work in Manila in the Philipines quite a few years ago. As part of that we installed a trial radio telephone in one of the local telephone companies engineers 'apartment'.

It was one room on the 4th floor of a small block, communal kitchen on the ground floor for all the block occupants and a shared toilet and bathroom on each floor. The 'apartment' (room) was maybe 12 foot square (2 of them living in it) and furniture consisted of a mattress on the floor, 2 (hard) chairs, a small table and a big wardrobe. We had lunch provided by a family who were taking their turn in the kitchen during our visit and everyone, even though dirt poor by western standards, did seem cheerful.

It was quite an eye-opener