Learning to live within my means

astrocytic_kitten

Happy New Year all!

I still haven’t changed over my calendars, tsk tsk.

Wasn’t going to make any goals or resolutions for this year as it’s so uncertain for me - I don’t know what I’ll be paid, or how much I’ll be able to work - but my meditation app this morning was talking about ‘intentions’ and I’ve decided a few can’t hurt. So...

• Don't buy any new clothes in 2020
• Don't buy any new books in 2020
• Stick to frugal living challenge (still haven’t sorted out goals for this for the year, only for Jan / Feb)
• Save emergency fund of 3 months expenditure
• Overpay debt once reach savings goal

The savings goal is higher than normally suggested when you’re in debt but I think it makes sense in my circumstances. I have a relapsing / remitting condition, I’m currently trying to pull out of a relapse, and I know there’s a high chance I’ll go without wages for a while. I also can’t default on my debt and stay in my current line of work.

HOW I’m going to save that much is a question for another day :rotfl: Especially as I can’t make it to the post office at the moment.

The no new books is a revolutionary goal for me...but I have an excellent local library service with ebooks and audiobooks lending, and 200+ unread books on my kindle, so there’s no real need for me to be buying any. Along with the clothes I don’t really expect to reach the end of the year without any slip-ups on this, but it will be interesting to see how it goes.

girlatplay

Hello :wave:

I found your diary and have subscribed. Have spent some rest time catching up. You're doing well!

I have a chronic illness too. I don't think it's the same as yours but I can totally relate to the fatigue and having to eat properly. I went down to part time hours in August 2018. I left a job that was killing me (I hated it as well as having to work ridiculous hours) and got a wee part time job which I actually really like. I crunched the numbers at the time and although money is really tight now, it is doable. I have a very good amount of self-control though when it comes to spending (apart from the odd crazy grocery shop). On good days I think about upping my hours but then on bad days I'm grateful that I don't work so many hours.

I keep wanting to try meditation/mindfulness. I'm going to download the Calm app again and try again. Thank you for the reminder.

astrocytic_kitten

girlatplay wrote: »

I have a chronic illness too. I don't think it's the same as yours but I can totally relate to the fatigue and having to eat properly. I went down to part time hours in August 2018. I left a job that was killing me (I hated it as well as having to work ridiculous hours) and got a wee part time job which I actually really like. I crunched the numbers at the time and although money is really tight now, it is doable. I have a very good amount of self-control though when it comes to spending (apart from the odd crazy grocery shop). On good days I think about upping my hours but then on bad days I'm grateful that I don't work so many hours.

Thanks GAP! Where you are is where I want to get to. I’m currently doing 2.5 hours per day from home and it’s bearable, and being able to work from home is making such a difference. The fatigue doesn’t let me do much more than a walk round the block at the moment so commuting is out of the question.

On the book buying front, I’ve unsubscribed from the kindle daily deal emails and also deleted my shortcut to my wish list from my phone (I had it sorted by price, used to check it most days and if a book I wanted had gone to 99p I’d buy it). I averaged £5 per month on books in 2019 which seemed fair as I love reading, but every little helps to clear debt and I also have a gigantic ‘to be read’ pile so don’t really need anything new.

Haven’t spent anything in 2020 yet, long may it continue!

astrocytic_kitten

Day 7 of the year and still on track with my goals

Switched my gas and electricity today as my fixed term tariff is coming to an end, I’ll be saving £6 per month over my old tariff which is a nice surprise, I was expecting costs to go up. Next thing to sort in a couple of months is changing my boiler cover.

I also got a food shop delivered and got some good deals on food I’d have been buying anyway. Other than fresh fruit, veg and eggs that’s me pretty sorted for the next month or two. I’m hoping to find the energy to batch cook some soup and freezer meals too, fingers crossed. I have a terrible habit of defaulting to stuff like beans on toast or scrambled eggs when tired (which is a step up from the bowl of cereal I initially think of!) but I’d like to get more vegetables into my diet, my old tricks for doing it are too expensive now.

girlatplay

astrocytic_kitten wrote: »

...
I have a terrible habit of defaulting to stuff like beans on toast or scrambled eggs when tired (which is a step up from the bowl of cereal I initially think of!) but I’d like to get more vegetables into my diet...

I get it. I default to toast. Beans or scrambled eggs are only on a good bad day, if you see what I mean. You and I are actually quite similar on a couple of levels. When I'm feeling good I eat loads of veg though, I love veg.

All else is sounding good though

astrocytic_kitten

girlatplay wrote: »

I get it. I default to toast. Beans or scrambled eggs are only on a good bad day, if you see what I mean. You and I are actually quite similar on a couple of levels. When I'm feeling good I eat loads of veg though, I love veg.

I definitely know what you mean by good bad days!! I’ve been lucky lately with my bad days, I’d forgotten what the bad bad days could be like. As luck would have it have had a mini-crash this morning and only managed peanut butter on toast so far, but after spending the day lying down I’m getting a bit more energy back so am hopeful I can get a tin of beans open shortly. Totally my own fault, overdid it at work after getting absorbed and working way longer than I’m supposed to at this stage.

Had been very tempted to pay a bit more off the debt this month to get me down to 40% paid off but now I’ve had to take the day off work I’m glad I didn’t, I need the safety net (have used up all my sick leave and then some so sick days are unpaid days).

On the plus side, I’m definitely not spending money when I’m in this state!

girlatplay

astrocytic_kitten wrote: »

I definitely know what you mean by good bad days!! I’ve been lucky lately with my bad days, I’d forgotten what the bad bad days could be like. As luck would have it have had a mini-crash this morning and only managed peanut butter on toast so far, but after spending the day lying down I’m getting a bit more energy back so am hopeful I can get a tin of beans open shortly. Totally my own fault, overdid it at work after getting absorbed and working way longer than I’m supposed to at this stage.

Had been very tempted to pay a bit more off the debt this month to get me down to 40% paid off but now I’ve had to take the day off work I’m glad I didn’t, I need the safety net (have used up all my sick leave and then some so sick days are unpaid days).

On the plus side, I’m definitely not spending money when I’m in this state!

Hearing you on the working hours too. This is a really busy time for us. When we finished up in December I went off two days early as I was ill. Didn't want to put through more sick days so one of my bosses suggested putting them through as flexi days. Don't actually think this is allowed but I knew that I could make up the time (7 hours) by doing one extra hour a day for a week and a half. I went back to work on Monday at -7 hours and I've worked so much that as at today I'm +3 hours. I'm only contracted to 20 hours a week, 4 per day so that means I've done 30 hours this week and still got tomorrow to go I'm feeling rough now though.

Sorry for hijacking your diary. Just want you to know you're not alone

astrocytic_kitten

Thanks GAP, and it’s not hijacking at all! I’m not new to the chronic illness business but I am new to having to arrange my life and work around it, it’s good to know other people manage too.

Hope you got through Friday ok - sounds like you desperately need a break.

I’m doing a bit better and had planned to go for a short walk today, I’ve been inside for a few days, but the weather is so awful here I’m thinking just taking the bin out might be an adventure enough! On the MSE front, avoided buying a neck and shoulder heat pad yesterday and decided to stick with my normal arrangement of hot water bottles around my neck and shoulders instead when they get sore and stiff :rotfl:

astrocytic_kitten

This morning I downloaded my 2019 spending from YNAB and set some goals for 2020 spending. Was a weirdly aspirational exercise... while the goals are much less than my 2019 spending and I think they’re realistic for long term, they’re still higher than I’ll spend for the next couple of months as I use up all my stocks in my freezer and cupboards and try to spend as little as possible. I’m definitely going to have to top up my pay from my emergency fund over the next few months but hoping to stretch that out as long as possible.

The most frivolous categories from last year involved spending average of £60 per month on clothes and almost £20 per month on toiletries and makeup (I blame my Lush habit for that). The rest isn’t too bad - I’d like to get the cat spend down a bit, though prescription food is expensive.

I’ve also broken the clothes spending pledge pretty much immediately :wall: At the end of last year I ordered a pair of warm trousers for wearing round the house in the sale but they were too big and the smaller size was sold out. It’s now come back into stock - I got an email, whipped out the card, and had ordered them before brain kicked in. They’ve been dispatched now so I’m going to see what they’re like when they get here. I’ve been trying to wrap up and avoid having the heating on when I’m home during the day, if I love them I might keep them and pretend they date from 2019. Otherwise they’re going back!

StartingAgainAt29

Don't be too hard on yourself re: the trousers!! I think if you like them then keep them as they're something you can keep and use for a long time (not like a frivolous fashion piece). We won't tell anyone