Giving every £ a job

foxgloves

We are still members, but haven't visited as many places this year, partly because of me being ill in Spring, followed by a rainy summer & also because we had to cancel our holiday, when we'd usually take the opportunity of visiting castles, houses & gardens around where we are staying. We did use our pass last weekend & have other local-ish visits planned, so I think we will catch up. There are quite a few places around here which helps.
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Blackcats

@Sarahwithlove - I agree that it can be possible to make the most of membership.  We didn't renew ours during lockdown as we were never able to pre-book times to visit because of my work commitments.  Once we got out of the habit of being members we decided we would manage without.  We did enjoy re-visiting the property yesterday but it would have been £30 for 2 adult visitors (non members) which made us baulk!
@Cheery_Daff - glad you and your mum had fun
@joedenise - it's quite tricky with mobility issues.  I saw a few people being taken round in the mobility buggy yesterday but I know not everyone wound want to use it.  My aunt flatly refuses to use it and would prefer not to go at all rather than be seen in it!
@foxgloves - you've certainly been through it this year.  I'm confident you will get maximum value from your membership now though.

so the money that we get on 18th has dropped into our accounts and promptly been shuffled out again.  My Skipton regular saver has been topped up (it's now at £1000) and MrBC's Nationwide regular saver (now at £400)
I've also topped up the savings pots for grandchildren, entertainment, holiday, medical and dental, car and a tax bill savings account.  I'm due a tax bill to be paid in Jan 2025 in respect of the asset transfer that I did earlier this year.  It's a bit fiddly but very satisfying to see the pots grow.  Most pots don't get huge top ups but little and often really makes a difference.   If only I'd known this for the last 40 years! 

savingholmes

Well done on the outing and the savings. Sounds like you are doing really well.

I'm with you on wishing I'd switched on to money earlier in life.

joedenise

I think we all wish we'd learned about money when we were younger.  The phrase "if I knew then what I know now" comes to mind!  But of course we didn't have MSE all those years ago!

Blackcats

Yes indeed, if I knew then what I know now!  Still we all got there eventually and hopefully we had some fun along the way.
I forced myself to do some weeding and sweeping of the front drive today although part of  me was thinking that there will be more leaves falling overnight but it does look better out there.  A couple of worms lurking in the borders caused me to change plans and move elsewhere.  There was some nice sunshine this afternoon and we also squeezed in a short walk in the woods.

wrapped a birthday gift and got that posted.  I love having my cards and wrapping paper, ribbons,bows etc all bought in advance and ready to use.  I am a real fan of whistlefish (thanks @Sun_Addict) - good quality and good value.  I relished having the time to wrap the parcels up very nicely instead of rushing like I did when I was working.
Baked Queen of Puddings tonight using a recipe from my mum's old recipe book.  It used up some breadcrumbs and the dregs of a pot of jam so I've kidded myself that it's not only MSE but potentially calorie free too.  

Sun_Addict

I love the Whistlefish cards. Only discovered them because a friend sent me a lovely Christmas card, googled the company and discovered they have some great offers. Bought all my birthday cards for the year so that’s saved me trawling the shops. 

I’m another one who wishes this site had been around years ago when I desperately needed it. I was very good at saving when I was young but lost my mojo for many years. 

You’re lucky to have been able to go outside today. We caught the storm in our neck of the woods and it’s been torrential rain all day. 

Blackcats

We have indeed been very lucky with the weather.  We went for a walk which included one of the fanciest roads in the locale.  It's a private road that opens out to a beautiful walk in rolling countryside,  the houses are all massive and set behind high walls and gates so a peek is usually all you can see so I was so excited at the prospect of seeing one of these houses when a pair of gates opened and an Aston Martin glided out.  So excited in fact that I nearly toppled into a pile of upper class horse muck dolloped in the road.  So we managed a sneaky peak at the big house and all I could say was "I wonder how much their gas and electricity direct debit is?" and Mr BC observed that the Dyson would need more than one charge up to get round!  
we then continued to a bench overlooking the fields and had tea from our flasks and a kitkat 🥳

I guess we've found our level and jolly happy we are there too!

Blackcats

Wages for my final month at work have now gone into the bank - I haven't worked in October but I had annual leave owing.  I know I've done my sums but it still makes me feel a bit jittery after 40 years of waiting for wages to arrive.

Spent some of my personal spends money on a shampoo bar and some dream cream from Lush.  It is a good feeling to have personal spends for things that I want and that the spending can be guilt free.  Interestingly I think I spend less now I have a spending pot than I did when I acted like I didn't really spend any money on my little treats.

Sun_Addict

I think it's very important to have a personal spends pot to treat yourself with now and again.

Blackcats

Thank you @Sun_Addict - I'm enjoying having the personal spends pot.  I'm currently looking at the m&s advent beauty box - I wonder who out that idea into my head? 😉

so, our entertainment pot is now almost empty.  A band I liked when I was a teenager are playing a gig about 80 miles from home.  It's not a well known group and they seem to have reunited for a few concerts.  So we bought tickets (only £20 each so not like buying tickets for mega stars at the Albert Hall - thinking about Eric Clapton tickets for £500 each!!!!! We didn't buy them by the way).  We've also booked a reasonably priced hotel and I'm so excited to see the band - I feel like a giddy teenager again.

most of our concerts seem to release tickets in the spring so there's time to replenish the pot.  We just have Elvis at our local curry restaurant in December to pay for and then the spending can stop and the savings build up again.  We've been to 8 gigs this year and thoroughly enjoyed them all so it's a great savings pot to nurture.

I need to  find some bright blue eye shadow and a strawberry flavour roll on lip gloss to get myself prepared for this weekend's concert.  When I was about 15 my dad told me I looked like I'd eaten a greasy chop when I went out with a generous splodge of lip gloss.  I'm not sure I've forgiven him yet. 💋