Frugal, thrifty, make do, mend! Let this debt come to an end!

Elisheba

It was an uneventful day @winterWarrior so in many ways I suppose that is lucky!

Money wise today I realised the my NHS prepayment certificate direct debit doesn't come out this month or next month, so that's another £20 to add the the MOT and car service kitty. I now reckon I'll have £800 put away for it, and I've never had one cost that much before so hopefully all should covered no problem. 

I also realised my 1year SIM only contract with EE ended a couple of days ago. I think I'll change to the 3gb Lebara deal which is on this site which works out at £4.09 pm. I worked out it'll save me roughly £51pa, so that'll be more money for paying off the debt.

Prompted by some posts on the forum I thought I should look at my pension so I've got a rough idea what's going on. The first step was getting in touch with my original pension management company and giving them my new address and asking for a review. I haven't had a update since 2013, so it's probably about time  That one has £15k in it, so will probably just provide a little bonus each year on retirement.

I've requested the log on details for my main pension which is what's known as a DB (defined benefits) pension. Once I know what the predicted pay out for that one is when I'm 69, then I'll know what my max retirement income will be (with a state pension currently predicted to be about £9k pa). Hopefully that figure will give me an idea of what I need to do between now and then to retire earlier and live on less (fingers crossed I live that long of course).

Other than that I've been hopeless today. Not made brownies, not put on bread. Did a few dishes and walked the dog (not even a long walk) and that's about it. Hopefully tomorrow will give me a boost of energy and zing! 

Elisheba

Hello, all.  Not much left of the week now its Thursday 

I've put the breadmaker on, so am feeling vaguely useful.  I've also just ordered a new SIM from Lebara.  When it arrives and presuming it all works fine, I will switch my EE account over to it.  Paying £8 seemed really low to me after a contract of almost £30, but paying £4.09 will save me £51 a year so even more savings!  I have a Teracube phone as well which was very reasonably priced, is designed to be easily fixed and guaranteed for 4 years, so my phone use these days is super cheap.

Other than that, just plodding along.  The heating will stay off although it is a bit chillier today.  I thought I was going out tonight but I got the week wrong and it is next week.  Feel a bit better about not making the brownies last night now    

Since I had no bread left I had pasta for lunch rather than soup. Made it by bringing it to the boil, then turning it off and letting it cook in its own heat, so that was environmentally friendly.  Dinner will be something with potatoes - maybe veggie mince?  I have some in the freezer.

I might make the brownies tonight and just much on them over the next few days.  I have counselling tomorrow which always leaves me feeling grotty, so will be nice to have treats in. Might have a TV night tonight as I have quite a few things I'd like to catch up on.  

I have looked into my main DB pension, and now know how much I would get if I retired early versus retiring at 69.  Basically retiring at 60 means I would get half what I would get at 69, and then at 69 the state pension will kick in as well.  So if I want to retire early I'll really need to make sure I have all my ducks in a row and have a mortgage paid off.  The people on the pension forum board suggested paying more into my stakeholder pension to cover me a bit better for those years, and suggested  should pay the minimum into my mortgage and then pay it off with a tax free pension sum.  I'll have to think about that. I'm not sure that it would work very well with the time frames I have got.

Hope you all have a great day!
 

WinterWarrior

Tricky. I guess you don’t want to pay more to your pension while you are applying for a mortgage as it will reduce your income and make a difference to what they would offer. I hate pensions, they are so complicated. One of mine insists on including the state pension in the figures even though it’s not theirs to give…then I have to take it off to see what’s what 😖

savingholmes

Just caught up on your diary. Well done on your progress. I will continue watching with interest

missymoo81

Hey! I’ve just read through! I’ve always loved your diary. So nice to see you back.

Blackcats

Hi Elisheba - really enjoying your diary.  Your cottage in the country is a great motivator and the power of Rightmove means you can get little glimpses of the future world your current hard work is building for you.
I'm older than you so my motivation is early retirement.  I don't have any debt anymore (after years and years of constant borrowing and over spending) and I found it harder to save than I did to pay off debt once I grasped the concept of actually repaying debt so I keep a diary to keep me accountable.  So what I'm trying to say is that the things we learn here and the support we get here will really help us achieve our goals. 

Elisheba

Thanks, @WinterWarrior, @savingholmes, @missymoo81 and @Blackcats. Glad some people are enjoying reading this and finding it useful in anyway.   Totally know what you mean about using it to hold ourselves accountable @blackcats .I am okay at putting money aside when I know something needs to be paid for.  Putting it aside for actual saving though - very hard for me.  I see the money and start thinking about what could be bought.with it. I really struggle with seeing the bigger picture in terms of saving sometimes.

Elisheba

Anyway, happy Thursday everyone.  I've been quiet on her this week, mainly just as nothing much was happening to be honest. I spend about £20 over the weekend on some treats, and about £5 since - mainly on chocolate and sweets  .  My sweettooth and lack of discipline will be the death of me!

Almost all my bills come out today and having just been though everything I seem to be about £15 out in my calculations for the month - under sadly rather than over.  No idea why - I wrote absolutely everything down as I spent it, but something must have gotten missed.  Anyway, once that's covered I will have put just over £200 aside this month towards the car MOT and Service in December.  I was hoping it might be a bit more than that, but without my really pulling things back after a slightly wobbly start to the month then it could have been a lot less and that just how i need to see it.  Focus on the positives.

I had to turn a social activity with a close friend down for December.  I hate doing that.  I know I would have enjoyed it and seeing my friend, but it would have been expensive when all the costs were added together - kennels, travel etc. If I hadn't already planned a very expensive day out in London in December it would have been fine, but I have so I can't do masses of other things as well and I just need to get used to that idea.  I can do some things but I'm on a tight budget and future me will thank me for it.

In good news my Smart meter seems to have my energy use very low this month, so all my little economies must have been helping.  The biggest saving of course is not putting on the heating. Obviously this can't go on indefinitely, but at the moment its still fairly manageable.  A few days have been a bit chilly, but mainly I am fine with rugs in the evening, and using my sleeping bag in the home office with heatholder fleecy slipper socks and a blanket over my shoulders leave me a snug as a bug in a rug.  Really don't feel the cold at all at the moment.  The longer I can hold off the more I save.  In January last year my energy bill was £45 more than it was in the summer, so as long as I still feel comfortable there are savings to be made and its all good for the environment.  the only problem is that when my dog is in a playful mood his favourite thing is to steal my blankets from me and play and roll around with them - not ideal!

Payday tomorrow, and it will be nice to start again.  A fresh start without all the bloopers of this month!  It will also be nice to put another wodge of dosh aside for the car. Shame I need to pay for the MOT and service really - it would be nice to just be able to put it aside and look at it    

In terms of what I need to do in the next few days - top of the list is getting through counselling tomorrow.  Its been hard recently and coping with everything it brings up on my own is difficult.  Since its payday I might treat myself to a shop pizza and some ice cream form L!dl.  Has anyone tried their Chocolate Brownie for £2?  Any good?  I've also got a few good programmes lined up to watch, and a phone call with a friend booked for 6pm.  Hopefully that will be enough.

At the weekend I need to foodplan and shop for November, and also buy the pet food for the month.  I didn't eat everything on my plan this month, so I have a fair bit I can use in November so that should reduce food costs. I also have a 10% off voucher for PAH, so need to work out if its cheaper to use that or to go to The R@nge for the pet food.  I need to buy flowers for a friend, drop some stuff off for someone else and go to the tip.  So quite a bit to get done and it'll be good for me to make the effort and get out the house.

Jellytotts

Depending on the pet food required I find home bargains or B&M cheaper than anywhere else at the moment.

savingholmes

A fresh start is always good. Have a fun weekend