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

Elisheba

Thanks, Chrystal
Honestly though, I felt fine and just a good tired at the end of the day. I think the secret it just doing things at my own pace. There is no rush, I'm doing stuff because I want to. I sat down for a cuppa when I felt like it, and I kept myself well fed so no blood sugar crashes.

In the past, if I was having an industrious day I would try to squeeze as much as possible in, not knowing when I might feel in the mood again. It would leave me exhausted and hating what I was doing, so even less likely to so the same things another time.

FootyFanDan

Wow! I admire your attitude to this sooooooooo much! With the way you are going you have totally got this.

Loving the list that structures your day

Pentacle

Your diary title really caught my eye, so I started reading and am delurking to say I have subscribed, really enjoying your posts and new mindfulness attitude towards life.

Elisheba

Awwh, thanks Pentacle. That's really lovely of you to say so, and yes, my diary name does rather fit with your user name :j

Elisheba

Thanks FootballFanDan. My list has gone entirely off piste today, but I'll report all later!

Elisheba

Morning all,
Sunday went completely left of field in the end. I spent the morning looking at an old clock, then pulling said clock apart, wondering if I can fix it. The answer is probably no, but I'll keep at it. It's a rather old and battered 8 day Westminster Chiming clock that I'm rather fond of.

I had a stab at the marmalade yesterday but that's another thing that didn't quite work out. After 3 rounds in the breadmaker at jam setting it still wouldn't form a skin that crinkled on a saucer. By this point it was bed time, so I gave up for the day. I've put it back on this morning. I only used half my oranges so will do the next batch properly in the preserving pan! I tried to be mindful and enjoy the moment through the whole process, but to be honest I spend quite a bit of the time rather concerned :eek:

I think yesterday was a NSD... Yes it was. Yay!

I finished Down to Earth by Rhonda Hertzel. It was very good indeed, and very inspiring.

So another week! My lovely weekend is over and its time to get back to the grindstone. I'm working from home almost all week, so that saves train fares, and I'll go to the library which will save money on my heating.

I'm aiming to get some tasks and projects finished this week at work, so I can look back and be satisfied with my working week.

I'm also very much looking forward to the end of the month, and sorting out the figures. How much debt have I paid off? How much do I still owe? Can I fully reconcile my budget for this month? What's the budget for next month? These sort of things make me happy.

Elisheba

Evening everyone,

Well I finally got the marmalade finished yesterday. It's so overcooked it's almost black, but it's just about set and tastes awesome so that's something. The moral of the story is don't be a lazy bones, and make marmalade properly. Breadmakers don't work for it - the peel doesn't soften for one. I knew those recipes I saw looked a bit dodgy!

I finished reading Pigs in Clover yesterday, by Simon Dawson. He was a very reluctant convert to smallholding life, and after losing his job they tried to make a go of the small holding properly. It really made me think. I don't want to live like that! They literally had a fiver a week at one point to cover everything after bills and animal feed. So anything they couldn't grow, kill or barter for they basically did without. Thankfully they had access to wood for the fire, so had heating, but it sounded pretty rough and not much fun at that point.

I'm happy enough to sit wrapped in layers of blankets with a hot water bottle, instead of turning on the heating, or to water down the milk to get to the end of the week. I'm aware though that is a choice I am making though. For example, Ivbought an 85p bar of chocolate on the way home - if I'd wanted decent milk enough I could have bought that instead. Yes, I'm 21k in the red, but I have enough to live on, and can not only cover the basics but have some luxuries as well. I'm not doing my laundry in the bath because I can't afford a machine or the leccy to run it, I'm not behind on bills, and I still go out for meals and things.

I guess they had a choice too. They did chose to live on a smallholding. They could have gone back to 'proper' jobs. To be honest, I think I would have - I just don't think I could have hacked it! I soi fed grueling and exhausting and not much fun at all. I'll take my good life in moderation!

In MS news I have menu planned for February, made a shopping list, and worked out which available supermarkets are cheapest for each item. So that should be all bought on Sunday I think. Maybe Saturday evening depending on how things go.

I've gone through most of the debts and put the new end of month totals in my spreadsheet. Just need to get the loan amount filled in. It is all a bit wonky this month as I wrote down the original numbers a few days into January when some of the DD's had already come out, and my catalogue returns make it look like I've paid a fortune on that when I haven't. The numbers at the end of next month will be more what they should be. The good news though is that I'm definitely out of the 21k bracket, and into the 20k bracket!

A quiet night at home tonight, then tomorrow evening I'll need to do a bit of cleaning as I have an estate agent inspection on Thursday. Thursday evening I'm out for a curry so that will be good, and I'm meeting a friend on Saturday. Since I'm working from home most of the week I'm going to need those social interactions. Working from home might be money saving, but when you live on your own, it can also drive you a bit stir crazy!

I'm still focusing on making the most of my time, and enjoying the good life where I am planted. I'm trying to do everything no dfukky and deliberately - asking myself if something is worth me spending my time on it, and if for some reason it is, then trying to make the most out of it and appreciate it in some way.

I saw a pair of joggers in my size for 50p in a charity shop today. I didn't have cash on me so I asked them to put them by. I think they'll be good for the garden. Less restrictive than jeans and warmer than leggings. I'll collect them tomorrow.

I'm other news I think I'm going to have to limit the amount of baths I have. I have a shower every morning, but recently I've been having long, hot bubble bath everyday as well. I love baths, but I don't think daily baths, topped up several times, with the heating in as well, are very MS :eek:. So I'm going to try to limit myself to one a week. Maybe on a Sunday night, with candles and the heating on, and for as long as I like. But just the one :rotfl:

Elisheba

Okay, so payday is tomorrow so time to call it for this month! The figures are in and they are....

January 2020

Actual debt reduction: £577.90

Amount paid out in debt repayments: £585.50 (the reason this is almost identical to the debt reduction this month is to do with catalogue returns and is an anomaly. Interest would normally make the actual reduction much lower than the repayment)

Savings: £278 ( this is going to pay extra rent next month so I can change my DD to the end of the month to reduce charges on the OD.

Total debt left: £20552.27 (down to a new thousand bracket :beer:)


Budgets

Food: £53.43/£50. Only over by £3.49! Woohoo:T. This included about £7 for marmalade ingredients, about £7 at Greggs, both of which were optional extras. So next month I'm going to stretch and try a budget of £30.

Cats: £15.48/£30 Even with my new regime of half biscuits and half meat, this is very low. I had quite a lot of tins going into the month so didn't have to buy as many as normal.

Stockpile: £42.95/£0. There was no stockpile budget, so technically my 2 years of loo roll and about 10 years of toothbrush heads is an overspend. It was a thought through decision and an investment though so I'm not worried. I'll also get about £7 cashback on it in the dim and distant future.

Pocket money: £78.31/£100 This was low, but it could have been lower. £20 unnecessarily spent on an evening out I hadn't planned, and another £19 on library fines. I'm going to stretch myself next month and see if i can lower it to £60.

Travel: £61.30/ £120 This was abnormally low this month due to specific circumstances that are unlikely to repeat themselves.

Petrol: £0/£40 I had almost a full tank at the start of the month so didn't need to buy any. Going to push it next month and see if i can lower it to £20 as I don't have any big car journeys planned.

I can't tell you how useful I find it to have this all written out in black and white!

In regards to next month with the rent over-payment, and the £100 payment towards the massive, surprise energy bill I won't be able to put much by for over-payment. I doubt I'll get down into the £19k bracket by the end of February, but definitely by the end of March (fingers crossed!).

OnlyPariah

I've just started reading your diary and it's very inspiring. I love the title as well, a mantra I will try try emulate.

I've subscribed.

Elisheba

Thanks, Only Pariah. That's lovely of you to say!