Cutting it Fine - the challenge is on!

SandyShores

I've been spreadsheet managing this morning.  I had thought that we'd move into the new house and then every penny would be spent on overpaying the mortgage.  Of course it hasn't worked out like that and we have spent much more than we thought on making it our home, plus extending it very slightly is making a dent.  I'm currently on track to overpay the mortgage by £3,200 this year - not quite the £4k target, so I need to up my game there.  I was also planning to have a £6k emergency fund in place, but that's probably going to be £4k by the year end - need to do some work there too.  Weight loss and ToDo list - well lots of work to be done there.  The really good thing is that its all under control and we aren't paying backwards - we are paying for things with money we have.  Where I am slightly uncomfortable is that we are spending on wants rather than absolutely must haves.  But my reasoning for this is that we want to make this new home comfortable and then enjoy it for the next 10, 20, 30 years.  I'm allowing us this year to settle in, then 2022 will be the start of the buckle up our beltstraps and pay that mortgage down time.  So our finances are absolutely sorted for the time being in terms of heading in the right direction and I really do need to concentrate on decluttering - the house, my brain, the weight, the to do list etc.  I'm looking forward to December 2021 and to seeing how the targets have done - nice to feel motivated about it again.

Thanks savingholmes.  My email has been passed to the relevant department, so I should receive a response within 3 working days.  I've never heard of store credits for returns before, well not for a long time.

SandyShores

Just had to pop into my diary and record another £1.50 on the xmas saver - just £8.50 away from mini-target and 22 days to go!  More exciting news - I have had a major declutter of the garage and have been to the tip and the clothes recycling bank.  It was something I was dreading doing and my heart sank at all the stuff that came out of that space, but its a lot tidier now and seems much more roomy just for getting rid of a few bags of stuff.  So I've crossed one item off my ToDo list, which was really satisfying.  Got another item to do and tick off tomorrow and then I will be down into single figures - woohoohoo!  Concentrating on the small gains is definitely the way to go.

SandyShores

Popping in again - I managed to get that one item crossed off my ToDo list - so 8 items down and only 9 to go!  Good to be in those single figures.  A couple of things left on the list are quick wins, so I ought to prioritise those.  Others - like buying new glasses are a bit more complicated, especially in lockdown, but I could definitely get about 4 or 5 off the list easily in the next couple of weeks and it will be great to be down to 5 or less.  Having 17 on the list wasn't sitting very well with me.

Its funny how 'eating that frog' of decluttering the garage has had a really positive effect.  I was just dreading it because I knew DH would grumble about how much stuff I keep.  But, to be honest, once it was all out in the open there really wasn't that much stuff.  When we moved in a while back, we just threw it all on the shelves without any organising, so just putting it back on the shelves with a bit more order has freed up more space.  I've kept a few boxes of stuff for charity, there's a few boxes of paperwork to be organised and there's a box of DH's stuff he really needs to ditch.  Once that's all done there will be even more space.  I have been a bit of a hoarder in the past, but I am trying to make sure I don't keep anything unless its definitely needed.  My preference is to give away or donate, but I will sell items if I can make a bit of money.  I have got a couple of items on fleabay at the moment with 100% of the funds to charity - which is a win-win to me. 

savingholmes

Well done for ditching the hoarding. A very difficult habit to break. Well done too for only spending what you have an not borrowing against your future... 

SandyShores

DH popped out to get fuel earlier and so I gave him the points voucher I was given when I did the shopping.  So £2 in points earned towards Xmas'21.  Had to get a bit more fuel than planned to make it up to the £35, but it will just last a bit longer - no use by date on that.

Thanks SH, its very cathartic.  I'm not sure where the habit for wanting to keep stuff came from.  One of my childhood memories is coming home from school and there were loads of my toys in a box and my mum just got rid of them.  It was a bit harsh as I was still quite little, but she wasn't very sentimental.  There was an unusual doll and a couple of teddies I loved and would have loved to have kept.  After my parents split, a lot of stuff was left behind in the melee so maybe they would have been lost then anyway, but at least I would have been in my early teens by then.  Mind you later on, when I was in my later teens, I got a job working away for a few months and left my personal stuff with a relative for safekeeping, only to find when I got back that they had gone through it and dumped everything.   It probably explains why I get so anxious when DH just wants to randomly throw things.  I think I need to sort out my sentimental stuff and treasure it and relax about the rest.  Its nice to have a few treasured things, but the rest of it is really only 'stuff'.  Gosh, feel like I've done my own psychology

Kittenkirst

It’s always good to understand your behaviours and sounds like you did a great job “eating the frog” and decluttering the garage! Well done.

Have you thought about using a company like Glasses direct online for your glasses. Both myself and my girlfriend used them several times (prior to our laser eye surgery) and recently helped my brother to order some which saved him over £180 on what he usually spends on his glasses when his snapped whilst staying with us for the first lockdown!

SandyShores

Thanks Kittenkirst, its a good start - on all fronts.

I haven't thought about an online specs company but I'm sure I did use one a long time ago.  I've got a free eye test voucher from work so I will book in with my usual opticians, and we get a voucher to use towards new glasses if we need them.  But the voucher is only around £50 so will definitely be worth looking into.  I keep dreading breaking mine as they're quite old, so I need to get this sorted soon. 

Just a couple of work things to sort out this week and then on Thursday I'm going to get back on the decluttering again.  I'm also going to give myself a break after work on Wednesday - I am definitely in need of some relaxation.  

savingholmes

Good luck with sorting your specs. 
On hoarding - I need stuff to go to a good home. I am attached to things - and have an excellent memory - so can often remember if something decluttered without permission etc.

FtbDreaming

Omg exactly the same happened with my sentimental stuff @SandyShores I was living in a student house and put my photos and sentimental stuff in my uncles basement when my dad lost his house. When I finally got my own house about 3 years later I went back for it really excited and he said he had binned it years ago. I was gutted. 

DH is the one with the best memory @savingholmes and he’ll be looking for an obscure car or computer part that he put on the window ledge 2 years ago and I’ve since tidied away 🙄

savingholmes

My MIL gave away our bikes in storage... that was probably over 25 years ago but still gutted. It had been my first ever bike from new that was just mine... a racer...