Budgeting by the beach

joedenise

If you need it then buy it.  It's in a charity shop so it's for anyone who wants it.

DaisyCheerings

joedenise said:

If you need it then buy it.  It's in a charity shop so it's for anyone who wants it.

Thank you @joedenise. When I went past they had 2 more, so I did buy it.

doingitanyway

Glad you got the tree but it is good to think it through ink relation to others too.
I need bargains, but like you I appreciate that others may have greater need in some situations.
Your present buying list is a great idea. I notice I 'gift' money to various relatives as well. A budget for this is a better way forward.

Enjoy your Sunday 

joedenise

Glad you got your tree and also good that there were 2 more there for others to have.

I'm another who gifts money - we don't have much to spare being on pensions so I save throughout the year.  We only give money to our girls & their partners and our grandchildren.  It is much better to give them a little something that they can put towards something they want rather than them trying to think of something they want that we can afford or for me to think of something to buy them within budget!

savingholmes

Glad you got the tree. 

I think for many money is far more useful. 

DaisyCheerings

I've almost put my tree together in the workshop. I need to get some cheap baubles and lights to make it work, but I'll concentrate on my main tree as I don't currently have much for that.  There's a very cheap shop in the high street that I'll buy some baubles etc from.  I'll also check the charity store again and see what they have.

I completely agree @savingholmes that for many the money is better.  It was just that it was a big tree and only £10 so I worried that a family may want to make their home look festive for a low price.  But now I'm realising that it's not just £10 for the tree as lights are expensive.  Decorations are generally good value if you shop around, but lights push the tree price up to around £35/£40 plus even cheap decorations makes a tree an expensive thing and that amount of money would make such a difference.

@joedenise I remember how excited I'd be to get some cash in a card from my grandparents.  If I got gifts that had extras or didn't get certain things I was hoping for then this cash boost was so welcome.  It also taught me that money gifts need to be spent on a gift rather than just add to my purse and have it disappear.  I think it was the start of my financial categories.

DaisyCheerings

I still haven't cut the grass out the front, and I'm hoping the rain holds off for a few hours so I can pop out and get it done at lunchtime. It's at the point of being embarrassing now.

The budget has been working pretty well this month.  I have a long drive on Saturday and have money budgeted for diesel for that.  I also have 2 birthday gifts to give when I'm there, which is a bit of a challenge as some money needs to come out of my measly personal budget.  I get paid in 2 weeks which will include my pay rise so I just need to get through those 2 weeks.

I received an offer from Morrisons on spending £20 a week for 4 out of 5 weeks to get £8 and I'm currently working with that.  I don't normally shop there so it's a nice treat to go somewhere different.  They also gave me a tube of sweets (I chose orange smarties) as part of my personal basket so I'll take those on Saturday to share out.  I also found a small Christmas gift for someone, so bought that too.  Again, that's from my personal budget as I hadn't budgeted enough for gifts, which will update from this pay day.

Work has really picked up and is so busy, which is why I've not been on here as much as I'd have liked.  I need to still see this site as a priority though as it keeps me focussed.

I've also bought lots of food from the greengrocer market stall in a bid to eat more fruits and vegetables.  The taste is so superior to a supermarket fresh food choice.

I did buy a couple of yellow sticker poinsettias at the weekend which are now thriving.  They were reduced from £3.50 to £1.34 so a real bargain and my house is now starting to look much more festive.  I need to go through the Christmas decoration boxes in my garage to see what I have there.  I think there are some bits and pieces that I bought in Germany a few years ago so I'm looking forward to opening that up.

When is it allowed to decorate the house fully?  I'm thinking a week on Saturday I'll set it up as I really do love Christmas, especially the decorations and lights and they really brighten up the end of the year winter.

I didn't need to light my fire this weekend as it was so mild.  I'm also out most of this weekend so may not get a chance then either, but it'll be fabulous having it lit when I put the tree up!  Exciting times!

Wishing everyone a great day and week.

DaisyCheerings

@doingitanyway I definitely feel that a personal gift budget is the way to go for me.  It'll be so nice to get to a friend's birthday and know the money is just sitting there already.  

savingholmes

Decorate when you want to and leave them up as long as you want. It's your home...

Nice win on the poinsettias. 

DaisyCheerings

The last couple of weeks have been so productive.  I went to a craft fair near where I live a couple of weeks ago and literally managed to finish off my Christmas shopping.  It meant I went overdrawn until pay day, which I was ok with at the time as I have a 0% overdraft on one of my accounts.  Once I'd got everything home though, being overdrawn really stressed me 🙄

I've now been paid so all accounts are "clean" again and all Christmas and birthday shopping for this year has been completed.  I have one person left to buy for but I won't see her until around February or March.  I also managed to buy a friend's birthday gift at the craft fair, and her birthday is coming up, so I'm feeling incredibly organised.  It's going to be a bit of a tight month after paying ahead of my means, but I'm sure it'll be ok if I'm careful and mindful.

My pay rise has now kicked in too, and that's been a nicely noticeable amount.  I've distributed it to where it needed to go, so am happy to be putting more aside to the accounts that need it.

I have also cancelled one of the services I was getting but don't really need, although I have replaced that small outgoing with a subscription of some probiotics for my Mum's dog as she's always suffered with her tummy.  She's such a picky eater and the first "healthy treat" I gave her made her very suspicious. I even got the side eye, but she's been happy to eat them each day since so that's good. 🐾 I've only noticed a small difference in her so far, but she's only been taking them a week or so, so I'm not expecting miracles.  Especially as she's had issues for so long.

I went to cancel Sky today, but when I phoned they actually offered me a bit more for £5 less than I was paying so I've signed up for another 18 months 🙈.  The letters I received about my current term coming to an end put the price up by about £30 a month, which was why I was cancelling. I know I hear this all the time that you have to call but I was genuinely ready to cancel as I didn't think they'd make it cheaper than I was initially paying.  Oh well.  That's sorted now until June 2024.  I think I'll visit my Mum and get her bill sorted now too.

My next job is to find better home insurance, although my renewal fee is coming up the same as other new offers. The next thing to check is cash back as I like to make sure I take any cash back fee into consideration.  The money for home insurance is budgeted away each month, and there's already enough in there to renew so I'm thankful for being so organised.  The spreadsheet I use is so effective for the way I manage my money.

I also had an offer from Morrisons that if I bought £20 shopping for 4 out of 5 weeks that they'd credit me with £8. I generally spend at least £20 a week so it was easy to do, and I got notified today that I'll be getting £8 added to my offers to use at the till.  They've also given me an extra £1 so that will go towards the christmas incidentals like cranberry sauce, pickles, cheese and crackers.

On a personal front, no decorations are up yet.  I've been a bit disorganised there, but will get onto it this weekend, definitely as I want all the pretty shiny objects out for as long as possible.

Still no heating on yet either.  I was going to last weekend but it didn't feel cold enough.  I had the fire on for my one lazy day, but kept myself so busy with housework etc that I'd have been too hot with any heating on.

I hope everyone is enjoying their week.