Learning to walk before I run

skint_spice

Well done Ed

edinburgher

Thank you all, it has been a strange week of feeling a bit lighter in financial terms. The direct debit never went through (possibly because of all the overpayments) but I paid the card off yesterday. I also paid off the 2 pairs of running shoes that I bought as my old ones are worn nearly flat and because they were at the lowest price I'd ever seen. I have a terrible habit of procrastinating on deals relating to purchases that would be genuinely useful to me and then missing out on the offer.

I think it's probably a side affect of having lived with a relatively high level of unsecured debt for a long time but I find it quite hard to remember that a fixed budget is just that. I am trying to relax our purse strings a little bit while keeping in mind the fact that life is going to become substantially more expensive over the next year. Examples would be signing up to Sp0tify (I haven't had access to streaming music for about a year and I really miss it), considering joining the (very cheap) budget gym that is opening locally and wanting a few new things for the house, like a mattress and pillows.

Unexpected purchases continue to make it hard to save for or afford these nice to haves, such as Mrs E's decision that our current secondhand pram is too heavy and that she wants to swap it for another secondhand pram of a specific variety. I don't begrudge spending the money but it is hard to share the message that one purchase delays or prevents another. That probably sounds patronising and offensive to Mrs E - she's a clever woman and knows these things - she's not involved with budgeting though and is the person who pushes the pram 80% of the time. Other decisions, however, fall firmly at my feet, like buying a couple of bottles of spirits from the supermarket.

I guess it just takes time to adapt to being a grown up, eh?

Today I have paid £5 into our LISA (£6.25 after the gummint bonus) and have invested this in VLS 60%, our endowment fund of sorts. I really should do a wee "mortgage neutral" signature but £211k vs £150 is too depressing to consider at this time of the morning

I am going to take a little time today to committing to completing a Prolific survey that has been hanging around for weeks, this should take me over the £5 threshold for a payment. I will also list a Lego set for sale on eB@y as I have a discounted fees offer. I need to start earning a little extra pocket money, no point spending all my time doing overtime if I never get to see the benefit of it in terms of having a little extra to spend on nice to haves that will ultimately be robbed from elsewhere if I don't fund them myself.

Suffolk_lass

I finally signed up to a survey site this week. I have completed one or two short surveys a day and am at the point where I could cash out with JL or Big river vouchers. I might let it run until the end of the month to see if it is a good use of dead time for me.

As you know, that "fritterie" spending is as a result of my "smug filter" here. I have to feel I am on a budget or I just waste money on "stuff"

edinburgher

@Suffolk_lass - which survey site? The ones I use tend to offer cash. Nothing wrong with the odd fritter or frippery, I wish I was one of these monastic types who achieves all their financial goals early in life because all they really want is their dinner and somewhere to sleep

£5.01 paid into my ISA from my personal spends account, I blame Vanguard and all the financial institutions sending me their "use it or lose it" emails as we're approaching the end of the financial year. Being able to fill an ISA must be a nice feeling, not one I expect to experience!

Feeling in a very bad mood re. finances today.

QueenJess

Finances is all a balance though.  If you spent nothing and just saved, is that really living?  You should make the best of what you do have, which you always seem to do.

edinburgher

Thank you @QueenJess - I know what you say makes sense. I think that I sometimes find myself between a rock and a hard place (being naturally drawn to netizens with savvy financial chops on the one hand, while living in a very affluent area on the other hand where I am surrounded by swanky period properties and shiny new cars on the other). It is hard to figure out my own sense of what I actually want sometimes, as opposed to what I think I should do with money, or what others around me do

Got a fair bit of housework done on Friday - two full hoovers worth and 4? loads of laundry. I also went out with Mrs E and we picked up a lightweight and lightly used pram for £160. This particular pram seems to hold its value quite well and the new price is c. £375 without any accessories (of which a few were provided). More than I'd usually pay for something secondhand (when we're getting rid of baby stuff on local selling groups we will always set realistic prices for quick sale, usually low tens of pounds). It did, however, seem to be substantially cheaper than people usually ask for. Perhaps the seller was a kindred spirit.

My mood has improved a little since then, although I've got more housework to do today (clean the aquarium, clean the cat's water fountain, give the cats flea treatments and clean our bamboo flooring). Might try and catch some of the rugby later.

Dinner tonight will be slow roasted YS pork crackling joint with duck fat roasties, brocolli (aka "haunted mini green trees" according to DD1) and honey roasted carrots. And gravy, lots of gravy.

£5 paid into my LISA (50p cashback from Ch@se, the rest just tens of pence from Tilly Tidying budget lines). £6.25 after the gummint bonus, paid into Vanguard LifeStrategy 60 as usual. Aim is to create an endowment of sorts, wanting some growth but not aiming to shoot out the lights. I'd use a Target Retirement fund as I do for all my other investing but AJ Bell don't offer them.

QueenJess

Prams are such a rip off and then DS point blank refused to use it and I used a child carrier borrowed from a neighbour. I swear he went in the actual pram 2x. DD has used it a bit more, but hardly loads. Fingers crossed I can recoup some of that wasted money selling mine second hand when we’re definitely done with it!

I do find the new prices with the now standard payment terms over 1-2 years a bit shocking. I can see how easy it would be to get into debt quickly. £350 sounds cheap!

I know what you mean, but I would much rather enjoy my life and do the things that make me happy (which is not buying things) than working more hours to buy better stuff. I always think to myself “no one goes to their deathbed wishing they’d worked more so they had a swankier car/house”. They’ll always be someone better off and always be people worse off. Being happy with what you have and making the best of it is the holy grail. I’m about to make myself substantially poorer by requesting part time and DH has requested his part time too. It’s scary, but at the same time, I would rather forgo the “stuff” and spend time with my kids, cooking and enjoying life rather than staring at a computer screen.

edinburgher

I am also considering going P-T, Mrs E has been so for years but at 28 hours, it's only just P-T

Using pretty much the last of the "Home Maintenance" line of the budget to treat ourselves to some new pillows from big river. Also need to pick up a few tedious wee things like dechlorinator for the aquarium, cat collars and some tiny batteries for a toy. Not entirely sure that pillows maintain the home but I've been consistent with this sort of categorisation for about a decade and it works for me. Using the last of a voucher I got for switching a small pension and Ch@se for the rest (well, I will once the incredibly slow Z0pa sends my savings to Ch@se)

Ooh - that reminds me - must transfer that mini pension (£116) to Vanguard. Provider is quite sneaky, no visible reference number on their website or correspondence they've sent me, so had to request this manually.

edinburgher

We've had a bit of snow overnight and I seem to have caught the lurgy (after the rest of the family have all got it, as is the style). £10 paid into my LISA (£12.50 once the gummint bonus gets added). It was only meant to be £5 but the Dodl app didn't actually show that the cash had been added to my account the first time, so tried again. Worse things happen at sea - have taken the extra from our Car Maintenance budget - fingers crossed it won't be needed for a while after we had to replace a wheel and tyre last month

Going to go out for a walk this morning, get some fresh air and catch up on my podcast before looking after DD2 solo this afternoon while Mrs E goes out with her pals for the first time in months. I'm really pleased for her but slightly nervous for myself. DD2 is still BFing and clings to her mum quite a bit - I hope I have enough in the tank to entertain her for a few hours.

Suffolk_lass

I was hopeless with DS and used to have to resort to either strapping him in the car seat, in the car and driving him around until he went to sleep (!) or putting him in the pram and walking miles until he slept. Bad mother! Good luck this afternoon