Adventures and Overpayments

chicker

savingholmes said:

chicker said:

. I’m pretty ruthless about getting rid of stuff! DH really needs a garage though - he’s a builder and a musician and comes from a family of hoarders…

That's quite a contrast between you. I may come from the latter too

It's really strange isn't it how much our past influences us - even things like tidying! 

If we ever get a garage it will be converted to an air bnb so DH would still lose out 😂

chicker

starnac said:

We sorted out our attic when we moved. I am definitely of the "we might need that" variety. But an elderly friend said to me recently that she doesn't keep anything as when she dies it becomes her son's problem and that's not fair. And that actually got me thinking. I know it's a bit morbid and I have absolutely no plans to pop my clogs just yet, it is a mindset that has helped me declutter. Does my husband need the extra stress of going through all my !!!! if I die? No he does not. So we now have one storage box full of DD's sentimental things and one full of DS's sentimental things. So things like the outfit they wore home from hospital when they were born, their fave toy as a baby, first school pictures, etc. Nothing major but sentimental things they may like to see when they are adults. 

This is so true! You definitely have to find the balance though. I also really feel for people when their parents kept nothing. The thing I've found with memory boxes is you can to go through them every few years and get rid of things that no longer seem important, while enjoying the things that do. I need to do ours really as I'm gradually sorting through our third bedroom/loft.

chicker

savingholmes said:

I think keeping a sentimental box for every member of the family is a good idea. They can decide what to do with it in due course. You then make the container the limit on how much you want to keep and if you want to put new stuff in - you cull some of the other stuff.

It's nice to go through them from time to time and revisit what you have kept. I usually get rid of a few things at the same time!

chicker

Alchemilla said:

Do you have plans for this weekend?

Oops - it was obviously busy! Hence it now being the following weekend  I know we went for a beautiful and sunny seaside walk on the Sunday. This weekend we are getting a few jobs done today (should probably stop procrastinating on mfw...) then plan to do a Percy the Park Keeper trail at out local NT property tomorrow. DD is probably just about old enough to enjoy looking for animals in the woods I hope!

chicker

So I've been MIA a bit the last week or so. Simply because there hasn't been a lot going on money-wise! We have a grand total of £27.57 left in our joint account until the end of the month   

We have done a few things financially:

• Paid DH's tax bill
• Checked EHIC cards and found they are still in date for our holiday
• All refunds received from clothes I ordered and returned over the holiday. Left over money stashed away for a new pair of jeans when I get to my goal weight.
• I've started buying a few preloved clothes for DD for our holiday. She will need an entire summer wardrobe before we go in May.
• Renewed our landlord insurance - stayed with same provider as comparison sites were coming up much more expensive!
• Withdrew £5.71 from T0p c@shback
• We have about £12 left in our bills account after I overestimated some bills - not sure what to do with this yet. Already have £1000 of our emergency fund acting as a surplus in the account so will use the £12 elsewhere.
• I have £9 ready to cash out on Pr0lific but will wait until the end of the month. I'm also taking part in an ongoing study which will hopefully payout approx £60 if i manage to complete all the sessions!

We've finally made the decision to increase the rent on our BTL after agonising over this for far too long. We've decided to round it up to the next hundred so a small increase of £25. I hate the idea of being a heartless landlord but after re-mortgaging we are paying more per month and obviously our expenses are going up too. The current market value is about an extra £100 on top of what they will be paying but they have been there a long time and it would cost us more if they leave. They have children and dogs though so would find it hard to get another place. It's been a difficult decision but this feels like the right balance. We decided to wait until the pandemic had settled down a bit but now realise there's never going to be a 'good' time to do it...


Right, better get on with some jobs! Hopefully I will have a chance to catch up on some diaries this evening.

savingholmes

Sounds like you have kept the budget well under control

chicker

savingholmes said:

Sounds like you have kept the budget well under control

Thanks! That is true. I've been doing zero based budgeting since November so I can see where every penny is going! I always used to budget but it was much more fluid when we were on two salaries.

chicker

Evening all 

We've had an enjoyable and productive weekend in the Chicker household! 

We ticked off everything from our to do list for the first time in ages and managed to get out and about to enjoy the good dry weather. 

The main thing is we managed to take photos (£4.99) and apply for DD's passport (£49). Just waiting for my friend to countersign the photo and fingers crossed it's accepted. Taking a passport photo of a toddler is interesting...

Hope everyone had a good weekend x

savingholmes

I had amusing images of the passport photo. 

I can't imagine ever getting to the bottom of my to do list - but I always have a running list... 

chicker

Don’t worry - I have lots of lists on the go. This was just my list for the day 😂