Prosperous soul embraces creativity & mortgage neutrality

badmemory

Nothing like guilt tripping you there!  How uncomfortable for you.

jwil

Good news about the handyman, garage and FF!  Hope DD has a lovely holiday.

Bit awkward about the relative.

leftatthetrafficlights

Did she gift it or loan it to you initially? If she gifted it, then I'd be gifting it back  if loaned, then loan - its a difficult situation but I'd definitely do it on a like for like basis! 

MovingForwards

I'd be lending it, as they asked for a loan. However, as I don't like getting messed about I'd be looking to return every penny. I'm quite stubborn like that and would be wondering if the next time I was asked it would really drop me in the brown stuff.

Handyman is well priced and affordable from P1P, a couple of jobs each month would see the list going down, while doing other things with the rest of it eg counseling, cleaner and savings.

Chrystal

Great news about the FF.  Am I right in thinking this is the 2nd time that relative has asked for the money back for some reason?  What if you'd used it?  It seems as though you're not supposed to use it, just keep it there for when they need it again. 

savingholmes

Thanks @badmemory jwil, left and MF
 
I'm leaning towards gifting it back as I'm not into revolving doors like that and this is the second time she's asked for a loan. The first time she repaid it but I had a stressful week of wondering and worrying in between. I'd prefer to know where I stand. Sadly it means that I'll need to adjust my financial goals. She's had a very good offer on her property - and is in the process of making an offer herself. I think she's over-optimistic about how short the gap will be between her property sale and any move - but I've already started shuffling my spreadsheet to check out the art of the possible.

• I'm really reluctant to empty £ out of my regular savers - so first to go will be my current account 'float.' That would get me over half the way there. I will however need to be much more disciplined about sticking to budgets from here on out - particularly if I'm also catching up on my odd job list and paying a handyman.
• Next would be to reduce my planned savings into regular savers. One of them allows me to catch up later in the year if funds allow so I've reduced that down to £25 instead of £300 - freeing up £275.
• DD is due to pay off the holiday £ she borrowed on our shared pay day - so that over £340 that will be coming back my way. But that is on the 0% spend card and would mean that I carry a balance for at least a month.
• I have about £100 I was about to pay off a CC that's 0% spend so will potentially pause that.
• I have £540 in 1% savings accounts so would potentially empty those / part of those.
• If needed I also have a 0% overdraft with FD of £250 which would mean I don't lose any interest on my savings. Would rather not use it though.
• Where I am £ wise is also dependent on whether AVCs come out... and whether I book more dental appointments and when (and what card I use).

Disappointed and a little frustrated but it's doable. The problem is my £ is literally spread across 9 or 10 accounts so it very much is a shuffle to release any of it. I am very grateful though that I have the P1p £ as that will help with cashflow and replenish my funds.

savingholmes

Chrystal said:

Great news about the FF.  Am I right in thinking this is the 2nd time that relative has asked for the money back for some reason?  What if you'd used it?  It seems as though you're not supposed to use it, just keep it there for when they need it again. 

You are right - this person knows I paid off debt with it in between and paid off car work and my final divorce bill etc... 

MovingForwards

I would do it, be in control of the situation and decline further 'gifts'. You'll build savings up and they'll mean more as you've done it alone.

savingholmes

The handyman tidied up all around my shed. Dug weeds out of a strip next to the shed where I normally put the bins. He's stacked some compost and bark bags so they are no longer a trip hazard / obstacle course. He's said he'll take the excess wood away next time he comes which should be the back end of next week. By using up some bags of sand on re-laying the flags he's also removed some other obstacles which is nice and dug out some bamboo. He's said he will re-cement on a 'finial' type thing and other elements on my wall.

Tree still needs removing - but I think he's borrowing his Dad's van next time and then gifting his dad the wood. It's nice to see things that we bought for a reason - finally being used for that purpose rather than just taking up space.

Another 0li0 thing got collected today. Still need to list others and more stuff on FB.

I need to nip out and get some cash ready for the hair dresser tomorrow and the handyman's return next week. The window cleaner also claims to have been... The spiders webs suggest otherwise but I suppose it's possible.

I have a tin cupboard I created at head height during lockdown 1 - I also have the original cupboard which seems to have got pretty stuffed due to over-buying. I'm hoping this means I only really need to focus on buying fresh food when I go grocery shopping.

Last night I batch cooked some more veggie pasta (with kidney beans) as it's been my favourite meal recently.

I had my health check today. My bp was good 140/60. I think the 140 was high for me and just reflects white coat syndrome... My sugars a year ago were in the pre-diabetic range. My last two blood tests have been below the pre-diabetic range which means despite my weight/obesity I've halved my diabetes risk in a year by losing 1-2 stone (depending on when the original blood test was taken). I've also lowered my cholesterol from 6 to 5.4 so she was very much - keep doing what you're doing - which was encouraging. Eating mackerel and other changes have obviously helped...  

Merlin's_Beard

Urgh. That sounds like a really uncomfortable situation. I think I also would be inclined to return it as a gift with no expectation of getting it back, just so the issue wasn't hanging around like a bad smell. 

I've got some money that may end up needing to be re-gifted back because the giftee couldn't decide if they wanted to give anything in the first place (and they're likely to change their mind again), and to be honest if it doesn't financially cripple you, the waiting for the trigger to be pulled is worse than not having it. Sometimes uncertainty pain is worse than financial pain.