2022 Frugal Living Challenge

zafiro1984

Totally agree about paying off the mortgage, both son and daughter have no mortgages we're so proud of the sacrifices they have made to do it. (posh holidays, going out, frivolous spends) (51 and 53 yrs old) 

retiredinfrance

yes, another person in agreement re. the mortgage. At 58, ours was paid off, DH took retirement - no pension but... and we put the mortgage sum into a savings account so that we would avoid slipping into a more lavish lifestyle. It was great knowing that the saving was there and it had become quite a tidy sum when I retired with pension 8 years later. If it goes into a pot without ever seeing it, you don't miss the money.

London_1

I agree as well, not having a mortgage to worry about is worth its eight in gold I have been mortgage free since 1995 and its been fantasic and so liberatng.
My late husband and I downsized, and moved to a much smaller more manageable property , Gave our two daughters a lump sum to do what they wished with it (got one of them a foot on the housing ladder) , the other one used it to extend their house.

We figured its better for them with growing young families to have the money when they needed it, and not wait until we shuffled off this mortal coil. 
it still left us with enough cash as a buffer towards our imminent retirement .I have never missed work and being able to what you want when you want to is wonderful I had 8 lovely years with my husband before I sadly lost him,but we enjoyed every day.

I still enjoy life and please myself what I do, and am around to help the family when needed. So go for it, life is for enjoying as you never know what lies ahead.

JackieO xx

Primrose

I feel sorry for younger people now. The rising cost of living and spiralling energy costs are going to make it much harder for people to spare surplus  cash towards a mortgage free existence.  I suppose each generation has its own challenges to deal with.  I can recall the time when unbelievably mortgage rates were peaking at an unbelievable 15%.

basketcase

Primrose said:

I feel sorry for younger people now. The rising cost of living and spiralling energy costs are going to make it much harder for people to spare surplus  cash towards a mortgage free existence.  I suppose each generation has its own challenges to deal with.  I can recall the time when unbelievably mortgage rates were peaking at an unbelievable 15%.

Or even to get a mortgage to be free of in the first place...

leftatthetrafficlights

basketcase said:

Primrose said:

I feel sorry for younger people now. The rising cost of living and spiralling energy costs are going to make it much harder for people to spare surplus  cash towards a mortgage free existence.  I suppose each generation has its own challenges to deal with.  I can recall the time when unbelievably mortgage rates were peaking at an unbelievable 15%.

Or even to get a mortgage to be free of in the first place...

So true! I bought my house in 1999 and despite the fact that dh and I are on reasonably good salaries for our area I'm not sure we'd be able to afford to buy it now!! We paid the mortgage off a couple of years ago and it's the best thing we ever did - the sense of security it has given us is priceless.

It was a struggle for us to get the deposit together for it and we'd have no chance these days if we still had dependants - private rents are utterly ridiculous and with the cost of living now even social housing rents mean that saving the massive deposits that are needed  is almost impossible for most younger people 😔

Thankfully my children are both homeowners now and I've encouraged them to make overpayments on their mortgages if/when they are able to - as they have seen us pay it off early they know the value of it. 

Sweetlittledaydreams

Thank you for your advice 😊 So I'm going to keep on as I am for the rest of this year, making my monthly payments and saving as much as I can, as usual. Then in January clear the balance!! Still can't get over it 😆 then save what I would have been paying into a separate account to grow as a nest egg for whatever the future holds, house move, children, maybe even a very small smallholding - ok now I'm just dreaming! 
Looking at lots of swimming races for this summer and so far I'm working or post night shift on the dates of them, but maybe by next year I will be having a lot more flexibility and be able to enter them all, very exciting. 
I've had a week off and it's been so nice and I've been really busy, but kept it pretty low budget. Petrol will have been my biggest spend but other than that I think I've spent about £60 more than I usually would, so I'm definitely happy with that considering I feel like I've done loads. Have a holiday booked for next month with friends and between us accommodation is costing £80 each, and I'm driving so hopefully they'll be buying the food and that will be another relatively cheap but lovely holiday 😀 

This weather is great at the moment too - no need for heating and the washing is drying quickly. I've got a solar phone charger I thought would save me electric but it hadn't been working that well, hopefully now the sun is out a bit more it will. I looked at solar panels for the house but it is a very big initial cost, do any of you have them/ what is your opinion on them? They would have to work from an environmental and financial point if I was to get them and I'm thinking you'd still have to pay your daily electric tariff so might not be worth it? Also looked at single house wind turbines but they're expensive and I live in too built up an area I think.
Anyway, have a good frugal day everyone.

Kaylataste

I reserved and paid for a Morrison’s 2 good 2 go bag last night,DH is going to cycle up in a little while to collect it, I am stupidly excited about it 😬😬😬

Debsnewbudget

I have been a Food waste hero with Olio but they recently advised me a charity was collecting it. 

I thought that was a good idea, however having spoken to a friend who does a charity collection at 2 other supermarkets each week, I am not so sure.
I picked up at 8:30pm and any “use by” dated food had to be passed on by midnight.  When I asked her what she does with the use by food, she said she puts it in the bin. 

This really upset me as even if I could not pass on by midnight I had the address of a wildlife rescue who would take any sandwiches etc, and I always recycled the packaging of anything else left before putting it in my food waste bin.
sorry- am just sounding off ……..

 

WinterWarrior

@Debsnewbudget could you ask them to investigate what the charity's rules on handling food are? If they do just bin it, then the supermarket are failing in their targets and may have a rethink.