Simple living in the country - back to basics

themadvix

Oh Cheery, I hope you managed to get more sleep after that and you’re not feeling too grotty. Take it easy today.

KajiKita

A quiet day seems in order, with some dozing under a blankie….. 😉😊

Hope you both feel better soon.

KK x

Karmacat

KajiKita said:

A quiet day seems in order, with some dozing under a blankie….. 😉😊

Hope you both feel better soon.

KK x

What KK said - dozing will help!

beanielou

Take care of yourself and don’t overdo things. Xx

redofromstart

Hope you feel better soon. 

We went to Hartington (no cheese was bought!) for a walk yesterday and decided it would be very cold and exposed on those hills for veg growing.

Veg growing in general to save money is tricky, I think I spent more than I gained when I bought seeds and compost, and allowed for the extra water.  I also get busy with work or my joints play up and we don't harvest things.  Awful potato crop, very few beans (black fly), but lots of lovely cherry tomatoes that added £5 a month to the water bill.  And you always end up with a million courgettes when they are pennies everywhere.

Cheery_Daff

Thank you all, don't worry, not much chance of overdoing it here today! I'm still on the sofa in my dressing gown, on the second Call the Midwife episode of the day

I have, however, finalised my new YNAB budget. For the YNAB enthusiasts - I set this up as a 'new budget' rather than a 'fresh start'. I wanted a bit of a rejig of my categories, and this helped me rethink it all from scratch (the 'fresh start' option keeps all your categories), and I've also got into the habit of using fewer payees - I tend to use 'shop' or 'cafe' generically now, rather than putting in different names of every single different cafe like I used to in the past. I still separate out the favourite cafe, but not all the others, and I separate out the supermarkets (mostly for ease of tracking) but all the little shops that I don't go in regularly can just go under 'shop' ('fresh start' keeps your payees too, whereas a new budget doesn't).

I've reconciled all the bank accounts, including the ones I use for MB, and the credit card (which gets paid off every month). 

I've allocated money for the whole of January, and made sure all the annual savings pots are properly topped up, with goals allocated so I can see how much I need to add each month eg for the car insurance.

There's a pot for Mr Cheery to back pay his national insurance when he sorts out that, and a decent wodge in the vet pot (hopefully not needed any time soon). 

So the bigger savings pots feel a little more sparse... We still have

£1500 new car fund
£1000 new windows
£900 rendering
£1000 home maintenance (plus a separate DIY pot I'm putting £25 a month in for sundries while we continue to do stuff)

Plastering fund has been used to spread around the other categories, so that will be topped up as a priority. I've probably over-filled house and car insurance - they're both due in the next few weeks so I'll shop around and the excess can go back in the plastering fund. 

In terms of the actual budget, this is what I've allocated for relatively flexible spends: 

My spends - £80 (2022 average £115)
Food & household - £250 (2022 average £264)
Diesel - £300 (2022 average £301)
Joint treats - £80 (2022 average £139)

I've put a 'Save first!' line right at the top of the budget, to remind myself to add £200 a month before I start allocating to anything else. I'll leave that amount in there all month, so if I do go over in another section, that's where I'll steal it from, and I'll at least be able to keep easy track of what I've pilfered. 

I don't think anything else much will be due out either today or tomorrow, but I'll check again at the end of tomorrow and update accordingly. 

I'm going to update my signature with my spends/food/joint treats pots and see if I can keep track, for January at least. 

Wish me luck! 

Right, shower, dressed, more tea, and then I might get on with sorting a different area of my life out!

badmemory

I'm sure you know this but I am going to say it anyway just in case.  Unless Mr Cheery has been in a DB pension for years it is quite possible that he has already got the maximum new state pension that he can get & so won't need to pay in more NI.  Please check before & if in doubt go on the pension bit on here.

KajiKita

I like the idea of the ‘Save first!’ category. Think I will borrow that one ….😉

KK

Cheery_Daff

badmemory said:

I'm sure you know this but I am going to say it anyway just in case.  Unless Mr Cheery has been in a DB pension for years it is quite possible that he has already got the maximum new state pension that he can get & so won't need to pay in more NI.  Please check before & if in doubt go on the pension bit on here.

Thanks - he was in a DB pension for years, and we've already checked. He's not got the max he's entitled to yet, and he can add some years, there are just queries about some of the years.

I only thought of having 'save first' as a category at the top this morning,  feel free to pinch it! 😂 I do usually put some into savings first, but things get rejigged through the month. This will make that more obvious.

I've put some washing on, and am now pottering about putting Christmas presents away. We've got a good booze haul this year!

Sloe gin
Baileys
Metaxa
Mulled wine
Sloe gin flavour fizz
And two tiny bottles of flavoured gin

Should keep us going for a while 😂

starnac

Sorry you have the lurgy in your house Cheery. 
I loved hearing about your run recently. It sounds like a fun one. 
Quick question. Earlier you mentioned and edible windbreak. What are you using for that please?