Mortgage free in Forever Home :-)

KajiKita

Suffolk_lass said:

I know what you mean. I keep thinking "That's a nice cardboard box...!"

OMG …. are we twins …?? Hubby keeps going “what do we need all these boxes for?” as I am squirrelling away box after box, after cardboard packet for covering my (bindweed infested) veg beds …. 😂😂😂

That’s good to hear about the wax discs 😊👍

KK

Suffolk_lass

Literally just choked on my coffee 😂😂😂

KajiKita

Made the tomato ketchup today - it looks convincing ….!! (First time I have ever made any kind of preserve 😊) Waiting for it to cool and then I shall label it and take it down to the cellar to think about itself for 8 weeks 😊

Had a nice session in the garden edging and weeding one of my new beds and then a session in the potting sheds sowing various seeds - ornamentals and edibles whilst hubby cooked our dinner 😊

Feel like I have had a really good break (I was on leave from mid morning Wednesday) and am ready to go back and get stuck into work again tomorrow 😊

KK 

KajiKita

Made another batch of Tomato, red onion and sage soup today. Had half for lunch and the other half went in the freezer.

Also made piccalilli for the first time today. Oh my word .... what a caddle (and 2 of my brand new kilner jars cracked!  ) - if it doesn't taste a-maz-ing I won't be doing that again!! It was interesting to see how the flavours and the textures built up though. It looked a bit 'wet' going into the jars - I wonder if it thickens a bit on keeping?

Doing pretty poorly at 'Sensible September'  I have been derailed by a new mattress topper for hubby, a hard drive for me (I had this installed 2 months ago, but the Computer Tamer is very slow at issuing his invoices - sigh), more fuel cost than usual as I went North to visit an old friend and I've bought 2 National Express tickets to get to London next weekend to see my uncle who's not well at all .... 

Had an interesting conversation with Hubby over dinner which is going to lead to me working out how hours it takes me to earn £10, £50, £100, including my commute time and at my take home pay rate not my gross salary. I think that might be quite incentivising for reducing my spending. 

I am now focusing on 'On It October!!  (I will get paid at the end of next week and the car is already fuelled for the week. I have a coffee date with a colleague after work, but that will come from already withdrawn cash so won't affect any balances. 

KK


 

KajiKita

Wowsers ..... Just done the calculations. 

By looking at just what I bring home (less tax, pension etc.), including my commute time and excluding the car allowance (which I don't count as mine because I have to have a car of less than 8 years old to qualify for it) the figures are a bit stark .....

It takes me:
- 0.65 days to earn £10 i.e., over half a day
- 3.26 days to earn £50 i.e. I haven't earned it until halfway through Thursday morning in a typical week
- 6.52 days to earn £100 i.e. I haven't earned it until halfway through the 2nd Tuesday morning of my typical working weeks!!

That has really got my attention ....! 

I have printed out my notes and stuck it on my noticeboard as a reminder!

KK 

KajiKita

Dug out the boiler manual - should be able to turn down the hot water temperature. Doesn’t look like the householder can turn off the function that keeps a well of permanent hot water. 1 out of 2 isn’t too bad

KK

South_coast

KajiKita said:

Had an interesting conversation with Hubby over dinner which is going to lead to me working out how hours it takes me to earn £10, £50, £100, including my commute time and at my take home pay rate not my gross salary. I think that might be quite incentivising for reducing my spending. 

You might enjoy the book "Your Money Or Your Life", as it has a focus on this. It was a bit wooooo for me (but then I did read the original 1992 version and not the updated one - it was cheaper 🤣!), but it's very popular

KajiKita

South_coast said:

KajiKita said:

Had an interesting conversation with Hubby over dinner which is going to lead to me working out how hours it takes me to earn £10, £50, £100, including my commute time and at my take home pay rate not my gross salary. I think that might be quite incentivising for reducing my spending. 

You might enjoy the book "Your Money Or Your Life", as it has a focus on this. It was a bit wooooo for me (but then I did read the original 1992 version and not the updated one - it was cheaper 🤣!), but it's very popular

I think I have the old one somewhere …. It wouldn’t hurt to dig that out! 😉😊 Thank you for the nudge 👍😊

KK

KajiKita

I am working my way through the Tilly thread …..

i am finding it fascinating; she is sooo energetic and positive! The other thing that strikes me, is how she and her OH have challenged their perceptions of how they spend *their* money and what on. I have much to learn still …. 😉😊

KK

KajiKita

Small update from me 

So, I have some small positive progress to report. I have overspent by £110 in September but that relates to visiting people who needed to see me so I shall excuse that. As part of 'On It October' I am determined not to overspend and indeed I need to 'recover' things like the £85 I have just spent on my speed awareness course.  (£50 of that will come from the £100 'pocket money' I normally allow myself as I have £50 cash left in my purse from last month unspent.)

Any gardening spends will have to come from my cash pocket money and not go on a card. That will keep me focused on not overspending here.

I have Tilly-Tidied £85.32 into my savings which now stands at £3908.91 - I would love to have this be £4K or more by my next payday, so that's a key target this month! 

I have just OP'd £50.58 onto our mortgage so that's a total OP of £217.34 since the start of the year. Not huge but getting steadily better. Hubby is happy with this 

We are eating down the freezers which is helping the food shopping bill a bit and I want to start making batches for warming up in work for lunches as the weather is getting colder. I am looking to do a batch of frugalwoods rice and beans next weekend 

After feeling really quite blue for quite a while about all this, I am feeling a bit more hopeful and positive again. 

Another thing I am doing is reading various M Lewis and A Hall books (bought super cheap through Abe books not full price through Amazon! bought not borrowed from the library as I want to have them to hand to re-read when I need a boost) - I can feel new brain patterns being laid down as I do this ..... 

I have to think of cheap but nice birthday and Christmas presents for my parents ..... (I live miles from them so I can't give them vouchers for me doing things with or for them ....) preferably with cashback!!  

Time to update my signature 

KK