The Mental Debt Struggle...

Keedie

Have a peaceful day too @beanielou. I'm going to take my time to get used to the varifocals. I think I just got excited by being able to see properly 😂.

And yes that dude was definitely a scammer @Makingabobor2. His story wasn't making a whole deal of sense and when I asked him what car he has that the key can get locked in there, he sidestepped that and told my sister to switch her engine on... 🤔.

Aimingforthegoodlife

Hey Keedie, loving the interest accrual, that is so exciting, and free money is always welcome! I am also part of the mustard club, I only ever use it in cheese sauce personally, I use the yellow one- I think that may be English? No idea, my DH likes mustard and we often have a few types knocking around! I hope your chair is there nice and quick, and your day is straight forward. Sounds like you have has a lovely time off, the pictures were fab! 

Fab work as always!

KajiKita

Mr KK likes English mustard and I like Dijon as it’s milder. I find it very hard to control the amount of English mustard to the right dosage to not blow my head off! 😂
Any mustard is also useful as thickener to sauces or dressings. I always add it to my salad dressing to pep that up 😊

Whole grain mustard is a whole other thing ….! 😉😂

KK

Keedie

Thanks @Aimingforthegoodlife, I did have a really good break and time off work and I've accepted my fate for returning to the office tomorrow 😂. Fingers crossed the chair doesn't take too long to turn up, but I'm okay if they take their time setting it up and adjusting it as that will mean I have less work to do lol. In all honesty, it won't be a long process, but I expect to be incredibly tired by the end of the day. But my friend has an art gallery opening and it's a private showing from 6-8pm tomorrow evening, so once I get in from work, I'll be going back out again. 

I might try dijon mustard to start with then @KajiKita if it's milder. My son has exceptionally sharp senses, especially his sense of smell and can often walk through the front door and tell me what I've cooked an hour or two beforehand. I on the other hand, can barely smell anything and I think that affects my taste 😬.

I had to push back the MOT from today to Wednesday as I just couldn't handle driving and getting a bus to and from the garage. I think I overdid it over the last week and this weekend was really hectic, but I managed to do some laundry and decluttering and that has left me a bit depleted. Hope you all have a good day.

LittleMissDetermined

Just catching up, I hope the chair gets sorted without too much of an issue and you have a stress free return to the office. I like office days for seeing people and catching up. 

I am also in the mustard club, I use dijon in cheese (and other) sauces. I mix wholegrain with honey to glaze roasted parsnips and carrots on Sundays for the roast.  We also have American style for burgers, ham sandwiches and hot dog days. We very rarely use English, occasionally the powder if a recipe calls for it. 

I make my own BBQ sauce from scratch, but it's a 'winged' recipe rather than measured so other than a list of ingredients I wouldn't be able to tell you how haha. We tend to use it on Hunters chicken and pulled pork but not as a condiment really.

Not sure how your diary took such a diversion but it's nice sometimes to find so many like-minded people  
Keep at it Keedie, you're doing so incredibly well 
LMD x

Keedie

Sorry @LittleMissDetermined, I keep meaning to respond, but this weekend has been so crazy busy! 

Being back at work went a lot better than I thought it would do. My chair came after lunchtime and by that point I was in a lot of pain from sitting on the uncomfortable office chairs, but it's nice to know that the chair will be there for me when I go back on 30 April. One of my friends gave me the longest hug when she saw me, and that kind of healed something within me. After that, everything felt much better. 

After being in the office, I went to my friend's private gallery viewing as her art was on display. But I felt really sick and worn out and I'd forgotten to leave any money for my son to get something to eat, so I had to go home a bit early. But I felt rather weak so it was probably for the best.

My sister had her operation on Friday and it's been a whirlwind ever since, but she's at my mum's now as she was discharged this evening and I collected her from the hospital with my mum. The blue badge definitely comes in handy, as that hospital car park is microscopic as it's in central London and there was only disabled parking bays from what I could see. 

It's been a strange day as it's my mum's birthday and the 4 year anniversary since my dad died. But we went to the cemetery to see my dad and then we went to the pub as that's what my mum chose for dinner celebration as it's local and easy to get to the hospital afterward to get my sister. I'm proper knackered now though. I've been running up and down for the last few days and I'm in a lot of pain. But I've taken the week off work. As I'll be doing the school run as my sister can't drive for at least 6 weeks. So I'll be getting her son to and from school. 

My car passed it's MOT and just needs a replacement headlamp casing as it's discoloured/scratched/foggy (I dunno how to accurately describe it), but it's a minor advisory so I'll get that sorted within the next month or so when I get some money. Getting my glasses has been great for my eyesight and being able to see without switching glasses, and my eyes are getting more used to it. But boy has it been a killer for my finances this month. 

Keedie

THE (BELATED) SUNDAY SUMMARY

(Week 16 ~ 21 April 2024)

Debt Regrets

Goal 1 - 100% repayment to Bank of Mum 3 (school fees) - due 1 April 2024
Progress Checker = £3,800/£3,800 (100% repaid)
🎉 Achievement Date = 24 March 2024 🎉

Goal 2 - Clear Barclaycard Plan 1 (£6,508.43) - due by 31 December 2024
Progress checker = £478.43/£6,508.43 (7.35% repaid)
No payment to Barclaycard this week, but I've put together my savings binder for me to accumulate the funds to pay this off in lump sums. It didn't look as nice as I thought it would and I brought too many envelopes, but I'll make it work as I refuse to let the purchase go to waste as it wasn't free. 

Goal 3 - Pay £6,750 off my overall debt balance in 2024 - due by 31 December 2024

Progress Checker = £2,030/£6,750 (24.89% repaid)

No debt payments this week so no further progress, but from next month's budget, any leftover money each week will go into the binder that I've put together.

Saving Grace

Goal 1 - Save £750 for my son's 18th birthday - due by 30 September 2024
Progress Checker = £120.42/£750 (17.39% saved)
I've saved another £10 this week and that's coming along nicely. Turns out he's not really fussed about having a party at home, but I'll keep saving in case he changes his mind like a typical teenager. That way the money is there, but if he decides not to do anything after all, I'll reallocate the money to Christmas. The Chase round ups pot that will feed into this, currently has £161.79/£150 target (up £12.79 from last week - so, um, yeah, another spendy week 🥴). As the pot is now at 107.86% of my £150 target, I've now increased the goal to £175 and see how we get on. So it's £161.79/£175 which will go towards the 18th birthday pot when it matures in 68 days - the countdown continues...

Goal 2 - Build a Buffer of £500 (homemade overdraft) - due by 31 December 2024
Progress Checker = £0/£500 (0% saved)
This one is rather disappointing. I saved £5 this week, and then ended up having to spend the whole £65 on my MOT and the birthday meal today as I brought my mum's meal, as well as my son's and mine. I'll have to have a think of what I'm doing with this as it'll be on pause for a few weeks. Making the mistake with handling of the Barclaycard double direct debit payment, the varifocals and the MOT (and paying for the engine tray underneath the car to be fixed) has put me in a position where I can't save as much. So I have to think about what to do with the buffer.

Goal 3 - Save £1,000 emergency fund - due by 31 December 2024
Progress Checker = £261/£1,000 (26.10% saved)
I saved £20 this week and I'm really excited to see that I've passed 25%! Things are a bit tight at the moment but I'm pretending that this money doesn't exist as I'm glad to finally have some progress with the emergency fund.

Goal 4 - Complete 50 Envelope Challenge (£1,275) - due by 31 December 2024
Progress Checker = 6/50 Envelopes ~ £205/£1,275 (16.08% saved)
I'm working on accumulating the £50 for envelopes 3 and 47 of which I have £30/£50 so far, as I saved £10 this week. I've made the savings tracker for the 50 envelope challenge and put my own quirky spin on it and it's helping me to stay focussed. I've never completed an envelope challenge before, and considering the other savings and debt challenges I've set myself, I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew... 😬. But I will persevere and see how far I get. But I do really want to have that sense of achievement of completing it for once as I've stopped and started it so many times. 

Keedie

I've saved another £20 to the emergency fund but I've stopped all the other savings for the rest of the month. I've overspent and need to get things back on track and May will be a spendy month as well.

I've tried to get the fridge money together but spent it on my glasses. And now the fridge is kinda cool/warm as opposed to cold. So I've gotta hunt for a fridge freezer on Argos or Currys and put it on credit. Didn't manage things very well, but it is what it is. I've decided to be a bit more zen about my finances and see where that gets me.

I'm hoping that by being less stressed about it, whilst being mindful of what needs to be repaid or saved, I can stop obsessing over it and actually sleep at night. I'm tired of my anxieties running my finances. When I should be managing my finances to reduce anxiety, and not be making financial decisions fuelled on financial insecurity. 

My Leftover Lenny cat tin is more or less full now. So I'm hoping to have the time to go to the bank on the weekend to pay it in. I'm quite excited about it, as I reckon I've got about £30-£40 in there, as there's quite a few 20p coins. But it's mainly made up of coppers, so if I have £30 I will be really happy. It will be a guilt free treat just for me.

I emptied out my purse and there was £2.67 for Leftover Lenny in denominations of 20p and under, a 50p for my Bee Kind jar, and 12 impressive £1 coins, and 2 £2 coins. So £19.07 The £1 coins I will keep setting aside, and when I've got more, I'll use them to complete some smaller savings challenges that I'll make. I was more motivated when I was crossing things off and colouring them in. I do like my spreadsheets, but there's something about colouring in and seeing things visually that makes all the difference. That's why I've been trying to make savings challenges and stuff as they keep me motivated.

I've got a £100 Amazon voucher coming next month as I recommended my mum to the same internet provider as me and that was a referral bonus, that we get a £100 voucher each. So I'll be getting some new saucepans and if there's enough left, I'll put it towards a laminator as my current one was a cheapie and doesn't heat up enough anymore. 

PennysIntoPounds

If it's better for your mental health to just get a brand new fridge freezer then go for it, you're organised with your budget and it's not like being able to keep food safe is an extravagant luxury!
I would suggest having a quick look at places like Olio and FBM though if you feel to, people seem to have to get rid of big household items so often in London what with transient housing situations.
I would offer the one me and Mr PIP need to get rid of before we move, but a couple of the shelves/drawers are really broken so I don't think there will be any takers, which is annoying environment-wise but I'm hoping the council will at least have some sort of scheme where they recycle bits that can be recycled 

Keedie

Thanks @PennysIntoPounds for your kind words. And yes, having a new fridge freezer that works will alleviate my anxieties. The one I have now was from my dad's flat when we cleared it out after he passed away in April 2020.

My fridge broke down because there was something wrong with the electrical socket and it kept tripping or not giving power to the fridge so it just stopped cooling and everything was defrosting and the fridge was warm. The fridge plug socket was replaced by the council but I didn't have contents insurance so couldn't get the fridge replaced. My microwave is also on its last legs as that was my dad's as well, because my son broke the microwave as something exploded in there and the element burnt out. So my dad, fridge and microwave all died within 2.5-3 weeks, and the replacement appliances that I got from his flat were old and not really fit for purpose when I got them. So it's all getting a bit dire now 😬.

My P60 came through and so I've done my tax return on a provisional basis as I'm waiting for Chase bank to do their interest statement, but that will probably be available from next week as they do interest on the 2nd of the month. It looks like my tax liability is £769.20 at the moment, and as I paid £750 in January, I assume I pay the difference? It'll be properly submitted once I have Chase statement. But this time it's not asking for a payment on account for 2024-25, so I am a bit confused. Maybe it's because it hasn't been submitted and it gets updated 🤷🏾‍♀️. Anyways, I've got £332.42/£750 they said would be my second instalment for the 2023/24 tax year. But it now looks like it'll be under £800 for the whole year, so.... a bit confused. I need to speak to HMRC though, as my tax code on their calculation breakdown isn't correct and I just noticed that. Which means it wasn't correct before either when I did the assessment in January.