The Mental Debt Struggle...

Cherryfudge

Your son is a wise head! Combined with your knowledge and abilities (even when feeling fuzzy), you two are a force for change.

Did you complain about the kitten food pouches that went off? You might be due a refund or they might give you some sort of recompense to make up for the loss. Don't feel you have to, of course, as it could just be another hassle you could do without.

I wonder if pet food pouches would freeze?

I never buy a Christmas dinner, but I do like cooking so that's all right by me. It's not for everyone. If you are looking at having a starter and a dessert, could you look out for deals on favourites from now on and freeze them? The same for sides. If you have freezer space, you could buy an item a week on things like potatoes, vegetables and sauces. I usually go to the freezers in 1celand for things like sprouts as I'm the only one who eats them and a bag can last me all year. I think you'd find you save money on the packaged dinner, and have leftovers to add to other meals.

Makingabobor2

Definitely agree with @Cherryfudge on the Christmas dinner advice

Keedie

Yeah he is a wise owl @Cherryfudge, and has a lot of emotional intelligence. But I always feel guilty, as I know that in some part,it is a result of him having to grow up quickly as I have been unwell his whole life. First just mentally, then when he was 7, physically ill after the infection from that operation in 2014.

I didn't contact Amazon, as I just couldn't face it. But I got a smaller pack from Tescos and the beef and chicken turned funny as well. So now, I'm wondering if it's a product issue or my flat 🤷🏾‍♀️. But it's confusing, as they're stored in the same place where they've always been, so I'm confused but too stressed about life to really do anything about it.

For Christmas, the only thing that I will be buying is some turkey breast or fillets to season and cook. Everything else will be arriving on our plates via Aunt Bessie's frozen parsnips, potatoes etc, the festive range from Lidl and the small starters from Lidl or Tesco, like mini spring rolls etc. We'll have them whilst waiting to eat properly in the evening, as we don't naturally eat early. And yeah, @Makingabobor2 I also agree regarding Cherryfudge's advice. I'll be buying things slowly, and there's freezer space as I am not on top of shopping and so everything is pretty much a barren land and we've been eating through the freezer, cooking pasta and getting a couple of take aways. I usually buy sweet stuff like Celebrations or Heroes etc in October as everything is on offer for Halloween, but it's not really occurred to me to think of sides for Christmas etc. So I'll start to have a look out.

Debsnewbudget

What makes you think the sachets have gone off - some flavours smell very strongly

Having said that some of the sachets of cat food have gone off for us, but its because a certain little furry monster gets into the cupboard and bites the pouches, thus putting holes in the packets so they are no longer airtight

Could this be what is happening

Makingabobor2

I don't see how they can go off if they are not opened and not kept in hot conditions. Are they are reputable brand? After our cat outgrew the kitten stage, we only fed her on dried food with a fancy pouch on a Sunday. She lived healthy until over 13 years old, so can't be too bad, and it saved us money and also that horrible smell of cat food.

Cherryfudge

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82152651#Comment_82152651

My Mum's cat used to bite pouches - I assume cats can smell through the plastic. I would imagine you would see the puncture marks if that were the case, though.

Keedie

The cat food is Felix, so fairly recognisable, but I knew that the pouches had gone off as I could smell them. And the jelly had liquified, and the beef and chicken smelt pungent enough that Silver sniffed it and moved a couple of metres away.

I have quite a deformed sense of smell, as I can't smell most things at all, only very strong odours. Even when cooking or eating, I can't smell much, and it's always been limited but post covid I can't smell much at all. So being able to smell the pouches made me realise something might be off. So I asked my son to check them, as he's the complete opposite of me, and can pick up scents from a distance and often long after I've eaten something when he's not been home, and he said he can sometimes smell things as he's coming up the stairs to the flat.

Silver doesn't go in the kitchen where the pouches are kept in a small basket, and The bulk of the multipack is kept in the hallway cupboard and Silver can't get in there, and we take the pouches from there to put in the kitchen when the pouches in the kitchen basket are dwindling. And Silver doesn't go in the kitchen to get to the pouches. I've learned the hard way not to have the dried food easily accessible as she put numerous holes in that bag of food, and she also bit through the bag of litter too.

So I don't know what it is with the food. But I've noticed that even before I got those two dodgy orders, she was eating less wet food, and it was starting to go hard, and so we were frequently changing her bowl of food. Which is a costly waste. So trying her on dry food for a while might not be that much of an issue. She always seems to like fish pouches, so maybe I'll try her with a variety of fish ones and see how she goes 🤷🏾‍♀️.

Keedie

My Help to Save payment of £50 came out today, so only 3 more payments to go 🥳. I've decided to open an ISA when it matures and I will send the same £50 a month to the ISA as I'm used to not having the money.

My Natwest Digital savings was also sorted, with £150 going in there. I didn't around to setting aside extra money to be able to save this money from November 2026 to January 2027. But as I am not doing any proper cash stuffing and I am trying to save the surplus of my income by living on a smaller budget, I might be able to work something out in October to be able to make a payment in November. So I've cancelled the standing order, and I will have the whole month to add something if I am able to.

It felt rather refreshing to have a trimmed budget and less subscriptions to organise today, and for this month moving forward. I'm also doing well with my food budget so far this week, so I should have some money to roll into next week's budget. As next week is the first Monday of the month, the budget will be slightly bigger overall, as the weekly cash expenses will be included. I need to go to the post office before Saturday to get that all sorted. It's £250 for the month.

Keedie

I forgot to say that my sister repaid me £40, so I've put that in the Christmas pot.

Keedie

My expense tracking is going well. I'm actually remembering to do it, and as I'm only focusing on variable expenses and the money in my sinking funds and spending account, it's less moving parts to keep a track of. I think I was doing too much when I previously tried to get a handle on everything, as I was tracking each bill, subscription and expense. And it was exhausting, and so I just gave up. But this new way will also help me with my bookkeeping skills.

But I did write down the balance in every bank account, pot, sub account amount of cash I had on 30 September, and so I can compare the end of September 2026 balance to end of October 2026. I figured that way I have an overview of everything and I don't need to get overwhelmed by unnecessary details. Also, I figured it would be fun to see the total amount money that I have, and how much debt, and see the net worth steadily increase. That will motivate me to get the debts down, as the reality is that I'm not very motivated at all.

I also received £500 yesterday as I had lent my brother some money, so I got my new glasses, which were rather expensive to be honest. My son was horrified when he learnt that they were £230 for two pairs of glasses (my varifocal days are behind me). The distance glasses have reaction lenses which will help as I can't see properly when it's bright and sunny or when it's dusk/dark. And I got separate reading glasses with the display screen coating thingy, as I spend a lot of time on a screen. Was a bit stung by the price, but glad that I was able to get them.

I put £16 back into my Rainy Day Fund, as that brought it back up to £100, and I set the rest aside as it's me and my son's birthdays this week. And my football nephew is 18 tomorrow, 5th October and I've got his birthday money and we're going out for a family dinner on Sunday 11th October.

Plus my childhood friend turned 50 yesterday, and she's having a swanky three course dinner at some hotel, there's a bar and a DJ. The menu was a bit 😬 financially, with my son's meal coming from the most expensive menu at £50 and mine was from the £45 menu. I've already paid the £10 each, so it's the £75 balance that I need for this Saturday 10th October.

Me and my son also do a birthday breakfast on his birthday, so we'll go out to eat on Wednesday morning, as his birthday is the 7th October and mine is the next day on the 8th October. So yeah, a financially crippling week, as multiple commitments. I've been saving for them, but the time crept up on me, so I wasn't as prepared as I wanted to be. So the loan repayment came in handy. My sister gave me £25 for the birthday present I got on her behalf for our eldest sister last month, and we both forgot about it. So I'll use that for our birthday breakfasts. We usually just go to a cafe or a Wetherspoons as he likes to have a large fry up (each to their own 😂). I don't mind it, as I enjoy spending time with him whilst he still wants to hang out with me.

He was a bit impatient for his birthday present though, and pressured me for that last month so that he could order something on Playstation that was on a pre-release or something. So he'll only get breakfast a hug on Wednesday. He keeps reminding me that it's Silver's birthday on 22nd October 🙄. I'm all birthdayed out, so he's been looking for a present for her on Amazon and I told him to put it in the basket and we'll see if it drops in price in the Prime Day deals, so that it's cheaper for him. He's also agreed to be responsible for buying all of Silver's food and treats, and contribute to her litter when he has a good week work wise and the number of jobs that are assigned to him. That will free up some of my budget to put towards my debt saving challenge and other sinking funds. It's only a small amount a week, but I'm pleased with that. And his work is steadily picking up, so that's reassuring as well.