Moving on with things

Grumpelstiltskin

Alt buy a secondhand car, put a personalized number plate on it and 99.9% won't know it's not new.

dawnybabes

Happy birthday ! 

I’ve never bought a brand new car, always look for a 6 month old one, can have a bloody good holiday for the difference in price !

daisy_1571

Happy bday alt

Cherryfudge

Happy birthday! I hope it's a lovely day. A whole day older than yesterday  .

You've mentioned before about reading bedtime stories and how you don't want it to end. Would it help to include a bit of talking time? If you can build time when he knows you are really focussed on what he has to say ('active listening'), and as he gets more mature, perhaps share some things with him and ask his opinion - this could be your opportunity to get in there before the teens happen and give him confidence he is allowed to share what's going on, be accepted and get some guidance, while also teaching him about the adult world. It's not as cosy as stories - may they never end! - but it could be major for him and still give you that invaluable time together.

mark55man

Happy Birthday!!

ladyholly

Happy Birthday.

Sun_Addict

Happy birthday alt 🎂 

Glad you booked the trip to Lapland, it will be a fantastic experience for you all. Can’t beat making memories. 

I guess your MH is something that will improve gradually and over time. You’re on the right track though so keep plodding. 

warby68

Happy Birthday @alt80

I hope you managed to allow yourself a little bit of recognition of the day - at least Mrs Alt can't ban cake today !!

Now Lapland to look forward to - it might be a circuitous route sometimes but you end up back on the right track these days

alt80

Planned to have a shorter day at work but didn’t get home until 7pm tbf I didn’t get to the office until 10am. Not really done anything for my birthday but thanks all. Said to my son today it doesn’t really matter when you get to my age. Absolutely whacked but can’t get to sleep, tried to have an early night - didn’t go well.

@PollyWollyDoodle yeah it’s hard to acknowledge, I’m trying my best but that doesn’t often seem good enough. Idk I do hold myself to a different standard than what I apply to others. Completely hear you re Warren Buffet, I know its no marker, sometimes the opposite applies.

@RelievedSheff iswyacf although often there are manufacturer incentives that make sense when buying with finance which tends to make brand new more attractive than up to a year old. Tbf I fell into the trap of needing to portray an image that as it turns out to others screamed little other than large financial commitments, not that I saw it at the time.

@Grumpelstiltskin I got rid of two private plates, don’t want or need that in my life anymore. I’ve admitted a lot worse to those that know me than I’ve decided to buy an older car for cash. It’s not about others, I’m just finding it difficult to accustom to the whole debt free lifestyle being something I adopt going forwards. 

@dawnybabes it 100% makes sense if you’re buying cash. I certainly won’t be buying a six month old car with cash if I even bother. I still have no personal savings although I should be debt free at the end of the month, I have no emergency fund / sinking fund which is something I would like to build to at least 3 months expenses. The car situation isn’t ideal, I thought I’d just be able to indefinitely lease new Mercedes EVs through my business and it remain tax efficient to do so but it is becoming much less tax efficient. Idk I can’t keep pulling my property money that goes straight into the SSAS. 

@Cherryfudge ha! Regarding my son, there are times he decides he’s reading to me lol. It probably does sound stupid how I don’t want it to stop tbf I think he lets me read to him some days much more for me than him. 

@Sun_Addict not looking forward to how cold it’ll be, ha. You are right re making memories though, there’s been days they’ve got me through. I’m doing my best to sort my mental health out it’s just up and down, not sleeping is the worst thing followed by stress which isn’t helped by running a business I don’t suppose. Idk I need to focus on the good times. 

@warby68 ha, I’ve eaten too many sweet things today and two of the Christmas coffees. How I feel now I’ll have to concede that my wife is right with cutting that kind of stuff right out.

I’d like to say seeing my son’s face light up when we told him we were going to Lapland made up for the expense but he seems to play it cool these days ha. He’ll love it when he gets there!

alt80

!!!!!! awful day today. I haven't been to look at a development project in quite some time. Went to see one today and just lost the !!!!!! plot. I just don't think I want to do another development, idk I don't have the same appetite for risk. Lack of sleep not helping, it just reminded me of the old times and just how !!!!!! bad it all got.

Have to say I'm having second thoughts about clearing the card this month whilst there is still 9 months remaining on 0%. I keep thinking I could just put the money towards starting an emergency fund in a high interest savings account rather than clear the card in its entirety and just take advantage of the 0% term.