We will get this debt down & the savings up

foxgloves

Hang on in there! x

Makingabobor2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82087575#Comment_82087575

That sounds like a plan. Think we should have @foxgloves as our professor of all things MSE & @Sun_Addict in charge of exercise.

foxgloves

Oh no, defo not me! I am pretty strong on the practical old-style stuff, but no good on investing, chasing hot interest rates, stoozing or anything hardcore. I'm very much more at the 'How many meals can I get from a roast chicken' end of things. Am good at shopping from home & using up though x

EssexHebridean

Sometimes real life gets on top of us and we just need to step back from other aspects for a while. It sounds like you're keeping the MSE faith in the background though - and that is what this all teaches us, how even if we aren't right on top of it all the time, a lot of things become unconcious habit.

You have also reminded me that I need to make surveys just such an unconscious habit again!

Makingabobor2

So, I promised to make a fresh start in September, so here I am. The summer has flown by and despite the hot weather, I really enjoyed the sunshine and spending time trying to become a better gardener….even though the weather was really against me. We also had some time away, visited my dad and sister, and DH had over 2 weeks off work and we actually spent time together and did stuff, which has done us both the power of good. I have deleted FB from my phone as I found it was becoming time consuming and not helping me. Still have it on my laptop and just check it once a day, although actually I didn't even put my laptop on yesterday, so didn't check it at all. I had a break from dance classes in the summer, but did keep going to the gym, but feel I really need to get back into exercise again as my step count is not as good as it should be, although I am doing more strength stuff. While DH was on holiday we were doing 14000/20000 steps a day, but its slipped back down now.

So I am well and truly ready to get back into it all again. I was trying to keep the MSE faith as much as I could over the summer, but had a few problems that deleted the EF quite a bit, but I am determined to get it back up again and the amount we transfer each week will be increased. DH had to have new specs, which aren't cheap, but at least that should do him for the next 2 or 3 years, but we had what I call my Eyes/Teeth and NHS pot for most of that.

The debts are still going down slowly and I intend to get that more in hand, as best I can. Will be good when I have finished paying for my hearing aids on the interest free, but at least they are helping, so its not as if we are paying for nothing. The payments for that run until May, so that will be here before we know it. If I happen to come into more money in the mean time, I can pay it off at any time as well. Once that is finished there will definitely be a bit more to spread around each month.

P/fc was a bit slow in August as I was trying to balance, making more money with not going online so much, so ended up making the princely sum of £24.36. Starting to log in more this month and hoping for a much better month. I've been selling a few bits on V*nt*d and made a few ££ there, but very frustrated as I had a jacket I listed for £25 and it sold, but the buyer selected Relay as the postage option. Well somewhere along the line the courier put the wrong address label on the parcel and the buyer received the wrong parcel, some random ornament! So we have both complained to V*nt*d and tried to contact the courier, but this had been going on for many weeks now and despite V*nt*d T&Cs saying they will compensate the seller if parcels are lost, they are still investigating it and we are getting nowhere. So I have now taken Relay off my options, so will only sell via RM and Evri.

The garden produced loads of tomatoes this year, more than I have ever had before, and I made my first ever batch of passata at the weekend, which I was very pleased with. We have had mini cucumbers, although they have been knobbly and spikey…..very odd. It was my fist time growing cues. Peppers which I thought weren't doing anything, suddenly going and we had a lovely big one, and now 4 more starting to get bigger. So now I know I can grow peppers and that they take ages, I will do them again next year. Potatoes were also great, and I have some growing for winter. Carrots were good, and I meant to sow some more, but never got round to it. Courgettes were ok, but not huge, but will try again next year. Raspberries didn't seem so good this year, so will see what next year brings. Rhubarb produced enough for a few crumbles, but it was only the 2nd year, so again I am hoping for better things next year, although the heavy rain seems to have decimated it a bit, hoping it will grow back as I understand they are quite hardy. So all in all a good year, as it was the first year with my mini greenhouse/cold frame. So will try and be even more organised with it all next year and spend the winter reading up on different things, as I am still very much a novice gardener. We went collecting blackberries and have loads in the freezer, so that is one thing to keep us going over the winter.

So my plan for the rest of the week is to do a freezer inventory and write a list to make a meal plan, as I didn't do one at the start of this budget period, and we are now into week 3 of my 4 week period. Housekeeping pot is looking good though and I am hoping to actually come in under budget this time. I have been using the credit card, to get the points and paying it off straight away.

I am also trying to find a good waterproof jacket. I have had 2 in the last year, bought 2nd hand from V*nt*d and both turned out not to actually be waterproof in a downpour, and as it looks as though heavy rain may be the way of things in the future, I think a good one is needed. Just all seem so expensive though.

So that's about it I think. I will try and make my diary more interesting, but I don't think I lead an interesting life really…..LOL We have decided that we need to do more things together and go more places that don't cost anything, or cost very little. So we have planned 3 nights away at the end of the month for our wedding anniversary. Nothing luxurious or anything, just a jeans and T-shirt sort of thing, seeing some things we have talked about doing for a long time and spending very little money. Although I do have pots for all these things….LOL

so lets see how the next few months develop

foxgloves

Sounds like you've had a good summer for veg. Peppers always seem to take ages - perhaps less so for folk who live a lot further south, idk, but for me, they are usually about the last thing I pick. I've picked & used some but most of them are still on the plants, growing & ripening. Our courgettes haven't been as prolific this year. Same amount of plants last year produced an enormous glut. No glut this year. They have kept cropping through the heatwaves but just haven't done as well as the plants have obviously been stressed.

I decided to buy a good waterproof jacket a couple of years ago & got one from the Marine Condiment Shop. I did think it was quite expensive but the next time I went in to look at them, there was a 20% off offer on selected coats & so I bought it. I also bought the recommended wash & waterproof products, which I wouldn't usually bother with, because I thought having paid more money than usual, I want to look after it.

I've also been considering less time online. I am a shocking news junkie because I've always been really interested in politics/current affairs & while the news stories are one thing, I wind myself up by reading people's comments…though I usually manage to restrain myself from replying. I have signed up to a creative writing course which I want to begin this month, so I shall obviously be online for that, but that's something specific rather than noodling around wasting my time getting wound up, so I am thinking I will do what I did when I was working - check my emails once in the morning & once early afternoon - nothing will then be so urgent it can't wait till the following morning. FB will be checked twice a day for no more than 5 minutes at a time, news headlines maybe 10 mins or I may revert to Radio 4 News at 5pm as that way I can stay up to date without going off on one about horrible ignorant comments which make me despair for the human race! I think I will probably just check in on here once a day too when I pop on to do my daily post.

What a nuisance about that Vinted sale being messed up.

Glad to hear your hearing aids are helping.

F x

Baldybear

Delurking to say alwaya find regatta quite good and not too pricey.

Makingabobor2

That's a good idea to get the waterproof spray @foxgloves . I think that was possibly the problem with the 2ndhand ones, they had been washed & not resprayed.

I am going into the city using my free buspass today to see if I can find the elusive rain jacket. I hate going into city, and couldn't tell you last time I visited….probably about 2yrs ago at least! It turns out there is a C*tsw*!d outlet there now, so maybe worth a look as they sell all sorts of brands. So it will hopefully be a quick trip..…as they say…" wish me luck, I'm going in"!

Makingabobor2

So the trip to the city is done….the bus was nearly 15 mins late, and hot, crowded and stuffy. The city is really gone downhill since I last visited which must be about 2 years or more. So many closed down shops, lots of nail bars opened up, loads more cafes & takeaways, food delivery drivers sitting around on their bikes waiting for orders to come in, and so many homeless people around and what looked like druggies sat round smoking whatever it is they smoke. So the question is, did I manage to find what I wanted….well, here's the story….

A few weeks ago, when I reconciled the credit card, I hadn't realised that I had inadvertently paid it twice, so there was £88 sat there that I could spend….It had come from my personal spends in the first place. So I found the new C*tsw*!d outlet and the first jacket I saw, although not my usual colour choice, actually fitted really well, and had a zip out fleece lining. And guess how much it was ….£87.89…said the normal RRP was £175. As it is an outlet its a bit hit and miss with sizes and styles etc, but it was perfect and only 2 in my size. So I decided that it was fate and this was the coat that was meant to be. Figured it was worth paying for a decent one, and not keep buying 2nd hand ones that turn out to be rubbish. It should last me many years. So I snapped it up and even paid 5p for a large paper carrier bag that I can repurpose. So all in all a very successful trip, for which I am very grateful. The zip out fleece bit inside is so lovely and warm, I may even wear it indoors in winter to save on heating….LOL

foxgloves

Well that was a great find! It is sad how depleted our city centres are looking. Our big city centre is the same & so many street homeless people who I feel so sorry for as it' can be so hard to leave that lifestyle behind once it's become entrenched. Our local town has some nice indie shops & a new Waterstones but there are way more salons, barbers, nail bars & mobile phone accessories shops than required for such a small town. Everyone moans about how tiny the market is nowadays but can't seem to connect it to doing their shppping online & in supermarkets.