We will get this debt down & the savings up

Makingabobor2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82124535#Comment_82124535

Yes, our local town, about 3 miles away, is the same. The market has gone really down hill, and like the city, so many nail bars and cafes etc. I love a town with independent shops, but we just don't have many good ones. In our village, we have 5 cafes, and about the same number of nail bars, 2 Turkish barbers, 2 normal barbers and around 4 or 5 hair dressers. How many does one village really need? Yet the local green grocer closed down, as did the news agents, and bakery. Luckily we do have a good butchers, who now sells some veg, depending on what he can get hold of and we do have a new deli at the top of the village, with some great bread and veg, although very expensive. I'd rather see a good charity shop open when shops close, rather than a nail bar or cafe that I will never use.

foxgloves

Charity shops are closing down too in our local town - I can think of 4 which have gone. There are still several left but all the usual FB moaners are chuntering about the goods being too expensive because they think they are 'the charity' rather than the organisation running the shop. There are always overpriced items but they do usually seem to reduce the price if they don't sell. I think a big part of the problem is cheap throwaway 'fast fashion' garments which are often too poor in quality to stand up to a 2nd hand life. And of course lots of people sell their best 'old' stuff online - I've done it myself.

Makingabobor2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82124606#Comment_82124606

@foxgloves , yes I agree. I hate fast fashion. But would pay for decent 2nd hand stuff. We only have 1 Cs in the village, but in the town 3 miles away, there are several. But the quality of stuff is not great. However if I were to go to a town around 19 miles away, there are some lovely CSs there as well as some great independent shops. I think we just live in the wrong area….LOL. When we went away to Yorkshire earlier in the year, we found some great stuff in CSs there.

Blackcats

Sounds like you found a great coat at exactly the right price.

Our village high street which is imaginatively called The Street doesn't have any empty shops at the moment. When an emm n ss food hall opened a few years ago we worried that it would kill off our little indie shops but actually its revitalised the high street. We still have a greengrocers, bakers, butchers and a glorious deli. I was v impressed a couple of weeks ago when I bumped into our local MP who was visiting the indie shops and asking how she could help support their business. The MP is not from my usual political party but this is the 3rd time I've seen them at small local village events so they can have my vote next time around.

Makingabobor2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82124681#Comment_82124681

Wow....I should move to your town. Obviously you are in a totally different part of the country to us

Blackcats

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82124721#Comment_82124721

we are "down south" but not right down south 🙃

Makingabobor2

Just a quick post today, as need to get on with dinner and tidying up. Finally heard from V*nt*d today about the lost parcel, and they have agreed to compensate me for the full amount, £25. I had previously screen shot and sent to them their T&Cs which state that if the parcel is lost, then the seller would be compensated. It just all took so much longer than it should have done though. Still at least it is back in my bank account now. Listed a few more items to sell today as well, and 2 sold straight away. Only £3, but every little helps.

Got the towels out on the line after the initial torrential rain earlier, so hoping they are dry now, as it looks like it may rain again. It has been very windy, so fingers crossed.

Just cashed out over £16 from P/fc today, so my September earnings so far are already more than I got in the whole of August.

So all in all it has been a good day money wise. So lets see what the weekend might bring.

abaka

Hello - Just been reading through last few pages of your diary. Really inspirational how you've tackled so much debt since LBM. Our figures are similar and it show's it can be done!!!

Makingabobor2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82128617#Comment_82128617

Thank you. Welcome to my diary. We did well the first few years after starting the DMP, and tried really hard to overpay the mortgage so as to save a lot in interest. After finally clearing that, 18 months early, the debt payments seem to have slowed down, but I am working on getting them paid off quicker. I got made redundant twice since LBM, and now an retired, although DH still works. So we are still working on it all, but as you can see, so many things have come along to deplete the savings. But I am determined to get rid of these pesky debts sooner rather than later. I saw you were asking on another diary about surveys. I definitely recommend P/fc, although I know they sometimes have a waiting list to join, but it is definitely worth it. Good luck with your journey, I have bookmarked your diary to cheer you on.

Makingabobor2

Well, the weekend came and went in a flash…so what did we get up to? Saturday I took advantage of free drying weather and used the energy saver wash program. Then we had a quick trip to the nearest farm shop and I used some money from my "Fun pot" for coffee & bacon sandwich. The Fun Pot is the savings account that I put the odd amounts into each day from the 2 current accounts. Its surprising how quickly the odd 53p here or 75p there all adds up. Saturday afternoon I spent starting to go through the wardrobes and drawers again and listed a few more things on V*nt*d. Also decluttered a few more bits for the local CS, which I dropped off this morning. I love a good declutter, and it is still ongoing.

Sunday we spent cleaning the fish pond and starting to cut down/dig out etc all the veggies that have done their share of producing this year. Still got peppers, tomatoes and raspberries doing well though. Need to think about what I ca plant over winter…if anything…I am still a novice at this. In between this I did a few P/fc studies and DH parceled up some camera bits he is selling.

We are now on week 4 of the 4 week budget period so I will sort out the meal plan later, as I didn't get as far as this weeks, but I know I have plenty of chicken left in freezer, and salmon & pies. Also loads of veggies, potatoes, pasta etc, so think I can cover this week without buying too much. Although, having said that, I did pop into Mr S this morning after my dance class, as the brown sauce DH likes is on a N*ct*r offer, so I stocked up with 3 bottles. Was going to get the decaff coffee we like, but they had none in stock….obviously because it was on offer…LOL So we may come in a little under budget this period….will see how the week pans out. Just edited to add that I also used £2.50 worth of N*ct*r points and then popped into L*d! as its practically next door, to use a £3 voucher and get some frozen fruit and smoked salmon with a 15% discount voucher. Every little helps….

I am going to go through the finances before the start of the next 4 week budget period….pension day. Want to amend some of the transfers I make to various savings pots/ debt pot etc and see if I can make it all a bit better. I'm sure I can.

So that's about it for now, just looking for a few more studies/surveys this afternoon, and then will get dinner sorted. Using up a lot of yesterdays left overs today, to make some sort of hash/bubble & squeak type thing…..one of my favourite meals. Also got some pears to use up and some blackberries in freezer from our pickings a few weeks ago. Got some crumble mix in the freezer as well, so think a quick crumble is in order today as well.