We will get this debt down & the savings up

Baileys_Babe

Happy New Year! 🎉

I find a lot of our local charity shops are unable to take donations at this time of year as they are overwhelmed already, do you have a place in your house where you could store your donations until the local shop is in a position to take them?

joedenise

Makingabobor2 said:

Sallyforth said:

Oh dear I purposely buy cob nuts to put out for our very persistent squirrels at this time of year. I usually get them from Mr T’s but it’s out of way so picked them up using vouchers at another shop. I keep telling them “these are not just any nuts they’re X nuts”

I don't dislike squirrels, I just don't want them eating the bird food. Maybe if I put nuts out, they will leave the bird food alone

That's what we do - we've added a peanut feeder which the squirrels love and the birds will eat them too when there's no squirrels around.

Makingabobor2

Welcome to 2025 and the diary continues.  
Today has been wet and windy, so an ideal day to stop indoors and get on with things.  I have filled in my new calendar with birthdays; anniversaries, bin days, holidays, insurance and MOT expiry days as well as the appointments we already have for this year.  All colour coded depending what they are. I can tell this is going to be a good year. 

I've joined the 1p a day challenge, as well as a new one called Fiver Friday.  Also continuing with my EF challenge, which has now got a new target of £3K, currently standing at £1070. 
All the new transfers from DH's wages are set up to start from tomorrow, he still gets paid weekly. And I just have to sort out new ones from my pension which is due on Monday and the start of the next 4 week budget period.  
I intend to be a lot more "on the ball" with it this year, and actually keep more track of exactly what and where I am spending money, as opposed to just updating with "£XX spent on groceries, £xx amount spent on clothes etc. etc.". Thinking of starting a separate pot for refills/stock up sort of stuff, so that it doesn't come out of the normal housekeeping budget. I don't go to the refill shop very often, but when I do, I sometimes spend £40-50 easily.  Might up the housekeeping budget a bit, not sure yet.  Its currently £250, and should be enough, but things seem to have shot up in price.  Maybe I'll give it a couple of months and see how it goes. I have a buffer pot as well, and the intention is to move that to another pot if it doesn't get used every period.  I know what other pots I want to have, just need to work out exactly how much into each one. Will all depend on how much is left after I am trying to clear these last remaining debts. 

So need to get on with dinner now. Its minced turkey (yellow stickered from L!D!) and veg all done in a big pan.  There should be plenty to freeze half as well.  Then we'll finish off the chocolate panettone. Lovely as it is, I will be glad to see the back of it and get back to some healthy eating now.  That is another of my new year intentions, to start monitoring a lot more, my exercise and steps each day and making sure I eat a lot better.   Also planning on getting my free OU online course finished and sign up to some more. 
Hopefully next week I will come up with some good plans for garden and what we want to do in the house this year as well.  

So, have a good evening everyone. See you soon

Makingabobor2

Afternoon all.  Cold but sunny and windy today, so managed to get the washing 99% dry on the line after a 30c wash. Been trying not to have heating on too much, but it has really got very cold now and there's only so much cold air I want to breathe in.  Turned it down earlier as I have been baking, and whilst the rest of the house might feel cold, it is very toasty in the kitchen now, so don't need it on. We can put the gas fire on in the lounge later for an hour to warm it through....one of those open/living flame things and it warms it up very quickly, and as the stairs come into the lounge, it warms the landing as well.    
Decided to combine baking with cooking tonight's dinner, DH likes pie & chips on a Friday....I don't so will have an omelette or pasta.  Its the only night I let him have unhealthy food....lol.  Also while I have the oven on I am cooking a few bits for tomorrow's lunch as the 4 DGKs are coming to lunch and they love sausages and chicken bits....a picky lunch, with pork pie and sandwiches followed by home made cake.   Today's cake is a favourite as it was a recipe my mum wrote down for me and I love it as its in her handwriting.  Also made some shortbread. 

So apart from MSE stuff on the cooking and washing front, I have also Had a bit more of a go at this new budget etc, Monday is the start of the next 4 week period, Pension day and I still had the £20 in the buffer pot, so that has been put towards holiday. I've set up all the news transfers I want to do from pension now, as some of them are changing from last year, as no longer have to worry about mortgage OPs.  Think after a time you get an idea of what works and where you need more money or less.  DH's wages transfers have changed a bit as we no longer have the mortgage to worry about, but as he gets paid weekly, I have to do it all separate from my pension one. So the mortgage money is going into a pot to clear the debts, all but £200 a month, which we are starting a New Car savings pot with.  

I'm starting a "refill/stock up " pot as well, so I don't always have to take that out of main housekeeping budget. Also going to make sure that more goes into "house", "garden", "appliance/tech replacement", and "clothes" pots as well as upping the amount going into the EF and what I call my "teeth, eyes and medical" pot....that is basically, dentist, optician, DH's prescriptions, vitamin supplements etc.  The "annual insurances and boiler service" pot can stay the same, as so far no increases there.  I'm also increasing the Car maintenance pot buy an extra £20 a month
I've also started the 1p a day challenge, the Fiver Friday challenge and continuing the Christmas/Birthday pot, but making sure I continue to put into it more regularly now.  Petrol pot can stay the same at the moment, and we add to it, if we know we have a big journey coming up. 

The  one question I have got, is what do you all consider a good amount for personal spends?  DH thinks that now we have no mortgage to pay, his allowance should increase. He thinks he should have about £200 every 4 weeks now!!!  I think that's way too much. He's been having £150 up till now, and I have £100 every 4 weeks from my pension and then put £50 into a "self care" pot to put towards any massages/hair cuts  etc.   I can't think what he would need that amount for. He hasn't been struggling with anything he's wanted to buy so far.  I cut his hair, so he needs nothing there....we bought clippers back in lockdown and realised how much we were saving.   He doesn't smoke, hardly drinks, so just the odd pack of beer he might ask me to buy when I go shopping every few months.  There is a pot for maintenance of his bike and car, and a clothes pot....provided it clothes he really needs and not just something he fancies...lol.    I don't know, maybe I'm being selfish?  He says, its him that goes to work every day, and therefore helped to pay most of the mortgage off.....plus he used his small pension, if you remember.  So therefore he thinks he should have it as some sort of reward I think.....lol.  

today was also a NSD, number 2 of the month

Anyway, I need to dash and get the dishes washed from my baking and tidy up. 

Have a good evening

foxgloves

We have £100 each per month for our Personal Spends. We usually add our PA survey earnings to it too. Any unspent money rolls forward to the next month & I rarely spend it all. Mr F usually has some left too. Household stuff, clothes, concert/theatre tickets, etc, all comes from other pots so Personal Spends is just to spend on whatever we like. Only 2 rules with it. 1) Can be spent as we choose without judgement 2)When it's gone, it's gone & won't be topped up.until next Big Budget Day.
F

Sun_Addict

I think £100 each is plenty unless one of you has expensive hobbies. I allow £150 for both of us but I also have a bit extra with my survey money that covers my gel polish and hairdressers comes out of my wages on payday. Would he be happy with £100? 

Makingabobor2

Thanks @Sun_Addict & @foxgloves for your replies.   He seems to think that his personal spending money should be not part of any budgeting etc. He said what if he needs to save up for something? Well I have lots of things I'd like to save up for, but want to pay the rest of the debts & get some big savings pots first. He has been doing ok with his spends so far, he's never used it all. Men are just so stupid!

MFWannabe

I can see both sides of the discussion reference personal spends 
I understand your husbands thinking especially if he used his pension to pay mortgage off 
How much per month was the actual mortgage payment? Your husband may think asking for another £50 out of X amount of the mortgage payment is not a lot to ask for? 

I also see that personal spends are to be spent on whatever each of you choose to spend or save it on with no judgement from each other? 

I also see your side as you are trying to build up savings and pay off debts

Perhaps you need to agree that once you have the savings up to a certain amount and debts down to a certain amount that then you could look to increase it if you don’t want to do it now? 

Just trying to look at it from both sides x 

badmemory

I can see why he thinks he should have more spends but if your debt figure is correct you still have a fair way to go & not much EF either.  Will you have it paid off by the time he retires & what if he gets made redundant..  Could it be something as simple as being tired of saying no when the people he works with go out for lunch at the end of the month if he has been doing that for almost 10 years.

Sorry that's more questions than answers there.

kayannie

Do you think that he's just a bit miffed because he's the main 'breadwinner'?

In our case, our only income is the lower rate state pension which is paid into our joint bank account. OH leaves all the financials to me which means that when we go shopping, I'm the one who pays for everything from that account. I often hear him telling people (jokingly) that he has no money & that I have it all! We don't have a monthly allowance, but if we need something,  then we have it, as long as it's affordable. In my case that's a couple of coffees a month when I go shopping alone, or in both our cases if will be items of clothing or anything else we might need. 
Luckily, we've always been frugal & have never been in debt except for when we had a mortgage. 
KA