We will get this debt down & the savings up

ladyholly

Mr LH always tell people he isn't allowed money or sharp objects. 

Makingabobor2

Yes @badmemory, we should definitely have it paid off before he retires. He is a lot younger than me and officially has another 12 years till state pension, and 10 years till his official retirement with private pension ( although he could retire and take that earlier, but wouldn't get so much).  Plan is to try and get debts paid off in a year, if possible, or if not, then asap after that.  Although the total debts on my signature is correct, we started off on a proper DMP with SC 10 years ago, but after I got made redundant twice, we went self managed and have just been paying absolute minimum payments for last few years while we concentrated on mortgage. Mortgage had interest, and the other debts don't. They have all disappeared from our credit file now as were defaulted such a long time ago.  We have had good F&F offers from most companies already, many times, but not been in a position to do anything about them until now. So hopefully we can clear them ASAP.  That's the plan anyway. 

Makingabobor2

Happy Saturday afternoon everybody. Although TBH, I still don't know what day of the week it is. Will be glad when its next week and everything is properly back to normal. Although then there will be more traffic on the roads, so guess we can't have the best of both worlds. 

Not much happening here today, as the GKs came for lunch, and we played games afterwards.  Got beaten at Scrabble!
So now just doing a quick sweep of the survey sites and checking the bank accounts. Tomorrow I want to try and pin DH down to a discussion about future savings/debt clearing/ things we need to do etc etc and finalise our plans for the coming year.   That will be easier said than done. 

So that's it for today. Feel too tired to think of anything MSE to talk about.  Have a good evening all. 

Makingabobor2

Afternoon everybody.   What a dismal, wet, cold and windy day.  We had heavy rain over night and then it was heavy snow when DH left for work, flooding and roadworks from a burst water main on the main road, so all in all, a day not to go out!
So I have stayed in all day and tried to sort things out.  Mr S delivery just after 7am, no subs or missing items. So all good there.  Online exercise class done, as well as 30 mins on treadmill. Will do another class later. Need to to at least 10 mins weights today as well, as part of the new Drab to Fab that the online group are doing. Got certain things we need to do every day, and tick them off on a chart.  Very motivational. 

Today is the start of new budget period. All transfers sent to pots, new amounts set up, and bank accounts checked against ledgers etc. Just waiting for the "not now needed" mortgage money to come from joint account (DH's wages), later in the month and can start on getting the debts paid off more. 

Yesterday I made DH sit down and have a financial summit, and discuss things we wanted to to this year, any DIY jobs that need doing etc. Asked his advice on the amounts we are paying into the savings pots etc.  TBH, it was a very one sided conversation, with him just not really contributing much. At one point he asked how many more things I had on the list and had I finished yet!  Really made me cross.  He said he agreed with all the plans I had made and the paying of debts and building up of pots etc and the way I had planned to make sure the holiday was paid for on the agreed date etc.  Then when I asked if he had any ideas about anything we should/could do.....he said....Why don't we buy solar panels?!?!?!.    So I said had he any idea what that would cost and said there are much more important things to spend our money on, and we don't even have that sort of money yet.  He said, someone at work at told him they could make £30 a month selling energy back to the grid!  So I looked up and told him how much the initial outlay would be and how many years it takes to break even!  We don't even know if we will stay in this house. We are always talking about moving when he retires, if not before.  So he than told me I was too controlling and only liked  it when he agreed with my ideas and I never listened to his ideas!  I told him a lot of his ideas were  just not suitable, that's why.    So we had a big row about it, but once he realised how much the outlay was etc, etc, he agreed it just wasn't practical......what is wrong with men?!   He has now tried to redeem himself, by starting on a big declutter of his cupboard he keeps his junk in.  I've put it all down to "paying off the mortgage anti climax" . I think he now realises that my plans to clear the other debts, are actually feasible and the sooner we do it, the better.  He just has no idea sometimes!  

Anyway, rant over.  Tonight's dinner is jacket potato, with mince pork and veg from the freezer.  

Off to look for some more surveys now. Been slow day today. 

Blackcats

It's a shame that your OH is taking a while to adjust to your financial focus and 2025 plans.  Mr BC is very passive with our finances and so I tell him what's happening but mostly focus on successes like £x of interest just got paid or £x is in the holiday pot. 

It sounds like you are really motivated to make progress this year and we can all be here to cheer you on.

Sarahwithlove

Could he just be sulking because you said no to the extra spending money? 

Next time he has an idea like that maybe say why don't you go away and research it some more and then we can discuss it further. Hopefully then he would realise it on his own without him seeing you as controlling everything. 

badmemory

I used to have a friend who's favourite sayings were It'll come right & it'll be right.  Always left me wanting to say (well scream) only if someone sorts it.

Solar panels are great but not if you borrow money to do them & the £30 pay back is only really a sure thing in summer unless someone (you obviously) sorts it.  The best mine have yielded in a day for the last 2 months is 4 kwh & some days less than 1 kwh.  I use up to 20 & some days in summer exported over 30, but there is no guarantee that they will continue paying out at that rate.  Having said that I would still have had them, but not if I was planning to move.  My bills for usage (not including standing charge) are half what they would have been since installation in July, without any export payments.  Now there is a load of info you really didn't want, but may give you some ammo if the subject comes up again.  I believe Greenbee's usage is less than mine & has made much bigger savings.

Makingabobor2

Thanks for that info @badmemory.  Its things like that which are always useful to know when considering purchasing something.  Its something we may or may not consider in the future, so always good to know. 
At least DH seems to be a bit more on board with everything now and has stopped being such an idiot!  I'll put it deon to him having a bad day, and move on I think. 

So what's been happening here?  Well yesterday I went for a haircut. Couldn't leave it any longer and my hairdresser is off for the next 4 or 5 weeks now, due to having to have an op. So I really needed to get it done.  She works from home and charges £20 which is loads cheaper than any of the local salons, so I am happy with that.  After the hair cut I nipped to Mr M, dropped off the plastic recycling and did a quick whizz round looking for any yellow stickered items that I might have actually needed.  Got some bread rolls which will do for DH's lunch for a couple of days, and some reduced stir fry veg and noodles, which was great as I was planning on doing a stir fry last night, so we had the noodles instead of the planned rice. 
I have now done a freezer/fridge inventory and a meal plan, for next 2 weeks.  Like a lot of you, I am trying to use up lots of what we already have, before having to buy too much more this month.   Will be going to the farm shop on Saturday after DH finishes work, to get a big sack of spuds. Much cheaper way of buying them. I take out a small bag at a time and DH stores the rest in the garage to keep them cool. I get him to come with me so he can lift them in the car for me.  A decent spud is always a quick and easy meal. There is so much you can put on a jacket potato. 

Had some mega good studies on P/fc yesterday and this morning, and already at over £25 to cash out later today (first cash of the year)  and another £10 waiting approval.  Also I am almost at the cash out point for 1P*!!.   Hopefully this is going to be a good year for the extra ££.

My new year decluttering continues and I have decided to keep a tally of how many items we can get rid of this year.  I had a quick read on the decluttering thread and see some suggestions are to try for 2025 items in 2025.  Well I'm not sure we have that much to get rid of, but we'll see.  I suppose if I count an item as each piece of paperwork when sorting through the old filing stuff?  Or does that sound like cheating?    I counted up what I had already put in a bag waiting to go to CS and was surprised there was 25 items in there. So with the few bits DH has sorted already, we are up to 35.  So I will add this to my signature if I have enough space to do it and see how I go.  Hoping DH continues his help at the weekend. Although he probably won't do the garage and shed until the warmer weather. 
 I'm also trying to declutter digitally as well.  So going to go through all my rubbish emails I get and unsubscribe to the ones I don't need, so I don't keep getting them. Also go through saved files, photos etc. I'm sure I have much more stored than I really need. 
Then the next plan is making plans for the garden this year.  Really hoping to do a lot more fruit & veggies this year if I can.  Was considering a compost bin, but a bit worried as I've read a lot of people saying they attract rats....any opinions on that.  We had a rat in the garden for a few days last year and don't really want that again....I really can't stand them.  But having a compost bin might save me some money on having to buy compost? 

Off to do some decluttering now. Have a good day everyone. 

Blackcats

I'm doing a digital de-clutter too.  I've got so many out of date emails that I should have deleted as soon as I'd read them.  Also unsubscribing from mailings.  I often find there's a discount code for signing up so if I need anything from any of the companies I can easily re-subscribe and benefit from the x% off code whilst not having to be bombarded and tempted  by marketing emails.

foxgloves

Have been composting since the mid-1990s, @Makingabobor2, when my Grandma bought me a compost bin as a moving-in present (she was then horrified that I named it after her!) & I have never been aware that our compost bins have been attracting rats, even back then, when I used to live next door to a highly dysfunctional family who used their garden as a tip. 
Tbh, if there are rats having a sneaky look around the compost bins, I am not at all sure it would worry me, unless there were large numbers of them. The bins are right at the end of the garden, not near the house & it is often said that wherever we are, we are none of us more than about 6m away from a rat. I'm sure if we had CCTV, we might see the occasional rat in our garden anyway, but as long as they are outside, I am not bothered by the thought. The only wildlife I've actually seen in our compost bins is composting worms (v good thing), woodlice (also good as they chomp up the tougher stuff) & slugs (fine by me as if they're in there scoffing stuff I've binned, they are not tucking into my plants). Other folk may have had different experiences of course. 
F x