Prosperous soul, mortgage neutrality & creativity Year 2

savingholmes

Lucielle, Sandy, Sunshinegirl2, Humdinger1, DIA, Jwil, Beanie, Skint and Merlin

All of you who joined me in over-spending recently - hope it was fun!! On a positive note - a bag of clothes has left the house and gone to a textile bank. Baby steps... Well done other declutterers and garadeners.

On the plates - the jury is still out slightly... I'm not ready to give up the Alice set completely - so it may be my posh CS set from the 60s that needs to go - or at least displace into a cabinet in the garage... That way I have a choice of 2 matching sets in the kitchen.

I had a lovely time with DD. We went for a meal and then a musical. She'd only ever been to a pantomime before so enjoyed it more than she expected. It was also shorter than she feared. DD is away overnight tomorrow with work and may leave before I get home. I have to go into work tomorrow. Ideally I'd have prepared for a meeting I have before I got there... Hmmm... May be winging it.

DS has said he may come home this week but would like to borrow my car one of the days he's up to go and see a friend who's only briefly in the UK. I'd need to insure it if he did but it would be lovely to see him. I may or may not recharge the insurance... I'm expecting it to be about £40 if it's for 2 days. I asked him re the Scotland trip - he'd be interested if its just us two... but if he is up we can perhaps look at where we would like to go and see what cottages are available and how much they are. I'd potentially book Friday off to spend with him which would be lovely. I last saw him mid March.

savingholmes

Well I've totted up how much I owe on my CC and it comes to £414. I'm due to add to that further with a part for my oven when it comes later in the week of up to £40 - I've already paid the labour. Also if I insure DS on my car that's another £20-40 depending if it is just 1 day or two. Plus we're likely to go out for the day if I take a day off to be with him and would therefore have a meal out somewhere. I also will need to top up on groceries towards the end of the week. After my committed bills come out this week I would have had £325 left to put towards the above - but don't want account to get to nil. I can pay from next pay day's money - but I can't put money towards my next holiday yet - and that in turn has a knock on impact to other savings goals.

Although I'm disappointed, when I've looked at this month's spends they include legit things like unexpected dentist fee of £103, opticians of £209 - and an extra £75 on the handyman and £59 on the oven (labour). That's before my spending on compost and fence paint £48 delivered, plants c£26,  different paint for arbour £11 and damp proof paint £17. I also spent about £90 on clothes. Plus I had my week away. Some of this I could have raided my savings to pay for but I left them untouched as they are earning interest and I'm paying no charges for CC - and the previous balance was cleared from last month. 

Next pay period is due to be a costly one too. It's my birthday and I'm funding an outing for me and DD and my sis's family. I also want to get the handyman to do some painting and decorating once he's finished the garden projects. He's cheap - but it still costs... I may also get him to help me pick out a pond pump and ask people to contribute towards it for my birthday. The problem is I potentially also need an electrician to make sure the outside wiring is okay and put in some decent outdoor sockets. I'd also like new outdoor lights. I need to keep reminding myself that spending on home maintenance is a form of investment too. However, I'm in danger of trying to use the same pot of money multiple times over and need to pace myself better. I may just buy a solar fountain for now for the pond as it would be better than nothing - I'm worried that's just wasted money and I'd be better resolving it once and for all.

I'll let you know what I decide.

Merlin's_Beard

Reassuring myself that I can use the same pot of money three times over is one of my bad habits, too.

As far as outdoor lighting - it's surely better to buy once and buy the thing you actually want, unless it's going to be years waiting.

EssexHebridean

Do you  need to consider starting some new savings pots for some of the things that have this time had to come out of the current month's money?  I agree with M_B that buying once and getting the right thing is the way to go, but I guess this is when you have to evaluate whether you have to put that off until you can amass the savings to cover it?

The stuff you've invested in over the past little while is to a large extent investment in yourself too isn't it - the dental work, the glasses, and even the household stuff. It all adds value. 

Blackcats

Well done on the de-cluttering.  Little and often is best for me although it's been a case of little and not very often for a couple of weeks.  You've prompted me to have a 10 minute blitz today, so thank you for that.  I'm finding that it's the being able to organise better that is the greatest benefit of less stuff.  

Some of your spends this month have been pricey but essential - glasses and dentist in particular.  Some have been important, like the value you got from your holiday.  The garden spends are seasonal so that would be fairly easy to create a savings pot for.  Reminds me of the time management grid - urgent/ important/ etc .  Too many management training courses have clearly taken a toll on me 🤣

I wouldn't compromise on buying a fountain that wasn't really the one I wanted but I found myself on the DFW board for a reason!  Perhaps I should amend that to say that if I could afford it by being creative with how I funded it then I would buy the thing I really wanted.

SandyShores

Hi savingholmes.  I'm thinking of buying a water feature and have been looking at solar powered ones with battery back up.  I think they work when solar charged but also have a solar charged battery to switch on when its needed.  I need to look into this a bit more, but I thought that was a good compromise.  Sandy

savingholmes

Merlin's_Beard said:

Reassuring myself that I can use the same pot of money three times over is one of my bad habits, too.

As far as outdoor lighting - it's surely better to buy once and buy the thing you actually want, unless it's going to be years waiting.

I think you're right and Blackcats too. I've done too much in the past of not buying the thing I really wanted and then upgrading later so it costs more in the end. I'm planning to ask for money towards the pond pump for my birthday from my parents. That could give me a chunk towards it.

SandyShores said:

Hi savingholmes.  I'm thinking of buying a water feature and have been looking at solar powered ones with battery back up.  I think they work when solar charged but also have a solar charged battery to switch on when its needed.  I need to look into this a bit more, but I thought that was a good compromise.  Sandy

Sandy - I looked at some of those in a garden centre. I'm not sure they'd work with mine as I have a pre-existing waterfall feature that is currently in need of a good clean. It then needs a long pipe to help it recirculate between where it is and the main part of the pond - there's a short 'rill' between the two. I therefore need the pump to power the 'waterfall' and help keep the pond clean. All being well my handyman is coming tomorrow and I'll ask him to advise further using Am**** as a guide on what I need so I can at least price it up.

EssexHebridean said:

Do you  need to consider starting some new savings pots for some of the things that have this time had to come out of the current month's money?  I agree with M_B that buying once and getting the right thing is the way to go, but I guess this is when you have to evaluate whether you have to put that off until you can amass the savings to cover it?

The stuff you've invested in over the past little while is to a large extent investment in yourself too isn't it - the dental work, the glasses, and even the household stuff. It all adds value. 

When I originally set up my budget I had a set amount intended to go in separate pots for car, clothes, pr1me, NT etc. However the way the interest rates have worked out I get over 5% on two of my accounts and so I've been reluctant to pull from them and have been more focused on maximising the interest on those two rather than on keeping the pots separate. If DS and I commit to the Scotland trip though I will need to set up dedicated savings for that. 

Thank you for saying its an investment - I think after paying off £70K of debt - even though I now have nearly £6K in savings I feel guilty for 'non essential' and even essential spends. I do waste far too much time feeling guilty for stuff.

Blackcats said:

Well done on the de-cluttering.  Little and often is best for me although it's been a case of little and not very often for a couple of weeks.  You've prompted me to have a 10 minute blitz today, so thank you for that.  I'm finding that it's the being able to organise better that is the greatest benefit of less stuff.  

Some of your spends this month have been pricey but essential - glasses and dentist in particular.  Some have been important, like the value you got from your holiday.  The garden spends are seasonal so that would be fairly easy to create a savings pot for.  Reminds me of the time management grid - urgent/ important/ etc .  Too many management training courses have clearly taken a toll on me 🤣

I wouldn't compromise on buying a fountain that wasn't really the one I wanted but I found myself on the DFW board for a reason!  Perhaps I should amend that to say that if I could afford it by being creative with how I funded it then I would buy the thing I really wanted.

Since the divorce, my house is now the best maintained it has been in years and it is still improving. There was a huge backlog of often silly little jobs that needed doing (who glues on a toiler roll holder really people???) - and it is lovely to see them finally getting ticked off through a combination of my efforts and hired in help. Similarly on the decluttering, I have a long way to go but a huge amount of stuff has left my house. I put a line in my budget for maintenance - but used it up on other things for a few months - put didn't really put a line in for materials. I need to put in for labour and materials unless I plan to get more hands on...

Well done Blackcats on a ten minute blitz. I now look around and laugh and say procrasta-clutter... I took another load of clean washing upstairs this morning and put it away before work. That's progress!

Had a good day at work today. Working from home tomorrow. I'm due to have my cleaner here and the handyman so hope it doesn't get too distracting!! Hoping the weather is kind.

lucielle

Fingers crossed the weather behaves. Love it when my cleaner has been. 

L

savingholmes

I bounced a payment to NT today. I did email them last night and say I didn't want to renew but didn't cancel the direct debit in time - as my current membership doesn't end until the end of the month and they hadn't sent me a renewal letter.  Don't know if that will affect my credit rating... I've belatedly tried to cancel the direct debit - but no idea if it will work.

MovingForwards

Really like the new dinner set, very summery.
Sorry to hear the oven is misbehaving. 
You're garden is coming together and herbs can be scattered throughout or create a herb bed / set of pots near the door for ease of cooking with.