Hope,Promise and Opportunity

Mrs_Boo_Boo

Well I've been wanting to start a diary for ages and not got round to it! story of my life. Need to be braver in my actions in 2023. I love the song Brave by Ella Henderson. It's one of the current songs in body balance. I absolutely love body balance. 
 
Mindset also needs to change. Have been stumbling along recently. Me, husband and cat at home. Husband has decided to become semi retired. Previously self employed so only doing small jobs he wants to do. This means less income to cover our outgoings. Already calculated for this month and we have to dip into savings. This has been happening for a while now. There must be some wiggle room somewhere like shopping and cooking. 

Will also use it as a to do action diary. Am a big procrastinator too. 

Have headful of ideas and goals. 


Nearly finished tax return, which I dread every year, but have a template as a reminder of what to include. It's never as bad as I think.

• Goal for today is to finish tax return.-receipts (am going to get this completed much earlier in 2023, note already in diary for May).  
• Get my fancy dress outfit ready for tonight.
• Sort out clothes for drying. Priority uniform- 4 sets for next week

Going to take it easy for now as I don't want to run out of steam and give up. 

Happy New Year Everyone   😊 See you next year

FootyFanDan

Well done for taking the first (most important) step and deciding it is time to make changes. Wishing you a Happy New Year and the best of luck with your goals moving forward

Mrs_Boo_Boo

Well what a brilliant night. 
Managed our fancy dress ok. All came together in the end. Went to several friends' houses. Paced myself on drinks, 2 glasses of Prosecco and then soft drinks all the way. As I am getting older I have discovered I don't need to drink to have a good time. Gets rid of the anxiety about a hangover the next day and was having terrible hot flushes which only made the situation worse. Pub was fantastic as the new landlady/owner has improved things considerably. 

Didn't get very far on the receipts yesterday. Had to do husband's make up. Need to make a start before I get too tired and my brain stops working today. Have offered to take a friend's dog out for a walk later as they are going out. She is such a great dog and I am now confident with letting her off the lead. Will blow away the cobwebs. 

Husband gone to watch football. Yippie. We get on well and are a team, but I love time on my own too. Joy without spending anything. 

Goals

• Put receipts into order and record. 1 hour 
• Take friend's dog out for a walk.
• Make 2 Birthday cards
• Sort out food-make a turkey pie-this may be tomorrow instead, depends how awake I feel!
• Bed at usual time to reset body clock

Went looking for fancy dress clothes yesterday. Husband had mentioned having breakfast previously. He suggested going back home for poached eggs on toast. MSE mindset awareness noted ✔

Have a good New Years Day today. 

WinterWarrior

Welcome and good luck. 

If you don’t mind me asking, can you afford for your husband to be semi retired yet and has his pension kicked in? If it turns out ends aren’t meeting then would he be prepared to up his hours and save up a bit first? If you can, then fantastic 😁

We are at the age where we would love to retire early, but absolutely cannot do so until we have finished the mortgage and are 100% sure we will have enough pension and savings to cover everything without any painful cutbacks (essentials like chocolate 🤔).
Your NYE sounded lovely. 

Chrystal

Wishing you a Happy New Year, and the best of luck going forward.  XXX

LookingForPeace

Happy New Year @Mrs_Boo_Boo! So glad you have a lovely night. I'll be reading your diary - best of luck! 

Mrs_Boo_Boo

Hi there. Thank you all for your support my lovelies. 

Yes WinterWarrior you are so right. We probably cannot afford him to retire yet, but he is a carpenter and his body is not what it used to be. He has been paying into a private pension since his 20's so at least he has some contributions. Will need to get some advice. He may take 25% which could go some way to reducing our mortgage and leave some wiggle room. This diary is great at raising awareness of these things. 

Have calculated the money and it is scary. Got so many events this month. Weekend away to celebrate a 60th Birthday. Pub lunch etc. 
Going to stay with Mum & Dad the weekend after. 
Leaving do for a colleague at the end of January.
Soon adds up.

Am also registered with the bank for my employers so have the opportunity to work at the weekend, if I want to. It is several grades below my regular job, but brings in additional income. If I complete 3 shifts I get a £200 bonus so really want to achieve this a few times this year. No such chance this month. 

Finished up the turkey in a pie for my husband today. Decided to become veggie a few years ago so enjoyed the leftover veggies. My positive is that I love cooking and can make meals from scratch. Usually order a veg bag from a local provider which changes every week. 

Managed fitness-You Tube body combat (still hurts!)-Sat, walk-Sun and Lucy Wyndham-Read today.

Get Waitrose vouchers with credit card so may use these to buy the drinks we need to take for the weekend.

Work tomorrow. 

WinterWarrior

That’s a good idea looking to get the tax free amount from the pension. It could give some breathing space. Mortgages are so necessary, yet they hang around our necks for so long. I can’t wait to get rid of ours (eventually 😅). 

It sounds like a busy month for you. Using vouchers is a great idea. 

CRANKY40

If he's a carpenter he's probably a good all round handy man. The last person who offered to do little house jobs round here like flat pack furniture, hanging pictures, putting up curtain rails etc ended up with so much to do that he had to stop taking bookings for a while. That might be a bit of a sideline for Mr B if theres potential where you live? 

Mrs_Boo_Boo

Wow thank you for your helpful replies. I never expected anyone to read my diary. Just thought it would allow me to be more aware, accountable and chart my progress.
 
Well the 60th Birthday weekend was fantastic. Everyone mucked in and supported each other. Our friend was so happy. He loves everyone enjoying themselves. Made him a card (I make all my cards to save money) with surf and skate boards as they reflect his passions. Didn't get him a pressie as most people didn't, due to the expense of the weekend, but am planning on making him cheese straws and rhubarb crumble. He is not a cook and buys ready prepared so will appreciate home made versions.  Another friend had a Karaoke machine and played guitar and sang. We boogied too. I love dancing. Was never a big drinker and had a couple of glasses of Prosecco each night. Life is so much easier as I found I would get anxious about having a hangover and experience the come down the next day. Alcohol is a depressant. I can have a great night without drinking. Yippie. Felt so much better the next day even after going to bed at 1am. His daughter even bought bottles of Nozecco for me to drink. 
This is my plan from now on.

Am always a bit anxious about meeting new people and doing small talk, but as one of my new year resolutions is to be more friendlier I vowed to get involved. To be fair there was only 1 person I didn't  and few others I had only met a few times. 
Apart from using more petrol and a pub lunch we didn't spend much. Took our own drinks and the food we ate was paid for by his children. 

Thanks WW. I am not sure the lump sum from Mr BB's pension would pay our mortgage off, but it could go some way towards it. Just remortagaged from 1.98% to 3.6% for 5 years and it is slightly more by £6.00 odd. Have kept the overpayment amount too so we are nibbling it away gradually. It's the small things again. 

Hi there Cranky (bet you are not really, well can be all be a bit,sometimes)-Yes Mr BB is well known in our surrounding area so is never short on work. Just needs to pick what he wants to do from now on. He is excellent at bespoke things such as fitted wardrobes etc and I think he has 'the eye' too. He once made matching bookcases and something wasn't quite right. He said to his customer 'my wife wouldn't put up with that' and made sure they were even looking. We are a brilliant team at interior design and have similar tastes. It's got to be practical, as well as decorative. 

Worked from home on Thursday so saved a uniform and petrol. Ok had to use electricity for lights, but was a bit more productive as I wasn't disturbed so much compared to the office and didn't have to answer the phone. Swings and roundabouts. 

Didn't use the Waitrose vouchers in the end, but bought the booze in B&M. I am able to buy e vouchers with 6% off so saved a bit and found out I don't have to use all of the voucher amount at once. Also save printer ink if I print it at work and there is a B&M on the way home. 

Not much to report as it will be another full time week and then visiting my Mum & Dad at the weekend Petrol will take a hammering this month. 
Need to complete a meal plan and order a veg bag. 

Take care 
xxx

Mrs_Boo_Boo

Back again. Got a free (ish) weekend and had yesterday off. 
Weekend away went well and actually spent just over £30 on petrol and nothing else. 

Busy week this week as I have a student with me. She is lovely, but, of course I have to think for 2. Won't last for long as she gets to grips with the processes and becomes more confident. Supporting students is a great part of my job and payback for my own student placements. 

Not overly productive yesterday. Did manage to clean upstairs so only downstairs today. Beautiful day today. Frosty start, but already have washing on the line. Completed telephone calls which are more tricky during work time. 

Cancelled my YNAB subscription. Not used it for a while. Didn't really meet my needs or I wasn't using it correctly!!! Find good old fashioned pencil and paper just as effective. 

Used B&M e voucher again for cat food. 

Mr BB has work lined up again so some extra income. Existing customers and a plumber mate who can't fit shower board. 

Renewed my car insurance. Pay annually so need to find a way of saving it monthly so it's not so much of a shock. 

Kept receipts so would really like to know how much I've spent on groceries this month. Am really aware of spending less and not stockpiling so much, unless it's reduced or on special offer. So easy to be swayed to pick up a few treats. The supermarkets know how to get you, if you let them, especially the middle of budget ones. Payday on the 25th. 

Like the idea of sweeping money not required yet, from our current account to a savings account until it's needed again. The Zopa method where savings can be locked in for a higher rate looks useful. Am always a bit cautious at first, of trying new things and have to think about it for a while. Once I've made the decision I am ok. Every little bit of interest helps. 

Taking a friend's dog out for a walk later on this afternoon. 
Going out with my friend tonight, but getting the bus in and back and going to watch a band or two in a pub. Don't drink much so should be a cheap night and the bus back is 11.10 so not too late. 
Out for breakfast in the morning with Mr BB and his friend. Catching up with another friend who we don't see very often. 

Wash kitchen floor
Make a birthday and leaving card. 
Christmas card list from ones received last year. 
Start to tackle to room of doom. It's such a mess. 
Iron uniform for next week x5.
Review grocery and cat food bill for this month.

Enjoy the sunshine, if you have it. 
😎🌞