Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

foxgloves

I think that's why my mood has been on the low side today, @Baileysbabe - just barely feels as though it's got light. Mr F says he's been just the same.
I'll aim at least to go for a walk tomorrow, if it doesn't turn into another constant long wazz-down.
F x

Sun_Addict

The weather has been truly dire today, pretty much everywhere I think as I was on a teams call with colleagues in Manchester and Cardiff and it was the same there. I’ve never been so pleased to be WFH as I have today. 

WinterWarrior

Constant long wazz-down is the perfect description 🤣 Dog and I got soaked through and that was just pootling in the garden (she’s too elderly for a proper walk).
I loved your very interesting pots lists. MrWW and I budget separately, but I’m a big fan of pots (although it took me a while to get the hang of them).

badmemory

I know what you mean about it seeming not to have got light & this is for days.  I was talking to my sister just before noon on Sunday when I paused said OH & then burst out laughing & had to explain why of course.  I had just been about to say I hadn't closed the curtains yet.  I'm not sure why I've even opened them this week.  Have you ever noticed when times are difficult the weather is too?

marionmgcars

pouring down down here too,  nice treat this morning using a gift voucher for massage, think I’ve been knitting too much as shoulder was aching 😊.  Finished a shawl.  Loved knitting this and adding beads, but not too keen on finished result, and it’s a gift, so hope I like it more in morning 🤣

AnimalTribe

Hi

I hope you don't mind if I join in. I really need to watch the pennies this year as I've lots of expensive repairs to fund. I had to replace my washing machine and fridge in December and this week I've had to replace 2 water pressure pumps. I've a long list of upcoming repair spends too - so any money I can save in one area will offset the other necessary spends.

foxgloves

Hello & thanks for stopping by to read & comment. 
@Debsnewbudget - That sounds like a really good offer, but too soon for me as I hadn't got my seed box sorted yesterday
@Winterwarrior - It took me a while to get the Savings Pots right for us. Initially, I started with just 6 of them & used physical cash which I put away in envelopes each month. This worked & got me used to operating a savings pots-based system, but I soon learned that I wasn't allocating enough for 'House & Garden' & I also needed more categories. I'm happy with it now though. The 10 categories of pot listed in my earlier post are all things which we know we will need to buy/replace/service, etc, so they don't count as emergency fund. We do have an emergency fund but it is absolutely for 'WTSHTF' situations, rather than cats' annual jabs, leaking walking boots, new car tyres, car servicing, new specs, etc. I try hard to ensure that the Savings Pots are sufficiently operational to cope with the expenses we should all be able to see coming, iyswim.
@AnimalTribe - Hello & yes, do feel welcome to join in. I think we all have subtly different goals for watching the pennies in what economists are flagging up as a very difficult year, but the methods are pretty much the same - as a basic rule of thumb, every £1 saved from somewhere in our budget is a spare £1 available for something else, whether that's paying off debt, achieving more 'flex' in the monthly budget, setting up savings pots or putting into general savings.
F

EssexHebridean

Yes - we work on the same basis with emergency fund - it isn't for the things that should be being budgeted for! At the moment our EF is actually tucked away in our longer term savings - in a reasonably paying easy access account. There would be enough in there for any form of vaguely possible emergency in our world I think. Once we are moved and in a house I will have to re-jig - and there will need to be a dedicated pot specifically for household repairs I think in case of issues with the roof/boiler etc I think, and I'll have to plan how to deal with things like annual boiler servicing too. It's going to be an interesting time! 

Weather here started bright but cold today, and has now descended into pouring rain yet again. Sigh. 

foxgloves

Hello m'dears,
It's turned squally here this afternoon, so very pleasant sitting up in Foxgloves HQ getting a few bits & pieces done. Better mood today all round - I did still have yesterday's headache when I first woke up, but it decided to disappear when it was offered coffee & cheese on toast. 
Today's small money saving wins (because we know that they all add up):
*Fed sourdough jar ready to bake a loaf tomorrow. 
*Did next week's meal plans, prioritising stuff we have in stock & a Sunday roast from which I'd expect to get 3 days of meals minimum.
*Sorted out my seed box. Well worth doing as I found that I already have sufficient seed left from last year to grow aubergines, peppers, chillies, courgettes, squash, lollo rosso lettuce, parsley & basil. I also have oodles of flower seed - I'd forgotten how much seed-saving I did last year. Then......
*Checked prices/availability online & placed an order for most of the seed required. Just a couple of packets left to pick up at the garden centre because the seed merchant I used didn't stock them. £25 order, including p&p. I was pleased with that as my seed orders regularly topped £45 - £50 not all that many years ago. Then the letter-box flapped & it was Postie..........
*....who brought our Car Tax renewal bill, which I immediately noticed was not for the £170 I had budgeted on January's bills spreadsheet but was instead £155. Remembered that our car came with a year's road tax included last January when we bought it, so the £170 still showing on my bills spreadsheet referred to our previous car. Corrected spreadsheet & paid the unexpectedly spare £15 into House & Garden Pot to offset the seed order.
*Nobbled Mr F about needing to access the Pet Insurance Portal (he set this up in his name to harvest a juicy opening nectar points offer) to extract this year's monthly payments for Soot & Ash's policies, which I need to update the bills spreadsheet. 
*Looked through my cards stash to see how many I already have in stock for birthdays between now & the end of April. I found a suitable card each for 3 friends, there's also the one I bought last weekend for a nephew, so I only actually need to buy one each for 2 other friends & another nephew.
*Made a note of items I need to buy for my toiletries stash - I like to have certain items in hand as it annoys me when I run out. Only need a box of hair colour, mascara & foundation atm.
*Took advantage of a sunny morning (yes really!) here this morning & had a swift walk around the village for some free fitness.
*Today's salvage - 2 decent envelopes for reuse & cut up another empty spread tub to make a few more free plant labels. 
*Zero effort meal tonight as I made sufficient yesterday to feed us twice - only need to do jacket potatoes then cool the remaining small portion to add to some already frozen leftover pilau rice to make a future packed lunch for Hungry Horace.
I've also finished am outstanding photos project, but that has nothing to do with money saving, so I haven't gone into detail. It was, however, one of those tasks which has been sitting looking balefully at me for several months ...."I'm still here, you know.....you wanted to do this, you started it, but then you left us all unloved & alone while you found more interesting things to do......" I always find the completion of this sort of task particularly satisfying to get out of the way!
Hope everyone's managed to have at least a reasonably decent day,
Onwards all with the conservation of our funds!
F x

foxgloves

Yes, it will certainly be interesting, @EssexHebridean, because once you've moved, you'll start to get a feel of any house-based costs which are likely to change, or to add new ones. One of the things we discussed in our recent Money Summit was how to categorise replacement of our small flat roof when it needs doing. I can feel it 'in my water' (as my Gran would have said!) that this is a repair just waiting in the wings. My sister's just had a leaky flat roof replaced & was told that their life expectancy is around 12 years. Ours is about 18 years old, if I remember rightly. In a scenario where water starts coming through, that's an emergency so we could use our emergency fund. But on the other hand, if we know perfectly well that this small area of flat roof (it's above our rear lobby & utility) is likely to go at some not too distant point in the future, maybe even this year or (heaven forfend!) next week, is it not more of a 'foreseeable expense' than an actual emergency? We didn't come to a firm conclusion.....I think tbh, it depends how things are looking overall when it happens......but I did propose raising the 'cap' on our House & Garden Pot to £3000 (which will only happen gradually) so that if we get a couple of year's grace on survival of the flat roof, then we will at least have a bit to put towards it when the inevitable happens. I think that bigger household repairs do often fall between 'emergency fund' & 'House & Garden Pot' - the main thing is not be caught on the hop. Houses are money pits, followed only by the 2nd Money Pit on the list - cars!
F x