Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

foxgloves

@Makingabobor2 - Clothes sorting is on my list for this week too. 
F

Sun_Addict

Thank @foxgloves. All Mr SA’s tools were De Walt when he was in the building trade, even his radio. That’s a great deal. 

foxgloves

Morning Campers,
Thanks for all your comments - I've just been catching up with all of those. Mr F back to work this morning, but only a 3-day week so he thinks he'll be so busy, it'll fly by. 
I have a busy day planned .....it will be along these lines:
*Probably not a no-spend day as I hope to order B-i-L's birthday present.
*At least 3 loads of laundry - 1st load already churning - as looks like a much better day for pegging out than tomorrow.
*Deal with fish box due today. Will need portioning & freezing.
*Seaweed tonic for all greenhouse plantlets (this fell off the list yesterday as I opted to make a batch of garlic flatbreads instead - which shifted some elderly yoghurt then fancied a nice bubblebath).
*Update grocery budget.
*Having now discussed optimum use of recent inheritence money, do the required fund transfers to move it to where it needs to be. I can do the majority of this electronically - apart from a building society visit on Friday, but for that, we're fortunate still to have a branch in town (unlike our bank which is now a 36-mile round trip city centre visit with the usual high car parking charges).
*Already done a (stultifyingly dull) survey while drinking my ginger tea so will see if there are any others around. Have not put the effort in recently so PA will barely be worth cashing out this month.
Right. Time to fetch the milk in off the step & get on with what I'm hoping will be a productive day.
F x

foxgloves

Anyone remember that old Mitchell & Webb comedy sketch 'Numberwang'? Basically, that's what this morning has felt like, trying to get my inherited money allocated with an error somewhere in the maths. Grrrr, back I go to the calculator. Have topped up my caffeine levels so I reckon I might spot the error now.
F

Blackcats

Hopefully the caffeine will have untangled your number crunching and your inheritance is now sitting in all the right places earning interest for you.  I'm sure your relative would be pleased to know how appreciated their generosity is.
I confess that in my spendy days I received an inheritance of £1500 which I frittered away on "stuff" that I wanted and in all honesty I probably spent the same money more than once 🤦‍♀️

foxgloves

Ha! Error found! And wouldn't you just know it was lurking in the Meow Fund?! Typical of that pair to be throwing my workings out! Though of course, tbf, it was an error in my adding up which originated further back than the figures we prepared this weekend, so the mistake was carried forward. No problem, now dealt with. 

Well, it's a big heartfelt thank-you to my elderly relative for including me along with all her god-children when she wrote her will. Even when I heard that I was a beneficiary, I genuinely assumed the vast majority of her estate would have been needed to pay nursing home costs, so it was a lovely surprise to find out that this was not the case, although there was a care bill & legal stuff to pay, of course. These places are both necessary & expensive and the most important thing was that our old lady was properly & kindly looked after in her last couple of years when dementia & Parkinson's meant she could no longer live independently.

We spent a fair bit of time discussing how best to allocate my share of the money. As you know, we decided to spend this year building up our 10 Savings Pots (dubbed 'Project Surbiton' after the trail-blazing shoppers-from-home/self-sufficient pair in 'The Good Life'!) & we thought it would be too good an opportunity to miss if we didn't use some of this lump sum for that. So I have topped up all 10 pots to the maximum amounts we agreed back in January when we had our annual Money Summit. We took the opportunity to re-assess these maximums & decided to add an additional sum to both the Tech Replacement Pot & the Holiday Pot. The latter doesn't actually have a maximum holding amount. I work out a monthly payment schedule based on how much is required for paying deposits/balances/cattery so the monthly amount going into that pot varies. However, I know Mr F would like to book a special cottage to celebrate his 60th as we did last year for mine, & because these places need booking well in advance, it seemed sensible to make sure we have the money ready & waiting so we can jump n when booking does become available. It's a while yet, so I'm really thinking ahead on that one!
So, the Savings Pots are now 'full' to the agreed amounts. I shan't stop adding to them, but at a more targeted rate, taking into account expenses we know are looming.....for example, we know Ash needs booking in for a dental this Autumn, so thinking ahead to a vet bill other than the usual check-ups, boosters, emergencies, etc, makes sense. I'm also going to need some walking boots as the beautiful pair I bought in Lockdown are still too tight & I have come to the conclusion that this isn't going to change. I shall probably list them for sale & start trying pairs on in actual shops so that this annoying fit problem doesn't happen again. So continuing to add modest amounts to the Clothes Pot over this year seems a good idea. Footwear & decent quality clothing has definitely increased in price.
So that's the Savings Pots. In addition, I have been able to make a really helpful payment into our Car Fund (as in vehicle replacement, not maintenance which is one of the 10 pots), buy some more Premium Bonds, set up a small ring-fenced budget to cover the costs of our current vegetable plot refurb, put some treat money into our Personal Spends Reserves & later this week, I will be popping into the building society to pay my ISA up a bit so it is a nice round figure. We spent a long time discussing best use of my relative's generosity & I am pleased with how we have decided to allocate the money.
For those readers who can remember my first dfw diary in which I confessed to numerous 'Debtisodes' from back when I was a shocking fritterer, you may also be interested to know that we discussed what we think we'd have done had I been left this sum of money back in the day. We thought we'd probably have gone out very quickly to replace our cars (I can drive & we both had a car while I was working). I said I felt sure we wouldn't have used actual money though. Based on our past behaviour plus the ease back then with which professionals (or indeed anyone) could get credit, I think we'd have used the money for a deposit, then taken out finance for the rest of it, while we spent the rest of the cash on other stuff. Mr F said, 'Were, we really that bad?" And I said, "You know that we were", & reminded him that one of the car finance deals he took out pre-LBM actually included old debt from 2 previous cars! While inheriting money from my parents, etc, has been hugely helpful, it hasn't been "lifechanging". The "lifechanging" element has been that LBM & finally engaging with budgeting & living within our means after over 2 decades of silly frittering. 
I'm chatting to you while waiting for the fishman to deliver our order. I am hoping he isn't too much longer as it is still sunny outside & I really did want to get some garden tasks done this afternoon. Ah well, I shall get on with a few more indoor jobs & hope that he knocks soon.
Wishing everyone a pleasant week. 
F x

foxgloves

Oh, forgot to mention......just had a look at recently arrived energy bill from the Cephalopods. It was so worth getting the central heating switched off on the last day of March. We have had the living room stove lit on 2 or 3 chilly nights, but the figures show that we are now paying more per month than we are using so credit is starting to rebuild ready for Winter. Credit-wise we are in a very slightly better position than we were at this time last year, so I am going to be careful with silly things like leaving lights on & over-filing the kettle - only little things I know, but they all add up.
F

Sun_Addict

Sounds like a great distribution of the inheritance. 

PennysIntoPounds

How lovely that she has been able to help you achieve so many nice and reassuring things, and put you in an even better Project Surbiton position. And that she was able to do so and the care during her later years was still covered.
I always want to cry thinking of all the elderly or poor or vulnerable people worrying about if they'll be able to access a basic level of care, so hurrah that your relative had that, and hurrah that she has helped you and Mr F get closer to your ideal and safe later stages in life x

foxgloves

Thanks, @Sun_Addict, @Blackcats & @PennysIntoPounds. Yes, end of life care provision is very important, PiP. Our old lady didn't think she'd ever need residential care but significant safety concerns led to a deprivation of liberty order so she had no choice. I think a lot of elderly people think they'll just die quietly at home & be gently discovered by 'the kind neighbour with the key'. Sadly, real life doesn't usually happen like that.
Anyway.....today's budget-friendly intentions:
*Get slow cooker on for tonight's gigantes plakis.
*Bake bread (on its 1st proving)
*Make tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast.
*Get seasonal clothes storage bag out so I can swap stuff over & see what still fits, etc. I know I shall need a new summer dress as one of mine wore through late last summer.
*Sort the 4 loads of laundry I washed yesterday & iron anything that really needs it, along with anything from summer clothes stash.
*A bit more bindweed removal this afternoon depending on time, as garden waste wheelie is due for collection tomorrow.
*Finish next week's meal plan & transfer to diary.
I'd also like to finish current book today - "Universitality" by Natasha Brown & declutter 2 or 3 more items.
Coffee swigged, time to crack on.
F x