Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

foxgloves

Lol, or Mr F in Robin Hood tights! No, it was the beetle @Suffolk_lass mentioned. A shiny critter with simply the most prodigious thighs for only a little guy.

foxgloves

Oh, I am feeling ready to sit down for the evening. My feet feel like mince but I have to say it has been a very productive day with plenty of tasks which play to my old-style approach to budget-friendliness:

*Ironed only those garments which really needed it - 2 summer dresses & a linen top.

*Nobbled Mr F over coffee first thing to put together a meal plan for next week.

*Wrote grocery shopping list.

*Wrote a list of things I can usefully get done in town tomorrow.

*Filled in my work pension application form.

*Made dough for tonight's pizza & a batch of rolls.

*Rounded up a selection of veg, mostly homegrown, & roasted for pizza topping. Also used the little bit of homemade pesto I saved yesterday to spread the base. Love using up odds & ends.

*Today's garden pickings: Lettuce, spring onions, the first tomatoes of the year, rhubarb.

*Baked rhubarb & cinnamon muffins. They freeze well so are useful for popping in my bag when we go for a flask of coffee no-spend option when out & about.

*Sowed coriander as the heat has sent the first lot to seed. I did get a decent amount of pickings from it though.

*Sowed 40 little modules with hollyhocks seed (saved by my friend from the fabulous ones in her garden). The hollyhocks in our garden are looking good & seem to be able to cope with cruddy soil near the fence & hot temperatures. I aim to get them to planting out size by Autumn then they should flower next summer.

*Dealt with unexpected tomato surplus. I thought it would be another week for our home grown tomatoes to be ready but the heat has brought them on (oddly, it's the outdoor ones, not the greenhouse ones which are ripening atm) so I had 500g of supermarket ones sitting in the fridge doing nothing. Have made up to the amount required for a recipe on next week's meal plan, skinned, chopped & frozen them so they won't accidentally get wasted.

*Wrapped some breakables in newspaper & added to the 2 charity bags for dropping off tomorrow - not a money saver for me, but always a good feeling to move some clutter out of the house in the hope that it is stuff someone else will need.

*I haven't watered the veg today & it really does need doing. Mr F has offered to do it tonight as he has been in meetings for a lot of today & says he'd welcome the fresh air. That suits me. I shall be re-setting the kitchen to a decent state for tomorrow morning & then getting my backside welded to the sofa.

I am going to post my pension application form tomorrow morning. I have thought about it, talked about it, number-crunched it, time to get it sent off. The application pack contained a lot of useful information , including that of a 'What happens next?' nature so I have been through it with highlighter pen & will keep it for referring to, as well as for the relevant contact details should any issues occur. I think I look very straightforward (on paper at least!) so fingers crossed that my next communication received will be the final figures & confirmation that it will all go ahead as expected.

Hope everyone's managed to have at least a reasonably decent day, if not actually sparkling with fabulousness.

F x

Suffolk_lass

You are definitely doing the right thing, claiming that pension - the benefits of having it "now" (to save, invest or change what you do) far outweighs any growth through indexation as I am sure your calculations will have shown you. I worked with some extremely savvy shift workers who knew exactly the point to take theirs from, to maximise their return, anticipated longevity and benefits in hand versus a small element of actuarial reduction. Well done!

foxgloves

@Suffolk_lass - Thanks. My decision was based on my perception that this is a 'sweet spot' where the actuarian reduction for early pension payment balances favourably with the interest I can earn on converting it to savings. When I took VR, we had a bit of a lifestyle change to enable us to live on one salary instead of two. Mr F isn't on a vast salary (public sector professional) but as we no longer have housing costs, we can live comfortably (rather a subjective thing, I know) as long as we budget properly, which we have now been doing for a long time, having come to it later in life than was sensible tbh. My thinking was that with Mr F having about another 4.5 years left before retiring (when he will be the same age as I am now), we can continue to live on his salary in the meantime, enabling my work pension to be stashed away into savings every month. This will give us more leeway when we sell up & relocate. So that was the thinking, & I do think I will feel much more in control being able to choose where to save the money & to see it growing. As a deferred pension, it has been increasing in line with the cost of living but I think I can do better despite my very risk-averse nature.

foxgloves

Hello Readers from your diary friend Ms Melty Blob,

Walking through town this morning, I announced to Mr F that I was so sick of hearing myself moan about being too hot that I was going to set up the equivalent of a 'Swear jar' into which I would pay a fine of 20p for every time this week I mentioned it. By the time we got back to the car, it had become obvious that this was going to make such inroads into my July Personal Spends, that I abandoned the idea. At least I am not in a horrendous heat trap workplace like some I have worked in. A slow-paced day today. Old-style MSE doings as follows:

*Posted off my pension application form.

*Dropped off 2 charity bags. Shop very grateful. Realised it's ages since I had a really good charity shop trawl so must make a date for that as might find a treasure.

*Had our planned breakfast in our fave cafe. Subsidised our Personal Spends for this as had underspent a sum of money I budgeted for lunch out last weekend.

*Bought a book.in the charity bookshop. Looks brand new & unread.

*Grocery shopping came in under budget for this week.

*Collected delphinium seed for free plants.

*Another saving on seeds was realising I still had half a packet left of something I intended to buy.

*Made tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast.

*Today's garden pickings: lettuce & tomatoes.

A leisurely day on the whole.

F x

PennysIntoPounds

You quickly abandoning the idea of a 'heat moan jar' because it would cost too much has made me laugh, thank you

foxgloves

@PennysIntoPounds - It was the same years ago when I set up a 'Swear Jar'. Before long, I realised it was easier simply to put a fiver in at a time & keep 5-bar gates until it was time for the next one.

PennysIntoPounds

😁 I would be destitute if I set up a swear jar

See also 'probably shouldn't go to the pub' jar, 'I really will wash my hair today' jar and 'remembering why I walked into this room before I leave it again' jar

Sun_Addict

I love a good charity shop trawl. Not had one for ages. I follow an Insta account that does a £5 Thursday charity shop trawl and she finds some brilliant things. I usually just head straight for the books and walk past everything else.

My coriander didn't like the heat either.

Makingabobor2

I like to go to different towns to trawl CSs. Our local ones are not the best. There is a town in Yorkshire…starts with K, big viaduct over river...they have some amazing CSs & it is one of our favourite holiday spots. Àlso a few more upmarket towns within 20miles of hete, that are excellent.