Milann’s mutterings through retirement

milann

It’s exactly 20 years ago today when I found myself in hospital with a perforated intestine and my 1st stoma. I was in hospital 6weeks and in and out of ICU…..it was during my more lucid moments when I realised how bad my finances were as I was more worried about the debt than my health predicament. Anyway ppi kicked in and paid my loans and ccs. It was a pretty horrific eye opener but it made me determined never to be in that position again. So I started on my money saving journey…..on my own at first and then I found MSE and met some lovely online friends and some are now real life friends. 

Sometimes it’s been hard but one thing I’ve learned is to ‘keep plodding’…..mmmmmm…..wonder where I got that idea from 😂😂😂 Some habits are ingrained for life now…..habits I grew up with but had well and truly been forgotten. Batch cooking, eating out with vouchers or mid week offers, Careful shopping with occasional treats rather than treats all the time. I think the latest thing I’ve taken on board is unless it’s a special occasion drinking a soft drink…..usually blackcurrant and soda water when out and about and keeping wine for at home. Saves a fortune 👍 
…..right enough reminiscing I’m off to put the kettle on 🫖☕️

beanielou

Enjoy your weekend break 🤗🥂

Sun_Addict

Save yourself the hassle of reading 200 pages of my diary @milann and @Seasidegal58 nothing exciting happened, although in my case that’s not a bad thing 🤣 Although one bit of news is that I’m finally mortgage free. 

The price of wine out is shocking I agree. I always think I could get a bottle in the supermarket for the price of that one glass 😆

Enjoy your break it sounds good and a bargain too. 

Seasidegal58

milann said:

It’s exactly 20 years ago today when I found myself in hospital with a perforated intestine and my 1st stoma. I was in hospital 6weeks and in and out of ICU…..it was during my more lucid moments when I realised how bad my finances were as I was more worried about the debt than my health predicament. Anyway ppi kicked in and paid my loans and ccs. It was a pretty horrific eye opener but it made me determined never to be in that position again. So I started on my money saving journey…..on my own at first and then I found MSE and met some lovely online friends and some are now real life friends. 

Sometimes it’s been hard but one thing I’ve learned is to ‘keep plodding’…..mmmmmm…..wonder where I got that idea from 😂😂😂 Some habits are ingrained for life now…..habits I grew up with but had well and truly been forgotten. Batch cooking, eating out with vouchers or mid week offers, Careful shopping with occasional treats rather than treats all the time. I think the latest thing I’ve taken on board is unless it’s a special occasion drinking a soft drink…..usually blackcurrant and soda water when out and about and keeping wine for at home. Saves a fortune 👍 
…..right enough reminiscing I’m off to put the kettle on 🫖☕️

Milann I hear you on one's past awful financial behaviour. I just carried on and on putting things on CCs, blithely carrying out balance transfers and paying the minimum until one day I realised my total CC debt was over £30,000!  Quite of bit of soul searching then at this light bulb moment, but as you say I found this site and what with putting some Dave Ramsay rules into place things started to turn around!💡💡💡

milann

It’s scary how the debts mounted up Seasidegal…..I was in denial for so long. Thankfully that’s behind me now. I do have occasional splurges but quickly pull myself back again very quickly 🤞🤞fingers crossed it stays that way. 

I had a lovely time away. There were 10 ladies. My friend I’ve had since I was 5 came - some new friends from the singing group and some of their friends too. We all got on well and spent time as a group plus time out in smaller groups. The food was quite good although those who’d been previously all complained that standards had slipped. We’d planned driving but the weather forecast was dire so we decided to go by train and taxi. I was amazed that the return fare was under £6 and the taxis £4 each way….that was with passes etc 👍 The snow was pretty thick where we stayed and it was - 7 outside 🥶🥶 I’d taken my stretchy overshoe grip things and was very pleased I did. It made for a lovely walk around the grounds on untouched snow. I really expected it to have a frozen skin on but it was still powdery. We had a line dancing lesson, played shuffle board and various board games. The evening entertainment was a bit mixed but it beat sitting in front of the tv. We had a meditation session which left us very relaxed. Excellent value for £126. We tried to book for next year but the company has been taken over and they’re not accepting bookings and will only have a few single rooms without a massive surcharge. We all had our own rooms at no extra cost as part of the January deal this time. The only real downside was the swimming pool was closed. Apparently they couldn’t get the temperature in there up to scratch.
I weighed myself for the first time since before Christmas the morning after we arrived home and I’d put 5lb on over Christmas, New Year and the mini break. I got straight back with healthy eating and have already dropped 2 lb. 

I went to see Song sung Blue at the pictures yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. Tonight I’m going to see a Marvin Gaye tribute at my local theatre. My friend asked if I wanted a meal out first but I declined😇😇😇 need to pull back on eating and spending 👍I’m planning some time at home now for a while 😂😂all the gallivanting has caught up on me - I need a rest 😂😂

beanielou

Sounds like you had a great break. 

milann

I mentioned a while back that some changes might be happening this year. The first thing has been confirmed and will happen at the end of the month….this will be for a family member. The 2nd will be decided tomorrow. If it gets the go ahead for the family member it will be a big change in the long term. It will impact us and we will need to do some hard thinking about the future. Whether we want to plod along as usual or make changes too. It’s exciting and scary in equal measures. It’s made me refocus on what I’m spending. 

That said I’m going to pay my cc in full later and look at finances to see where I can make changes just in case we do take the plunge. It’s all a bit cloak and dagger but although it’ll impact me- it’s not my story to tell.
I had planned a big tidy up today. My bedding is in the washer and I want to do a bit of ironing so me sitting on here isn’t getting much done. So I’d best get my backside into gear 👍

in_need_of_direction

trust your instincts but look after the pennies in the meantime

beanielou

Keeping us in suspense! 

milann

Thanks INOD……trouble is mine and dhs instincts vary 😂😂
Sorry Beanie 🫣