Arrietty's Acorns

Skint_yet_Again

Lovely update Arrietty. I think I have the same lurgy as you had. Mind you it doesn’t help that I have just scoffed a pack of jafa cakes 🤦‍♀️ or is that classed as medicinal! Enjoyed the tales of HRH. Well done on the money shuffling 

Wonder what’s happened to the gardener 🤔

Arrietty

Hellooo,

today I plan to be a lot less waffly than previous posts.

A mix of sunshine and cloud here and temperature about 25 which is quite hot enough thank you. We still haven't had any rain and the horses are now having hay in their fields every morning.  However, we do have rain forecast for this coming week - of course because I am on annual leave  but I am absolutely fine with that.

Having had another week off with a minor bite injury - not serious just positioned where the saddle sits so would be uncomfortable - HRH and I went for a gentle plod yesterday afternoon and he was on his best behaviour so we came back feeling pleased with ourselves.  I've bought another bale of hay but as from  existing stock it was at the old price ad I also paid for some more to go in the fields. - total cost £12.00.  
The rest of what goes in the fields will come from their winter allowance ( a few folk were very begrudging about having to pay for extra hay... not sure why you'd begrudge making sure your horse is fed but there we are ..

This morning I popped to the Rose of Wait and I had to spend £100 to ensure I get the generous 5% cash back offer from my bank.  Well, someone lost count half way round the shop and ended up throwing all sorts in the trolley - like lightbulbs and glue in order to make sure  had spent £100 when I got to the till.  Silly me, it ended p being just over £130 and I now probably have enough lightbulbs to last the rest of my life.

Received my payslip on Friday and whilst there will be an increase of about £50 a month, both the staff restaurant and parking charges are going up so if I were a regular canteen eater as well as driver, I would end up worse off! Good job I'm not then! 

I had to transfer money from my linked savings to current to pay for shopping today but there have been some small savings shuffles from my current during the week and as soon as my salary hits my account I will repay the money borrowed.

 HRH Fund = £82.97

Linked Savings = £1072.84 (£200 owed)

My secondary bank have now opened the limited withdrawal savings account at the slightly higher interest rate but not yet closed the lower interest rate one and it is mighty confusing  
I also don't really know what to use the account for but had a vague idea I might try to help YD with saving by skimming s bit off what she pays to Horsery Fund each month so have popped the untidy £3.42 in there from the Trips and Treats fund...

Undecided Savings Fund = £3.42

Trips and Teats Fund has had a few scooping from untidy current account this week his week (£23.94)  but nothing major as this is a lean time of the month!

Trips & Treats Fund = £1510.00

The newly opened Long Terms Savings Fund has not had any increase due to lean times and I;ve been putting shoppings into the Trips and Treats Fund, but this may change as of September.

Long Terms Savings = £3001.20

Also no change to the Monthly Saver Fund = £250.00


I don't really feel like any of this makes much sense at the moment other than the new Regular Saver and the new Long Term Savings account.  

I have too many accounts without a defined purpose and I am still unsure whether to add the HRH emergency fund to my Long Term Savings. 

Aaaah - going to leave it here and try to make sense of things and return once I've sorted it all out!

[Deleted User]

Perhaps have just one savings account for regular expenses and annual bills. You can split that into virtual pots either with pen and paper and/or a simple spreadsheet. Also makes it easier to move money around.

I have a savings account for travel and annual expenses. I have virtual pots for the following categories, the car, insurances, house and garden maintenance, glasses, dentist, annual subscriptions, travel, Christmas birthdays and occasions, clothes and shoes. I know it doesn't work for everyone, so just an idea.

At the moment I am concentrating on getting the account to £7000 by December 2025 to give me ahead start for 2026!  From January 2026 I will add £800 a month to keep all categories topped up.

Remaining annual expenses for 2025 I have budgeted for elsewhere so I can solidly establish the above account ready for next year to use as outlined above.

Arrietty

Hellooo,

I am very happy that it is now September and there was a bit of mist across the fields this morning.
 
Although it is several years I've had to organise life around term times, I still see September as a bit of reset month and after my week off I am refreshed and fully reset!.

Important news first - WE HAVE HAD RAIN 
Quite a bit in fact and the fields are starting to look less deserty each day.
The relief is immense and horses are grazing although HRH reminds me that he is terrified of wasting away so thinks that he should still be having a section of hay as well as a feed every evening alongside the hay in the fields in the morning. I am monitoring his curves daily and think it is highly unlikely that he wastes away any time soon so am slowly reducing his hay intake every day.

He had new shoes last week so that was £50 and I had a lesson at the weekend - another £25 - and he started off with his usual minimal effort attitude and halfway through then realised he was having fun and is an expert at poles, so really upped his game and we both ended the session feeling pleased with ourselves. 

Livery and health plan have been paid so his account is a bit flatter now but nothing due to be paid until the end of the month.
HRH = £121.98


After much deliberation I have decided I will use the new savings account as a secret fund for Youngest Daughter. She is unaware of it's existence and will remain so until such time as I choose to hand it over to her.
It costs me nothing to fund as I'm simply taking £20 from what she contributes towards HRH each month and moving it into that account. It does give me great pleasure to do this on her behalf as although she always has good intentions to save... it doesn't always happen! I can make 2 withdrawals a year without penalty and it could be a little birthday treat for her every year or I may keep it going for longer. If I can, I'll add more than £20 a month, but that will depend on HRH's needs.
YDSF = £23.42


The Trips and Treat fund has reduced slightly as I withdrew money to buy birthday gifts for Eldest Daughter.
I was scooping untidy money from my current account in there throughout August but that has now ended as untidy money will be going elsewhere.  This account will still have money paid into it from any cashback earnings or Premium Bond winnings so is essentially not costing me anything.
Trips & Treats Fund = £1450.40


The account linked to my current account had the £200 I borrowed repaid and then I promptly sent it on to the new monthly saver account on 1st September! This account is where the change from any purchases goes, or the cashback from using my credit or debit cards.  It occasionally serves as a holding account when I'm shuffling and more often I use it instead of an overdraft when I've been a bit spendy but I don't really need to keep more than £1k in there.
Linked Savings = £1026.65


I have made the second payment into the regular savings account and my intention is to make the maximum contribution each month until the end of the term.
Monthly Saver = £500


And finally we come to the new baby - my pride and joy  this is the new account for my (hopefully early)  Retirement Fund into which I will be pouring every spare penny. There will be regular scooping of untidy money, anything left over from my current account at the end of month and once the monthly saver is complete I will add that in as well.

I thought hard about adding HRH emergency fund to this and eventually decided against it. The interest rate is the same on both accounts and if we never need the emergency fund before HRH goes over the rainbow bridge then the money will revert to being for my retirement fund anyway. The interest is accumulating each month and I can always skim that off the top and add it to my retirement fund each year and leave the bulk intact if I so wish.

I opted for a slightly lower interest rate in order to have it paid monthly as for some reason, this motivates me to save more than an annual interest payment does.  I appreciate that probably doesn't make much sense to some, but it works for me in the same way that having separate savings accounts for different purposes does. I've already done 2 scoops this month and had a tiny interest payment which pleases me greatly 😁
ERF =  £3020.49

Have a lovely day
x 

Arrietty

Hello,

the rain continues here although not all day and not everyday but it is still welcome.
The grass is slowly growing in HRH's field and I'm reducing the amount of hay I'm giving him to keep his weight in check. He's looking well but not 'too' well and after a week of wearing his rain sheet it came off again last night.

There's been a fair bit of spending as I had some car issues which needed to be sorted asap so £200 spent there and then I bought a new rug for HRH for £65.00... YD rolled her eyes at me but I paid for it out of my money so she can't say a word! I got fed up with making my own lunches so splashed out on 2 lunches at work £11.20 and then need to restock some garments £99.90.  Not my finest week!

The ex-gardener finally replied and said his van and all tools had broken so he'd got fed up and gone abroad for a bit. Offered to recommend another gardener but I'll not be taking that offer as it does me good to get out there even if all I'm doing is tidying, fighting brambles and not paying someone else!

I've simplified my savings further and after a notification that the interest would be reducing on the account I hold for HRH emergency fund, I decided now was the right time to withdraw that money.  It's currently sitting in my linked savings account as the interest on that account gets paid annually at the end of September each year so by my calculations it should be worth waiting until October to move it on to a better place.

There's little point recording the balance of HRH's current account as money goes in and money goes out each month; the account serves to keep his regular expenses separate from mine and allow me access to savings products and an emergency CC with a different bank should I need it.  Likewise with the account I'm using for YD.

I'm now fully focused on saving for my retirement and maintaining a Trips & Treats fund.  I'm hoping to start adding a bit to that each month but with 2 family birthdays in the next month and then that Winter Festival it may not happen until the new year... 

Monthly Saver - £ 500.00

Trips & Treats fund = £1505.60

Due to closing HRH's Emergency Fund this is looking temporarily bonny!
Linked Savings = £11,430.41

Last week I did 5 scoops from my current account which was pleasing.
E Retirement Fund = £3062.29

[Deleted User]

Many thanks for the update.

Arrietty

Good morning,

and a beautifully sunny one it is here at the moment.
A welcome change as yesterday was mainly dull and windy and the day before was just rain.  Not complaining as all weathers contribute to grass growing 

I've been reading a lot of threads on here during my absence and also working on how much I can comfortably live on and how much I can comfortably save each month.

Alongside the long term goal of saving to be able to enjoy some retirement in about 10 years time,  I've realised that reducing my hours or dropping a day at work is my short term ( as in 1-5 year) goal.

To clarify - I enjoy my job and am part of a great team but I am finding 5 days a week quite tough in terms of both energy and finding time to do home-related tasks, keep up with family, friends and fun stuff.
I hadn't worked 5 full days a week in many years before joining this organisation. My previous job I did a half day on Friday, the 2 jobs previous to that didn't include Fridays at all and that was in the days before having HRH and a giant field to maintain on a daily basis!

I have usually, also run out of work to do by Friday and I find myself irritated by having to BE at work without having any work to do when I could be doing other stuff. Most of the team are happy to hang around chatting and passing the time if there's little work but I just think it's a waste of my time and that if it's fair and sunny I could be riding or spending time with family / friends and if it's rainy then I could be at home getting on with my chores or reading.  Daylight hours are so precious over the next few months and whilst I don't exactly suffer from SAD I do need to be outdoors and have as much daylight as possible to remain mentally and physically healthy.

Yes, I recognise that I sound like a Grumpy Old Woman but as each year passes I become more aware of my increasing age and wonder how much time left I will have to actually enjoy a retirement.
I fully appreciate that I'm fortunate to have a job and to be able to put money into savings each month. I already have some savings and investments in place for this retirement so what I'm trying to do now is to make the best use of my current income to maximise savings and bring that retirement forward.

I have calculated that if I am to drop a day for the last 5 years of my working life before I can claim both state and workplace pensions then I will need between £15 and £20k to make up the shortfall.  That's just the everyday living costs; I haven't calculated how much the reduction in pension contributions over those 5 years will affect my eventual pension. I should, but the maths is beyond me at the moment 

That would mean another 4 years of working 5 days a week work and having to save over £400 a month 
I'm not sure I have £400 a month available to save and I'm not sure I can tolerate another 4 years.
 I want to reduce in 2 years time and that is when I will reach the top of my pay scale but I haven't done the maths for that as it's just far too ridiculous and scary.  A generous Premium Bonds win would make all the difference but it needs to be a 5 figure one and although I've won £200 this month, the last 2 months have generated only £25 each 

Anyway, in order to to get my Manager used to the idea of me not being there on Fridays in the future, I have booked quite a few off as Annual Leave including last Friday and the difference it has made to my weekend is significant. It was YD's birthday on Thursday so I was off work for that and we had a lovely day, wandering and lunching in Windsor. I still had to go feed HRH so was a couple of hours later than usual but knowing I didn't have to get up for work on Friday made all the difference!. It rained all day so I got on with laundry and cleaning, had a chat with friends and ED  and by the time I went to the yard the rain had eased a bit so I brought him down to the yard where happily munched on his hay net standing outside the shelter.

 All the other horses stand IN the shelter out of the rain but HRH hates it in there ( the roof is very low) and the acorns dropping on the roof had him jumping and starting every few minutes. It's incredible to me now, that he was stabled for the first 12 years of his life and my friend who was also in the shelter with her horse was laughing at the difference between him and her horse who didn't even flinch when acorns bounced off the roof onto him 

Yesterday was dry but so windy I deemed it unsafe for riding so we went for a walk in hand round one of the fields, through the woods and then in the school before he settled in to another haynet and a thorough grooming session. His winter coat is coming through but I kept a rainsheet on him overnight as it was still pretty windy and he'll take any opportunity to roll in the mud and I want to ride today. 

They should be moving to the winter fields at the end of the month so I need to start reducing his hay otherwise he'll blow up when they get on to all that fresh grass. I made up another 2 weeks of feeds yesterday and I'm hoping to not have feed him for the first month in the winter field.  I've never had to feed him all summer and give hay so am hoping this was just a freak year. I'm quite proud of how well he looks and compared to some of them in his herd who are very ribby (owners not giving any extra) I think the extra effort has been worth it. This dedication is why he'll live to the age of 50 and I'll never be able to retire 

So, the money:

I paid the maximum £250 allowed to the regular saver on 1st October.

Monthly Saver = £750.00


Both Daughters birthdays in the last few weeks,  I also treated myself to a bottle of my favourite perfume and bought a ticket to an event so considerable spending has happened.

Trips and Treats Fund = £1100.00


The linked savings account was used to pay off my CC balance and also to add to monthly saver so a reduction since last month. Still waiting for that annual interest payment...

Linked Savings = £11,254.39


There were plenty of scoops to the Early Retirement Fund during September - a total of £104.78 which just shows how much can be achieved or saved by drip feeding small amounts regularly. The interest was doubled on 1st October a respectable £10.87 and I've made a couple of scoops already in October.

Early Retirement fund = £3129.37



No idea how to achieve that £400+ saving each month but I have set myself a monthly budget to live on and created a new account in my spending app to record exactly what I have spent and what remains.
I've given myself £350 a month which is roughly £250 a month for food /household shopping and fuel and another £100 for eating out/drinks/socialising OR clothes/non essential shopping.

This has already been decimated with a lunch out, outrageous parking costs, fuel top up, an additional gift, household items including one of those air heated clothes drying pods and food shopping.
I have £85.89 and another 3 weeks left 

Have a lovely day
x