Reining it in for retirement and sanity

RebeccaPAgain

So weekend away was great and spent £210 so under budget.  Had plenty of lovely French food and pastries and lots of nice wine and was lovely to get away.

Work is just a bit meh.  An issue has been happening since before xmas which can't go into on here but there is a meeting tomorrow and so I am hopeful it will be resolved and we can move forwards.  We should also find out new salary in next couple weeks though, gjven I was told by my boss what it would be, and now it is apparently still under discussion, I am not hopeful we will get anything worth having!

Spending is going ok. Vaguely on track even though DH has been buying things not in plan!  Also think the family member's dinner out will not be the £200 budgeted as we are doing set menus and one of us won't drink - so will now budget £120 but hoping for under £100.  This is good as DC2 needs a new passport which is £74!!! (it only expires in October but because of the 6 month rule..........).

This coming week is quiet, just with usual working/school week plans.  We will need top up of bananas and milk mid-week and possibly some chocolate for DH as I didn't get any on weekend.  Have just made a lemon/bay leaf drizzle so hoping that will do pudding most nights and DH often makes pancakes for pudding (we probably shouldn't be having pudding at all tbh!).

Still trying to book the France holiday - I am nervous about going too far from the port as our car has a history of issues. DH pointed out we would be driving 2 hours in UK in summer but at least that is UK and we have people we can call on and understand the language which makes it easier if something does happen.  We had a nightmare in France in the summer where we broke down on two occasions and were stranded and I don't really want to repeat that.  We do really need a newer car but are pointing out spare cash at mortgage. But it does then limit where we can go on holiday so perhaps we need to rethink that one

in_need_of_direction

Have you costed flying and hiring in France.

LillythePink

Hey

A few years ago, our car broke down just before we were due to go down to Spain, so we got the boat to St Malo and hired a car and drove that down - I think we needed to pay a bit extra to cross borders (as hire car companies like to charge that), but it was fine.

If you're only going in France, then maybe have a look at the costs of that against the worry about breaking down.

The car was collected and delivered back to the port so easy, I know the boat times are a bit meh for us, but there are hotels within walking distance of the port so you could get the car from the next day so saving a bit on it being classed as one day when it's going to be sitting in a hotel car park - but also it depends on if the car hire desk is open when our boat gets in.

It also helps concentrate on how much luggage you have to take if you're having to walk it to a hotel

Glad that you didn't get much damage and yes, it's shocking to see lots of gaps where trees were

Good luck with the budget for your meals

I too know about work and we have something going on as well which doesn't mean anything really much for us now but you never know what the future holds in terms of work reallocation

Humdinger1

@RebeccaPAgain all good thanks! Looking forward to hearing your work news when you can.  Yes, I think reliable cars are essential. Is a slight rebalancing of overpayments to mortgage vs car possible? I know the former boosts morale as well as being good financially so important to keep going, but spending sensibly on what we need now is also necessary.  You're doing brilliantly love Humdinger xx 

RebeccaPAgain

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81843122#Comment_81843122

We quite like to bring stuff back…. But agree this is def an option if it starts playing up again.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81845043#Comment_81845043

Glad all well with you! Yes, we have actually decided that we will potentially do this - even with our mortgage rate going up, it would still be cheaper than financing a car so if we keep some back for a car to buy it outright (with a part x for our old one which won't net much I imagine) then it means paying off a little less. But a reliable car is essential.

As it happens we've now booked France but are less than an hour away from port so I'm more comfortable with that. So our holidays for the year are booked and deposits, flights, boats etc paid. Only accommodation balances and spending money to go. May also do the odd weekend away with my friends but we shall see.

Work has got a little better, bar it being very busy. I am (sort of) managing difficult person so hopefully that will continue. My boss has said I am bossing things and I got a (decent in this market) pay rise (which of course doesn't boil down to a whole lot after taxes etc but every little helps). I am still looking forward to this year being over work wise. Will find out about bonus in a couple of months. DH won't find out if he is getting anything for another couple of weeks.

The family meal came out under £100 which we were really happy about. I did say to DH the other day that I feel like I am always watching the pennies and thinking about it, and I don't like being like that. If we were a little younger (or had a lesser mortgage) then I wouldn't have to think about it so much but I really do want to retire (at least from FT work) as soon as I possibly can hence why I do keep an eye on things.

Plans this weekend: kids break up for HT tomorrow - was going to take them to cinema and then try them on the chinese next door but nothing on that they want to watch. So instead we've said that we will have a pizza tea (their fave) and buy popcorn, sweets etc and they can rent a movie at home. They are super excited about this and of course will be a lot cheaper. Sat they have a (already paid for) activity and then it's Vals day of course. We don't really celebrate other than cook something nice (which we do on a Sat anyway) though I might treat us to some "posh" choccies. Do feel a bit sad that we like staying home so much!

Sunday we will meet a new arrival in the family and then need to do a cull of the wardrobe (mine) this weekend and send a bunch of stuff to charity. Currently have 2 books on the go - one is a year of living Danishly which I am really enjoying. Got back into reading so much recently and our local library is great as has so many new releases. I tend to reserve them as soon as they go on order and then it's like reading a brand new book.

How is everyone else doing and do you have any nice plans for the weekend?

Blackcats

hello!

We were treated to the m n s valentine's meal deal which is the most expensive of the supermarket deals but i tried to max out our choices and we certainly won't eat all 3 courses in one sitting. Tonight we had the starter - lobster and king prawn gratin and made some chips to go with it (very nice). We chose sirloin steaks and creamed spinach for Saturday and we still have the mini French cheeseboard and a bottle of Marlborough Sauvignon.

I get what you mean when you say about watching the pennies but you can frame it as spending mindfully. I found my journal from a few years before I retired and it surprised me how focussing on spending and saving with the continual dream of saying bye bye to work really did make a difference. I'm currently reading Atomic Habits which you might enjoy if you can nab it from the library.

exciting that you've booked your hols. We are back at our now regular spot in June and looking forward to the sunset on the longest day.

LillythePink

Glad to hear you're doing ok and looking forward to your trips.

We have a seafood platter ordered from A1 - so looking forward to that.

Like you, work is manic so I imagine I will be doing some over the weekend as well

You take care

x

RebeccaPAgain

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81882127#Comment_81882127

Ooooh good call on the m n s deal - so good being able to stretch that across several meals, a win against the supermarkets effectively!

Thank you for the comments on mindful spending, I probably do need to reframe my thinking around that. And for the book tip - I will get that one reserved!

Lovely that you'll make your fave spot in June, fingers crossed for the weather!!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81884022#Comment_81884022

Have never thought to order from there - I am not massively into seafood (well, I like white fish but not shellfish or fishy fish if that makes sense) but DH would love this. Hope work has eased a bit for you now x

…………….

Only just over 2 weeks since I last posted, perhaps I am getting better at this. Budget wise, we have done well this month - DH wanted to get some concert tickets for his fave band who are touring in 2027. He got them, and originally we were going to allocate them to holiday budget but because we have been quite disciplined this month on the spending front, we have managed to pay for them out of monthly spends, just. Flights/accommodation can't yet be booked. Was heading back from being out last night and thought "hmmm, I fancy some wine to have with DH". Drove to a garage to get some but it was closed and couldn't be bothered to go to an alternative so came home. Had it been open, we would have gone over budget for the month. So definitely not MSE on my part but the world intervened!

New budget today! I think we will end up spending all our budget (though will obviously try not to!) due the usual spends, plus mother's day, DH has 2 nights out booked, we are having friends over for dinner and I am having my hair done (been almost a year(!)). We will obviously try to come under if we can but I'm not going to sweat it if we don't this month.

Work is just meh and I'm really struggling. It's so busy all of the time that I don't have chance to read and consider things properly and it is just so rushed and pressured. I am hoping it improves as not sure how long I can continue with it this way.

Coming week is quiet socially which I am delighted about after a hectic couple of weeks. Raining cats and dogs here so we have Saturday Kitchen on (on a Sunday - controversial!) and probably won't do a lot. Might go up to see MIL later and do need to get a couple of grocery items from shop, plus do all the laundry and some cleaning - they joys!