NST March 25: Scooby Doo!

dizzyblnd

abundant1972 said:

Good afternoon 🌞

Lovely day here in the North West. Me a friend for a quick shop and we nabbed a free coffee too! Used some vouchers so got some dosh off things. Yesterday was a family day. We had a lovely day, and I was treated out to coffee and a cake 😋

I spent yesterday as purchased a gift card for myself as realise I get 4% cash back via my app - and can get for all major supermarkets which is pretty good. I don't know if I can put names of apps down or if that is breaking the MSE law? 

@dizzyblnd - an abundance mindset for me is believing:

🤑 that wealth is not just for the rich - there is enough for everyone if we are open to receiving
🤑 new opportunities and possibilities are available to us all if we ask for them and stay mindful to them
🤑 wealth / feeling rich can be monetary, but also taking pleasure in life generally and experiencing its 'richness' too
🤑 being grateful and appreciating everything we have helps create a sense of abundance and wellbeing
🤑 a positive outlook will manifest positive results

Today I am grateful for:

1) Lots of laughs with my friend
2) A sunny day
3) My family and friends

Yesterday and today = spend days 
Today = NSD number 2 still

Have a lovely evening 💚

Love this 🩷

I also love the idea of making the most of the small wins. The everyday things that bring us joy. I struggle with winter and dark days/evenings and have made a promise to myself to start being more positive and actually noticing the good bits of everyday. 

Thrifty_Taylor

Thanks for sharing that @abundant1972. I am guilty of always thinking we're poor/can't afford things/other people have more money than me. Actually we do have savings (earmarked for our house extension), but I could look into earning better interest on it & we can have little treats occasionally. So I should change my mindset, to thinking more positively!

NSD#4

Walked a route with DH that we haven't done for a while. Started a new book when we returned home (I'm now a third through it!).

Spent the afternoon unpicking & replacing a coat zip, begrudgingly as I'd already done it at the start of the year/end of last year! Putting a 2 way zip in it this time, so it doesn't split when she's bent down with her dog 🤞

Logged yesterday's spends in my folder & income from sewing. Transferred the money for the bill for my car & credit card. Have the cash saved in a sinking fund for the first one.

Soaked my achy bones in the bath & read more of my book, whilst my facepack worked it's magic.

Grateful for a nice walk, listening to the heavy rain when I was in the bath, an easy book to read

ldee2111

I’m lagging behind as usual…

I think I’m on 3 NSDs, and I spent the weekend doing some life admin and more spring cleaning. I gave our very small bathroom a good going over which probably took me around three hours! But I do live with boys! 🤣 My next target is the kitchen! 

I said I was doing life admin… with only 25 days to go until we are mortgage free, I was working on a new household budget because it needed to change/refocus. With quite a few more pennies in our pocket, I want to keep sensible and remain conscious about what we are spending… and not go splashing it all on canoes at Costco. 

So for the last few weeks I have, for the first time in my life, been actively learning about my pension and other ways of saving for our future… and have added those saving plans into our budget, as well as saving for a new roof, home improvements, and some fun stuff too, but I have also given us space for a little more frivolity… ‘ you want that branded ketchup? You CAN HAVE IT!’ 🤣

Over the years I have come to realise that money and saving is really very boring… paying off your mortgage is exciting of course, but the getting there is a slog because essentially you need to do the same thing, the over-payment, again and again and again…

… it has taught me that if you really want something, you have to be consistent and repeat, repeat, repeat. You, my fellow turtles, have been one of my great sources of motivation and have honestly kept me on track and will continue to keep me on track as I go forth and prosper, to infinity and beyond, happily ever after … 🤣 

much love x

grandmanerd

Another day, another challenge. Yesterday I did some work outside (cutting up a X tree that someone had dumped in  my skip so it could go in the normal bin, ditto some of the cardboard boxes from the bathroom fittings) and the midges got me. Two bites, both in awkward spots. The worst would be inside my shoe and it's very sore because the strapping for my ankle has already been rubbing against it. So I need to work out how/ if I can get round the house without shoes (which have arch supports so I don't wobble  when I walk and have to stop frequently because of leg  and back pain). The floor in the front  room is messy and muddy in places, the kitchen floor is covered in a layer of wood and brick shavings from drilling and cement/ plaster dust (this  will all disappear when they pullup and discard the old floor covering.

My best plan so far is to  cut up a large cardboard box to make  'walkways' (some cleaning needed first) and use the old supports (a wide elastic band with a padded arch support) so I can do short stints on 'bare' feet. Does this  count as 'adventure' apple?

Grateful for all the work that got done at weekend. I now have
 beautiful plastered walls on the outside of the new shower room,
a working shower with a door and a proper seat to sit on
a lovely shiny white paneled ceiling
old light fittings in the skip and new *pendant fittings.

Also had fun being outside in lovely weather 

f0xh0les

grandmanerd said:

My best plan so far is to  cut up a large cardboard box to make  'walkways'  Does this  count as 'adventure' apple?

If you shout 'Shiver me timbers!" and "Avast me hearties" and pretend you are walking the plank, I think that is definitely adventurous @grandmanerd.  So glad you can see the big picture rather than just the temporary (it will only be temporary 🫂) mess. 
If only you had someone to swab the decks and brace the main sail for you. 
@ldee2111 huge congratulations on nearly being MF. 
If you put in the £2880 odd into a SIPP the government tops it up to £3600. Just need to do it before 4th April every year.  Free money 💰 
Plus that ex-mortgage money coming in now can go on the fun stuff more often.  There are quite a few regular savers accounts at 6% -7% so you can set them up now to pay out just before the April school holidays next year, and another one to mature just before the long summer holiday next year etc.  Obviously for smaller amounts, up to £200/£250 a month. 
I think when you are working so hard to be MF you focus on the short term.  Now you can make grander plans and look further into the future because the biggest outgoing a month just disappears.  So give yourself a pay rise!

ldee2111

Thanks @f0xh0les. I had heard about SIPPs and probably will start putting something in. I’m pestering OH about them too. 🤣 Great idea also on the regular savers… I’m always regularly saving for something! 

apple_muncher

grandmanerd, I think your plans for 'adventures with cardboard' is a fab idea.

We had an adventure last night, going to A+E to confirm that Pip has a concussion. It was a relief to get the diagnosis, and Pip was pleased to get his first hospital bracelet with his 'new' name on it

Today I am grateful for all the help we received for Pip, for the googly eyes making my platypuses/platypi look fab, for a friend getting back from the Australian cyclone area safe and sound, for scoring a bit more work in a few weeks, for good coffee.

dizzyblnd

What’s a SIPP?

dizzyblnd

No money spent today. NSD#6. 

ldee2111

dizzyblnd said:

What’s a SIPP?

Self Invested Private Pension. I think you can put up to £4000 a year in and the Uk government will refund your tax. But as it is a pension product, I believe you can’t get access until near pension age.