Thank god we paid the mortgage off

edinburgher

Jings KajiKita, what a universally applicable sentiment! Don't know whether to be impressed at your powers of summary or depressed because it's so true…

KajiKita

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82051436#Comment_82051436

Oh dear! 🤣 But it wasn't me who first expressed it, but 🐞

I recommend being impressed at my powers of summary (because it saves you the energy of thinking about it for yourself 😉) and then being positive about making the most of every day in whatever way you can, be it through gratitude journaling, learning, being in the moment with loved ones, enjoying hobbies etc. 🤷🏻‍♀️😉😊

KK

Cherryfudge

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82049482#Comment_82049482

I was hoping someone would come up with some answers for you about portable air con, as we have a similar problem. I've just come across this thread and it might help a bit, though in general terms:

Install Aircon or buy a portable? — MoneySavingExpert Forum

ladybird1106

Thank you KK, watty1 and edinburgher for comments it’s good to know we’re not the only ones feeling this way. Mr 🐞is really struggling mentally at the moment as he readjusts his dreams to the reality. He’s usually the super positive one. So with that in mind we sat and went through the wills drafts and sent them back with the one correction it needed. We then sat down and went through our bills. Obviously some will go up potentially but we can look at comparison sites, others we can make concerted effort to reduce what we use ( water, gas and electric) and others such as council tax we can’t do anything about. Food and petrol are obviously areas where money can be saved. We’ve shuffled some money from a small saving account that has come to the end, into the account that holds my inheritance which is back up to its full amount. The amount I was saving each month has been divided up. Half into my pension, a quarter into Mr🐞pension and the other quarter we are going to open an account to save for car repairs etc. Hopefully pay for my car insurance and road tax and I won’t need to dip into my inheritance. Instead of replacing the oven we’re going to have the current one cleaned to see if it improves things. If we can keep it going till we move it will be a saving in the long run. I’m mulling over other frugal ideas/plans that have fallen by the wayside since dad passed away. I think since offloading my thoughts onto here it’s helped me refocus. So I’ve set myself a target of saving £500 before Christmas. This doesn’t include money from selling stuff as that goes into the family funpot or the change pot.

Yesterday I went and helped a friend start to pack up their MIL flat as they’ve moved into a home. They have an auction house taking almost everything to sell. My friend gave me some wine glasses( as a thank you for helping), a plant pot and some hair dressing scissors. They are keeping very little for themselves. It was a really food for thought moment of how much we all buy in our lives and how little the next generation needs our stuff when we pass. Days gone by you were glad to inherit aunt Matilda’s dresser etc as it was probably better quality than what you could afford yourself. Anyway I digress, it has encouraged me to contact my friend to set up a car boot date to get rid of stuff too big to send via V or E selling sites.
Cherryfudge thank you for the info. I think if the youngest wants air conditioning in their room they will have to pay for it out their savings plus pay for any additional electricity it would use.
Time to focus on today. Hope everyone has a good day.

Love 🐞

Watty1

It is very sobering isn't it. How much "stuff" we accumulate as we go through life but also how much we are bombarded by ads to buy more and so on. I've been reflecting on that a lot this year. Especially since we emptied VNM's mothers, mostly everything was cleared and the clearance company sent some to auction. I keep clearing in batches.

ladybird1106

It was very sobering watty1.
Had a very stressful morning, miss giddychops unable to complete her walk. I had to call my FIL to come collect us as her legs kept giving out. Once we got home she happily trotted into the house, had a drink, checked to see if any food had been dropped in the kitchen and then had a nap. She seems ok now. I think the days of short walks are over and a 5 minute potter around the park a couple of times a day are in order. Just need to enjoy the time we have left with her. 💜

Love 🐞

Cherryfudge

I have to tell myself 'I am not my stuff'. You are doing well decluttering, and the fact you spend your time in caring and at the allotment surely reduces your time spent acquiring 'stuff'. Making a dent in the accumulation is a good thing, and important, but it will be a rare person who gets it down to 'everything fits in a shoe box'. Do what you can when you can but don't make it more than it needs to be. (Though the money from sales is nice).

Life admin is heavy and has come at a difficult time, but those are ticked off the list now. Time to focus on the many positives of life, the 'common grace' things like relationships, sunshine and humour that are available to us all and are really missed when they feel threatened. I've learned that I can no longer find my meaning in the job I had for many years, but I have transferable skills and, nowadays, the added benefit of time to do other things.

And aw, Miss giddychops… but she has an understanding owner who saw it was genuinely not the time to ask for more but got her comfortably back home, where it was time for a snack and to put her feet up. If that's how it is now, it will be a significant thing for you, but she will probably not miss it and if she does, she will ask. Going round the park will still be exercise and fresh air for both of you.

ladybird1106

Thanks Cherryfudge, unfortunately we had to have miss giddychops put to sleep yesterday. As the day wore on she got worse, so Mr 🐞 came home early as she was too heavy for me to lift. RIP Miss giddychops.
love 🐞

Auti

sending sympathies - Miss Giddychops will be running free - keep yourself safe x

daisy_1571

sorry to hear, such a very very painful time but how kind we can do this for our lovely furries, take care of yourselves