Turning Straw into Gold: Creating Long Term Security & A Solid Home

MillQueen

@Dakota_Rose, it's only because I am a bit compulsive when I get interested in something, so I end up prioritising it and suddenly I'm exercising all of the time. I wish I could choose the direction of interest and get deeply involved in cleaning and cooking or something useful like that, but sadly that hasn't happened. To be fair, my compulsive interests trait is probably why I'm here now, thinking constantly about finance 🤣.

I have joined a local gym for the summer months but it's expensive, so it would mean working more slowly on my debt free goals if I continue it, and I think they need to be the priority.

MillQueen

I have updated some of my signature. I'm pleased with the progress on the personal loan as that will drop below 10k next month - I have an automatic payment of an additional £100 per month coming off that since it's now going to be my highest interest debt (6.4%) as the student loan is getting capped at 6% from September. Another good thing this month is that my investments are nearly at my first thousand and the interest rate is seemingly beating inflation, as it's now fairly consistently over 5%. I can't yet update my mortgage balance and overall net wealth yet, as my mortgage account takes a few days to get updated with the new total. Probably about £300 has come off that. My net wealth will have gone down considerably with the roof repairs, as I was previously holding the money for that in a bonus savings account, and now that 6k has gone to pay the roofer.

I am going to have to spend a bit of my emergency savings on getting some work done in the garden. I look forward to when the debts are paid, so I can divert my money into building up other funds so that I don't have to use my emergency funds every time I need something doing. Need to live as frugally as possible this month to come back out of my overdraft, with a few work from home days to save petrol, avoiding social engagements as much as possible, and eating cheaply. I am visiting a friend at the weekend and it's a 3 hour round trip, so will cost a fair bit in petrol. To reduce the cost I am going to insist we meet on the outskirts instead of in the town centre as that will save £10 on parking, and we are going for a coffee rather than food, so that will be half the cost. I find people often don't understand that it's not easy to afford days out.

foxgloves

You make a good point there about days out, @MillQueen. We postponed a daytrip north a few weeks ago because of the weather forecast being wet. Now neither of us mind getting showered on, but it was an outdoor venue & we wouldn't have been able to sit out with our picnic. Once we'd factored in 164 miles of petrol & lunch in their cafe to get undercover plus it being too wet to get much of a walk, we decided to postpone, as the knock-on cost was getting silly. Over recent years, city centre parking has got ridiculous too. We still go now & again to concerts/theatre but allowing time for something to eat first, it's around £20 to park. Rail not viable at night & if it was, wouldn't save us any money. None of these things would have remotely bothered me back in the Spendy Era, but they do now!

MillQueen

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82053989#Comment_82053989

I agree! It is ridiculous isn't it! The cost of getting somewhere and parking means it's often a minimum of £20-£30 to go somewhere before you even got there, and then the cost of eating out is extortionate, so even just this coffee trip with my friend is likely to be £40-£50 when all of that is added together (probably just under £40 if I just order a drink, or closer to £50 if I get something to eat as well). I think partly it's the need to be more careful now as I have other financial priorities, but also just that the constantly rising cost of normal things leaves us with much less money to spend than we all used to have. Previously I'd have thought nothing of going to a restaurant and I did so often without worrying about it. But now it's a rare occasion that I eat in a restaurant, as even one trip upsets my monthly budget and leaves me struggling. I only go to a restaurant a couple of times a year now and I expect many people are like this, so god knows how restaurants are coping. I hear you on the travel costs too, as to get to work on the train costs me nearly 3 times as much as it would in petrol. When I was without a car for a bit, it was costing me £400 a month to travel to work by train.

I would be nice to be able to do the things I used to enjoy, but even stepping out of the house now seems to cost £50. I am always on the lookout for cheap things (not that I ever do them, as I am mostly working or too tired, but I collect the information like a magpie). If you have Octopus energy, on their rewards you can get a day pass for National Trust for £8 for up to five people (2 adults and up to 3 children). They also have 2 tickets for £8 at Vue cinema, and 25% of main courses at various pub chains.

foxgloves

That NT pass sounds like a good deal. We are NT members as are lucky to have 3 properties within 18 - 26 miles of where we live so that makes it reasonable to visit, esp if we take a picnic on suitable days.

Restaurants & pubs are struggling because much as people like to eat out, it's too expensive. The UK is on the whole quite a low wage economy. Once housing costs, council tax, energy bills, food, essential insurances & travel to work have been deducted, going out for a meal isn't viable for many people. It's one of the things which winds me up whem bosses complain about the minimum wage going up by a few pence. If everyone earned a little more, there would be more money spent at non-essential businesses like restaurants & pubs. It's a vicious circle, isn't it?

MillQueen

@foxgloves yes we are bled dry by costs in all directions. It makes me really angry to be working so hard all the time and to have so little to show for it. My salary is ok but I still feel like I am only just about surviving, mostly just spending on essentials. I had lunch with a colleague today, mainly because they seemed like they needed some company, so I spent £5 there and I remember the days when £5 here and there wasn’t something I even thought about. That stuff makes or breaks my finances now.

To compensate I made money saving food this evening with ingredients I already had and it will also do for lunch tomorrow and Friday. I cooked a pack of vegetarian sausages and chopped them up and mixed with a tin of chopped tomatoes, a tin of cannellini beans and some fajita spices. Then I mixed it together with a packet of buckwheat groats, which I had boiled with a low salt stock cube. Served with a sprinkle of flaxseeds and nutritional yeast, and a bit of walnut oil. It was quite nice and no additional money was spent.

liselle

Oh that sounds good!
Yes isn’t a poor state of affairs that hard-working people, in 2026, can’t spend a fiver without there being repercussions.

Chocolatefund

It's a bit mad. I went out recently to have lunch with a friend and play some crazy golf. £50 quid later...

wut…?

Think I need to become a hermit.

MillQueen

@liselle it was really filling. I am finding that eating more beans is a good way to ward off cravings for buying junk as well, as I am always wanting sugar. I am fibremaxxing, as the younger generation would call it.

I’ve just taken a couple of bags of chopped parsnips out of the freezer, that I got reduced ages ago, so tomorrow night I can make soup or some sort of mush with that 40p worth of parsnips and whatever else I already have. Parsnip and grains maybe, or a purée, then put it with some salmon from the freezer. It’s not really soup weather but I’m on a mission to use what I have. This is how I end up with food that’s sometimes edible and sometimes horrible. It’s lucky I’m not raising a family, as I don’t know how well parsnip mush would go down.

@Chocolatefund I can’t believe crazy golf and food is £50 now. I remember when those were cheap activities that most people could enjoy. Counting up spends to see if I can afford a day out reminds me of growing up poor in the 80s with a single parent on benefits. I don’t feel like I should have to adopt the same habits, as a professional in a full time role in a secure job, where I can’t afford to do much except continue surviving costs and going to work.

Chocolatefund

No joke. £16 for main meal. £6 for dessert and ice cream. £12 for some soft drinks. £13 for the crazy golf itself. And £4 for the !!!!!! parking…

Did have an amazing day though.

Went to another place that does similar and was much more money conscious by not having dessert and dragging out a drink.