Put away your purse & become debt-averse

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  • foxgloves
    foxgloves Posts: 11,027
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    Honeysuckle - I just mixed my sweet pea seeds up while I was soaking them & haven't labelled them as I'm not bothered about what variety they are. If any germinate, it will be a bonus. I've just a few more to sow today of a specific variety. They are so pretty in summer, aren't they, & provide bunch after bunch for scented cut flowers.
    F x
    "For each of our actions there are only consequences" (James Lovelock)"For in the true nature of things......every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold & silver" (Martin Luther King Jnr)
  • foxgloves
    foxgloves Posts: 11,027
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    Purple Fairy, You're right, it's just annoying & frustrating now. The house sold in April & completed in July. Then our case moved to a different solicitor because our previous one moved on to a new job. The delay to the Estate being finalised is HMRC. Apparently, 'their' bit (to do with inheritance tax, etc) usually takes a month, but for some reason is currently taking three months. We were offered an interim payment & accepted but heard nothing. I chased it again & was asked if we'd like an interim payment. I said yes, please go ahead, & that we'd already agreed to this being actioned. Heard nothing for ages. My sis rang & finally got to speak to our solicitor - she was busy in meetings - who was apologetic about the delay, explained about HMRC taking longer than usual atm, then asked if we would like an interim payment!! My sis said yes, & that this had already been agreed.& we'd been waiting for it for a long time & had heard nothing. Solicitor apologetic & said she would leave our case file out on her desk so as to deal with it first thing on Mon (yesterday). I think it sounds as though it was filed away without our response re the interim payment being actioned. It is very annoying.
    I don't want to sound like I'm moaning because obviously being in a position to pay off our mortgage 9 years early is huge & we are very grateful for that. It is annoying on a practical level because at the end of Aug, our discounted rate mortgage deal ended & I would normally have taken out a new one. However, because there's a £200 arrangement fee, & I expected this interim payment very imminently, I didn't. I let the deal lapse, in the knowledge that the extra £60 per month would be less than the arrangement fee. Of course we're now going into our 3rd month of this higher rate & still haven't seen a whisker of this money. Also, we needed a new freezer & fridge freezer & I had to use our emergency fund knowing I have actually quite a lot of money coming.... I just cant access it. I know when the mortgage is paid off it will cease to matter & I'm grateful for that - I'd always assumed my parents'home would need to go towards financing their care, as they got older, but sadly once they became ill, they died relatively swiftly. So I don't want to sound like I'm moaning. I think more than anything, it's the dragging on that is getting to me. Dad died two years ago, Mum this time last year, it's been very sad, stressful & time consuming, esp sorting everything out long distance, heaps of 150-mile round trips, etc, & I just want to draw a line under it all now, to move on & to remember the good & quirky times with our parents, rather than endlessly being in the midst of some or other official procedures.
    Ah well, let's see what this week brings. I'm waiting in for a parcel this morning, then I have a nice positive session of digging & planting planned..... including my bag of 15 free tulip bulbs.
    A little coffee top-up & I'm swinging into action.
    F xx
    "For each of our actions there are only consequences" (James Lovelock)"For in the true nature of things......every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold & silver" (Martin Luther King Jnr)
  • foxgloves
    foxgloves Posts: 11,027
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    Morning Campers,
    Well, my hands feel a bit stiff this morning, doubtless from yesterday's front garden border clearing, so I'm intending a gardening-free day today. I'm off to mix up some dough for bread rolls shortly, then I'm going to try & find the necessary mental fortitude for turning out the pantry. It's a big old deep cupboard, which means I can only get into its furthest reaches using steps & a grabber thing, but it is on my list of target jobs for this week, & I know I'll feel pleased with myself for tackling it.
    I also want to assimilate my extra emergency supplies of various basics into our mainstream store cupboard supplies. I have a list of useful items I think it makes sense always to have in stock in case of unspecified emergencies (political, financial, illness, atrocious weather, etc) but if everything is together in mainstream stores, I know I'll find it much easier to check 'best before' dates. I also want to do an inventory of my home made preserves, which will help me decide which ones to put aside for the couple of Christmas hampers I'm planning.
    So...... caffeine levels are stabilised...... time to go & make that bread roll dough, then on with my audiobook & into the deepest darkest reaches of the pantry I go. I may be some time.......
    F x
    "For each of our actions there are only consequences" (James Lovelock)"For in the true nature of things......every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold & silver" (Martin Luther King Jnr)
  • How very frustrating for you with the solicitors and the hold up. I didnt realise these things could take so long! Hope it all gets sorted for you soon.

    We are at a family funeral today for my dads cousin who we were very close to. Taken too soon aged 63. Going to be a sad day especially as my husband, son,brother and Dad have been asked to carry the coffin into church. :(

    Have been emotional this week anyway due to other things going on which I wont bore anyone with. My allotment has gone out the window. Got lots of butternut squash to eat and got my overwintering onions in the other week but before winter really kicks in, I need to find some garlic to put in and get my sweet peas sown.
    Need a kick up the a*se to be honest!
    Make £10 a Day Feb .....£75.... March... £65......April...£90.....May £20.....June £35.......July £60
  • De-lurking for this one (your diary is brilliant, BTW. Huge fan here!)
    I really don’t mean to put a damper on things but when my father-in-law died last year it took six months to sort out HMRC. Long after the rest of the estate had been finished. Towards the end I was phoning HMRC myself once a week, locating the relevant department that was holding things up, and hassling them to finalise the final figures. Eventually they got fed up with me and sorted it. They said typically it takes between 6 months and a year to finalise final tax figures, especially when (as in my father-in-law's case) they were trying to sort out the final few weeks of his benefits. Yes the solicitor could have done all of this, but at the cost of £100+ per letter, I decided to save money and try to resolve it myself. If you or your sister are executors of the estate, then it might be worth a more direct approach. My solicitor didn’t mind as it saved her work. Just a thought.
    'In the widening gap between credits and debits hangs a question: What parts of this life are you willing to give up, so you can keep on living?'
    (Jessica Bruder, Nomadland)
  • foxgloves
    foxgloves Posts: 11,027
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    Sorry to hear you are having a sad time, Kantankrus. I do hope the arrangements went off as planned. That is definitely too young an age to die. I think bearing the coffin into the ceremony must be a very sad, emotional task. There's kind of the honour of being asked, but I know I would find it very difficult. For both my parents' funerals, we chose to have the coffin taken into the church earlier that day, so when we arrived it was already there, topped with our flowers. If I was organising another funeral (please, not for a long, long time or never), I would chose to do this again. It is more traditional to have bearers & to follow it in though, I know.
    Anyway, my sympathies. And don't worry about your allotment. You'll catch up. I only got my sweet peas sown this week & we haven't even bought any garlic yet..... mostly because we keep arguing about it. Mr F was traumatised by losing a crop to onion leaf miner & try as I might to remind him, he can't seem to remember that the following year, when we used insect mesh over our garlic, it was fine & we had a decent harvest. You'll catch up. I like to plant garlic in October but I used to know someone who always planted hers on the shortest day & harvested it on the longest, so you've time enough yet.
    F x
    "For each of our actions there are only consequences" (James Lovelock)"For in the true nature of things......every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold & silver" (Martin Luther King Jnr)
  • Well I do hope whoever is holding up the release of your inheritance gets a move on Foxgloves, I can imagine the frustration of the waiting.

    How did your pantry mining excavations go? Did you find anything interesting? When I was a student we had a horrible smell in the kitchen for a while and eventually tracked it down to an onion in a plastic bag at the back of a cupboard which had been there for so long that it had turned into a sort of brown liquid :eek:. At least we eliminated the smell by disposing of this revolting and slightly embarrassing find :rotfl:.
    Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally
    Debt in July 2017 = £58,766 😱 DEBT FREE 31 OCTOBER 2017 :T 🎉
    EMERGENCY FUND 1 = £50/£5,000. EMERGENCY FUND 2 = £10/£5,000.
    CHRISTMAS SAVINGS = £0/£500. SEF = £1,400/£12,000 PREMIUM BONDS ME = £350. PREMIUM BONDS DH = £300.
    HOLIDAY MONEY = £0 TIME LEFT TO PAY OFF MORTGAGE = 5 YEARS 1 MONTHS
  • foxgloves
    foxgloves Posts: 11,027
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    Whatlifeis - Hello & welcome. Do please feel free to de-lurk. We like discussions on here! Thanks for your nice comments.
    Re the legal stuff. Yes, as the two sole executors & beneficiaries, we did consider sorting out all the probate stuff ourselves. My sis was less keen than me. I'd read up about it & reckoned I could do it. I'm glad we changed our minds though, simply because there was just so much to do. Clearing what had been the old family home since the early 1970s was a mammoth task, then getting it into shape for sale, etc, with 150-mile trip each time. There was a delay at the probate stage, which was annoying but understandable.... 3 national factors entirely outside our control all converged to cause that..... but the current wait is for HMRC to sign things off so that the final accounts for the Estate can be completed for our approval. We were offered an interim payment in the summer but it is clear that nothing was actioned, hence the delay. I don't really want to start chivvying HMRC myself because the failure to implement the interim payment as previously agreed (twice) has solely been the fault of the solicitor.
    We will definitely escalate our commmunications if the situation is not resolved in the next few days.
    F
    "For each of our actions there are only consequences" (James Lovelock)"For in the true nature of things......every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold & silver" (Martin Luther King Jnr)
  • foxgloves
    foxgloves Posts: 11,027
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    HHoD - Yes, it is frustrating, but I'm hoping that it will be sorted out after my sister's assertive phone call. If not, I have an equally assertive one lined up which can be deployed if necessary.

    Pantry excavations were more enjoyable than I expected. I didn't find any treasures, but it was great to climb up on my steps, lean right in there & have a big rummage. I thought I might find a few 2018 jars of chutney left in there, but I didn't. Apart from 1 little jar of redcurrant jelly which I made when my friend gave me heaps of redcurrants from her allotment last year, all the preserves were from this year's efforts. I sorted them all out so I could arrange like with like & identified some I can tart up to put in my Christmas hampers. All emergency supplies have been integrated with normal grocery supplies, although it is my intention to keep extra supplies in stock of certain foodstuffs, medicines & other essentials. I also put a box in the corner of the pantry for Food Bank contributions, rather than keep tripping over the bag of such items in the lobby. There were quite a lot more Christmas cake ingredients in there than I thought, as special fruit cakes are never cheap to make, are they, & I've been buying the occasional ingredient now & again to put away. I've moved all that into a mixing bowl & stood it on an accessible place so I can easily see what I've got & add to it.
    I rounded up opened packets of dried fruit & used the sultanas to refill all our little plastic snack boxes & the currants went into carrot mayonnaise to go with our fajhitas & salad tonight. The only other thing that needed dealing with was all those peppers I picked from my greenhouse the other day. Mr F had already used one in a chilli. I used two in the fajhitas tonight & I've prepped & sliced the others to make 4 bagfuls for freezing plus two pots of the diced up tops for going on home made pizzas, etc.
    I did get a batch of bread rolls made too, so felt it had been useful time in the kitchen today. Just need useful knitting time now. This gift is less than 10"cms away from being finished!!!
    F x
    "For each of our actions there are only consequences" (James Lovelock)"For in the true nature of things......every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold & silver" (Martin Luther King Jnr)
  • foxgloves
    foxgloves Posts: 11,027
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    P. S..... HHoD - Eeeewwww, liquifying onion, yes that would have smelled vile. I nearly called the plumber out once because I just couldn't find the source of a horrible smell & then I discovered some liquifying carrots in a half opened plastic bag which had fallen down the side of the fridge. No idea how long they'd been there, but they were stomach-turningly disgusting. Good job it was pre-LBM & I always had heaps of scented candles!
    F x
    "For each of our actions there are only consequences" (James Lovelock)"For in the true nature of things......every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold & silver" (Martin Luther King Jnr)
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