Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally

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  • redofromstart
    redofromstart Posts: 4,167 Forumite
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    HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »
    Admittedly Christie can be a bit dated :rotfl: :eek: but I love the insights into people's minds and what causes then to commit murder. Miss Marple is my favourite with her views about human nature (very accurate imo).

    It's a huge part of the charm for me. I also love the Angela Thirkell Barsetshire books for similar reasons. As contemporary social commentary of war time events they are fascinating.
    My mortgage free diary: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6498069/whoops-here-comes-the-cheese

  • HairyHandofDartmoor
    HairyHandofDartmoor Posts: 13,960 Forumite
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    I've never read Angela, I should try her. Have you ever read Patricia Wentworth? Murder mysteries written around the same time as Agatha Christie. They are another fascinating insight into that time.
    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
  • HairyHandofDartmoor
    HairyHandofDartmoor Posts: 13,960 Forumite
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    edited 17 April 2018 at 7:15PM
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    Today and yesterday have been fairly uneventful, just in the office working.

    I've had a few PA surveys and cashed out just over £11today :). I've also had two YG surveys in two days to my amazement :) although one was only for 25 points.

    It was lovely yesterday, but dull and rainy all day today. It's amazing what a difference rain makes to your mood :(. It's supposed to get warmer tomorrow but it's hard to believe.

    I paid our first council tax payment of the year yesterday, it's gone up of course :mad:. Our biggest monthly bills atm are mortgage, then gas and electric, then council tax and then water. Food is high of course but I have a bit more control over that. The money soon slips away as the bills become due :mad:.

    We've invited some friends to dinner on Saturday, the ones who've been signing all our passport forms etc, so operation Clean Up The Pigsty has commenced. I cleaned the toilet, toilet floor and skirtings yesterday and today I cleaned out the fridge. So that's the two biggest jobs done :T.

    Hope everyone is having a good Tuesday :).
    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
  • redofromstart
    redofromstart Posts: 4,167 Forumite
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    HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »
    I've never read Angela, I should try her. Have you ever read Patricia Wentworth? Murder mysteries written around the same time as Agatha Christie. They are another fascinating insight into that time.

    Yes thanks - I have them all in hard copy and re-read every few years, but a couple of years ago they started republishing a lot of the hard to find ones so I got them all on Kindle (free or under £2) and am slowly buying the hard copies for my mum for birthdays and Christmases (who will eventually re-home them back to me when she next declutters :p). If you have a search on Amazon and re-order by publication date you will see what I mean - lots that I had never seen or heard of. I was such a happy bunny when that happened.
    My mortgage free diary: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6498069/whoops-here-comes-the-cheese

  • HairyHandofDartmoor
    HairyHandofDartmoor Posts: 13,960 Forumite
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    Ooh I should have a look on Amazon. I envy you the hard copies. The money I could spend on books :eek:.
    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
  • Sun_Addict
    Sun_Addict Posts: 21,299 Forumite
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    Well done on the cash out and the cleaning mission :)
    Christmas Savings 2024 £252.38/£600 April NSD:2 April Surveys £
  • redofromstart
    redofromstart Posts: 4,167 Forumite
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    HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »
    The money I could spend on books :eek:.

    Me too, in my 'drop out years' I worked in a second hand book shop. Its fair to say I lived on air and books after I paid the rent for my room. Its also when I bought the beginnings of my golden age stuff, and then have added charity shop buys to the collection over the years, and my mum donates duplicates, etc. Authors like Angela Thirkell I found from watching what other people bought and of course I could test them out for free.
    My mortgage free diary: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6498069/whoops-here-comes-the-cheese

  • System
    System Posts: 178,094 Community Admin
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    My books have arrived , have started The Coffin Trail tonight. I have walked the coffin trail a couple of times so can identify some places .

    Operation clean up sounds good, nothing like a bit of spring cleaning !
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
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    redofromstart, thanks so much for posting about Angela Thirkell:T. I've often seen copies of her books at car boot sales and charity stalls but walked by without a second glance:o. I'll definitely buy at least one next time I see any at a bargain price. I love discovering a new author:j


    As for Patricia Wentworth, I'm sorry to say I'm not a fan:(. I read several of her books many years ago and I found them pleasant enough time-fillers but that's about it. Just goes to show how different we booklovers are;)


    I'm green with envy that you once worked in a second hand bookshop. That's my idea of paradise, even if it had been in a difficult financial situation like yours. I could happily live on air if I had unlimited books to read:j
  • elizabethhull
    elizabethhull Posts: 765 Forumite
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    carbootcrazy wrote: »
    redofromstart,
    I'm green with envy that you once worked in a second hand bookshop. That's my idea of paradise, even if it had been in a difficult financial situation like yours.

    I could happily live on cake if I had unlimited books to read:j

    Perhaps that was not exactly what you said !!

    The opportunity to lose oneself in another world is priceless, whether Agatha Christie, Dickens, Stephen King or the latest post-apocalyptic doom-laden story.

    Thanks to Tramadol I had a very productive day yesterday, so today without it have at least brought in all the washing I'd done. Doesn't line-dried washing smell just fabulous ?

    There's that bit in Elizabeth Taylor's 'Angel', where the main character's mother, given unwanted riches and servants, bewails the loss of bringing in fresh washing, and knowing just the moment when a cake is ready by the slight sound it makes. All the things she had learned and perfected are now unneeded skills.
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