Let's go Down The Lane

Let's go Down The Lane

frugal personal finance

Hello. I'm going to be a bit busy today, so here is a little something to read to keep you going. You may not have seen it before. Down the Lane boss Richard, has written an article about me, it's on his web site. There are other articles about frugal living, links are on the sidebar to the left. You might want to take a look at those as well while you are there.

The Simple Life

I am taking part in his Frugal February project on the forum. It's in the form of diaries by various forum members. You already know about my frugal ways, but you might like to read how other people are tackling their bid to save money. You don't need to join to read, but if you want to go into the members section at the bottom of the main menu, you will have to join.

Frugal February

I'll leave you to it, have a nice day. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Direct debits, friend or foe?

Direct debits, friend or foe?

money personal finance utilities

Hello. I like to time my lunch with a listen to the BBC Radio 4 consumer programme, You and Yours at 12.15pm. In the introduction today it said there would be a topic on how to save money on your utility bills. I need to know about this I thought. 

It started with an interview where someone was talking about how they pay their quarterly paper bills into the bank with cash. It makes them more careful about how they use their gas and electric because it makes them mentally connect their usage to the actual cost of it. 

They said what I have been saying for years. They like a paper bill, and they feel more in control rather than having direct debits taken from their bank account. 

The advice given that to pay by a monthly direct debit will be cheaper, is true in one sense, but it doesn't give any incentive to cut down on usage to save money. The mindset is they are going to take the money straight out of the bank anyway, so we might as well use it. Because you are paying upfront and the money is moved from your account automatically, you tend to forget about it. Paying cash over the counter, (a cheque in my case), makes you more mindful of how much it is costing you.

By paying for what you use after you have used it makes sense to me. I don't want the hassle of them taking too much money from me, and me trying to get it back. My supplier does not impose penalties on anyone paying quarterly. They charge the same flat rate for everyone, and there is no standing charge.

I shall continue to stick to my guns and not sign up for any more direct debits, I will not do internet banking or phone banking, I will keep on withdrawing the cash I need from the machine inside the bank and use that to pay for most of what I buy. I use my credit card for petrol and food shopping, and any larger amounts which might crop up from time to time. I clear that every month.

Have a listen to the paying for utilities item on Radio 4 today. Move the slider across to 25 minutes. See what you think.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Spend less, save more

Spend less, save more

budgeting shopping money personal finance

Hello. While we are on the subject of money and budgeting, I'll continue along these lines. A question from one of our readers on yesterdays post.......

Sorry if this question is being nosey but I will be going into retirement with just the basic state pension and I was wondering how you have managed to build up savings to replace large items such as your car. I would like to have some savings as back up in case anything major needs replacing.

Hi, not nosey at all, it's a question everyone will be asking at some point in their lives. What happens when the wages stop and the pension starts? How will I manage? What I can't do is to advise on pensions. I happen to have a small private pension because the company I worked for at the time, around the mid 1980's, advised us all to pay into the company pension. I did so along with everyone else. I worked there for five years, and promptly forgot about it after I left, until about twenty odd years later. Luckily It was a large national transport company which was still in business, albeit under a different name. I must say, it was a nice surprise to find that out. 

It's inevitable that a persons income will be reduced on retirement, except for the very rich of course, but I am talking about ordinary working folk here. I don't know how far off your retirement is, but something you can do is to find out exactly how much pension you are likely to receive, and use that figure as a base line, and start living on that amount before you retire. Anything left over can be put away into a separate account to start your emergency fund. This will give you a head start and be a good challenge to prepare yourself for any changes you need to make. 

It would be a good idea to go through all your wants and needs, and to weed out anything that is in the wrong category. As I said before, wants and needs are subjective and exclusive to you. It stands to reason that you might have to modify your needs and shift some of them over to wants, because you will not be getting as much money coming into your bank account. 

Some of the things you have been used to buying might have to be dropped. Your lifestyle expectations, may have to be modified, you might have to lower your sights. Getting into a routine where you unconsciously open your purse, or click on an item that you want to buy from a web site, will be a hard habit to break. What you can do is delay buying something that you want, for 24 hours, then think again, and ask yourself do I really need it. 

I have collected a lot of stuff throughout my life, and I now find I don't need any more. What I already have will hopefully last me. There may be an instant where something packs up and will need replacing, but if it only looks a bit dated and it aint broke, I don't need a new one. 

Anyone who is coming up to retirement age needs to take stock of their lives. There will have to be some tightening of the belt, some deliberation on what they can do without. It's a bit like de cluttering, sorting out a cupboard or drawer. 

My goodness it sounds like a lot of doom and gloom, doesn't it. Can't afford this, can't afford that, have to stop going to dancing or gym, have to give up the weekly meal out, no more shopping trips to town. If you are in the mindset that you get pleasure out of spending money, you will struggle. You will be miserable, you will sit at home and feel sorry for yourself, skint, no money to spend. 

When you retire you will have less money, but you will be gaining a lot more time. Time is more precious, more valuable than money. Time lost will never be replaced. Look at this new chapter in your life as the time you start living, and a good life is not about how much money you have. You will have to modify your lifestyle choices, but you will have more time to enjoy life. 

Ooops, going away from the question here. How have I managed to build up savings to replace large items like a car? I keep a car for about 3 - 4 years. I will need to have around  £6,000 saved to buy the car I want. Over 3 - 4 years, that's doable. 

My thrifty and frugal living ensures that money builds up in the bank, because I don't spend it. Simple as that, I DON'T SPEND IT. I work out what I absolutely must pay for, then I work out if I can afford some treats, and what is left only gets spent when something needs replacing. I don't call it savings, it's an emergency fund. I don't have any long term savings. A year ago I needed a fridge freezer, I had the cash to pay for it. Coming up I have my car road tax and insurance to pay, the money is there waiting. 

Someone asked a question once on MSE, what do you do with any spare money? The answer is, no money is spare, it is all earmarked for something. 

I am disciplined enough to NOT SPEND any money left over. Another way of doing it would be to put aside money for emergencies as soon as it has been paid into your account. Squirrel it away somewhere, it is not for spending, save it for emergencies. 

I hope that has given you food for thought. Thanks for asking. Don't worry, you will manage. 

Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Life is good on a pension

Life is good on a pension

money personal finance

Hello. Something someone said about not knowing all of my story which got me thinking. There must be newer readers who haven't read from the beginning, so will not know the background to my frugal journey. I've had a look through my bank statements and found some scribbled notes which will shed a bit of light about how skint I actually was. I can't put actual dates to some of the reasons why my income dropped very low, but it was round about my early to mid fifties when I started reducing my driving hours which reduced my paid income. I was not enjoying the job so I chose to work less hours. 

 Before that I was also running a small businesses, I bought in stock and sold at shows and events. It was a lot of work, making a little bit of money, but it didn't last very long. The recession kicked in and people stopped buying non essential items. I had to close it after three years, because I was starting to lose money.

After that, I started another business, an Introduction Agency/Singles Club. That was also a lot of work while still driving part time. Over three years it just about covered the expenses so I closed it, having made nothing.

A while later I took a short break from driving and bought a new catering trailer, got a pitch for it and started work on an industrial estate. I didn't last long. It was the wrong time to start, middle of winter, business was slow, and I hated the smell of the cooking. I sold the trailer and lost £1000 on it. My bank balance took a hit and was very low, so I had to go back to driving to earn some money. 

When I was 59 I had an operation and took 12 weeks off to recover. I wanted to go back to work, but they announced they were closing the depot so I didn't have a job to go back to. I was a job seeker for the last seven months until I could fully retire at 60. 

I have always meticulously checked my bank statements, keeping a beady eye on that bottom line. Sometimes it plunged perilously low so I had to do some calculations to make sure there was going to be enough to cover the standing orders, and pay the mortgage. If it dropped too low, there was only one thing to do, earn more money. 

Here are some of my scribbles. Note to myself  DON'T SPEND.

Only £547 left in the bank on this statement. I think that was two mortgage payments. There was a lot of juggling going on.

Here the balance didn't look too bad, but when I calculated everything that was going to come out during the month, it dropped dramatically.

This is low but not too bad. Got to get that money in money out balance a bit better though.

Going down again. all my business transactions were going through my current account. I cancelled the business bank account when they started making charges. My accountant advised it was ok to do this as long as the paperwork was all in order.

Oh my gawd, I think that was the lowest.

I was sailing a bit close to the wind at times, but strangely enough I wasn't too bothered. I never dropped below the bottom line, even though it was a challenge to stay afloat. My first state pension payment of £136 was paid on May 18th, I had a balance of £1,400. I felt safe then knowing that this amount would be arriving every week and would never stop. I was also receiving a small amount from a private pension which was £33 every four weeks. Both of these have increased over the years, and are my only income.

So there you are then. I've been down in the basement, now I'm on the way back up again. My mortgage is paid off and I have an emergency fund, so life is good on a pension.

Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

A plan for 2017

A plan for 2017

budgeting shopping personal finance reflections on life

Hello. Does anyone remember this book, for a while it was my bible, I studied it often, trying to absorb as much information as I could. It came out in 1982, I had been trucking for six years and I did have it all.   

Picture source Amazon 

Love, success, sex, yes, but money, not so sure. Yes, I had enough money, but not loads of it. I had enough to get on the housing ladder, but it was a struggle in the beginning when every penny I had went into the house. I thought I was the bees knees, the dream job, own house and car, plenty of opportunity to meet boyfriends, oh yes, life was good. 

It was quite early on that I realized that there was a difference between what I needed and what I wanted. I needed to have a roof over my head, but it didn't need to be modern and fashionable. I needed a car to get to work, but it didn't need to be flashy or new, anything with four wheels and an engine was ok. I needed clothes, some of them were new, but I made them last a long time, I didn't need to replace them until they wore out. I needed food to keep me alive and to nourish my body. I didn't need to buy expensive food, my mum taught me how to cook the basics. And so it went on, I was categorizing everything that came into my life, putting things into boxes, do I need it or want it? 

I have noticed from reading forums and suchlike that everyone's needs and wants are different. All well and good if you have the money to pay for it all. But if you have to make your money last from one pay check to the next, then it would be beneficial to constantly review your needs and wants list, because it changes over time. 

Some of my needs and wants are still the same, I still need a car because I value the freedom it gives me. So, for peace of mind I prefer not to drive an old banger which might break down. My car is now changed every so often and I save up for it. I still don't need a fancy house, new clothes and expensive food, so I decorate my house with second hand, and shop in charity shops and bargain hunt my food. 

I definitely have everything I need, and I seem to have pretty much what I want, or do I? Well, it's nice to have dreams isn't it. We can all aspire to a better lifestyle, to bigger treats, and a few luxuries. But what if we don't have the money to pay for it? This is where the needs and the wants come into play, not losing track and getting carried away by all the nice things around us which we see and want. 

For instance, I would like a campervan, wouldn't that be great, take off anywhere with my bed just behind the seat. The adventures I could have, wouldn't it be marvelous. But hang on a minute, have you seen how much they cost? Mega amounts of money which I haven't got. Spose I could save up for it, but it's going to take a long time. Spose I could sell my house and buy one, have thought about it, but what happens next. Time is getting on and I don't want to spend the rest of my life in a campervan, and once I have sold my house I will never get on the housing ladder again, it will have to be renting, and have you seen how much rents are these days? I did live in a small caravan for about a year and it wasn't very nice in the winter. No, my campervan will have to stay in the wants for now, and may never be bought.  

So, it is the end of the year, the point of this post is to encourage you to sort out your needs and wants for 2017. Make a list, you will find over time that your priorities will change. If you have money to spare each month you might find that you can afford some of those wants, but if money is tight, you might only be able to buy the needs. If you are always skint you should look at your lists and move things around. The wants will have to stay where they are for the time being until your financial position improves. If there are needs which you can't afford they will have to be parked in the wants for the time being. 

If you are living beyond your means you need to stop buying wants, you can't afford them, unless you do something to increase your income, take on extra work or change your job. Of course if you can write a book like Helen Gurley Brown, then you will be quids in. 

That's it folks, the end of the year. 2016 has been pretty good for me, I have no regrets. Let's all try and make 2017 the year we take control of our lives. Tomorrow we start afresh, what's gone is gone. We start  walking, we start looking after our bodies, we start prioritizing, we start enjoying the rest of our lives. This isn't a rehearsal, this is it. 

My very best wishes to you. Happy New Year.

No need to go mad just because it's Christmas

No need to go mad just because it's Christmas

budgeting shopping cheap food food personal finance vegetarian

Hello and Good Morning. I've just had a good laugh. There is an article about me and how to save money at Christmas, in iNews, a budget daily newspaper. The journalist Katie Grant rang me yesterday for a chat. I usually get requests at this time of year asking for my money saving Christmas tips, but when I reply, I don't do Christmas, they usually give up and look elsewhere for their story. Katie stuck with it.

Click on this link and see the story yourself.  Britains stingiest woman offers her advice.

Anyway, let's press on. I did my Christmas shopping last night at Tesco. The yellow stickers cost me £6.21, and it's all good food. The total shop was £40.78, and with a voucher for £8 off this brought it down to £32.78.

There were only two of us waiting for the final reductions so we got the pick of the crop. Tons of veg as usual, broccoli and spinach my favourite. I will be cooking some of this up later today and putting portions of stew in the freezer. I might not have to go shopping again until after Christmas. In fact I could stretch what I have in my freezer and cupboards until the New Year.

I had it in mind to write something here about Christmas spending, or not spending, but Katie beat me to it, so I will add a few more thoughts on what she has already written.

Utility bills go up in winter, heating and cooking cost more, to budget for that savings have to be made elsewhere. Budgeting is an all the year round activity, there will be peaks and troughs throughout the seasons. Think about what you NEED, what you WANT, and what you will NEVER spend your money on. Compile your own lists on what is important to you, and what you can do without.

I can do without Christmas, not important, but I like a nice car, need to pay for my pets, and I like to go away on holidays and day trips. What I don't need is to shop at Sainsbury's Waitrose, and Marks and Sparks. I don't need a television set, don't need a licence. Don't need to eat out, don't need takeaways. I could list whole rafts of things I don't need, and my do need list will be very short.

If you have a partner, you should sit down together and do this exercise, you need to be singing from the same song sheet. No point in one person frugally saving pennies everywhere, when the other is squandering  it all away. That will only cause conflict.

If Christmas is important to you all well and good, go ahead, but do not go into DEBT for it. It is an annual event and there will be another one on the same date next year. It won't hurt to cut back on the spending for one year, or if you are like me, you might decide you can do away with it altogether.

I find it very liberating that I have chosen not to join in. My brain is not cluttered with the worry of getting the right presents, buying the right food, sending cards, and generally running around like a headless chicken trying to keep up. I can sit back and relax and watch everyone else getting their knickers in a twist. You will not see a furrowed brow on my face, you will see a wide grin from cheek to cheek.

No more lectures, do what you like, but don't come crying to me when the credit card bill lands on the door mat. I will just say, I told you so.

I had a lovely email from Amy of Hard up and Happy. She had difficulty commenting on my blog, so I will copy and paste it here.

 Hi Ilona,

I just want to say a huge thank you for your support and kind words on your blog - which is ace by the way. 

It means a lot when people are nice, as it's my philosophy to be as kind to others as I can, unfortunately this isn't always returned.

I won't concentrate on the negative Nellies though, as the positive comments are amazing. If I can help a few families be happy with what they have then that makes it worthwhile. I would have loved to have responded to each comment on your blog and my website, I'm afraid for some reason I can't? The comments plug in on mine is playing up. Anyway enough rambling I wanted to seek you out and say a great big thank you. You have made me very happy. From one thrfiter to another Merry Christmas!

Kind regards 

Amy 

Thank you Amy, lovely to hear from you. 

I'm beginning ramble now, it's lunch time, and I have things to do. An idea for another textile picture is creeping into my head, want to have a play with some fabric. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon. 

Toodle pip. 

Well done, Carol. Happy retirement

Well done, Carol. Happy retirement

amazing friends personal finance

Hello. This is a blast from the past, an oldie picture of me and my best friend Carol. Taken about 30 years ago, I think. Note the big hair, ha ha, we were always having perms. 

Carol wrote this on Facebook last week.

Well I think I can now say I'm officially retired. After only working half my hours in August it was time to hang up my boots. After working 51 years without a break, plus during this time the longest period out of work I had was one week. That's not bad for the amount of moves I had.
I am now just waiting to exchange contracts on my sale, and purchase, and up north I will return after moving away 42 years ago. 

Carol is two months older than me, we have remained friends almost all of our lives, living just down the road from each other when we were at junior and secondary school. We sat together on the school bus, hung out together, people thought we were sisters. Carol went to college when we left school at 15, and I got a job in Wooly's. Her family moved to Blackpool, and when I was 17 I went for a holiday, and moved there when I was 18. I stayed three and a half years, then moved on to Birmingham, then back home to Burton on Trent. Carol met someone and married, and moved around quite a bit after that. Carol didn't have any children and neither did I. 

We always kept in touch, by phone, letter, and visiting each other. Now we phone, email, and text each other, with the occasional visit.  

I am mighty proud of my best friend Carol, she is the sweetest nicest person you would ever wish to meet. She has been through a rough patch or two but has never shown any anger or hostility to anyone when in a difficult situation. Her family are absolutely thrilled that their sister, aunt, and great aunt is coming home. 

It's funny that we are totally different when it comes to lifestyle choices, yet can still remain friends. Carol chose a well paying career and likes to spend her money on nice things. I did the opposite, had a career with reasonable pay, and don't place any importance on nice things. It must be down to our upbringing that we have both lived within our means. We are from working class families, and both learnt to make do and mend from our mothers.

I have been nagging Carol to retire ever since I finished work at 60. She has carried on another seven years because she enjoyed what she was doing, and got used to earning extra money to fund her chosen lifestyle. Now at last she is free from work, and is about to make the move from Hampshire back up north to where the rest of her family are. After working for 51 years, an amazing achievement, I think she has done her whack, and deserves to enjoy her retirement. 

When she is settled in her new abode I can see a visit on the cards, I will be popping over to the west coast, and who knows, I may even take the train and walk back, ha ha. 

Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.