My Debt Diary

The Things You Won’t Be Considering When It Comes To The Later Years In Life

We can all be a little guilty of living in the here, and now and not thinking about our future too much. While we are encouraged to live in the present, there is no harm in thinking about the future and making plans or considerations for this period of your life. But what is it you should be thinking about? Here are some of the things you can start planning for right now, that will benefit you in the future.

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The funeral costs?

One of the first things you may want to think about, and perhaps one that might not be that great to, is the cost of funerals. We don’t give it much thought because let’s be honest here, we don’t want to imagine a time in our lives where we are not around to see our loved ones. But, should this happen, and at some stage it will, it might be assuring to you that you know this cost is covered for in advance. There are funeral homes that have policies in place that can help you pay in to fund your funeral in advance. Taking the stress away from loved ones at a time where they will feel at their most vulnerable.

How will you fund your current lifestyle?

You may be quite happy with how you live your life right now. Not worrying about how much your food shopping bill is each week. Going out on the weekends and seeing friends and family. However, you have a wage that is likely paying for all those things, so what happens when you retire and that wage goes away? It is important for you to realise that you need to have some provisions in place. This might be equity in your property that you have built up, a pension that you have paid into regularly or savings that you have slowly grown over the years. Taking action now can help you continue to live the life you want to lead in retirement.

What might you do with your spare time?

Retirement can seem like a huge amount of time for you to do whatever it is you want to do, but what exactly will that be? Thinking about how you may spend your retirement years now gives you something to work towards. You may have a bucket list you want to start ticking off. Seeing places and having cultural experiences. It could be a hobby you want to start up, to live in a certain place, or simply to be able to slow down and enjoy life.

Where you will live?

Finally, you will at some point need to think about the logistics of retirement and where you might want to live. This helps you to make plans now such as buying the right property,investing in the forever home, and knowing where and what area you want to spend those days. Being supported by friends and family and being close by to the things you love will be important to you.

 

Let’s hope this has you thinking about those later years in life so that you can enjoy every aspect of what is on offer to you.

Your Debt Diary – Jodie – One Small Home

When I first began following the Debt Free Community on Instagram I was drawn in by the stories everyone would share about their debt free journeys. I find it fascinating to read about the progress others are making and also reassuring to know that I am not the only one in my position.

Your Debt Diary is a guest blog series by money bloggers and members of the debt free community for My Debt Diary. Each week someone new will share their debt story. This week Jodie from One Small Home shares her story of becoming debt free and the action she took to make it happen.

 

What stage are you at in your debt free journey right now?

I finally paid off my credit card debt last month!

What is your debt total?

It was just under £2,000.

What is your “why”?

I just decided one day it was time to get my finances in order. I’d been carrying around this credit card debt for too long, just paying the minimum payment every month. It got to the point that I couldn’t even remember what I’d bought on credit and if I thought about how much interest I’d accrued and paid – well it made me feel sick. It really was time to take my head out of the sand.

Are you following a specific plan or method?

This kind of happened around the time when I decided to have a good sort out and declutter at home. I live in a tiny flat with hardly any storage and I just had too many things that I wasn’t using. I thought I’d try to sell what I could to pay off my debt.

So, I sold a lot of things from makeup, to clothes and even some furniture and jewellery on eBay. I did try other selling sites such as Mercari and Shpock but I had far more success with eBay. I even did a couple of car boot sales with a friend – neither of us made a lot of money but we more than covered our costs, got rid of some stuff and had a laugh along the way. I did have some books, CDs and DVDs that I no longer wanted – so I sold what I could via sites such as Zeffirelli’s, Music Magpie etc.

I started following money bloggers on Instagram and learnt about side hustles such as survey sites, scanning receipts etc so I gave those a go. I’d already been using a cash back site – I just became even more vigilant about using it.

It was all quite piecemeal but every little bit seemed to help and it was so satisfying to see my debt decrease month by month.

What challenges have you faced along the way?

Quite a few things such as finding the time to declutter and list things on eBay, when sales seemed to stall. And actually the last £300 or so was paid off by cash back, I was amazed how quickly that had built up so I decided to use it to just clear the debt off once and for all.

I still have stuff to declutter so I’ve decided to try to boost my savings by continuing with the selling and the side hustles that pay ok and aren’t too onerous to do. I’ll be honest, that I do feel my finances should have been in better order by this stage in my life, but I do feel better that I’ve started to take control.

 

I’d like to thank Joide for sharing her story in today’s post. Please make sure to visit her Instagram at One Small Home.

You can read last week’s post here. If you would like to share your story with Your Debt Diary please leave a comment below with your email address or Instagram and I will get in touch. You can find me on Instagram here.

 

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Smart Investments You Should Consider Making In 2019

These days, one of the best ways of making extra money is by making an investment in something for a profitable return. As the year draws to a close, you may be contemplating making investments in the new year so that you can earn more from there on out. The problem you might be facing is what to invest your money in, so we’ve come up with some smart investments that you should consider making in 2019 – check it out.

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Peer to peer lending

A great way of putting your hard earned cash to good use is by lending it out. This might sound a little back handed, but P2P lending platforms such as lending club allow you to safely lend your money out to people in small amounts. This works well for you because of the repayment interest that’s added onto it, so you’ll be getting more money back than you actually gave out in the first place. Of course, the platform you use will take a cut, but you’ll still be earning money by doing practically nothing.

Properties

Investing your money into property will always be a good investment. This is because no matter what, people will always need somewhere to live, and with the ever growing population, you’re bound to make a significant amount of money from investing in property. To really earn the big bucks, it might be worth spending a little more on a place such as Ocean by Meriton so that you’re able to rent it out for more money than you would say, buying a property in a small neighbourhood. Basically, spending more = earning more in the property world.

Business

Perhaps you’ve had a business idea tucked under your belt for a little while but never acted on it? Now is a better time than ever to launch your business, especially if you’re able to invest money into it to give it the best start possible.

Alternatively, maybe you know of a business that you truly believe in, but that needs a little helping hand? Investing your money into helping a business grow will certainly help bring in the cash rewards when that business kicks off.

Cryptocurrency

Finally, one of the most popular things to invest in right now is cryptocurrency, and that’s because it’s one of the easiest forms of currency to use in this day and age. Keeping an eye on exchange rates is fairly easy, and you’ll soon pick up a knack for it. If you want to know more about it, check out this comprehensive guide on how to invest in cryptocurrency to make sure that you’ve got all of the information you need.

What will you invest your money into this year?

Debt Payment Progress Report 11 – 07/12/18

Every two weeks I will be sharing my debt payment progress report with you. I’ll share my new debt total and some of the things I have done to make this happen. It will help me record my journey and it will also help me to stay motivated!

Debt payment progress report – my new total!

As of December 7th 2018 my new debt total is £14,620.03 (My starting debt total was £16,814.29)

That means that in the last couple of weeks I have paid off £250.53. My new total debt payment to date is now £2194.26, which I have calculated to equate to 13% of my debt total. (I should note that I have paid in more than this, however some money has gone straight to interest). The following debts now remain:

  • Loan One £6561.46
  • Loan Two £5805.21
  • Credit Card One £0
  • Credit Card Two £2253.36

debt payment progress report - new debt total - 071218

Whilst work has continued to be slow, working hard on my side hustles has really helped me to get through the past couple of weeks and ensure I can cover all of my minimum payments plus a little bit extra. I’m not bounding forward with my debt free journey at the moment but my total is still going down and that’s what matters.

Ebay and Prolific Academic were my biggest earners throughout November and are continuing to help me this month. I managed to hit my goal of making an extra £200 by the 28th, plus a little more. I’m definitely going to be continuing my efforts to make sure Christmas is comfortable. Yes I love this festive season, but I refuse to move backwards for the sake of one or two good nights out and a pile of gifts.

I’m also starting to prepare for the new year, getting my tax return out of the way and readying myself for the busy return to work after some time off over Christmas. January is often one of my busiest months and so being prepared ahead of time with things like my blog will free up as much time as possible for me to earn a bigger income and dig further into my debt total.

You can find my previous reports here.

 

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Decorate for Christmas without Breaking the Bank

As someone who absolutely adores Christmas and everything that comes with it I completely understand the urge to go over board with decorations come December. As a result this can of course mean spending a lot of money, but it doesn’t have to. From affordable trees to simple touches that give your home a festive feel, here are ways to decorate for Christmas without breaking the bank.

Find an affordable tree

The centre of most homes at Christmas is the Christmas tree. There are two options when finding one of course, real or fake. Buying a real tree can often be the cheaper option however it will only last the month before needing to be thrown away. Fake trees, whilst not quite as realistic, can be stored away and kept for years to come. This is where it’s best to do a bit of research and figure out which is the best for you.

After taking a quick look around I have noticed that Home Bargains are selling real trees this year for £9.99. They may not be the bushiest, however they are a fantastic option if you are on a tight budget. You can also find very affordable artificial options in many shops and online. I’ve found this one on Amazon for just £19.99 and it is 6ft tall!

Add finishing touches to budget items

Often I’ll spot cheap wreaths and garlands in the shops which are a great price, but look a bit bare. There is such an easy trick to solve this. Instead of leaving it as is, buy a few extra finishing touches to add to your decorations that will really bring them to life.

As an example, last year I bought a plain wreath from a budget shop. I then purchased some pine cones, berries and ribbon at £1 each along with some wire. It only took me around twenty minutes to add these to the wreath, fluff out the foliage and then finish it with a bow. I had only spent around £10 in total, which was still a lot less than the more expensive shops were charging and now I have a beautiful wreath for my front door that I can use year after year.

You can do this with essentially any decorations and it makes such a difference. If you’re not naturally creative, have a quick nosey on places like Pinterest and Youtube. You can find some great ideas and “how to” tutorials.

Stick to a colour scheme

There are two big benefits to choosing one colour scheme that you love. Firstly, having one or two colours throughout all of your decorations will pull them together and really make your room or home look more full and complete. I always stick to green foliage with red and gold accents in the form of baubles, berries and lights. Many of the shops even do large sets of baubles like this one here which should be enough to cover an entire tree.

Secondly, if you stick with the same colours year after year you won’t have to buy new decorations each December. Having spent around £150 in 2017 on our decorations I was worried about our potential spends this year. In fact, we have only spent £6 on a couple of baubles from trips we have taken. If you look after your decorations well and store them properly throughout the rest of the year they will last you a long time.

Never underestimate the impact of a few candles

The flicker of a candle flame can have such a huge impact on a room. So much so that the Danes have a name for it; Hygge. A candle brings so much cosiness and, paired with a few simple decorations, can bring a real feeling of Christmas into your home. If you choose to opt for a scented candle, you will add that extra layer of warmth. My favourite has to be apple and cinnamon. Of course, some people prefer not to have an open flame in their home. In this case faux candles like these ones, paired with a room diffuser would give the same cosy effect.

Hang up your Christmas cards

Before decorating my own home for the first time last year I worried how I was going to fill one particularly blank space of wall in our living room. As our Christmas cards began to arrive however, it occurred to me that they would be the perfect solution. I found some twine that I had been using to wrap presents with and a couple of pins and strung them up in two rows. The room felt more and more complete as they dropped through the letterbox each day. As a bonus, I wasn’t getting annoyed with them all falling off the shelves and sideboard as I normally would!

Make your own

Last but not least, home crafting is another fantastic way to decorate without spending a lot of money. You might in fact have many of the things you need to decorate in your own back garden. Take a moment to go outside and see what you can forage. Sprigs of holly and berries could be added to a flower arrangement, whilst pine and conifer might be the perfect foliage to create a fireplace garland. Inside the home you might even have some spare paper to make paper chains, a simple but classic touch to add to your living room.

 

As I have mentioned before in my other Christmas posts, this is a wonderful time of year but it is not worth causing yourself financial problems over. There are always budget friendly solutions and often the items that we have worked on ourselves are the ones we hold on to most fondly for years to come.

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My Goals for December 2018

December is here, the final month of the year and my favourite thanks to Christmas, far too much chocolate and lots of time spent with friends and family. It scares me to realise how quickly time is passing and so I continue to set myself targets, both financial and personal, to help me maintain focus as the days flash by. Here are my goals for December 2018.

You can read my goals for November 2018 here.

My goals for December 2018:

 

Earn another £100 of side income.

Last month I set myself the goal to make an additional £200 of side income. I was on an absolute mission and after getting stuck into surveys on Prolific Academic and selling some personal items on Ebay I smashed that goal. December is set up to be a busy month with lots of plans for Christmas and so I’ve set myself a lower goal of £100 to suit the free time I will have.

For some, £100 will not be a lot of money. For me, it will mean covering the cost of two dinners. I am very lucky to have two close groups of friends who I make a point of seeing every year. This does mean however, that I have two expensive nights of dinner and drinks to pay for. This extra £100 will cover these and allow me to focus my lower income on my bills. If you’ve been a reader for a while you will know how important this is to me in order to have a debt free Christmas.

Keep spending to a minimum.

This goal might seem like a bit of a cheat as I don’t have to do anything as such, however December is always such an expensive month for me and as such I’m making it my goal to only spend on necessities. I don’t need any more decorations or clothes for nights out. Our kitchen cupboards are always well stocked without all of the extra Christmas themed treats. The gifts I have chosen for everyone are enough and I don’t need to keep adding to them just for the sake of it.

I don’t mean to be a Scrooge of course. Christmas is my favourite time of year and I will enjoy every ounce of it. My celebrations will just be more budget friendly than usual.

Make an additional £100 payment to my credit card.

If you read the results of my goals last month you will know that debt payments were very low. My work load has dropped quite a bit, which it always does over the winter months, and so I don’t have as much income left over to pay towards my debt total. Never the less I want to continue to make some progress on my credit card debt.

To keep things manageable I’m setting myself a goal of £100. It’s small but pushes my debt total down which is what matters. The smaller my total is the less interest I have to pay too!

Make my tax payment.

Over the last couple of months I have been working hard to save up my tax payment which is due in January. Lesson learnt, starting January I will put the money away with each invoice that comes in instead of leaving it to the last minute! Now that I have saved what I am due it’s time to make the payment.

Tax returns are stereotypically tedious so I am setting this as a goal to ensure that I don’t put it off. Ideally I’ll set aside some time this week to get it sorted out, but worst case I know I need it completed by the end of December. As much as I hate the process it will be a big weight off of my shoulders going into the new year.

 

Have you set yourself some goals for the month? Let me know in the comments!

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To Buy Or Not To Buy. That Is The Question

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There are a lot of things that many of us consider to be a central part of being a successful adult. Being able to find a job and live independently are some of the biggest and earliest milestones that we’re expected to hit. However, the most important milestone, for a lot of people at least, is the moment that you’re able to buy your own home. Being a homeowner is one of those things that many people consider to be one of the major signifiers that you’re finally a real adult and that you’ve entered the real world. However, that raises the question: how important is buying a house really? After all, it’s becoming more and more difficult to do in the modern world, so how necessary is it to 21st-century adults? With that in mind, here’s the age old question: to buy or not to buy.

Thinking long-term

When people think about finding a home that they can live in for a long time, buying is likely to be the most obvious choice a lot of the time. After all, rental is generally seen as something of a short-term option. Now, there’s nothing wrong with this, after all, sometimes you’re only looking for somewhere to live for 6 months or a year at a time. However, places like Glamour Apartments are actually a great place to look for some long-term rental options. Sure, buying is still the most long-term option out there, but it’s certainly not the only one.   

Making an investment

One way in which buying a home is entirely superior to renting is in terms of being able to actually make an investment in your future. When you’re renting, you can basically think as your rent as the money that you pay for the privilege of having a roof over your head. However, when you’re paying off a mortgage, you’re building equity and investing in your ability to buy another home in the future. Not only that but it doesn’t matter how long you rent for, you’re always going to be paying rent. At least with a mortgage, you have the potential to pay it off one day.

Flexibility

One major drawback of buying a home is that it’s a serious commitment. After all, with all of the expense and complexity involved in buying a home, it’s hardly something that you’re going to be able to do every couple of years. If you’re the kind of person who wants to be able to move around a lot then there’s a good chance that renting is the far superior option for you.

 

Of course, the truth of the matter is that, as with just about any other major aspect of your life, it’s going to come down to personal preference and circumstance nine times out of ten. You can hear all of the advice in the world but in the end, you have to make the decision that makes the most sense for your life and who you are as a person.

Your Debt Diary – Jane Has Debt

When I first began following the Debt Free Community on Instagram I was drawn in by the stories everyone would share about their debt free journeys. I find it fascinating to read about the progress others are making and also reassuring to know that I am not the only one in my position.

Your Debt Diary is a guest blog series by money bloggers and members of the debt free community for My Debt Diary. Each week someone new will share their debt story. This week Jane from @janehasdebt shares their journey so far and the extraordinary challenges they have faced.

 

What stage are you at in your debt free journey right now?

I am stuck in a time warp. Look more like it. I have been trying to get out of debt for the past 10 years. Part of the problem is that I have ADHD – also known as not being able to rationalise anything because of getting into a space of being hyper-focused and also being impulsive. I have fortunately learned to curb everyday expenses both using personal finance tools like budgeting and using the cash envelope system. Critically stopping big purchases due to my ADHD is still a work in progress (like financing cars or buying concert tickets).

For the most part I was doing well but a few years ago life literally flipped me upside down and shook everything out of me within a year’s time. Divorce, passing of mein Kind, my own health issues, and my car was totaled at the other person’s fault. I had to draw my focus somewhere, so I went back to school by taking out student loans, I had to rent/deposit a new place, and I bought a new car to replace my just-paid-off previous now totaled car. Plunged myself into another $23,000 on top of my already 38,000 (total – $61,000).

Then I found Mr. Money Moustache blog and the forums. It was a godsend to me at the time I found it. The diversity of people available and their brilliant knowledge in personal finance saved me. I am still not in a good place with debt. But overall I am in a much better place with my finances – awesome credit score due to bills being paid on time, budget brilliantly, put 10% away in my retirement account, increased my income, increased my net worth and now craft my own cash envelopes.

What is your debt total?

Between health, education needs for my other Kind, and financing another used car (major mistake) – at my highest I have owed $81,120 (April 2018). I am now at $69,324.

What is your “why”?

The worst thing ever was not being able to take extended time off when mein Kind got sick. I didn’t have the family to help, I did not qualify for FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) and I couldn’t quit my job without sinking into homelessness. Twenty four hours a day I was working full-time, taking care of two in separate locations, attending health appointments and commuting hours at a time. I was exhausted and I was in a flurry of frustrating emotions at the lack of support every corner I turned.

I will never be in that space again.

Are you following a specific plan or method?

I try follow the Dave Ramsey baby steps 1 and 2. I keep a strong budget. Discretionary expenses are cash only (with pretty envelopes). But I don’t always have a full emergency fund. Actually it’s one of my pet peeves because I can never keep it filled up.

What challenges have you faced along the way?

Being in debt for so long…actually I have been in debt my whole adult life. But at the time of being mindful of my debt I have not been able to get my debt down! It’s so frustrating. I’m on a roller coaster without the ability to get off of it. Frankly it is tiring! The last stint was my car breaking down and deciding it was better to finance another than spend the $4,000 to fix it. That was such a bad decision.

I am kind of freaking out about my debt load because die hard planning for retirement is now coming into focus, Um, no bad nursing homes wanted nor do I want to be broke. With a problematic and expensive U.S. healthcare system, it’s a scary thought not having enough money available. Especially when I think of everything else I am concurrently financially managing and/or trying to save up for.

What are you doing to speed up the progress of your debt free journey?

The past few months I haven’t been able to snowball. The 4th quarter is when all my annual expenses come due and I didn’t have sinking funds available to cover them. So the snowball portion and payment plans covered these expenses. Fortunately, starting in 2019 my snowball will resume.

As for side hustles, it is not working out for me. I don’t much to sell off and side hustle opportunities are not coming to fruition. I plan on trying a couple of other side hustles in the new year. I’ve started saving my $5 bills to help me fund my emergency fund.

All extra money received (i.e. tax return, bonuses etc) will be thrown at paying down debt.

When do you plan to become debt free?

As long as I stay cash only with discretionary expenses and keep the credit cards out of the picture (because ADHD and CCs don’t mix), I will be debt free 4th quarter 2022. God help me.

 

I’d like to thank Jane for today’s post. Please make sure to visit their Instagram at @janehasdebt.

You can read last week’s post here. If you would like to share your story with Your Debt Diary please leave a comment below with your email address or Instagram and I will get in touch. You can find me on Instagram here.

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Did I Achieve My Goals for November 2018?

We have reach the end of another month and it is time for me to look back at the goals I set and reflect on how I have done. So did I achieve my goals in November 2018? I feel like I could write the a very short answer here. No. No I didn’t achieve all of my goals. I have made some progress none the less.

My goals for November 2018 were as follows:

  • Boost my side income
  • Begin a sinking fund for next year
  • Clear another £500 of my second credit card
  • Finish saving my tax payment

Boost my side income.

My intention, my hope, was to make an extra £200 this month from side hustles in order to combat the lower amount of freelance work that I always get during the winter months. Well I am pleased to say that on the 24th I smashed this goal and I am still adding to it. Considering this has been quite an unsuccessful month goals wise I am so pleased that this one has gone well.

If you have debt yourself, or you have had debt in the past, you will know the stress of limited funds at Christmas. This £200, although it is not a huge amount of money, will cover my Christmas shopping and ensure that I can still pay my bills without even having to think about using my credit card. That is priceless. Both Ebay and Prolific Academic have played big roles in my success with this goal. I highly recommend both if you’re trying to boost your income!

Begin a sinking fund for next year.

With the help of my extra income total, I have also been able to add a small amount of money to my savings in preparation for next year. With our wedding, honeymoon, my hen do, a friend’s wedding and hen do, two big birthdays and many other things along the way I’m sure, there will be a lot to pay for.

Saving a small amount of money each month now is going to make such a difference to my debt progress and my bank balance. It also ensures that I won’t be panicking and scraping together money at the last minute. So far I have put away £50 which is a good start.

Clear another £500 of my second credit card.

Unfortunately I was nowhere near reaching this goal in November. In fact, I was only able to pay £100 towards my credit card this month. I’m definitely disappointed as I was hoping to clear the majority of my card before the new year. With £2277 still left on it, this won’t be happening.

On the plus side, I paid in more than the minimum amount and I was able to make the payments towards both of my loans comfortably too. This is a world away from the way I handled my finances when I began my debt free journey. At that time I was scraping together the pennies and pounds and in a constant state of panic. That difference alone is something to celebrate!

Finish saving my tax payment.

It hasn’t been possible for me to complete my tax payment goal either. My earnings just weren’t high enough. Thankfully I have been able to add a small amount to savings and don’t have too much further to go now. Another £250 in the pot and I’ll be ready to process my tax return, so this will be the focus of December. Once that’s completed I’m sure I’ll feel a big weight lifted as of course there is a deadline. Then I can return my attention fully to my debt free journey.

 

I’ll be setting my goals for December on the first of the month so keep an eye out for that post!

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Preparing for Christmas | Five Frugal Things for November 2018

In an effort to pay off my debt as quickly as possible, I’m looking beyond simply making extra money. I have been assessing all of my spending habits, adopting a more frugal lifestyle wherever I can. Each month I will be sharing Five Frugal Things that I have done to help improve my finances and ensure I can reach my goal of becoming debt free as soon as possible.

One

Low cost Christmas. If you have read any of my posts about preparing for Christmas you will know that I am cutting right back this year in order to help my debt total come down further, even over the festive period. We won’t be hosting Christmas Day this year and that will save us a lot of money alone. We have also suggested a pot luck style dinner and drinks at ours with friends on the 23rd, saving us the expense of a night in town.

Gifts do tend to take up most of the budget though. Secret Santa’s, lots of price comparisons, cashback and affordable hampers are all going towards my efforts for a frugal Christmas. Doing a secret Santa with siblings in both of our families has been particularly helpful in reducing the number of presents we will be buying this year. It will save us all a lot of money and it actually means that we will all receive something that is more thoughtful instead of something cheaper and silly.

Two

Ditching the coupons. HUH?! Aren’t coupons supposed to save you money? Well yes…if you are planning on spending money in the first place. For a while we ordered our weekly shop online from Tesco and it worked really well. We’d have it delivered on a Monday ready for the new week and the new meal plan. It would stop us from picking up things we didn’t need. We would even get regular coupons through the door saving us a lot of money.

The catch was that we had to spend £40 in order to get free delivery with many of the coupons having an even higher minimum purchase requirement. On the way home one day my better half decided to try Aldi, our old favourite. As he had no set total to reach he ended up spending a lot less than we would online.

Now that Christmas is on its way the high value coupons are coming through the door. The latest one was £10 off when you spend £70 or more. That’s great if you have a big shop planned but they won’t be enticing us. The fancy catalogue looks beautiful, don’t get me wrong. This year however, we’ll be sticking with Aldi and spending on just what we need and not a penny more.

Three

Drawing the curtains. As the nights drawn in and it gets colder and colder we’ve been closing the curtains in the evenings. I’ve just checked the temperature outside today and it is 1 degree. Brrrrrrr! Normally we would just close the blinds for some privacy but the living room feels so much cosier when the curtains are closed as well. Of course, this has the added benefit of keeping the room warmer too. I’ve written a post about saving money on your heating bills and I’m sure you know this already, but even pulling that small bit of fabric over your windows can make all the difference.

Four

Buying soft drinks. This month I’m making a lot of effort to be healthy, both to help my weight and in preparation for an indulgent Christmas. As part of this I’ve not been drinking alcohol at all in November. Honestly, I thought this would be a bigger deal in terms of the old FOMO and struggling with having a soft drink whilst friends were enjoying some wine. Honestly, the impact it has on my waist line AND my pocket has been a much bigger shock.

If, like me, you’re in the habit of having several drinks over an afternoon and evening spent with friends you will know how quickly that bar bill adds up. Often I’ll come home on a Saturday at least £50 lighter and that’s with both myself and my better half contributing. This month however, I’ve been opting for water mostly. This past Saturday alone I saved around £30 as a result. In ONE day. Whilst I will be drinking again in December the quantities will be a lot smaller than usual and I know my health and my bank account will thank me for that!

Five

Simple and affordable home decor. For a while now I’ve felt like we needed to do something with our living room. It was decorated last year a few months after we moved into the house, frugally of course, but it has always felt a bit unfinished. The cushions we had on the sofa were a bit of a mish-mash and the amazing 50s unit we have in the corner just looked a bit empty. We took a quick trip to Ikea, predictable but reliable, to look for some inspiration.

One hour, lots of walking and two portions of Swedish meatballs later and we had our answer. We came home with five cushions in a mix of dark grey and a really deep green colour which finish off our sofa and chair perfectly. We also picked up an ivy and a fern, both in simple pots which match the decor. They add a bit of life to the room and tie it together so nicely. The cherry on the cake? We spent no more than £25.

 

There they are, my Five Frugal Things for the month of November. You can read last month’s post here.

I’m linking up with Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s Five Fabulously Frugal things I’ve done this week linky.

 

five frugal things - november 2018 - pinterest