Monday 26 November 2012

Feeling a bit flush

For most of my working life I earnt enough money to pay for what I needed. I did have to tighten my belt however, when I bought my first house, and afterwards when I sold and bought twice more. During these times the bills were paid but there was nothing left over for little luxuries. I never fell into the trap of borrowing though, I preferred to go without. At times I only had a couple of pounds in my purse, it was the only spare cash I had because everything had to be paid out. The mortgage, house maintenance, car expenses, utility bills, it left little money for me to enjoy. I became quite savvy at managing my finances. I was always carefull to only buy things I needed. It was a pretty gloomy time. My friends were going out, they were buying new clothes, going on holiday, and I couldn't afford it. It did get me down sometimes.
Then things picked up a bit, I changed jobs and found better paid work. This took the pressure off and I found I had a bit more to spend on me. It was great to get a decent wage packet every week, I was always paid weekly, so even though I managed to fritter it all away by the middle of the week it didn't matter because there was more coming my way on Friday. Once the bills were paid the rest was spending money for me to enjoy. 
So during the good times when I did have some money I spent my hard earned cash willy nilly, I earnt it so I spent it. Long term savings were never in my life plan, as long as I had a bit put by for immediate emergencies, that was fine by me. The rest was spent. I loved opening my purse and buying anything I fancied. I could look in a shop window and see something I liked, then pop inside and buy it.
Throughout my life my bank balance has gone up and down like a yoyo. It's been down at rock bottom when I have had only one mortgage payment left in it, then other times I have been a bit carefull and a tidy little balance has built up. Basically I have learnt how to reign in my spending and cut corners when I didn't have the cash, and to loosen up a bit when my income steadily increased and there was a bit left over. I have experienced the hardship of not having enough money, and the comfort of knowing I can afford to treat myself without going into the red. 
I have a bit more than £2 in my purse now. Through my wise and frugal spending I find I have enough to buy me a few treats if I feel like it. In fact I could go mad if I wanted to, I could go to town tomorrow and look in the shop windows, and virtually buy anything that took my fancy. I could buy a new phone. I could buy gadgets. I could buy new clothes. I could buy new furniture. I could book an expensive holiday. I could eat at a posh restaurant. I can afford all these things because I have the cash. But do I want to? No of course not. 
What would happen if I frittered away what I have carefully put by for a rainy day. My cats would get sick and I would have no money to pay for the vet. My car would break down and I wouldn't be able to afford to get it repaired. In any case some of the money I have is put by to replace the car when it becomes uneconomical to repair it. The car tax and insurance need paying soon. My microwave oven is old, it might pack up. My computer might go bust and need replacing. I might need to pay for dental treatment. 
No, my money is staying safely in my bank account. I can walk past shops and not go in them. I can resist all temptation to blow huge sums on material things. My willpower is so very strong, I don't need to buy anything I don't need.   
Hey, look at this little fella. I went to the mobile library today and Rocky came with me. They wouldn't let him in though. He is so cute.
Just thought I'd stick this one in here. Both now hanging on my living room wall. Cheers up my cheerless room a treat. Thank you so much for all your comments on the masterpiece.
Toodle pip.

22 comments:

  1. Wow! I just love your two art works, they look great together. Cheerless room indeed, I did so enjoy your video tour of your romm complete with little chuckles. Oh,isn't Rockie sweet
    Teresa

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  2. Perhaps Rocky wanted a book of his own!
    Jane x

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  3. such vibrant colours on your masterpieces...

    Gill

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  4. Oh look at that little face, who could resist that adorable wee dog?

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  5. A very well timed post - we are struggling at the moment to stay in control of our finances and live beyond more that month to month. Rocky is so cute x

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  6. Both masterpieces are beautiful.
    Rocky is a good boy, to wait for you like that while you are inside the mobile library.

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  7. I admire your will power. What you have achieved by it, I have approximated by simple indifference to new-fangled things. I buy expensive wines as seasonal gifts for friends and relatives --vin ordinaire for self-- and rent a new car for out-of-town trips instead of replacing the 1970 VW bus. Thrifty measures, but rooted in no strength of character. I enjoy hearing about your deliberate economies and how you arrive at them. You're the real deal.

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  8. Hi Ilona, Love your fab new artwork. I wish I could get you this for your garden, or even a plain one that you could paint yourself. I remember you mentioning in your blog a while back that you liked one that you had seen on your travels. Here is a link to some lifesize models.

    http://www.lifesize-models.co.uk/product.php?id=391&cat_id=218

    Good on you for your ability to resist splurging your money. I'm in the process of paying off a 0% card, nearly there. They keep sending me letters telling me that they can give me a further 12 months at 0% on transfers. No thank you, I want to be saving that money each week, come the start of the New Year, not lining Mr Branson's pockets. Thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow, your blog really inspires me where cannyness with cash is concerned. Thanks a lot. Cheers for now, Christy.

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  9. I have not had to rein myself in too much because it is just not in my nature to want a new car or something I cannot afford enough to put my life in jeopardy. However, I have excersized control where some of my friends did not, laughing at me for looking while they bought. Now, I own my home and they have moved into smaller and smaller rentals. My finances are not as under control as yours, but I did it my way.

    The paintings look nice together.

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  10. How can they NOT let him on the bus, with such a cute little face he'll end up on there one day!!

    You'll have to teach him to look sad and shiver and they will cave in, he always looks too happy when he's out with you (and I don't blame him one little bit)!


    Sue xx

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  11. Rocky sure is cute!
    Your works of art look really good up there.

    On another note, when you ran out of photo space for your blog was it in Picasa? If so what did you do, because apparently I've used all the space on mine now.

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  12. Hi LBM. The same thing has happened to Sarina, she has run out of photo storage as well. I can't quite work out what she is doing about it but all her photo's have disappeared, I would hate that to happen to mine. She said she is starting afresh. If you try and free up storage on Picassa by deleting photo's they will also disappear from your blog. If you stop using Picassa and don't add any more photo's to it, the ones you already store there should stay there.

    If you don't want to pay for storage you can open a Photobucket account for free and start using that. But you have to upload your photo's there first, then when you write your blog have Photobucket open and manually move photo's across. It takes a lot more time. I did it briefly when my Picassa storage was full. Then my Photobucket was also full because I have used it a lot to post photo's on forums.

    Then I decided to stop all the faffing about and pay Google for Picassa storage. I went through the process of signing up, they took my money from my credit card, and I continued as normal. It is an annual payment of 5.75 dollars, (it was in August) which is about £4, so hardly anything at all. It has worked for me. They sent me an email after almost a year saying they would take the money out for the following year. There was the option to cancel. I think the paid storage capacity is massive, I didn't have any notice that first year of paying, saying that I was near my limit.

    Perhaps ask a few other people what they have done, then make your decision.

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    1. Thanks Ilona. I thought it was the size of the photos that used up the space, so I went through all my posts and made them smaller, but it didn't make any difference (wish I hadn't done it now!).

      £4 seems pretty reasonable so I may end up paying, but I'll ask around first.

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    2. Forgot to say, you can use Flikr as a photo hosting site as well. I don't like this idea much because if you click on a pic on a blog, it takes you to the bloggers Flikr album, rather than just enlarges the actual photo.

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  13. Of all the frugal blogs you have it nailed - you dont cry poor house and have discretionary income every month and say you cant afford to buy food and heat your house while overpaying your mortgage. You understand that spending (and saving) is a choice between certain things not that you can afford one thing and not another. Blimmin' breath of fresh air you are !
    Rocky is such a great dog - reminds me so much of my dog Patsy when I was a kid.

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    1. I know what you mean lizzie. I have to be frugal because I don't have much money, because my income is very small.

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    2. Yes....I don't believe it is right to cry poor when one clearly isn't. Balance is key.

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  14. The artwork lots great and so does little rocky. Have you thought about hanging it up longways? The artwork I mean, not Rocky. :)

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    1. Yes, I did think about that, it looked a bit odd. I needed to decide before I started painting. Uncle Stan made the suggestion of upsidedown, and he was right.

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  15. Your artworks look so beautiful hanging together, the colours blend so well. So, another pic of the adorable Rocky, keep them coming, we love him to bits!
    Wendy (Wales)

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  16. LOVE the art work - spirited and vibrant...............like you !

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