It's easy to be thrifty when you have money.
You can stock up on special offers when you see them & drive to the cheapest supermarket regardless of the distance.
You can pay of your loans & credit cards faster.
It easy to increase your mortgage payment when they are 25% of your take home.
It's easy to be upbeat & cheerful when 'doing with out' to save money means only drinking wine & weekends instead of every day, when it means only having two holidays instead of four.
It's easy to save money on your heating bills when you have the money to pay for insulation, double glazing or even extra thick curtains.
It's not easy when you are already just scraping by, at one point, for about a year, when the building trade first took a tumble & my L&M was out of work we were paying £600 pcm mortgage from an £800 pcm wage, after all the bills were paid that left £20 a week for food, it was at this point that my stepson moved in having decided to leave Ireland & come to England to look for work, we weren't eligible for any benefits & it was a struggle.
Things are easier now, my L&M has been in work for the last 5 or 6 years and we increased our mortgage payments. Ten years ago we took out a 25 year mortgage, we now have only 8 years left to pay.
This means I have to work til I'm 70 & after my recent health scare I'm not sure this will be possible so I'm looking to increase the mortgage payments yet again.
It will be tough but fortunately I'm well used to managing on very little, I can't bear to be cold as all my joints seize up, but I might just have to knuckle down & put up with it. It won't be too bad as the house has cavity wall insulation & we had double glazing put in when we bought the place. I know that the perceived wisdom is to buy the shittiest house in the best area, but all we could afford was the shittiest house in a crappy area, so the house is only worth about £30k more than when we bought it which is about what we've spent on it.
We have enough equity in the house to sell up and buy a studio apartment on a retirement complex, but my L&M loves his garden so this way we may be able to stay here after retirement
2 comments:
I couldn't agree more. I'm damned certain it's easier when it's short term pain for long term gain; when there's a bright light at the end of a very short tunnel, rather than the dimmest of pinpricks of light at the end of the longest tunnel imaginable. I'm hoping we both live long enough to get to state pension age( whatever that may be then - probably 75!) because we'll be better off than we've ever been!
I totally agree with this. There is a world of difference between cutting down because you want to (playing at it) rather than having to go short without choice and no light at the end of the tunnel.
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