First of all a big welcome to my new follower, Tatiana, thanks so much for clicking :)
The decorations are down and packed away. I always like to start the new year with a nice clean and tidy house so, despite having come down with the dreaded lurgy (cough, sore throat, aching limbs etc) I packed them away, dusted, polished, vacuumed and then collapsed in my comfy chair to watch a bit of TV whilst drinking my lemsip :(
Pam, from My New Life in Wales, has explained that some bloggers have chosen a word of the year but she has chosen the phrase 'Have Some More Fun'. Having more fun should be on everyone's agenda as we never know what life will throw our way. Over the Christmas period hubby and I got talking about the 2015 household budget and how we could trim it still further as lots of things seem to be going up in price including the phone rental, broadband and insurance. Having time on our hands we shopped around and arranged the insurance with a new (well known) company which saved us £70! Not a sum to be sniffed at. Thus inspired I have done a projected spend and we can see at a glance how much we are likely to spend during the year and if a particular item has increased enough to tip us over budget.
I then got thinking about what would happen if one of us popped our clogs ( morbid I know....) so I made another list and to our horror realised that hubby could just about manage to keep going financially but even with halving the food budget and taking the Council Tax reduction into account I could not. Outgoings would outstrip my income because hubby's pension would obviously die with him. There would be no money left for food let alone fripperies. We have decided that we must try to increase our savings a bit so we both have a safety net if the worst should happen. Then last night my best friend phoned to tell me that a female mutual friend had died on Boxing Day leaving her husband distraught and now not having enough income to pay the rent. She would have been 66 years old on new year's eve.......
Thanks so much for popping in x
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It's not morbid to think of such things as we get older, in particular. As my husband has had more than one life threatening illness, I have been aware that I could be on my own one day. Conversely if left on my own I would fare better than he if it were me to go first. I have a works pension, but his was misappropriated (in a Maxwell style) by his employers and 24 years of contributions disappeared! Because of this he would get a basic retirement pension plus a few pounds graduated pension. The first thing to go would have to be the car, which would be awful, living where we do. We live frugally and also get some payment for the day/respite care that we provide. Anything we make we save as the time will come when one of us will have to cope on out own. (last year we lost family/friends aged 68, 47, 66)
ReplyDeleteAll that being said, make plans ,but don't dwell on them and have a happy and peaceful 2015
Gill
It really brings it home to you, doesn't it, when younger people die. In the blink of an eye things can change so dramatically that life is never the same again. Gill, you are right...we will not dwell on this but enjoy the year ahead. Hope yours is wonderful too x
DeleteAre you sure there isn't a survivor benefit for his pension? My husband's pays a reduced amount to the spouse. Still tough.
ReplyDeleteNope...I checked...but thank you for your post. Happy new year to you and your family x
DeleteSuch sad news about your friend, there is just no way of knowing what's round the corner is there?
ReplyDeleteSavings tucked away will always help.
Indeed...thank you so much for your comment x
DeleteSorry to hear about about your friend, as everyone has said you never know whats around the corner, we are lucky we have some savings which would cover us, I hope you feel better soon x
ReplyDelete