Fire Fox's Debt-Free in 2009 Diary

Fire_Fox

Tesco delivery arrived at a cost of £47! Expensive items were
Two packs battered cod £5 (offer)
Two packs Mini Milks £3 (offer)
Two packs chicken legs £4 (offer)
Six pints of milk £2.50
Two large blocks of cheddar £3.70 (offer)
Two packs of bacon £2.40 (offer)
Dozen eggs £2.30 (offer)
Two punnets of plums £2
Two punnets of fruit £3 (offer)
Two multipacks of McCoys crisps £3 (BOGOF)
Four bottles of orange squash £4
Four bars of dark chocolate £4.40

VERY hungover having rolled in about five o'clock this morning! Had to deal with an unsuccessful two hour appointment with the bank as punishment, but got home to a letter advising me that the head lease of my flat has finally been sold to the caretaker and the fool has taken on my arrears! I am quietly confident that this will mean that I will never have to pay most of the £4700 they say I owe. :T

Then had a strange phone call from Yorkshire Water ... apparently I have been reading the meter incorrectly (on their advice :rolleyes:) and they have 'inadvertently' debited £450 from my bills account!! Luckily when I switched to the 6% interest current account last week I transferred in sufficient money to cover this: as a result of this error they are writing off almost all the debt. :T

claire0788

That sounds good ! All this debt disappearing ! Woo

Fire_Fox

Thanks for the support! I have spent a LOT of time researching the legal position and composing letters so I feel I 'deserve' to have some of the arrears written off. I've decided to pay the current quarter's service charge to the new owner as a gesture of goodwill, so that's £320 gone. :rolleyes: It should mean the communal areas will get a full facelift, involving more expense ...

Just checked and the £10 from Topcashback for the Tesco delivery has tracked! If I wasn't so hungover I'd be having a truly great day.

claire0788

Is it for factors of the building that you are having to pay money for ?

kirstenc

Hi Fire Fox!

Finally found ur diary after your kind words on mine, thought I would pop in for a gander lol

looks like yesterday was a fantastic day for you (apart from the hangover, but i bet it was worth it!!)

bet it feels great when it all kinda falls in place like that! well done!

Fire_Fox

claire0788 wrote: »

Is it for factors of the building that you are having to pay money for ?

Yes. We have been charged £130 a month which is VERY high for Bradford and for the standard of service we were receiving. I haven't paid for two and a half years except for the insurance and ground rent so I owe thousands! Obviously now we have a new owner/ managing agent/ caretaker all rolled into one I need to be paying if I expect any improvements to the communal areas.

I hope to have a good deal of the 'arrears' written off as the managing agents have broken the law many times in their handling of our queries and complaints. I also expect extra levies going forwards as we will need to invest to get the decor up to a decent standard. I have made the decision to pay the current quarter without waiting to be billed so that he has confidence in spending money on the place.

Edited to add: I have just looked at the breakdown of what I owe which has a mysterious additional levy dated 10 July of £403!! I suspect this is the end of year adjustment as the service charges are an estimate. If I am correct, this brings the charges for 2008 to 2009 tax year to £160 a month .... :eek:

claire0788

I have such a terrible factor for my building. 4 out of the 6 flats have been bought and the people who have bought pay for everything and the people who rent dont pay a thing. I have complained about so many things in the flats and the outsides not being kept and im in like 800 arrears which i refuse to pay until they prove they are actually doing something ! 2 and a half years of living here and they have sent somebody to cut the grass twice. Both times I have had to phone around 6 hundred times :P I dont know where legally I stand, any info ?

Fire_Fox

I am not familiar with Scottish Law, it's different to English BUT some general advice:
1. Don't telephone, write a recorded delivery letter
2. Ask for an annual statement of charges and expenditure
3. Ask for copies of all service contracts
4. Read your long lease to see what is chargeable.

There will be plenty of guidance on the 'House Buying, Renting and Selling' boards if you run a search on factors.
Also try here: http://www.govanlc.com/factors.htm

Once you have the documentation you have something to complain against. Our cleaning contract says they vacuum twice a week on a Monday and a Friday .... it's a work of fiction! :rotfl:

Fire_Fox

Feeling quite disheartened today as, despite six months of concerted effort on tracking and reducing my outgoings as well as increasing my income, I am no further forward in my debt-busting quest. As fast as I can save up I am hit with yet more invoices - £1100 last year for the fire escape collapsing plus £200 adjustments, this year £400 adjustments, next year there will be redecorating to pay for, and I've been threatened with the lift needing replacing. :mad:

I have calculated that our new water bills will be at least £20 a month, and I just can't afford all this extra expense. So I've finally fitted an Eaga Shower Smart (courtesy of Freebies board) and am looking into a ordering a Flushsaver (courtesy of Yorkshire Water), and a device to fit to my bathroom tap to reduce the flow. Earlier in the week I changed the immersion timer from forty five minutes to thirty minutes a day as the water was burning hot - I think the thermostat has broken again. Another expense along with the £60 replacement toilet seat that we need. :rolleyes:

On a much more positive note, just logged into my Clubcard account and I have £30 of vouchers to come, absolutely no idea how as I thought I was due £25! It's not from my grocery online order as that was in Mr. Fire Fox's name.

kirstenc

Dont worry about it...im sure it will all come right for you.

I dont know how maintenence charges and stuff work so i cant really offer any advice unfortunately

Well done on the clubcard front though, do you use them towards deals or Doubling them up? thats a wicked amount lol :cool: