Lynn's MFW Diary

Lynn11

Received my tax disc refund for my previous car which was written off - so got a cheque of £70 to bank and then next week I can put this money + £20 towards overpaying the mortgage this month - hurrah!!

Received my car insurance renewal in and it is quite high - need to phone them up and find out if any reductions if paying on credit card instead of instalments. Has anyone moved car insurance companies when your previous one is dealing with a car claim - not sure if I can move as had accident on 11th May and hopefully they are trying to recover the costs from the third party and hopefully can claim our extra costs from him also such as our excess money, new car seat for daughter and also for my whiplash. Is my best bet to try to reduce the amount with my current lender and then change to a better deal next year.

Cannot wait as due to go on holiday in 2 weeks time and then when we return I have the lovely job of potty training daughter - think this will go ok as she is getting used to the potty at the moment and no problems but time will tell.

StuartGMC

Lynn
I think I would stay with the insurer, they will then have an incentive to keep you happy as an existing client. Also you may find it difficult to get a good quote elsewhere whilst the actual total for the claim is still being resolved. Best wishes in a speedy resolution and recovery from whiplash.

Equally, good luck with the potty training, but, aren't girls meant to be better than boys in this respect? At least trying in the summer is better as she can be in fewer clothes. It does seem a long time ago since our DD was at that age, wow time flies!

earthgirl

Hi Lynn, I enjoyed reading your diary, and sorry to hear about your setbacks, but well done for all you have overpayed!

Lynn11

Well just checked Nationwide website yesterday to see what fixed deals they have and they are all changed. The 5 yr we were considering has been increased quite a bit and the fee has increased, but the 3yr is reduced to 4.59% with a fee of £995. Not happy about the fee but the rate is reasonably good and would still like to stay with nationwide rather than remortgaging elsewhere. Hubbie is going to talking to some finance guys at work and see if there are any other fanastic deals with other lenders and then we can decide what to do. So much for our financial advisor keeping an eye on things and telling me that I was talking rubbish a few weeks ago when I phoned to say that papers and media were talking about fixed rates increasing - it is probably cause he will not make any commission from us as we are dealing with Nationwide ourselves.

Going to phone nationwide and see if the deals are the same as listed on the website and then make our decision and fixed a deal soon before any other rates increase.

Good day out today at local school fete where daughter got a balloon, won a inflable flower and 4 kids books - good day.

Lynn11

Well after our homework, we found a few better deals but I do not believe that they are really fanastic to move - so we have decided to stay with nationwide for the next 3yrs.

I spoke to them today and paid the product fee by CC, which will be paid off by savings and this has reserved the rate for us. They are sending out the paperwork but as we are off on holiday soon, I do nto think we will be deal with prior to then, so will sign when we return. Therefore, we have reserved this to start in August with one more month (July) on the 2.5% varible. I am glad that we have reserved this and I can forget about it until July 2012 at least. Our payments have reduced due to my regular overpayments over the last 3yrs therefore, will continue hopefully to overpay £220 per month (not much I know but hopefully it will add up and hopefully we can add a little more to it as the year(s) go by)

StuartGMC

Lynn
I think the value of peace-of-mind is worth a lot. I suggest you now completely avoid looking at interest rates until you come to change in 2012. Enjoy your holiday :beer:

setmefree2

Sounds like a good rate Enjoy your holiday

Lynn11

Made my final june overpayment of £100 which was mostly the car tax refund plus a bit extra. June overpayment is £260+£100 = £360 so chuffed at this as been a months since I was able to do this sort of overpayment.

Lynn11

Well today we returned back home to dull scotland from our excellent holidays in cumbria last week - weather was fanastic, caravan park was fanastic and daughter loved it. She met a friend the same age and had a ball. This was my first caravan holiday as a adult and we had a great site with lots of activities, indoor and outdoor pool which we used 3 days and entertainment for kids at night until daughter was tired at 9.15pm. I think we were spoilt with a really good park and excellent weather. We had a few trips to an aquarium, keswick and a farm park in the lakes.

Since it was a great holiday, I decided to speak to them about how much it would be to buy a caravan and have it pitched there. Well the used caravans are in the region of £18000 upwards and then you have to fees to pay every year of £2000 roughly as well as £44 (for 1 adult) to use their entertainment & swimming complex). I am all for this, just need to see if we can save up the money in the next 1-2yrs and then rediscuss. It is a great idea and we hopefully will return to the park next easter and see if we still like it before we decide if we want to commit.

Will need to get my thinking cap on, since I am only on part-time wages and took a reduction in wages when I had to change job last year (due to redundancy) but would love to try to find the extra £2000 so that we can go on holiday there every month if we wish - we will see what happens.

At least we managed to not spend all the holiday money (now spent in gretna green factory outlet shops and lovely takeaway tonight as well as giving money to my brother for looking after our fish), but we also got paid whilst away.

Hopefully tomorrow will be dry and I can get the washing out and more in the washing machine. Tomorrow is the big day of starting potty training with daughter - fingers crossed it goes ok. She did really well on holiday several times and has been advised that when she does pees or poos in the potty she will get a smiley face sticker - she is very excited about this.

Im pooped and going to bed now. Hopefully will log in tomorrow and read more diaries which I have missed whilst away.

StuartGMC

Lynn
Good to hear you had a wonderful holiday. Regarding the purchase of a permanent caravan and the annual fees etc, do think very carefully. £18k would get you 5 maybe 6 yrs of holidays around the Med and North Africa which would give your daughter a great opportunity of exposure to different cultures and history (our own daughter 11.5 now, has really benefited in this respect). Also, at £2k per year that's about 50-75% of your costs for a guaranteed sunshine holiday and perfect weather for visiting locations with minimal additional cost. In 5 years that's £10k saved which would then pay for say, 3 more years of holidays abroad. which allows you to save £6k getting two more years....

So you could have 11 or even 12 years of two week holidays abroad. In the meantime the caravan will mean a definite cost per year, irrespective of job position and will require maintenance. Also in 12 years would it need to be replaced?

Personally we found when DD was 3 and upwards, holidays in Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco, Rhodes, Cyprus etc were generally cheaper than UK if you count up from leaving door to returning.

Hope that helps you think around the idea a little, but, if the idea of regular breaks to the same place is something you would enjoy and you think DD will also enjoy, then you may well still opt for it; no judgment on my part, just trying to highlight options.

It seems soooo long ago when we went through potty training DD, at her age now I can hardly picture it - time flies and we have the "fun" of her moving to secondary education in September and all that means leading to teenage years :eek: