Gemmzie's "Finding Some Balance in 2009" Diary

Gemmzie

My friend was talking about those yesterday, funny that. Might give it a go, can't hurt.

Yeah cutlery as in balancing a fork across my hand. :rotfl: Can't press the water filter tap yet though, so that's my aim by the weekend - fairly simple.
Still have a couple of steri-strips on at the moment as stitches weren't quite knitted totally. Have three months of scar/rehab therapy though
Haven't got a clue what to do about my DLA renewal

Gemmzie

Much cheaper on Amazon, just got a basic one for under £9, that site has them for £25 :eek:

beanielou

Thats good Gemmzie.
How much was P & P?
Mind you I have NO money so not sure why I am asking.

Gemmzie

Free over £5 with Amazon :money:

Gemmzie

Right end of the month and all is looking pretty happy :j

Savings are still going up, they are being dipped into now and again but we've lived on such a tight budget for two years now, it's nice to be able to afford the odd thing and it seems to have finally switched on my dad's lightbulb! (Men and their backwards thinking :rolleyes:)

Next attack is bank charges for the DMP, then F&Fs if possible because we don't know how dad's work is going to pan out for the next six months.

Gemmzie

Am getting in a right muddle so thought I'd jot it down to see if anyone can help.

* I have my car, worth £2k, completely paid for by me (called OC). We are getting a new car today, costing £1895 (called BC).
* Mum has £850, I'm lending her £545, dad is paying £500 (buying £250 of each car).
* Mum and I will take joint responsibility for both cars - tax, MOT and repairs.
* Insurance will be paid individually - if a quote is more with additional drivers, that person pays the difference. i.e. my current insurance was £30 more with my dad as a named driver but £150 less with my mum on - he paid £50, she paid £0.

This is where I get confused...
1. Normally mum and I would save £11 a month for car tax. OC car is due in June 09, BC car will be due in April 10 - how do we get this square between us?
2. Neither car will have a main driver, we'll just swap as we need to, so who holds which insurance?
3. OC is registered in my name, should we register BC in my mum's?

Any help hugely appreciated

beanielou

I is thick ~Sorry Gemmzie

Gemmzie

No you're not Beanie - insurance is confusing

Gemmzie

Thought I should update really.

We did the bathroom, out of the savings, and it came to £1.5k in the end which is good because we budgeted £2k. :money: Dad did all the hard work, and everything is new - ceiling, floor, suite, walls etc. Photos to follow.

We are now looking at £3k for a boiler as we've decided to go for a much more efficient one and we need a flush and a something-plumbery and a new radiator - hence the higher cost. So still going on that, got £1.7k so far so doing nicely there too.:T

Mortgage overpayment fund is at £800-ish :T Very nearly two months worth so will be paying that come October (when lovely 6% saver ends).

Budget is balancing month to month okay, and work hasn't slowed due to recession (thank gawd). :j

Gemmzie

But.........we've done a very un-budgetted thing. I've allowed mum and dad to book a cruise for next September. It wasn't the massive luxury holiday they'd originally wanted but it's the most we could stretch to.

It means saving around £150 a month for 14 months, but that's possible - mum can do £100 from her pay rise and £50 is easy done for dad for now. With a bit of a squeeze on other areas, mum can do the extra £50 should dad's extra work dry up.

I wasn't happy to do it in this climate but it's actually motivated them to make more effort and save more. Typical eh.And it's a big year next year (they both have birthdays with 0's and a 25th Wedding Anniversary - which is while they are away).