The 9 year plan...hold onto your hats and here we go!

EssexHebridean

Oh yes - the little ferry to Skye is brilliant! We used it for the first time when we came back after Easter and loved it!! No Porpoises for us, but lots and lots of seals.

Money update:

I think we're about to have a slight change of plans. At the moment, MrEH uses the train to go to and from work, at the cost of nearly £250 per month. :eek: We're been considering the idea of a second car for a while, but not doing anything about it as he was still going to have a problem parking when he got to work. In the last few days though a colleague has told him about a few places locally to the office where there is free parking, so that puts a slightly different spin on things. I've done some sums today, and we reckon that the monthly saving will be in excess of £120. We're looking at buying a car around 7/8 years old, depending on what we find, at a cost of £2000 - £2500. If I'm honest I'm a little nervous about the idea - I can see the saving over time, and it will obviously make MrEH's life a lot simpler, but I've worked so hard to see the savings build up, it's a little hard to think of a great lump of them heading out of the bank again! Is that selfish of me? I'm also worried about the whole business of owning a second hand car again - I have a dislike of taking cars for MoT's which is bordering on a phobia! The other plus point is that we should be in a position to keep the existing Clio for an extra year, as with two cars in the household it won't be such a problem if mine doesn't start in the morning.

yukkibear

I don't think you're being selfish not wanting to deplete the savings EH. I would feel exactly the same, but you can see the potential savings on it.
I also have a fear of MOT's, it's strange, I even feel that way when I put a nearly new car through the process.

I'm sure if you decide to go ahead you'll build the savings back up in no time.

EssexHebridean

My car went in for its 36k service today (at 18 months old - high mileage? Me?!) and cost £207 thanks to the discount the nice man at the dealers gave me. I'll take it back there again - excellent service, kept me in touch with what was going on, very helpful and complimentary about my driving (apparently 27% wear on brake pads over that mileage is rather good - yay me!). He also gave me some vouchers for 15% off the next service too. The credit card statement is in with the washing machine on it to so I need to do some money-shuffling over the weekend. I believe I will be able to cobble the majority of the money together without raiding the current savings pot although I may need to adjust what goes in this month.

I took the chance to pick the brains of the man at the garage re second hand Clios. He's given me some hints of what to look and listen out for, and both he and his pal on the service desk agreed that we should look at the diesel as they have less problems going forward into old age so long as the servicing has been kept up. As a result of that I feel a little more confident about the whole thing.

Must write a shopping list for tomorrow night and a meal plan for the weekend and next week.

kissjenn

It's so good when you get a garage who you feel is on your side. I'm happy to pay my dues but hate the idea I may be getting ripped off.

:T:T:TSo congrats on finding people you can trust.:T:T:T

EssexHebridean

Progress report...

Positive:
Car running well after service.
Northern Rock paid the interest due on my PPI reclaim as a separate payment so that saves some hassle.
Online banking checked - small surplus from my account shifted to savings - sig updated. There is still approx £150 surplus in my account and £180 in our joint account but that is accounted for - see below.
The really pretty sequined blouse I bought a couple of weeks back lost most of its sequins on first wearing - so that has gone back this morning. After a short battle I got them to refund back via debit card into the bank account the bill will be paid from to, rather than back onto the card it went on originally, as any credit on that now won't be taken into account until next months statement.
My current mobile is dying by inches - so I have just checked for the best price for selling it. I'm hopeful I might get the full amount because they only want it in "working" condition - and it does still work - the screen flickers a bit. After it's been switched on a while it starts to misbehave a touch but I guess they just check that they turn on OK...fingers crossed! £24 to come back on that plus £4.50 Quidco if it tracks OK.
Food budget looking good for the month - went to the market today and managed to get some good bargains - a mixed pack of savoury crackers (a couple broken) for 75p, a big lump of emmental cheese - £1.50, pack of miniature breadsticks - 50p, and 27 assorted packets of crisps for £2.50 - and the Tesco spend last night was well under control even allowing for ice cream and lollies!
Running costs on new washer dryer look good at first glance....and considering we've had a mountain of washing to get through this week too.

Negatives...ish
Expensive month - the Polish Flights have hit the CC earlier than expected thus bumping the bill up, and my friend can't afford her share until pay-day so I'll need to pay the full lot and then get her half back. My half is covered by the surplus in my account though (which I guess is really a positive!). The washing machine is also payable now - half of the cost covered by the surplus already in the joint account and I'm hopeful that I will find the other half when my pay goes in. Car service is on the other credit card and MIGHT sneak in to next month - we'll see.

On balance - quite happy with things. The only other spend I have to consider at the moment is the half payment up front for the Polish hotel room - 440 Zloty - if anyone has ANY clue how to bank transfer into a Polish bank account PLEASE let me know!

Lemon_Tree

hi, EH spotted your title and thought i know that person from the stripy thread so thought i'd pop my head in and say hello
we had to get a new washer last year, mine had been sounding like there were a couple of bricks going round in it for 18 months/2 years but had already had new innards so thought i'd run it into the ground which i pretty much did. Oh moved in and the next day he insisted we get a new one, wimp! Had some problems with it and it had a new brain and motor in the first 3 months but touch wood it's been fine since. there's no point paying loads of money round here as the water is so hard they just don't last at all.
Been reading your diary and it sounds like i need to pick your brain about ISA's, in the next two months i'll have paid off the debts that i can overpay, so i need to start saving to pay loan balances of in lumps so thought and ISA or regular saver may be the best option.

EssexHebridean

*Waves* Hi LT - thanks for popping by, as Fay would say! I was SO chuffed to fill my ISA - that was really "no. 1 target" so that was a very satisfying "box to tick" - I don't know a massive amount about them myself yet really - last nyear was the first year I had one - but Martin has some fantastically useful articles on the subject.

Lemon_Tree

stupidly until i had my LBM i seemed to be able to get into debt without any worries, but now i have to research on savings accounts or ISA's then i feel in such a panic. Deep down i think that i won't be able to put as much energy into saving as i could when i was paying straight to debts as i won't be able to see the totals coming down and i'm worried i'll keep spending the money on other things

Jo_R_2

Hey hey - I was just browsing here and I noticed something you said in an earlier post about how organised you are and how you can't believe it from how scatterbrained you used to be (okay so paraphrased, hope that doesn't sound too bad!)

I could really do with some tips, I'm terribly forgetful, I'm getting better with the use of written diaries, calendars and daily online banking but I REALLY REALLY need to refine things and keep track right down to the last penny - that's the bit that escapes me right now. It sounds like you have things down to a tee/T/whatever the phrase is! - so any pointers would be a real help!

kissjenn

Hi, to transfer abroad you need their IBAN number. It should be on any bank statements they have. If you need yours also to set up the transfer you'll find it quoted on your bank statements beside account number, sort code etc. I believe it's a unique international identifier. I had to give mine when someone was transferring money from Poland to here.

My bank were very helpful and told me exactly what to do. (EG The Dummies Guide to Getting Dosh from Abroad - made very very simple for Kissjenn).