the nerd's wannabe-mortgage-holder savings diary...

greenmantle

I tried to sort out a muddle with my FD ISA yesterday, and found that I'm not allowed (under the 'regular saving' conditions) to pay into it on the date I'd prefer, so I'll have to be disciplined in making sure the full amount is available towards the end of the month to go in.

It struck me how much my reassurance of myself in the middle of a rather busy and chaotic life is based on counting numbers. On making sure that the savings numbers go up, the current account numbers stay in credit, and that (most of the time) the numbers on the scale stay lowish.

You type in all the magic codes online to reach your virtual stashes of money (which, when you're not used to having stores of savings, one just keeps one's fingers crossed will stay attached to one's name and not get lost in the computer wires somewhere).

I'm not on a diet at the moment, but I was conscious a couple of months back that I was heavier than I wanted to be, and that my clothes were getting tight. Luckily, summer activity levels have swung things back the other way and when I got on the scales this morning, for the first time in a couple of weeks, I was much closer than I expected to my 'comfort' low weight of around 130 pounds or so.

Of course, like the savings numbers, the numbers of (weight) pounds are theoretical most of the time, because all the while my muscle mass, measurements and fat percentage are varying (probably - I haven't been monitoring, but I'm aware they wander all over the place, often independent of weight on the scales) and are more the real measure of a) how tight the clothes are and b) how healthy I feel/am.

Burbling going nowhere here, but I know some people here have linked their debt-free aims with weight aims, and I just thought it was curious how Magic Numbers become a bit of a constant mantra to control our lives.

have a good weekend everyone. I've just paid my last rent for some time (moving upheavals and travelling coming up) and need to do some packing-up-of-life.

Fire_Fox

greenmantle wrote: »

I tried to sort out a muddle with my FD ISA yesterday, and found that I'm not allowed (under the 'regular saving' conditions) to pay into it on the date I'd prefer, so I'll have to be disciplined in making sure the full amount is available towards the end of the month to go in.

It struck me how much my reassurance of myself in the middle of a rather busy and chaotic life is based on counting numbers. On making sure that the savings numbers go up, the current account numbers stay in credit, and that (most of the time) the numbers on the scale stay lowish.

Could you open an instant access savings account with First Direct (?FD), transfer in the money right after payday, then onto your ISA at the end of the month? Or open something like the A&L Premier Direct current account, transfer into that (6% interest!) and then out to your ISA?

greenmantle

Hi Fire Fox,
Thanks for the suggestions. I was circling around this kind of solution- my Egg savings accounts are instant access, so I could shift the money into them (which are 6.3-2.5% interest rather than First Direct's easy access 0.2-0.25) and then back again, though would have to remember to do the move back manually, online.

But your point about the alternative current account is even better I think. I'm a bit wary of A&L service, and was rather pondering the possibility of taking out the Halifax Reward account for the monthly £5. Thing is, I've just had credit searches for the new FD current account (March/April) and for a new lowish interest Co-Op credit card for work use (June) so I don't want to add to my credit searches with a Halifax or A&L application until, probably, August.

That's probably the ultimate solution - another 'perk' current account which will take Standing Orders in and out. In the meantime, I need to remember to somehow have £500 going in and out of my old HSBC current account every month, to keep its 'Advance' status - I've got a high interest Regular Saver attached to that, so need to keep it going.

Not exactly streamlining - oh well! :rolleyes:

Fire_Fox

Is the HSBC regular saver worth the hassle at 3.2% (looking at your signature)? Barclays, Halifax and Abbey are all offering 4%, even A&L instant access online saver is 3.15%! Martin recommends not bothering with HSBC:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-regular-savings-accounts

There does seem to be a lot of comment about A&L service on this board - I have been their customer three times in my life and really not had any problems. I left first time as they wouldn't let me have a cheque guarantee card and Abbey would (I was in my teens), the second time because they don't offer a student bank account. To me both decisions are quite prudent ....

greenmantle

Yes... the convenience of the HSBC account (where I check on a credit card and, for occasional purposes, a current account too) kind of outweighs the 0.8 % difference on such a small amount at the moment.

Most of my savings are in a 6.3% account (see signature) so when that rate ends in August, I'll do a bit of reassessing/tweaking then.

Taken a bit of a hit from unexpected moving expenses, and right now everything I'm spending is in dollars anyway... but still trying to keep roughly on the straight and narrow.

greenmantle

just checking in while on my Grand (work) Tour.

Savings have gone up, overall by £200. ISA has gone up individually by £400 through some shuffling around.

Still living out of expenses in another currency (and working 100% of the time, so that's fair value...), so not denting my Pound Sterling situation much.

Current balance on my current account is overhanging into my free overdraft for another six days until I get paid. Similarly, a small overspend on a work-related train ticket is sitting on my HSBC card for free, also waiting for my pay check. This over £200 deduction from the salary is fine, since I'm saving hugely on rent (usually over... actually, you don't want to know - a lot) while I'm working on the hoof (all belongings in boxes)...

When I get paid, I'm immediately shifting quite a high proportion into the accessible savings (6.3%), as that worked quite well last month.

Not spending an awful lot beyond the absolute essentials to keep going on my journey, but confirmed in the opinion that US drugstores are way more expensive, overall, than yer Boots and yer Superdrug. Scary totals when I've done raids for basics.

greenmantle

:mad:

Updating my savings situation after being paid - I hate it when Egg just goes into non-responsive mode... it looks like I've lost £1000 of temporarily-transferred-to-be-stashed savings in thin air.

greenmantle

Checking in from somewhere in the mid-West. I'm about to get on a train again for (almost) my last mission of the trip, and reckon that my spending on Amtrak in the last month might well equal any stimulus money they're getting from Obama...

Dollar situation is... fine. Spending on food, essentials and travel only. Sterling situation looks tight, since I transferred half my salary into savings immediately, and then paid out of the rest for a week's holiday
(before February, when I spent four days on snowy mountainside, I hadn't taken a holiday for... well, if you count one pseudo-work trip, about two years; if you don't count the pseudo-work trip, I think one has to wind back to 2004... all of them a week's budget wandering... so the idea of booking a holiday in advance is something of a novelty; but I've been working hard, and I *will* be working very hard shortly afterwards, so I'm justifying it to my own satisfaction...)

- buuut, theoretically I could transfer a moderate chunk back into the current account from my easy access savings and still meet my savings objectives for the month, so I think things are looking fine. Nothing has needed to go on credit card so far, so those stop-gaps weren't needed, thankfully.

greenmantle

Back from travels, and back in sterling.

A whole new routine/lifestyle tactics, as I've now moved and have a large kitchen and living area to play with for a few months. Can spend a whole lot more time 'at home' and can stock up the cupboards so as to be able to live out of them. Extra expenses are a frugal cat and cleaner (conditions of residence). Hoping I can ramp up the savings and not let things dribble away on other travel expenses and so on.

So, the recent big expenses were: holiday, change to my (work) plane ticket which I had to shoulder, big internet supermarket shop in order to bring in all the basics in the new place (noodles, pasta, jam, eggs) but hopefully these will boost the cooking-from-scratch habit (as has happened so far - two great dinners in, in as many days), and some protective storage crates for some of the belongings I wasn't unpacking, but were in disintegrating (after many moves and many years) cardboard boxes.

Happy to be 'home' and looking forward to spending more time with the BF, the cat, and getting down to maximizing the returns from my work trip (research, contacts...). Back to the bike for transport, the odd swim, a bit of free skating, and the odd drink with friends...

:A

greenmantle

Plan for next week:

1) cancel contact lens direct debit. too annoying now.

2) conduct Ebay audit, and begin to organize the next sale.

3) cook out of the cupboard, as much as possible.