Help!

Fire_Fox

spendaholicinseattle wrote: »

My flat is a leasehold, but I've just checked and it appears I am responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the buildings.

As a leaseholder you normally pay service charges for your share of the maintenance and upkeep of the building itself, this is nothing to do with buildings insurance which is there in case of fire or terrorist attack etc. Normally with leasehold properties all of this is organised by your managing agents on behalf of the freeholder, and each leaseholder is then invoiced for his share. It is very rare for leasehold flats to have individual buildings insurance as if the place blew up and one flat wasn't insured ... it's more common for leaseholders to accidentally double insure themselves.

Fire_Fox

Verbatim wrote: »

Great reading your thread and seeing how much you've done in such a short time.

Echo the views on here about Flylady.

Should we think about a flylady lite thread??

How about 'armchair boogie' strengthen your washing up muscles by supping on a beer. :rotfl:

Edited to add: I think I have just been scarred for life by watching the Shiny Sink 101 you-tube thing .... If you sign up to Flylady they send you 15-20 e-mails a day!!! :eek:

belfastgirl23

All the flylady talk was good for me. i cleaned the bathrooms this morning before work. SiS can you top that??

spendaholicinseattle

Fire_Fox wrote: »

As a leaseholder you normally pay service charges for your share of the maintenance and upkeep of the building itself, this is nothing to do with buildings insurance which is there in case of fire or terrorist attack etc. Normally with leasehold properties all of this is organised by your managing agents on behalf of the freeholder, and each leaseholder is then invoiced for his share. It is very rare for leasehold flats to have individual buildings insurance as if the place blew up and one flat wasn't insured ... it's more common for leaseholders to accidentally double insure themselves.

Thanks FF. Mine is an upstairs flat in a converted terrace - there is no service charge.

spendaholicinseattle

OK so good day so far today! I went to the bank to sort out my account so I am paying less interest on my overdraft - I am committed to that for 6 months but I think that is OK until I am back in the black.

The girl at the bank was incredibly helpful, alhtough she did try to get me to take a loan out to which I said NO - no point in paying 8% or whatever when I have 0% on my cards, right? Need to check the interest out with my cards actually... eek.

She was saying I should look at having 2 bank accounts, one for DDs and one for spends - what do people think about this??

I have sorted my buildings and contents today - overall saving of £30 a month! Woo hoo!

Bananasplit

spendaholicinseattle wrote: »

She was saying I should look at having 2 bank accounts, one for DDs and one for spends - what do people think about this??

Just been reading through your thread and I have to say a massive well done for all you have done so far.
It's wonderful to see someone listening to the advice given and acting on it to help themselves :T

Anyway. With regards to the separate accounts, I do this myself. I transfer over a certain amount each month to a basic account and that's what I have each month for everything like food (i live at home but I buy my own work food - packed lunches mind!), petrol, that shiny new CD in the shops, gigs, going out, etc etc. It works a treat because I know exactly what my spends are for the month and can say 'No I've got no spare money' when friends ask you for a drink at the end of the month!

Worth looking into. But make sure it's a basic account no overdrafts nothing.

Keep up the good work.

spendaholicinseattle

Thanks Banana, I think I might have a go at it!

spendaholicinseattle

Sun is shining today I notice.... I am really looking forward to cracking on with this. I haven't spent anything today.

So far I have:
Cancelled my SKY
Cancelled my Life Insurance
Got my Council Tax down from £100 to £75 and a rebate form is on the way
Saved £30 a month on buildings and contents insurance

Got to say the support on here so far has been absolutely fantastic. Restores your faith! I think the hard part for me is going to be organising the spending - food and entertainments etc. But I think the diary is a really good place to start.

Bananasplit

Sounds like today has been a brilliant day money wise. And to top it all off the sun is indeed shining!

One other thing to think about for when you go back to work- take a packed lunch. I recently switched to this. Before I was spending £15 per week on food. Now I go to the shops on Sunday and buy what I need for the week. Costs me less than £5 and I know what's in the sandwich! :rotfl: (I'm a bit fussy)
£10 a week works out at £520 a year saving :eek: which is a holiday!

spendaholicinseattle

Should I cut up my credit cards?