Drowning, not waving :-(

EssexHebridean

TCB pay 70p for a completed survey at New Vista, and 1p for a survey you fail to qualify for, so quite a good way of doing it, however I don't know how that works to team up with earning directly from New Vista as well.

Hope they hurry up with that hospital appointment for you - as you say though may as well find a positive in the negative - a trip to Tescos and the big Co-Op at Ropework Park will be handy! When we're up we always choose one day for a trip up there - partly because we love the ferry crossing (we actually went and did it a second time last year as foot passengers - just an out and back - as it was so lovely!) and partly to stock up on bits and bobs to bring back with us. Charley Barleys, the Stornoway Smokehouse and Tesco (for Stag Bakeries stuff) are always on the shopping list!

Is it worth taking your car for 6 months only to split the tax & the other bits aside from one another? Mind you, the tax will be less alarming now a tank of fuel costs not so far off the same! :eek:

Oh - meant to ask - you still not smoking?

hellnearth

Got a letter from NHS yesterday with my hospital appointment for 9th March. Hope this will finally pinpoint what's wrong.
Thanks, EH, I forgot you could take the tax out for 6 months rather than a year and that would certainly help spread the load.
What would I do without you

EssexHebridean

We aim to please!

Woo Hoo - under 6 weeks to go!!!! I mentioned to MrEH last night that I was really excited about heading up there again, and he sighed and said "You're going to do your squeaking with excitement thing in a minute, aren't you!" :o:o

Wow to quick Hospital appointments - does the timing fit in OK with the travel side of it? (I assume you have to "head North" for it?)

hellnearth

Heh! Heh! Squeak away :D
Yes, I went up to Stornoway on Tuesday and back on Wed. Stayed at my lovely Macleod B & B. They are so sweet. It was snowing when I got there and they insisted I eat with them and ran me up to the hospital and to the airport when I was finished. Couldn't have their wonderful cooked breakfast and black pudding as I had to fast for the barium meal. Managed a quick trip to Peacocks to get some jeans for DS. Great sale on and a buy 2 get 1 free offer, so got two pairs of jeans at £10 each and a Tshirt. Good job I didn't have a lot of time as I might have gone a bit mad. Had a few Tesco vouchers too so picked up a bottle of wine for the B & B folks and a couple of bits and pieces, but a limited shop cos of time and baggage restrictions. The trip on the wee plane was great: brilliant visibility. Managed to catch a gap in the snow/hail clouds.
Re: diagnosis, it is looking increasingly like Crohn's but I'll need to wait to see my GP here when they get the results
Got lots of meter readings at the moment but the car is playing up (typical) so will have to mention it to them when it goes in for the MOT next week. It's the electrics again so here's hoping it doesn't need another wee trip to Inverness!!

EssexHebridean

I'm cross my fingers for the diagnosis being not too bad - for you AND the car! LOL! Excellent that the visibility was so good for your flight too - I bet the bit over Harris, in particular, is stunning! We're hoping to be able to arrange the flight from Barra to Benbecula when we're up - ideally would have liked to have done it the other way round but the tides won't allow that on this trip. We've always wanted to do it, and with the very real risk that the funding will be withdrawn for the service, we felt we ought to just get on and do it now.

I'll note the details of your lovely B&B - its always handy to have a decent one noted just in case we ever get stranded with ferry cancellations.

hellnearth

Yes i would love to do the Barra flight too.
Well, the car turned into Herbie. Starting intermittently, dash lights everywhere, headlights going on by themselves and so on. I think he sees the big meter work coming and balks at it! Creagorry had it a week and couldn't find the fault at first but eventually found a box under the dashboard had fallen off its mount. So no trip to Inverness thank goodness, but had to hire a car to work. Sigh ....

EssexHebridean

The mention of hiring a car near you gives me visions of Mr Laing's garage......! We've hired from him a couple of times, I can just about understand him but OH comes away saying "What did he say?!":rotfl: (For other readers - Mr Laing's is a garage in a somewhat haphazard yard - he hires absolutely everything from old bangers to surprisingly decent cars (for visitors to the islands it seems!) to Site Cabins, to cranes.....and he has an accent which, to the average Englishman, is completely impenetrable!)

Glad the car didn't have to go to the mainland to get sorted out anyway - I always panic that something will go wrong with mine while we're there and we'll get left without it.....:eek: Mind you we got hit by a lorry on the way up last year so are hoping for no repeat of that this time round!

hellnearth

Wow. Can't believe it's been that long! And that my thread is still here. Where to start. Life is still a rollercoaster and I'm still living on the edge, in more ways than one! However, things are not as doom and gloom as they were thanks to MSE and the lovely, supportive folks who helped me out way back then. I've had a few major distractions and kind of forgot about the forum, but feeling the need for a financial overhaul, I've come back and am very glad I did. The distractions have been both positive and negative, and fairly numerous so I'll do the most significant ones in list form.
Positives
Got the remortgage and kept the house
Got a steady job with training in accounts thrown in
Was very ill but now in remission
Negatives
Diagnosed with Crohn's disease and had surgery in 2012
Mum's Alzheimer's advanced very fast and she is now in a home
Younger sister suffers major heart attack - luckily pulls through
House is falling apart!
The positives and negatives have of course affected my financial situation too and I had a bit of a secondary LBM. I haven't gone mad down the slippery slope, but the list above did necessitate some spending that I couldn't really afford and I hadn't been keeping as tight a rein as I could on things.
My old % deals lapsed ages ago and I hadn't done anything about it. So over the last few days I have:
transferred two CC balances to a 31 month % card
been accepted for cash transfer card - % for 29 months - to pay off another with a small balance and the HP balance on new front door we had to get
opened a cash ISA to keep an emergency fund in, instead of forking out on the credit card when things go wrong!
I've rejigged my budget and will focus on paying off as much as I can on the two new CCs. Will have to redo all this in my signature as it's a great way to remind you of your goals.
It does feel really good to be getting proactive again :-)

hellnearth

Good morning Apart from the usual weekend housework and Yoga class ( yay! ) today, I have a few DFW things I need to do today.
* transfer £100 ( part of tax rebate ) from current to ISA when it shows up on the digital banking Done
*check emails for updates on the MBNA card Done
*check old Santander ISA and Post Office Savings account and close off
*find Orange mobile contracts. I'm sure one (DS's) has ended or is near and want to cancel it and get him a PAYG Sim.
*find DS's Air Discount card and PIN Done
*switch electricity supplier. Current fix with the Hydro finishes end of March and they will put me on to their standard rates Done
You can tell from all the 'finds' that I have slipped pretty badly on the paperwork front and am not in control at all. So todays main aim is to sort through all that ( a lot of it is sitting in shoe boxes! ) and get it organises into files and a system.
DS has been accepted for Uni in September so may have to get to the mainland for interviews, though he has a few unconditional offers. We wouldn't normally fly as the cost is prohibitive, even with the discount card, but just in case. We also have to tackle the student loan application etc so will need all the financial stuff to hand.
Onwards and upwards :-)

hellnearth

So the balance transfer from my Tesco CC has gone ahead. I'd forgotten about the interest so there is a small balance to pay off, then I will cancel that card.
I haven't included my car loan and mortgage balances for the moment. The plan is to deal with the cards first.
Have got back into proper meal planning again and I can see the difference in my shopping bills already. It's difficult here with only the Chicken Coop really to shop in, but I'm using a sort of flexi-list approach and substituting things on my list for specials and stickered items if there are any. I managed to get a small freezer on Freecyle so will build up a bit of a store.