Eager Elephant's Effective Everyday Excursion ...

Savvy_sewing

Sounds like a productive week EE.
Hope DH doesn't suffer from the bruises too long!

mary_hinge

Don't feel guilty about the discount prices, If it wasn't for free carer/reduced rate for disabilities we wouldn't of managed half the activities we have this summer, both superman and missy H qualify for a free carer ticket so we just have the little Hinge's tickets to cover. If your cinema goers the CEA card is £6 a year and allows a free carer ticket too. I think prices for these places are so over inflated and companies wouldn't offer this discount if it meant they suffered finacially!

Hope Dh ribs heal soon, I'm jealous of your home grown bacon!

Missy H x

hign10pines

Wow you've been through so much. At times I wanted to shout 'leave him' or 'let someone needy have the council house', 'stop being so controlling' etc but I think it's all working out in the end. I could never live with family!

My OH doesn't do budgeting either, went £333 into/over his OD the other month and the £197 this month but claims he didn't spend anything and hasn't checked through his bank yet. He is on a very tight budget with his change of job til he gets his first full months pay.

He is all for having a big holiday but I do all the work to pay for it!!

Eager_Elephant

Thanks for your posts everyone.


DH has a small yellow/green bruise now and it does not hurt to touch so luckily nothing broken.


Thanks mary - we don't tend to go to the cinema as it's in the town we work in and after work we head home for tea. Too be honest I struggle to sit through films - at home I end up falling asleep, I just can't sit still for longer than an hour unless it's a really good programme like Restoration Home (we record it all and then watch 2 or 3 in one go!!)


Hi hign10pines - have a gold star for reading all my ramblings. Sometimes I want to knock some sense in to myself as well!!

Eager_Elephant

Forgot to mention yesterday that I have approached L&C mortgage brokers for advice..
This may be controversial for some but as it's my diary I'm going to post about it...
As you know we live in a council house and have done for 11 years although I have lived in council with my own tenancy since I was 16, all councils offer Right To Buy - we have wanted to do this for ages but with one thing and another it hasn't happened but now the rent we are charged will be changing so the more you earn the more rent you pay - our gross between us is just under £40k so we will have to pay an extra £30-£40pw rent.
I appreciate that my rent is very low compared to private rented but really I could have a mortgage for the same amount and own it at the end.


The only(!) problem is our credit history - I have one default for £8k which I only pay back at £5pm as on 0% and DH has hundreds of defaults and owes £23k.
L&C are currently looking at our credit reports to see what they recommend - at a push I could try and clear my default by April (when the new rules come in) and I may be able to get a big enough mortgage on just my wages.
Our LTV will be good as we get a discount of about 35% if we buy so in effect that would be our deposit.


Will post more when I know more.




Car Insurance up for renewal tomorrow and I have done my comparisons and I can get my insurance a lot cheaper - why have I not looked for years!!!
I did a compare the market quote and raised £1 for my chosen charity but I went through Quidco to buy my insurance so should get £60 cash back (expect date Nov). My insurance cost £250 as I pay monthly so that will bring it down to £190!!


I think I need a separate pot to save each month for my car insurance and then next year I could buy outright - hmmmm, that would take me to about 10 savings pots!!!

crazy_cat_lady

Good luck with L&C - I've just managed to get an agreement in principle through them - even with my credit history so it's definitely worth a try. I have found them to be really helpful as well.

Eager_Elephant

Well my Quidco cash back has already tracked so that is £60 to come in November.

Back to work today after a week off and a long weekend - it's going to be manic!!

Yesterday I was supposed to be doing the committee accounts but procrastinated loads - the good thing is that I have cleaned and tidied my computer desk for the first time since 2013:eek:
The good thing with leaving it so long is that things which were in a folder to be sorted are now so old I could just chuck them away:T
Seriously, my desk was shocking, no wonder I lose everything.
Found some out of date clubcard tokens so logged on and I had £26 worth - I could have swapped them for vouchers for the theme park after all. Some were going out of date in the next few months so I have converted them into a magazine subscription for growing veg/fruit etc which will be handy for my allotment.


Need to finalise my budget for September and update YNAB.


Also I am running the Ninja Saving Turtles thread for September so if you want a challenge pop along and see us.

Eager_Elephant

Just had to quickly pop on while I am at work to let you all know I have a Decision in Principle on just my wages for a mortgage!!


The amount they would be willing to lend should be more than enough to buy our house and the repayments are likely to be the same or lower than our current rent so plenty of scope to overpay - get me thinking about overpaying before I even have a mortgage!!


My 1 default is from 2013 and although it is only being paid off slowly it clearly is not too much of an issue as it is so old and I am up to date with my 2 credit cards (one used for petrol and one which has a BT on).


L&C decided that my DH should not come on the mortgage due to his CCJ and his defaults - he is a bit upset but these are the consequences of his spending from years ago. Maybe in the future if we remortgage (for a better deal) then he can come on board then.


I am so pleased with this and have just sent my RTB form off ready to get a valuation done.

crazy_cat_lady

That is absolutely fantastic news EE. And a lesson for your dh to learn...

*Robin*

So happy to read your good news, EE! :j