A sense of the past explains the present and foretells the future

saorsie

Well must be about time for another update me thinks, purely to keep me on track and focused.

£14 has 'landed' in my account today from the t*ki fishing game (see what I did there - that is the limit to my fishing jargon though so there will be no further play on words!) so that has been promptly swept across to my ISA before it could even think about getting settled in my personal account. Have also topped up various 'long-term budgets' that sit in my ISA until they're needed as I slightly shortchanged them on payday as wasn't sure quite how much available cash there would be; so holidays, Christmas fund and health (which covers dental, optical and prescriptions) are all looking more healthy this morning to the tune of £25 divided between the 3 of them. Will be eternally grateful to Eagerlearner for this tip included on her fabulous budgeting spreadsheet - it has revolutionised my longterm saving strategy - how corporate does that sound?!

Will be quite sorry to see the World Cup end on Sunday as it has certainly been a lot more interesting than I would have prevously found it, thanks to my venture into m*tched b*tting - even OH who was initially very dubious about it all is impressed by my earnings :cool: I have explained that it is nothing to do with gambling and only a system of numbers and my cause was greatly assisted by him joining a sweepstake at work which in fact IS gambling, dear! He has drawn Spain though so I believe a £40 payout is still in the offing depending on the result of Sundays final

Well shall head off and have a 'very brief' shower, still being ever mindful of water and gas to heat, prior to going to work. Have to go to Cash and Carry and do some banking first so will will will remember to record mileage and claim back on expenses - may as well make the gas guzzler contribute slightly to it's keep instead of being parked up getting covered in bird poo!

-s-

saorsie

Quick Stop Press before flying out the door - just had an email from Sc*ttish P*wer to advise that they will reduce my DD payment to £44 from next month - a whooptastic saving of £43 per month! :j I am now a very happy girl indeed and following on from my success with this and Or*nge this week, am filled with determination to badger all my service providers to keep adjusting my payments etc so I actually pay for what I receive rather than using them as non-interest paying saving accounts :mad: Though to be fair Sc*ttish P*wer do pay interest on credit balances - a eye watering £1 for each £33 above their £100 credit threshold - wow - don't spend it all at once!

-s-

Bookwormlou

Hi soarsie
I thought I'd have a look for your diary after your lovely post on mine . Doesn't it feel good to get yourself organised with your finances,it impacts on every area of your life doesn't it . After starting to budget , we always seem to make healthier lifestyle choices , de clutter our homes and generally become more organised in every area. I agree whole heartedly with your comment about looking after the pennies and the pounds taking care of themselves. My large inroads into my debt are primarily down to an attitude change to money and simply just watching what i spend . Like you say those little bits of money mount up. Well done for your success with your gas provider , I did the same with mine

saorsie

Hi Bookworm - thanks for dropping by - I think you've hit the nail on the head, it is all about altering your attitude towards debt and your spending habits which is why this site is so life-changing (and lifesaving in some cases ). Just wish I could have the same motivation for domestic chores as I do towards money, time to re-visit the flylady thread me thinks

Well have gained another £11 today by t*ki fishing, the monkey is indeed proving most generous this past couple of weeks.

Have added another page to my budgeting spreadsheet (with a little too much glee attached {no not the american series!} for my liking, I am obsessive!) to chart annual spends as opposed to everday spending- things like car MOT, car and house insurance, christmas, vet bills etc. All these expenses are saved for each month in my ISA but it seemed like a good idea (read personal indulgence ) to track them away from everyday spending like food, diesel, pet food, toiletries etc hence the new sheet.

Loving the menu planning at this early stage - it makes life soooooo easy rather than having to think what to eat when I get home at 18.45hrs. OH and I sat down with the cookbooks and wrote down 10 ideas for meals that we would both like (with a note to bookmark where they were, have made that mistake before!), added the ingredients that were outstanding to a shopping list and then stuck the list on the kitchen board. Now every 2 days, depending on what we're working/doing, I pick 2 suitable meals and write them on the calendar. This works really well for me as I cannot ever imagine being focused enough to plan what I would want to eat a week on Tuesday for example but can manage one or two days in advance! Also helps with the food budget as I know if I stick to the list, I have everything we need for the next 10 days - and as we all know IF IT'S NOT ON THE LIST IT DON'T GO IN THE TROLLEY!

-s-

saorsie

Well let joy be unconfined :j Sunday double scratchies are back on the St M*nerva sites! Not much moneymaking been achieved over the last couple of days but there has also been not much spending either which is grand. As I'm not at work this weekend, have been spending a little time monitoring the washing machine cycles - now before anybody believes I have finally lost the plot, allow me to explain further Been particularly dry here in beautiful Lincs and the water butt is now officially empty, however things still need watering obviously and as now on a water meter (which reduced bill from £370 per year to £300 initially but still after further reductions clearly), the rinsing cycles from the said washer seem far too wasteful to throw down the drain so they are being collected in buckets ready for the evenings watering chores, which also sits quite well with my 'green ethos' Now I wouldn't want to faff like this all the time however it's certainly worth doing periodically as have collected 2 buckets worth and filled the watering can from one cycle not counting the couple of pints I sloshed over my feet and the kitchen floor whilst carrying them outside!

Very excited today (little things etc etc) in that the monthly interest on my ISA has been paid and it amounts to £2.14 - which has of course hastily been redesignated as a payment towards my H*lifax 0% card. It's been a long time since I've had any interest paid that's actually been worth doing anything with so err yeah!:T

Have also checked H*lifax and my £12 late payment has been overturned - thank you lovely Craig from Dundee :kisses3: However I have received 3 letters from them in the space of 2 days, berating me for not paying on time :mad: have they nothing better to do?!

Damn damn damn - have found my even more dream electric bike now - and it is so delish I could eat it! It is cheaper than the other but is still £899 and it would still mean using a 0% card to pay for it! Will try and post a link in a bit and then if anyone is reading they can talk me out of it because it is clearly a 'want' not a 'need'!

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saorsie

http://www.electricbikeworld.co.uk/products/1458-8332/the-harrington.php

So here it is - in all it's wonderful splendour - come on lovely people, help me out here - JUST SAY NO!

-s-

Bookwormlou

Don't do it saorsie ! Wait until you've got the cash saved for it otherwise your enjoyment of purchasing it will be ruined by the guilt.

carlos*the*mackem

saorsie wrote: »

http://www.electricbikeworld.co.uk/products/1458-8332/the-harrington.php

So here it is - in all it's wonderful splendour - come on lovely people, help me out here - JUST SAY NO!

-s-

NONONONONONONONONO...and NO

There, hope that helps

saorsie

Ok ok lovely people of MSE - you are quite right, I have resisted and the urge has diminished Have promised myself though that I will buy it before January 2011 when VAT hikes up so the race is on - pay off the rest of my 0% Halifax card (current balance outstanding £467.04) and save, beg not steal obviously and certainly not borrow <shock horror> £899 for my bike before 4/01/11 - can it be done? :eek:

So to kick off the campaign, I have withdrawn £8 from paypal - also sent off the form for my o2 world cup sim cheque - they are generously paying £20 to include the goal that never was against Germany Also a m*tched b*t is pending which should pay out around the £15 mark and qu*dco is amounting to £40 heading my way early next month. Thinking that at the current rate I should be able to have stashed away the Halifax money by the end of August which then gives me 4 months to save err £900 so that'll be 225 quid a month then - crikey :eek:

Did give OH a little food for thought yesterday morning when we were showering (together obviously, saving on hot water!) he commented on the err 'couple' of cold showers he has experienced recently and asked why the sudden zeal regarding saving on fuel costs. I explained that my fuel DD at £87 (before it reduced this month) amounted to almost 10% of my take home salary (is that living in fuel poverty incidentally - can't remember the ratio?) and that was not acceptable - suffice to say there was a stunned silence and some thoughtful soaping followed!

-s-

saorsie

Am actually quite excited about the prospect of saving up for my bike so thank you Bookworm and Carlos for talking me out of it :T I think it's breaking it down into cold hard figures that has inspired me, makes it sort of a mini personal challenge somehow!

Have been continuing with my financial tidying today and the M*S & More Mastercard has been the next one to bite the dust with it's £3000 of unused credit sat around making my credit report look more bulky than it should be. Now I love M*S and their yummy reward points BUT they are very expensive and I can be tempted to spend in there by their regular offers of 5x extra points etc soooooo it's for the best, just occasionally, a woman can not manage on willpower alone!

So am now down to 3: my *gg card which is everyday spending with 1% cashback, paid off each month, my h*lifax 'stooze' card which is 0% till March 2011 and MBN* which has a stay of execution until Jan 2011 when I will recontact them and see if they will extend it's lovely 0%-ness until late in the year, in which case it will become the new Stooze-mobile/emergency card and H*lifax will bite the dust.

Have managed to squirrel away another £5 in my ISA today courtesy of missing the window cleaner. Can live with smeary windows for another month me thinks. :eek:

Unsure whether to bite the bullet and shovel the remainder of the balance of my personal account (ie all the unaccounted for) over to my ISA / pay off H*lifax fund? It seems daft it sitting there being all reassuring .......... yet payday is still 8 days away

-s-