Who turned the lights on?

xx-Tina-xx

floridadreamin wrote:

There is some-one standing at the end of the tunnel with a torch even if the batteries need changing on occasion.:)

We just need to make sure we shop around for the cheapest batteries!! :rotfl:

Reading these boards over the last few days has really humbled me! My situation (whilst upsetting for me) isn't really anything for me to get so worked up about! Don't get me wrong.. Theres nothing i'd like more than to wake up tomorrow and be debt free but ya know... I'm healthy.. my family is healthy... I have a decent job etc etc! This place has made me appretiate the little things... I have amazing parents etc who kit out my son in his school uniform etc every year.... It would be so very easy for me to come clean to them and have them pay my way out of this... But I spent years married to a financial control freak (think thats why I went a bit crazy when we divorced) and I fought hard to get my independence back... Running home to Mummy and Daddy really isn't the solution I need...

.... Lalalala.... Im waffling again..... :rolleyes:

xx-Tina-xx

Quick update... After having FAR too much time on my hands in the middle of the night (Oh the joys of working nights) I decided to take a good look at my credit cards, what is on each card, what I'm paying monthly, and what the interest is...

2 of the cards just have balance transfers on them with no spending and are both at 0%

Barclaycard is 17.9% and had the most on at £3963, sooooo..... I paid £150 off that (rather than the minimum £81) and transferred £1200 of it on to one of the 0% (until June) cards. I know I could have actually foregone paying ANYTHING off it this month due to the balance transfer, but this is the card I REALLY want to get rid of first! Anything I make from selling on Amazon and via Quidco is going here first and foremost

So now my credit cards are looking like this....

Barclaycard..... £2613.47 (Although i'm sure someone will be able to tell me what the interest is going to be on it as I've yet to see a statement... and a Carol Vorderman *Boo Hiss* at maths I am NOT!!!... This card has a credit limit of £5300)

MBNA.... £2153.40 (all balance transfers and all 0% until June 2007 with a credit limit of £2300)... and I paid £50 off this this morning so I guess it now £2103.40

Virgin (MBNA).... £1888 (all balance transfers and all 0% until August 2007 with a credit limit of £2000)... I paid £50 of this a week or so ago, so this will have to wait until nexts month wages to make a further payment

Amazon Credit card... £276, which I paid £20 off this morning and which I can't access right now AGAIN... grrr!!!... Ah, I can access it again!! Not sure how I managed to run up £276 on this when the scissors went through it a LONG time ago... I think I might have it set up in my paypal and ive paid with the wrong card at some point... So my next job is to see what cards are registered with paypal and to make sure I wipe all my cards off there and just leave my Barclays Delta card... I can't spend then what I dont have!!

Mint Credit Card... £0 Balance!! Its shredded and in the bin... In fact they all are other than the Barclaycard, and thats because I need it to collect concert tickets that I booked on it in December and I have to have the card to present and proof it was ME who purchased them... BUT its not in my purse... its in a plastic bag and then in a tupperwear dish filled with water in the freezer rather than sitting in my handbag where the temptation can strick!!! Pretty difficult to defrost a lump of ice in the middle of town because you've just seen some great bed linen/shoes/sparkly stuff etc etc!!

Oh, and somewhere lurking is Capital One card with £32 CREDIT on it!! Will have to see if I can find the details and have it refunded to me!!

I have a £500 free overdraft facility, and thats about £350 overdrawn right now and will remain so until I get paid in 5 days, so i'm not particularly worried about that in the slightest... MOST months I manage to dabble into it, but usually by payday by the time i've desposited my maintance payments into its up to scratch again


I think I'm getting the hang of this now... but if anyone has any more suggestions please free to jump right in and tell me where i'm going right... or going so very wrong!!!

nidje

Hi Tina
I don't have anything to add other than you're doing a great job, keep it up
N x

xx-Tina-xx

nidje wrote:

Hi Tina
I don't have anything to add other than you're doing a great job, keep it up
N x

Awww... Thank you. It really is a nice ego boost when someone compliments you! :kisses3:

However... I did spend £40 yesterday I wasn't banking on spending really!! Our phone has just died.. its a cordless thats having real problems charging itself, so I ordered a new one for 30 quid thats just been delivered this morning... and whilst I was Quidco (went there for the phone) I saw an ad for online bingo... Deposit a tenner and get thirty back via quidco. This really was no problem for me.. I just saw a way to make an extra twenty quid as I absolutely detest bingo and couldnt wait for my tenner to run out!! LOL

I think I've got about 53.30 tracked already in Quidco, and i'm waiting on another £65 to be tracked... Not bad for a weeks work!! I've also signed up with a couple of mystery shopper and Survey sites, so hopefully they shall throw some cash my way!

vandanfc

Monthly Incomings:

My salary - Average of around £1500 (depending on what shifts I work)Partners salary Given to me towards the Housekeeping - £600 (although this should increase soon as hes just gotten a new job
Child Benefit - £69
Maintainance Payments from ex-husband for our son - £250
Working Tax Credit - £50

Hi Tina
Can I ask a daft question ?
Do you get/are you entitled to Child tax Credit too, as you get Working Tax Credit ? Or is it already lumped in as part of the Working tax credit ?

Vanda

vandanfc

After having FAR too much time on my hands in the middle of the night (Oh the joys of working nights)

How about using this time to make money via the cashback sites, (such as quidco). There are lots out there and you could earn a fair bit every quarter just by doing the click throughs.

Have a look at this thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=47778

Vanda

xx-Tina-xx

vandanfc wrote:

Hi Tina
Can I ask a daft question ?
Do you get/are you entitled to Child tax Credit too, as you get Working Tax Credit ? Or is it already lumped in as part of the Working tax credit ?

Vanda

At the risk of ME sounding really dumb... it might be that that I already get!! I know I get one but not the other, and what I do get isnt for childcare costs, as I dont actually pay any!

**Goes and checks the tax credit thingymejiggy**

xx-Tina-xx

vandanfc wrote:

After having FAR too much time on my hands in the middle of the night (Oh the joys of working nights)

How about using this time to make money via the cashback sites, (such as quidco). There are lots out there and you could earn a fair bit every quarter just by doing the click throughs.

Have a look at this thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=47778

Vanda

Tut tut tut!! I'm supposed to looking after the health of our nation!! You good people don't pay for us Nurses to be sitting on the internet all night!

Yeah, OK, I was on quidco and pigsback half the night! :rotfl: Hey? what can I say? It was a quiet night!!!

vandanfc

xx-Tina-xx wrote:

Tut tut tut!! I'm supposed to looking after the health of our nation!! You good people don't pay for us Nurses to be sitting on the internet all night!

No I suppose we don't. But if you ever do get the time check it out. I have received £170.00 so far from 9 months work, mainly click throughs and and some small orders that I would have done anyway. Every little helps though. You can even justify some treats from this extra cash.

xx-Tina-xx

Well, my run of nightshifts has finished and i'm just sitting here clicking away via Quidco, checking my auctions on ebay, checking my sales on Amazon and alternating that with banging my head against the desk!! I've just posted this on the loans forum, but thought I would post it here as well just incase someone here has any ideas also!


Hiya all!

I've read through this thread with great interest. I've been trying (without much success) to cancel my PPI with Barclays which works out at a whopping £70 a month. My actual monthly loan repayment is £202, and with PPI on top its working out at £272 The loan was taken out in May 2006, with the usual stuff about cancelling within 30 days by either visiting the branch or writing to Barclays Insurance in Ireland to have it cancelled (this is what is actually stated in the terms and conditions of the Insurance Policy)... Soooooo...... I wrote to Barclays Insurance in Ireland requesting to cancel, only to get a letter back telling me I had to do it in person in my branch, and yep, you've guessed it.. by the time I recieved the letter back the 30 days was up!!! So i've spent the last couple of months completely getting the runaround! Finally they say I can cancel the PPI but I will have to take out a new loan without PPI to pay off the outstanding loan with PPI. They're driving me absolutely nuts and don't seem to grasp the concept of me NOT wanting to pay interest twice on what essentially is the same amount of money!

Anyhow.. I've copied out the template letter regarding the PPI and claiming back charges.. and I've also added a couple of bits myself.. Mainly regarding THEIR terms and conditions, which states quite clearly I can cancel the PPI at anytime although I will only recieve a partial refund of monies owed

"Section 5

You may terminate your policy at any time by contacting your branch or by writing to us at Barclays Insurance Dublin, PO Box 586,... Your policy with automatically terminate if your agreement ends. After the initial 30 days we will only refund part of your premium. We will not calculate any refund on a pro-rata basis because more of the premium is apportioned to the earlier part of the term when more of the risk is borne. The premium refund will be calculated according to the refund rates applicable at that time, and may be substantially less than the amount you originally paid. An example of the amount of refund is show in the table below highlighting the fact that the majority of the risk is incurred in the earlier part of the term. Any refund of premium may be credited to the loan account

(then it goes on to specify who much you may be refunded)

So a couple of questions for you good people... Firstly, are they in breach of contract for not allowing me to cancel via Barclays Dublin which it so clearly states I should be able to do? And secondly, do I keep fighting just to have the PPI taken off and refunded back to my current loan as it states in their terms and conditions that this IS possible or do I just go with another loan?? I swear i'm going greyer and greyer by the day!!!

Thanks in advance folks for any suggestions!