jenova wants to be MF!

jenova_2

Hi everyone... I think I've finally lurked here long enough, and it's about time I joined in and started posting!

I've been inspired by all the MFW diaries on here to start my own. It seems like a great way to motivate myself and also hopefully to get some encouragement, advice and tips along the way!

I come off my fixed-rate in January, which actually results in my interest rate going down a lot :T I don't know whether this will mean my payments change, or whether my payments will stay the same and I will be automatically overpaying - that is something I will have to check with my provider, I'm a bit clueless about that at the minute

I am hoping that my payments will/can reduce, simply so that I can take a couple of months to do some serious budgeting based on the new amounts, build up a little buffer of savings, and then go back to paying practically what I am now - and watch those numbers gradually come down

Currently my mortgage is juuuust affordable, but I often have £0 or less than £0 in my bank at the end of the month because I don't have that buffer there. Thankfully I don't get charged every time I go into my overdraft but I end up paying a few pounds every month in debit interest which I hate having to do.

Anyway! My plan is to use this diary for to-do lists as well... I hope it'll be extra motivation knowing other people can see if I'm slacking off :cool: So - no time like the present! I'm starting the list with something I did this afternoon, so I feel like I've achieved something already. :rotfl:

Right now I need to:

• [STRIKE]Inform car insurance company that my OH has moved in and is therefore 'partner' not 'named driver'[/STRIKE] Done! Charged me £15 'admin fee' (grr) but resulted in £10 a month cheaper policy.
• Update adverts on sales websites
• Finish unpacking stuff that I brought from the old house to the new house 2 months ago!!!
• Sort out all CDs, DVDs and books etc - plan to Amazon/Ebay etc
• Finish 2 painting commissions I have due before Jan 17

SmlSave

Welcome to MFW jenova

Imelda

welcome jenova!

good news on the new year rate drop, always good to have a rainy day buffer.

jenova_2

Thanks for the welcomes you guys

There is one source of income that would kickstart my savings buffer and mean I could start to OP earlier, but that I am not getting my hopes up too far on - I don't really know my rights or what will happen. Perhaps someone has some advice or has been in a similar situation?

Here's the story (sorry it's a bit long)

I started my job around 7 months ago, completed probationary 6 months with no problems, am now permanent staff etc. In the interview it was stated that my hours would be the same as the lady I was replacing (she retired) - however when I started work and my contract arrived, the hours weren't what I had expected. I brought it up with the boss, who took the contract away to get it amended. It took until last week (with pretty regular pestering from me) for me to actually get the amended contract back again. The hours are what I was expecting, so that's all good. However, for the 7 months between original contract being taken away and correct contract coming back, I have been working the hours I was verbally told were best/easiest/etc (which were not the hours in the original contract that got taken away the same day it was given to me)

It turns out that I have been doing an hour more every day than I should have done. Over the 7 months that works out as a month extra give or take a few hours. :eek:

Now from my point of view, I was doing the hours I was verbally told to do, in good faith that they were correct. I have brought it up with my boss who has said she'll take it up with higher-ups on my behalf, but she doesn't think anything will come of it - she doesn't think they will pay me the full amount or even pay me anything at all.

Am I actually entitled to the 140 hours overtime I've technically done? I don't want to annoy people, I like my job and I like the people and I don't want it to look like I am grasping at the chance to get money out of the company, but I did work those hours in good faith, and at no point in the 7 months did anyone say "hey, you're working too long, stop it" and it did take them 7 months to hand me the one corrected piece of paper that would've prevented it from the start... they've got 8 months for the price of 7 from me so far

Obviously I am only working my right hours now so it is just from May to December that I've done the accidental-overtime, the hours are all sorted and fine now.

Can anyone advise? It's a whole month's pay (a month and a half if they were to honour overtime rates) and that would be SO useful to me, but I don't know whether I'm even entitled to it.

Imelda

Are you paid hourly? Or if you were to do the extra hour now would you get overtime?

jenova_2

I'm paid monthly, but if I needed to work over and the overtime was signed off by my manager (usually before I go ahead and do it), I would get paid time-and-a-half.

Imelda

hmm, a tough one- I guess they can argue as it was unauthorised overtime they don't have to pay you? If they refuse to pay you maybe they would let you have some time off in lieu? Not as good as the ££ but better than nothing? I don't know where you stand on that legally- maybe pop over to the employment boards, there are few lawyers on there that might be able to help.

Good luck!

jenova_2

Thanks Imelda, I'll probably do that. I'll see what my boss says when she's spoken to the higher-ups and go from there

On a MFW front - just joined the sharesave scheme at work, decided while I could overpay the money that would be going into the shares, the scheme is actually quite generous and I do want some money stashed away somewhere for a couple of years. I can always stop playing if I need that extra money in the future.

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

Welcome!

I think I would not fight for the overtime as it was a genuine mistake - but I would never let them get away with it again. Just for the good will - if you like the job it's not worth gaining a reputation as a troublemaker. And it is better if they owe you....

Squirrel

jenova_2

I have decided not to pursue the O/T this year, and leave it to my boss to do what she thinks is appropriate re: raising it with the higher-ups. I will ask what has happened in the new year. But I've decided not to focus on that money as the likelihood is that I will not ever see it, so I'm discounting it as a possibility. Then if anything does happen it will be a fantastic boost, and if nothing happens I won't be so disappointed.

I bent the ear of a poor customer services worker from Play today because they messed me around with a replacement - after trying to fob me off with apologies for a while, he finally heard what I was saying and went away to speak to his manager. He came back to tell me they had refunded me and given me £5 compensation to make up for me having no present for someone for Xmas at the last minute. That's all well and good but they had the best price by miles - so now I either have to be a present short for my OH or go to a local shop and pay almost double for the present. I'm sure he'll understand and won't mind waiting for his present but I am still annoyed. Still, £5 compensation is better than "tough luck, go away" I suppose.

I've opened a second bank account where I can squirrel away a few pennies until the New Year when my MFW plan will really kick in (ie once my mortgage rate changes and I have a full picture of my outgoings and what exactly I owe) and I can see about making my first OP. I have a feeling it may have to be lump sums, but I'll know for sure in January.

I also had an enquiry for one of the things I am selling (I hate saying 'things' and 'selling' as it sounds wrong to me - but I don't want to talk too much about why because I don't want it to look like I'm advertising even though I'm not - not sure whether it would be close to breaking the rules to talk about it in passing?) If that enquiry pans out then I will have a bit more for the OP pot too. It's not profit overall, as these 'things' take a lot of making, but it's my main hobby and interest and I do it for love not money, I budget for the outgoings etc - so the final return is mine to save.

jenova_2

I'm back, and my mortgage rate has finally changed as of late Dec, so my Jan payment is at the new amount! My monthly payments have gone from £789 to £557.10

As I was juuuust about managing but not really having any spare to OP when the rate was £789 and I hadn't got my MSE hat on and wasn't watching the bills like a hawk, I think I might be able to afford to regularly overpay for a while. I am now on the SVR for my bank so obviously when the BOE base rate goes up, so will my payments. But, make hay while the sun shines, right?

I have to overpay in lump sums of £500 or more so unfortunately I can't just set my payments to something like £700 and leave it going, and save what else I can into a rainy day fund. So I am going to look at my bank account after all this month's bills are accounted for, and see what I am actually spending now the rate's changed. That way I can set a target to save each month, and as soon as I'm at £500 I can fire off an overpayment. I have been rounding my current account down to the nearest £10 as often as I remember to (usually 2x a week) and squirreling it away in a separate account for a while, and emptying my change into a pot when I've got a purseful, so have a little bit ready and waiting to be overpaid! If I don't spend any more than I currently do now, and nothing unforseen happens, I might be able to overpay one lump of £500 every two months and still have a few pennies leftover. I do think it would be best to save a couple of months worth for a while first as I don't have a buffer at all and that's a bit scary.

Of course my first saving would have to be scuppered by something, it's only fair... the chip in my windscreen that Autoglass turned into a small crack while they were trying to fix it, that the frost before Christmas turned into a bigger crack, that has over time lengthened and is now a bloody great chasm in my windshield that makes me flinch every time I drive over a pothole and is one strong sneeze away from exploding into shards of pointy glassy doom, really needs to be taken care of. So I am going to have to shell out for a new one, but I did my best to ignore it for a long time and even snuck it through an MOT with the original mini-crack there, so it's definitely about due!