Peonie's journey to smart money management

Peonie

Peonie wrote: »

I am happily reporting I took lunch into work yesterday and today.

We're finally moving on the home improvement front. We have a skip being delivered on Saturday, the chimney sweeper is coming next week, as is a plumber, and we've started the ball rolling to get the loft insulated.

The skip came, has been filled and gone away again. Mr P has been busy taking up the garage floor. The chimney sweep did his thing costing £45 and on a clear day he's going to come back and put a bird guard on the chimney. Insulating the attic will cost £50 for materials and installation through the council grant scheme. Mr P wants to make the joists higher first so we can board out the attic. The insulation guy said getting the cavity walls insulated would also cost £50, but without the grant it would be £400 :eek:. The plumber also came and we should get a quote soon.

Mr P is ebaying like crazy. He has been selling his childhood toys, an old camera lens and game consoles. So far he's made £900. Since we got the house he has hated having the boiler in the kitchen and I've argued it could cost too much to move, so he's going to use his ebay money to move the boiler.

And I used some of his paypal funds to buy a MoonCup. It arrived today and looks massive! I read the monthly pain some ladies experience is reduced when using one and I hope it does the same for me too. I really hope I am comfortable using it or it will be an expensive trial.

My birthday soon, and Mr P bought me some presents off my amazon list. We're going to meet some friends and visit the National Trust property used to film the Mr Darcy lake scene in the 90s version of Pride and Prejudice - mmmmmmm. I will have to ask Mr P to re-enact the scene.

I finished the owls, 2 of the 3 so far have been sold and the proceeds (£11 so far) will go to a local cancer hospital.

Peonie

The insulation guy is booked in for 2 weeks today which means we need to get on with adding extra wood to the joists. This weekend DH will take up the rest of the garage floor and we need to make a decision ASAP as to how big we want the toilet (taking into account the space for the toilet will come off the garage). The plumber said an 0.8m (80cm 31.5 inch) wide room is do-able but I think it will seen a little cramped.

Next week is a majorly busy one at work so I've brought some work home with me. I probably won't even look at it, but knowing the papers are there to read if I want to means I'm less likely to get stressed.

I have an events voucher ending soon that I purchased when we lived with MIL, Mr P and are going in-doors rock climbing next week and I am looking forward to it.

Right, we're about to head off to look at some doors.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Peonie

A dilemma may be a bit of an overstatement, but I would like your advice.

With my monthly saver ending this month and as I should get the interest paid any day now, I am considering how to save my money going forward.

I still have £3,100 to save before I hit my rainy day savings target, and I hope to save around £300 each month.

I have accounts with 2 different banks, plus have a credit card with another. Am I being silly by thinking banking with another bank (making it 4) will be excessive and a hassle to sort out?

Plus I am concerned that the cash when the account matures may be spent on the house like this time.

Would you go for the First Direct monthly saver at 8% (before tax) or put the money in the cash ISA at 3.2%?

Lixi_2

I had the same dilemma recently and of the two options I chose the regular saver as (after I worked out my tax liability on that) I would be significantly better off over the year and know I would not need to draw on the balance or monthly payments over that period of time (which would have lost a lot if not all the interest).

I suppose there is an argument that you lose your subsequent tax free interest over the years if you don't put it into an ISA, but that all depends on ISA transfer rates and whether you think you would draw on the money after the year. I still think the 8% was a better option for me.

Lx

Peonie

Thanks Lixi, I took your advice and have opened the First Direct current account tonight. It really does make sense to use this saver rather than the ISA as the interest is higher. As the name of my diary says, I'm on a journey to smart money management, and opening this account must put me on track.

I am trying to do a quick transfer of £300 into the account so I can open the 8% monthly saver account tomorrow. As always, here's some quick information about the account so I don't forget the details later.

The £10 per month account charge starts after 6 months. The charge is wavered if I do any of the following:

1. Transfer £1,500 into the account each month and £1,200 out (minus the £300 into the monthly saver).

2. Keep £1,500 in the account throughout the month. Actually I don't see this as an option as the current account gives 0% interest and my Lloyds account gives varying levels of interest so I'd be better off moving the cash back.

3. Get a First Direct credit card. I'll need to look at CC options nearer the time. At the moment the FD CC has a 0% transfer fee and this may be an option when my current 0% card runs out in a few months. But this means I will not be eligible to get another introductory offer from a bank in the same group, i.e. M&S.

4. Open another FD savings account. Again, I'll need to keep an eye on their fee wavering saver accounts and see if any give a higher interest rate than my current products.

There are more options but these are my preferences.

If you think I have misunderstood any of the details above please let me know and I will edit this post.

And finally, does anyone else hate setting up new accounts, and having to come up with a whole new set of passwords?

Peonie

The First Direct lady phoned today and the £300 had been transferred into the current account. My 8% saver is now open and the money transferred in. Hurrah. Here's to another year of saving.

Peonie

I have just changed my car insurance provider and have reduced it by £300 a year!!!!! I normally pay monthly but have paid for the year as it was slightly cheaper. I now need to find a new provider for breakdown cover and contact the old provider to end the policy on the renewal date.

I made £62 interest from my last monthly saver and this is going into my ISA.

And, i've finally bought a couple of presents for my niece's birthdays in December. Boots have an offer on the childrens clothes, buy 1 get the 2nd half price. I'm going to go back next week and see if I can get anything for Christmas. I wish a Mr S. store was closer, I've heard the clothes are like N*xt but cheaper.

The insulation guys are coming tomorrow, it's going to be an early one.

Peonie

The insulation guy has been and gone. Next weekend we're going to board out the attic (approx. £150) and see if we can get some of our living space back by moving some of our prized possessions back up there.

This week at work I had to look after a guest for 3 days and buy his lunch and transport. I need to claim back the money I spent and I'm hoping to get the £16 I spent on my lunches as well.

Shopping at Ald1 and L1dl has become a regular occurrence, plus more walks to the local greengrocer. I'm cautiously trying the non-branded products but this only means we're buying and eating more fruit and veg than usual.

Now I'm going to clean up my craft room and see if there's anything I can get rid of, maybe even ebay. I've never ebayed before, OH always does the buying and selling and posting for me.

Peonie

It's only the 1st and this month is not going well.

I forgot my car insurance for the previous month is paid on the 1st, with this going out, the new insurance and my estimated other costs for the month I will overspend by £219 by the end of the month.

We went to Ikea at the weekend to buy a fitted sheet (£25) for the bed as the flat sheet was driving him crazy, somehow Mr P also picked up a mattress saver (£35) so of course I paid for them and the payment was deducted from my account today.

It's nearly been 3 months since I last refuelled the car, but I finally had to fill up on Friday. I still had 1/8 of a tank left but my sister's car broke down by the side of the motorway and her little children needed rescuing and I also did not want to have to be rescued because of an empty tank (it has happened before). Again, the payment went from my account today.

On the bright side I did not spent £61 last month, it's not great but I did think I would go over.

SeriouslySeekingtoSave

Morning Peonie! I'm finally managing to catch up on a few diarys, well done you for getting the loft insulation and the FD 8% saving account. I have one of those and it comes 'ripe' in February so probably just in time to sneak into my ESA. Then I'll start another one

I also have a Santander account for the £100 and the 5% interest on the first £2,500 in the account. I have just seen that they also have a 5% savings account so I might check that one out. The maximum amount per month is £250 and it comes due at the end of 13 months. I think it has a few more problems than the FD one though so I'll need to look into it carefully. Still that's another £250 a month going into a better saving scheme than my mortgage (it's only 3%) and it has the added benefit of being easily accessible in an absolute emergency which isn't a bad thing in todays climate...