Peonie's journey to smart money management

Peonie

SeriouslySeekingtoSave wrote: »

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...

Thanks S. Mr P's monthly saver ends in 6 months and I hope the 8% saver is still available.

I have read such bad reviews about Santander but 5% is a decent interest rate at the amount. It sounds like a good plan S, do you plan on opening as many accounts as possible to get a good return or will you get to a point and start to overpay into the mortgage again? Do you have a target for an emergency fund?

Peonie

Peonie wrote: »

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. Complete.

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. I was able to claim the money I spent on the guest and £8 for my lunch which is better than nothing.

It was my mums birthday this week and we decided to spend the day together, we could not decide what to do so went shopping and I bought her lunch. I was good and did not spend anything else.

I have been poorly today, and OH has been wonderful letting me do what I need to do to get better while he's been running around.

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.

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

I have had some good news, my car repairs that I had budgeted £150 for will only cost £25 if the fitting of the new part goes to plan. That means if I keep my spending in check I may overspend this month by £100 rather than the £219 I expected.

I have recalculated my SOA for October and am £83 in credit.

The £62 interest from my old monthly saver has been moved into the ISA. My signature has been updated (see below) and I am also including the balance of the new monthly saver in the total of the rainy day fund. So I am happy to report we have reached 77% of our rainy day fund target.

Mr P wants to buy a new Mac, thankfully he does not want to buy one at full price but wants to find one that's nearly new and had a glitch and was sent back to the store. My colleagues at work think I'm being mean by making him save up for one first.

Mortgage at its highest: July 2011 at £154,000.
Mortgage now: 1 November 2011 at £151,820.73.
Mortgage free date: originally July 2036, now June 2036.
MFW no 214: overpayment £700 plus £11,000 extra deposit, target £2,000, target achieved.
Rainy day fund: saved £9,270.31, target £12,000, achieved 77%.

Sepa74

lol... people are very strange, aren't they! I guess maybe because a Mac isn't so expensive in the scheme of things, but I prefer saving for small things in some ways - you know it won't take you that long to get to your goal, but you still get a big sense of satisfaction when you're there - the best of both worlds!!

Peonie

Thanks Sepa. We've had a few discussions about what we're going to spend his ebay money on. I would like us to get a new bed - our bed was old when we took it from my parents back in 2003, or towards building the extension we want eventually. Mr P even considered putting the money towards a new second hand car but he'd need more money than he's making on ebay. So a Mac is this weeks favourite way to spend the money.

Peonie

I have transferred another £100 into the rainy day fund. The money in our joint account has slowly been rising and today Mr P today agreed with me, the excess money could be moved. I'll update my signature at the beginning of next month.

Peonie

I have been to the shops tonight. A couple of weeks ago I bought a cushion with a gift voucher as it was going to run out the next day, I asked for a gift receipt and then returned the cushion today, I now have a new gift voucher that will not run out for another year.

I dropped into a diy store and picked up an insulating jacket for the hot water tank, it was a bargain at £3.

Then at Mr A I picked up a few meals and whoopsies, I didn't know they were so cheap. I picked up a few pumpkin halloween soups that went in the freezer for later in the month. Even with the 10p whoopies I was £2 over completing my grocery challenge (to spend on average less than £1 per item).

Peonie

Hello, another day is nearly over.

The insulating jacket has been fitted. The packaging says it can reduce heat loss [from the hot water tank] by 80%, lets hope it does. The jacket does pong a little bit, I hope the smell goes soon as I use the cupboard as an overnight dryer when I need something quickly.

I've just made a massive pot of homemade chilli, I did not use a recipe and just winged it so it's probably not chilli at all. I think we'll get another 2 meals out of it.

I don't know know if it's a mixture of the weather being is warmer than usual or the new attic insulation is super efficient but the house is really warm it night.

We're thinking of getting underfloor heating for the kitchen/utility room/toilet. I've read that it costs more to lay initially but it's cheaper in the long run. I think more research is needed.

P.

Peonie

I work closely with my works energy officers and asked them their thoughts about underfloor heating. I got a resounding no don't install them due to the cost and if there is a problem the floor would need to be removed. They said it should only be installed if there is not space for a radiator, which I have, so that made my decision easier.

We're nearly reached 5 months without a oven. Mr P wanted a pizza delivered last night (the one meal we really do miss) but we abstained and ate the last of the homemade chilli with a baked potato, corn on the cob and garlic bread.

Tomorrow I intend to drag DH to a reclamation yard to see what they sell. I'm looking for a reclamation yard that is just like the one in Kirstie's Handmade Home. I've also watched a few too many episodes of Beeney's Restoration Nightmere, I can't believe the furniture they find at auction houses.

shala_moo

Hi Peonie, just finished reading your diary. Nice to see you have settled into your lovely new house!!

We're in the same position as you were in a while back, we're just in the process of selling our house and buying a new one.. this is currently being refurbed by the builders before we can move in and i can't wait to start overpaying the mortgage!! We had mortgage issues so it's took a while to settle the legal aspects/surveys/exchange and we thought we may have to walk away from it and find something else..

I have the 8% FD saver and current account, they are really good with customer service i've found, whilst S*ntander were just dire...

Great to see your updates..