Peonie's journey to smart money management

Peonie

I came home and a lot of lights were on in the house; which I pointed out to him. Poor Mr P, he'd made to dinner and I told him off about the lights.

gallygirl wrote: »

I have a workman like that. Great at the time but :eek: when it arrives. The trick is to keep finding more jobs . Harder to do with a plumber, my 'man' does everything except gas so that's helpful

I so agree. We have enough to worry about that is in our control without adding to it with stuff we can't control. All you can do is is do a good job and learn new skills if you get a chance.The OP's will lessen the worry if you do get made redundant at some stage.

Happy payday to you :T.

We kept trying to get him to take money but he would not. Now I'm used to having it and kept asking Mr P "Are you sure he's finished? Isn't there something else he needs to do?" He's done more than he quoted for so I'm not sure what the final bill will be.

About work, I keep thinking I should have taken up more learning opportunities in the past. I would like to do a diploma. The thought of doing a masters scares me. I keep putting things like changing my job and further education because we want a baby. But I probably should get on with my life.

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice wrote: »

Also in the same situation... buying Christmas presents early (plus remortgage arrangement fees, and a couple of other bits) has meant paying for them a month early. But everything will right itself without dipping into savings if I don't use the joint account till 1st Dec! And I think Jaunary with the long gap between Dec and Jan pay will also be easier than previous years!

Ouch, you're paying a lot out this month but at least December won't be stressful. I've not bought any presents this month as I do not want to go over budget. I'm looking forward to next month and the new budget.

Packed lunches: 3/5 and I bought a 28p sandwich for tomorrow. I think that will still be a packed lunch.

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

Peonie wrote: »

Ouch, you're paying a lot out this month but at least December won't be stressful. I've not bought any presents this month as I do not want to go over budget. I'm looking forward to next month and the new budget.

Yep, there's a fair few things come at once but... we saw them coming so didn't cream off into savings last month, MrMRN has two weeks away with work (read massive savings on food and washing clothes!). We're into our buffer but since we're nearly at the end of the month now and all the extras have gone out already... I think we'll make it without touching savings!

Peonie

shala_moo wrote: »

Sorry to hear this, we're going through the same thing at work at the moment. I spent most of the night awake worrying about it but i figured I can't keep doing this otherwise i'll make myself ill..

All we can do is make sure we have enough savings/provisions for the worst case scenario and then what will be will be

xx

Redundancies seem to be everywhere. I hope everyone will be OK. For some reason I tend to worry over the little things than the big things. Strange I know. I definitely feel more secure knowing we have savings. I do want to pay off the mortgage early but with everyone talking about redundancies I am happy to know I could also dip into the savings and maternity savings if I need to. Unlike some mortgages when we overpay we can't take the money back out. So at the moment I am glad we still have access to it.

Keep your chin up.

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

It's sickening the thought of redundancies... I wouldn't wish it on anyone. People often ask me if I feel I have job security because I get 1-3 year fixed term contracts... I just say that I know well in advance when they're going to stop paying me whereas with redundancies you don't always get much preparation time.

Peonie

In some ways being made redundant at this time of year is worse. And I'm not talking just about buying presents and food for Christmas. There seems to be a lull in jobs advertised before Christmas so it will take even longer to find a new job. And a few weeks of pay will not last long.

Packed lunch: 4/5. And I think my parents are treating me to lunch tomorrow. Woohoo.

Tonight I bought a few bargains in Mr T. Including cream cakes for visitors on Saturday. They are in the freezer and will be defrosted in the morning. I thought the bill was a bit high, paid, checked the bill, saw I'd paid full price for burgers, went back and was repaid £1.55. It pays to check.

I have been on Adpoints and collected another 160 points. I'll try later in the week to get the rest.

Peonie

I need your advice.

I paid for a very nice hotel room for my parents to thank them for all the help they gave us. I went to see the room and it is absolutely nothing like the ones in the photos or described in the text. I phoned them to complain and to see if I could get them to change their room. The hotel says it's still the same level of room that I paid for and it is full so they can't move. The manager agreed that the website is misleading. I paid a stupid amount in cash & vouchers for B&B. The sticking point: the vouchers said they could not be used by anyone else. I would have been happy if they offered me some money back but they did not and I felt it would be pointless to ask. Do you think I should forget about it or should I send a letter of complaint?

It's annoying, if I had known what room they were going to get I probably could have got them a nicer room in a different hotel for less.

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi Peonie, if it were Mr T he would write and complain and then negotiate. He frequently does this (I walk away and leave him to it ) but he is very often successful and whilst it does us some good financially, it reminds the companies that they are selling a service/product/room etc and we are the customer. He never complains just for the sake of it, only when there is a real issue but it is worthwhile.

Best wishes Tilly

gallygirl

Seconded here, especially as the manager appears to have said 'agreed, but tough'.

Peonie

Thanks Tilly and GG for your messages. I think I will write a letter. I normally don't complain even when there is a reason to. I do think it is wrong that some people are professional complainers who are out to see what they can get when they were happy with the service/product.

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

I think a letter of complaint is fully justified in these circumstances. Even if the outcome for you is nada... it should make the hotel/website re-think things and prevent other people being in the same situation.