New recruit: First steps (advice appreciated)

BaconandEggs

Hi Katsu,

Thanks for posting. We are definitely looking to save wherever possible and are very grateful for any suggestions.

I spent the afternoon doing jobs in the garden and one of the things I was thinking about while out there was other areas of our budget that we could save on.

The life insurance did come to mind. The amount specified is made up of the following:

1) Income protection insurance for my earnings. £12/month
2) Critical illness cover (both of us). over £50/month

Does this still seem high? It feels high. I started a thread asking people about it a while back but I think I need to post more detail so they can tell me if it is reasonable. Is it possible to compare quotes in the same way as car insurance etc.?

We took it out from the broker who secured our mortgage. We didn't shop around:eek: (bad I know but it was a crazy time). There is almost definitely going to be a saving to be had here. Looking back there were a number of things I would have done differently when searching for our mortgage and insurances. I think in future we will do alot more of the leg work ourselves and certainly consult more than one broker. I'm particularly confused by the fact that when I asked the broker if he was whole of market, he answered yes - yet our estate agent told us that he is not. So something is amiss there - not sure who is telling the truth though! I do get death in service cover through work - is that what you mean about cover from work?

Anyway - I went off on one a bit there. I will do a bit of research about our insurances and try to get a few quotes using the methods described on MSE. Sounds like alot of people have saved money this way. I suppose one of the reasons I've put it off is that it seems quite confusing. Our broker told us to stay with the insurance company as long as possible as the premium will only be more expensive later on - when we are older. Nevertheless - will still be shopping around. One of the reasons it might be so high is that we had some pre-existing health issues that needed to be factored in. One of those has reoccured since sorting that insurance - so there is a chance that it will be more significant in the eyes of an insurance company and therefore lead to a higher premium.

In terms of the energy bills: that is our monthly direct debit at the moment. It used to be much lower. I'm not sure what the average use will be for our new house yet - as we have not been here longer than a year. I know we are pretty good with the electric - turning things off etc. We could do with being a bit more sensible with the heating (I'm blaming the wife she likes it semi-tropical) and perhaps take shorter showers.
Our last bill (3 months autumn) was:
£101 electric
£56 gas.
We switched to EON's fixed tarriff just before all the rises and get discount for direct debit, online account and duel fuel. We are fixed in for a while yet - so any savings will have to come from reducing use. We did shop around at the time and nothing came close to the price we got from EON.

My three aims this year then are:
-determine accurate energy usage and reduce
-sort life insurances
-reduce petrol usage/transport costs

We do appear to have that amount left over a month on average give or take a bit. If we don't - it's usually spent on DIY stuff

BaconandEggs

Just checked - and gas and electric dd is 55/ 3 months and we are in credit by a large amount. Not sure where I got that other figure from.

BaconandEggs

Not been on here for ages.

We've been keeping up with the overpayments and hope to make another payment tomorrow when the mortgage company open.

Baby is due in summer, so income will reduce. This will affect our ability to overpay and therefore push back our MF date. However, we're going to try and stay focussed, continuing to reduce outgoings as much as possible and resist the urge to spend alot on baby-stuff.

I spent a bit of time today comparing home insurance quotes. Currently our buildings and contents insurance is with our bank. We set this up when we moved last year - porting it from where we lived before. I was under the impression that we had a fairly good deal. The renewal notice came in a bit higher, so I rang the bank and got requoted. Managed to get their figure down by around £80. Was pretty pleased.

Later on in the day I thought I had best double check on a price comparison site, whether or not we are getting a good deal. I was shocked to see I could save a further £80. Ended up switching to a new provider (same as our car insurance).

I am pleased that we've managed to save this amount but a little annoyed and confused why I took the bank's insurance out last year. Last year was pretty crazy, so it may just be that I wasn't thinking straight or was too busy to sort it.
It's probably most annoying as I consider myself pretty good at saving money in this way. If I wasns't aware of proce comparison sites etc., and then save that amount, I probably would just be pleased.

Slightly more confusingly, I appear to have a saved quote from one of the price comparison sites with a low premium on - really don't know why I didn't switch. Like I say - crazy year.

Anyway - moving on. I have decided to switch bank account for First Direct. So will hopefully get the £100 joining payment. I've also opened a Halifaxt account for the £5/month and we will open a joint one tomorrow. That could be potentially £540 for doing nothing but shop around for insurance and take advantage of bank account offers.

Have been pleased with my mobile phone provider switch and so far sticking to £5 month on my phone (wife £10/month).

I am hardly using my phone and am certainly not wasting time on it or using it as a distraction as I was before. I've been reading more and will need to get hold of a couple of books soon as almost read mine.

Have continued to place things on Amazon and ebay. One or two sales recently.

A few small wins on the Thunderball (£3/£5) is keeping it pretty cost neutral at the moment and I have won £25 on NSI. That's all going in the pot.

Next big thing to do to bring down outgoings is to sort out life/mortgage protection insurance.

Hoping for a pay rise this year but not holding my breath.

BaconandEggs

Just made an OP and total OP's this year now stand at over £3100.

We are going to have to scale our OP's back soon, as we are getting a couple of things sorted round the house ready for when the baby arrives.

Also going to add to the emergency pot due to the increased risk involved with only one of us working.

In the process of opening the First Direct account.

Managed to get a couple of things fixed in the house this weekend myself, saving us a bob or two.

BaconandEggs

Got a few books of stamps (with 5% off) before the fiarly hefty increase kicks in.

Must remember so send something back to the shop this weekend that was faulty - will be £14 back in the pocket.

BaconandEggs

Got the £100 incentive from First Direct paid into my account. Still very happy with their service. Should also get £180/year (NET!!) from Halifax for reward account. Sorted out this year's ISA to boost the interest from almost nil to £2.65%. Managed to sell something on ebay for a few quid.

Have continued to overpay the mortgage.

A few things to buy over the coming weeks - so need to make sure have got enough aside for that: tumble dryer, a few tools, car seat. I also finally decided to replace our CRT TV. Got a good offer on a LCD TV from M&S with 5 year warranty.

Decided to not a have some work done in the garden, which is not a priority at the moment - so that money (1k) can go towards the emergency fund/mortgage.

Have spent the bank holiday mainly tidying up and doing some bits round the house. Discovered where our local tip is (MILES away!).

BaconandEggs

Not posted here for a while.

OP's this year now come to just under £5000.

We've managed to get all the baby stuff ordered - so it's been an expensive month: Car seat, tumble dryer etc. Now that's out of the way we should be able to save a little bit more over the next few months. Managed to get most of the baby stuff at a pretty reasonable cost. Used cashback sites - and this has saved a little too.

We have almost reached our target for the emergency fund (£10k).

Finally heard from my old mortgage lenders and should be receiving a cheque for £270 for old exit fees.

I looked at our budget again recently and took into account that the Mrs's wages will stop in a few months time. We will not be able to overpay the same amount as we are now. I aim to stick to a monthly OP of £500.

Current balance stands at just under £85k
Over the coming months my MF aims are:
1) Overpay max possible this year (1/2 way there). Aim for balance of circa £80k by new year.
2) Complete emergency fund saving into 8% FD regular saver. Transfer any surplus into ISA, filling ISA when FD account matures.
3) By September 2014 have balance down to £70k with £10k emergency fund.

I hope this is achievable. It would mean a monthly payment of £360 based on our fixed rate. It would mean by the end of the 5 year fix, a balance of around £55k and an LTV of less than 50% (this will obviously depend on house prices), and a MF date close to my 40th birthday (but after it - will have to try and find ways of increasing OP's if I want to be MF before 40).

In the shorter term - we've been using some of the tips on the OS board and have enjoyed using the slow cooker in particular. I have managed to get loads of DIY and gardening done (just need some sunshine now), the nursery is finished and there are just a handful more jobs to do before baby is here (the extra bank holiday helped get some stuff done). I am going to make a start on my tax return today to save me doing it in January and so I know how much to put aside for then.

Looking forward to the Euros and the Olympics - and hopefully some BBQ weather.

BaconandEggs

Sorted my 2011-2012 tax return - will put enough aside each month to pay this in January.

The exit fees due to me from my old lender were a little more than estimated - over £300 - so will hopefully get that paid to me in the next couple of weeks.

Received the 2 x £5 from Halifax for the first time this month.

Looking forward to getting the tumble dryer at the weekend.

BaconandEggs

I've finally got round to finding some info about the child tax credits situation. Everyone left right and centre, family, friends and colleagues keep insisting we should get child tax creadits when Mrs BnE stops working. I keep saying that it doesn't sound like that would be the case, and that I've put our figures into the calculator umpteen times and it still says that we are only entitled to child benefit.

This is because the earning threshold for tax credits recently changed at the start of this tax year - so we would have received them - but we are not due to receive any under the new rules:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/TaxCredits/DG_194914

For a minute I thought I was going mad and rechecking our entries on the calculators.

BaconandEggs

Busy weekend.

Tumble dryer was delivered. Got a Zanussi model, that was recommended to me by someone on here, heavily reduced at John Lewis with 2 year's free guarantee. Cut out the venting holes (actually really enjoyed this) so it is up and running. Gave it a trial run last night and it's great.

Fixed the bath that had a slow leak. Reconnected the cold water to the washing machine (installers connected the hot water supply to the washing machine). That should save us a chunk on the gas bill (that was getting a bit high!).

Fixed the garden hose. Not that it's been needed with the weather we've been having!

Got a pedal bin that actually works for a reasonable price (i.e. the lid come down when you take your foot off it).

One or two more jobs I really want to get done before baby arrives:
1) sort out plumbing under kitchen sink. It's a mess under there and I'd like to replace the kitchen tap with one we've got sitting in the garage.
2) sort out a curtain pole in the nursery, which isn't perfectly smooth, so the curtains draw a little smoother.

Mrs BnE says we have got most of the baby stuff now apart from a changing bag (she's bidding for one on eB@y) and a play gym/mat (not a necessity, but would be nice to get).

Got dinner cooking away in the slow cooker for tonight (and tomorrow). Sausage casserole with pepper, carrots and onion. Will do a sweet potato/normal potato mixed mash to got with it plus some frozen brocolli.