Back filling the big hole I dug with my credit card

Aesop

awww hun

know how you feel right now. wish you were closer, you could come and have tea and tried attempt at home made biscuits.

keep posting, it helps to get it out of your head.

any chance ATS might come back and post too??

PiggyBankShaker

Aesop wrote: »

wish you were closer, you could come and have tea and tried attempt at home made biscuits.

any chance ATS might come back and post too??

Thanks for the offer of biscuits, always welcome. I shall enjoy a virtual one with me suprisingly nice Asda Smart Price Hot Chocolate.

I wish ATS would come back too, he made the diary more fun. We still are, but it feels less like we are working together on the money situation, when he's not in the diary.

Aesop

ATS can I entice you back with offers of homemade banana cake? I know I can make that!

PiggyBankShaker

They didn't offer me the job I'm disappointed but not gutted. And to be honest I'm more disappointed about the ongoing instability and uncertainty in our income than I am about the actual job itself. I just wish we could catch a break.

I'm working on a further two applications, so still plenty to play for. And of course ATS has submitted his application too.

I'm feeling under the weather today, picky throat and period pain. Just what I need :mad:

Work has been an emotional drain this week, the place is positively energy sapping. And I need my energy so I can stay positive about everything else that we're tying hard to do - like get our two self-employed contacts renewed.

Moan over

Aesop

((((((((((((((((((PBS))))))))))))))))))))))))))))


ATS please come back and post. I will make and pass your virtual twinks hobnobs.

PBS - remember the Universe has something for you out there, it is just taking it's sweet time.....:whistle:

Let's give it a kick up the arise....:D

PiggyBankShaker

Hi Aesop

It seems you are my only cheerleader! Thanks for sticking around, you've earned some cake for your loyalty - do enjoy!

ATS banking code thing arrived today we he transferred £800 to our disaster scenario account. It now has £800 in it which is one months outgoings should we not get out contracts renewed in a few weeks time.

I used TopCashBack for the first time, in theory I 'earned' a tenner for checking my credit report for free on Equifax. I'm very sceptical about it and I'm not sure it will work, but it was something I wanted to do anyway so not loss if the money doesn't get credited.

But, if it does work I'll also do the LoveFilm offer and get our AA or RAC through it as well - if it woks out cheaper of course.

I wanted to check what my credit is looking like as I thinking - THINKING - about stoozing. If I could make it work it might be worth doing. But interest rates are such that it hardly seems worth it... I'll think about it a bit.

PiggyBankShaker

So my credit report looks okay, to my untrained eye. I'm not paying the extra £5.95 to get the credit rating though. I used the tool on the MSE homepage instead. I think my credit rating will have improved a lot the last year and as we won't need to borrow any big money for another four years or so (when we move) thee's plenty of time for old problems to drop off.

ATS and I are working in the back yard today. Long time visitors to the diary will remember were working on this last summer but ended up getting rained off before we could finish. I hoping to make a bit of progress out there today, making a start on the small wall that we're building around the base of the garage. It means a lot to me that ATS is taking the time to do this as he is so busy with work at the moment.

I know it will look amazing when it's finished. I can see in it my mind already. We need to do it as cheap as possible of course, although we are having to pop out now to buy a spade to mix the cement... :rotfl:

PiggyBankShaker

Got the spade, and some sharp sand (two trips needed as we underestimated the amount we needed) made a good start on building the wall and the bit that we have done looks fab. We're doing a stone wall, not brick and trying to make it look as 'dry stone wall' as possible whilst using cement to give it extra strength and stability. I think we did about a third today, although it was the easiest bit. The other part needs two steps and a corner...

DD played outside most of the time, drawing chalk flowers on the pavement. She said hello to everybody walking past and interrogated them all, asking their names, where they lived, where they were going, their dog's name (in one case) and she asked them all if they liked her flower drawings. She's only three and I am so proud of how confident she is. She was really well behaved and didn't wander off or step onto the road.

ATS has lit a fire tonight, which is nice as I didn't think we'd be having another one until the autumn. We still need to replace the cracked glass in the door but one more fire won't do any harm.

Back to work tomorrow altogether it's been a nice weekend and a very cheap one too. A friend bought us lunch yesterday and other than a few bits (spade, sand, fruit, mushrooms, eggs, bread, biscuits) we haven't spent any money.

Hope everyone has had a good weekend. Especially you Aesop!

PiggyBankShaker

Ok, the big MSE thing I have done today is switch energy suppliers. I don't know why it makes me so nervous but there you are I did it anyway.

The saving on gas is HUGE. Basically we'll go from paying £47 a month to just £2.66 - this is so small that the bank will only take a Direct Debit for £5, and we'll have to claim the underspend back.

Also, I switched electricity as well and the saving is £5 a month, which isn't huge but a saving nevertheless.

I know that we are in credit with the gas by well over £150 but currently owe the electrcity about £60.

Also, ATS reckons that the extention has cavity walls and that we should be able to get them insulated. I am looking for free offers for this.

I also need to ask ATS nicely to finish insulating the roof...

PiggyBankShaker

Argh, had that annoying thing happen of writing a post that goes missing!

Can't get free cavity wall insulation as they have to be able to insulate over 66% and with us it would only be abouy 30% or so. However, I have ask nPower to do a free survey and tell us if it is physically possible to do it in the walls in the extention and if so how much it would cost. It'll be at least £149 from nPower, but I might be able to find cheaper elsewhere.

I also applied to two solar providers to see if our roof is suitable for free panels as our electricity bill is the largest part of our utilities outgoings. A neighbour has them so in theory it should be a yes, but them maybe neighbour has the panels that you buy yourself and we can't really afford that.

Whilst I'm on a quest to get the monthly outgoings down, I need to see if I can get us the same mortgage/life insurance cover for less. I think we are paying about £35 a month at the moment (not sure) so I need to check to policy and get looking.

I have also booked a boiler service and found out that we are paying £16.90 a month for the boiler cover. After the service options are: See if we can get it cheaper or cancel it.