Tales from a country cottage

Knitting_Nora

Hi Ani*fan *subscribes*

Just popping in to say thanks for the recipe for tiffin - sounds scrummy, and here was I thinking it was just another term for supper!

Really inspired by the way you've been dealing with your debts, and please don't feel bad about Mr T declining your application - the company has been doing quite a bit to reduce their level of financial risk (means they can keep more of their profits), so they've radically reduced the amount of borrowing they allow across that part of their business for everyone; new and old customers alike.

Slight aside - posh face cream for the MiL; don't know whether you already check this, but if it's a named brand then check the ebay and amazon shops. I've found they both do brand new, packaged and sealed named products far cheaper than any shop - unless you're a Boots fan and have loads of points on your loyalty card that is!

Nora.

ani*fan

Hi Knitting Nora :wave:

Good to meet you and thanks for the tip about face creams. I had a look on there today and couldn't see the right one but I'll be keeping an eye on it. I think I may even get to like shopping if I'm getting bargains.

Igamogam...cola to clean the toilet? Is that not a bit expensive? Unless of course it was Mr T value cola. Hey, now I know what Mr T's is! I had no idea up until Nora's post. I'm learning all the time on this site...I thought it was some wierd and wonderful supermarket you only have down south.

Lemon tree...I don't know what we would do if we were big alcohol drinkers. The budget would just not cope and I'd grudge it too. OH can make one alcopop last all night. Honestly. And I'm fine with soft drinks.

Anyway, just went to visit MiL for a long overdue visit. As we were leaving she gave us 6 bags of shopping and shoved £60 in OH's pocket. After 10 minutes of 'no we can't take it! It's too much! We're fine!' we left with the goodies and some extra cash. I am extremely grateful but still feel bad. MiL knows nothing of our financial worries but that doesn't stop her worrying about us anyway.

The £60 is currently sat on the living room coffee table and we've both been staring at it. It feels like riches beyond belief after our last week and a bit of no money. How I would love a takeaway, a couple of dvds or a night out. OH has seen some fancy laces for £1 so will buy those this week. The rest will probably go on the first cap 1 card to get the ball rolling paying that off.

So it's x factor and an early night for me. Might try my home made turka dahl to make up for no takeaway. Exciting stuff.

Hope you're all enjoying some tiffin. Ours is long gone; I ate the last of it for breakfast .

wot-a-mess

I would say that u really should thank the m-i-l for the cash & use the money for a treat cos thats probably wot the lady would have wanted. i.e. both of u to enjoy the money.why dont u use £30 for some wine, beer, pizza, etc & use the other £30 for food for the house

Knitting_Nora

I once had a boyfriend whose mother would send him care packages of food and plastic cutlery whenever he stayed with me....

First I thought it was because she was convinced I didn't take care of him - but eventually I realised that there is a bond between mothers and sons which never really disappears, and care packages are just the grown-up way of ruffling their hair or whatever - which is, I think, a warm and snuggly thing to behold.

Of course, dads and daughters are no better - when I was first off sick, I spent some time 'back home' with the folks, and my dear old dad took me for ice cream at the seaside. The fact that I'm just shy of 40, and he's nearly 70 didn't seem to matter a bit!

Nora.

Ayeshalush

ani*fan wrote: »

Hi there Ayeshalush :wave: I noticed you're following my diary. Feel free to comment if you like. Do you have a diary? It's good to have you along.

Hi:D:wave:! I'm sorry I'm not very good at posting, it takes me so long to keep up with all the diaries I follow, it leaves little time for posting. I find the diaries very motivating and they help to keep me on track with my budgets, etc. Yours attracted me with the 'country cottage' in the title and the fact that you area similar, if slightly younger:), age and also live in Scotland - I am very jealous of your cottage!! - that is my dream!

I did have a diary on the MFW board but stopped posting when I got my dog at the end of July, as walking her takes up a lot of my free time (but I wouldn't be without her:)) .

I will make an effort to not just be a lurker on your thread, I promise.:o

I haven't had tiffin for years. Think I may just have to go home via the supermarket tonight for the ingredients. I am supposed to be on a diet too:o!!

Thanks again for the welcome,

Lemon_Tree

nora, that's a lovely memory for you about your dad, it made me smile as i could see me dad doing

ani*fan

Hi everyone

Today I have a streaming cold. I felt rough yesterday at work and came home with a pounding headache. Just about everyone I know has had it so I guess it's my turn. On the plus side, I have a day off from uni for half-term so that's good. :j

I've re-joined flylady in an attempt to keep on top of the housework while I'm so busy and get organised for christmas. The better organised I am, the less money gets spent in a last-minute frenzy. So far it's working well; just remains to be seen whether I can keep it up. I dug out my holiday control journal from last year. I'd forgot flylady always tried to get everyone ready for christmas by Dec 1st to make dec as stress-free as possible.

I have 14 presents to buy. I've changed my mind about vouchers, mostly because you have to spend more money. I had an idea for a dvd box set for my sister and her partner. I saw it in Mr T's for £12 and have just found it on ebay for £5.95 so bought it. Bargain! :j
So that's 2 down, only 12 to go.

Nora...I loved your story about your dad. It's so sweet. I asked my dad a couple of years ago what he wanted for christmas and after a bit of thought he said 'why don't you make me a desk tidy out of toilet roll tubes?' Lol! I think it was something I did when I was about 7 years old. I didn't do it, but kind of wish I had.

Ayeshalush...hiya! :wave:Great to hear from you. And well done for being a mortgage-free wannabe. I haven't even got a foot on that ladder yet. Please don't feel obliged to post, I know how it is being busy and keeping up with all the diaries. I love that you find mine motivating. It's certainly helping me keep on track. What kind of dog do you have? We have 3 furry purrball cats.

Well, today some cash arrived so that's the end of the skint period. Wierdly, I don't feel like I should rush out and spend it, though we need to do a big food shop later. I think this last almost 2 weeks has given me some insight into how I could be living all the time. It's been quite helpful.

ani*fan

I've just had some amazing news...I've been accepted for a 0% on purchases credit card from M%S!!!!!
:j:j:rotfl::j:j

I cannot tell you how happy I am!

Igamogam, I never would have kept on trying if it wasn't for your encouragement so thank you, thank you and thanks again for that. Thank goodness for this site and all the lovely people on it!

This alone is going to make the biggest dent in my debt. I just can't believe it. Wow!!!!!!!

Now I just need to remember what my plan is for getting the Cap 1 cards shifted over to this one. I'll need to look back in my diary and check.

Also, I'm aware there is a huge risk that I will pay the garage bill with this and really need to NOT do that. I have a plan for that bill. Just can't remember what it was.

This has just completely made my day.

Knitting_Nora

Big congrats on the M&S card! :dance:

That'll keep you grinning for a while, I'll bet.

ani*fan

My plan is this...

• Pay for all petrol and food with the new card
• Use the petrol and food budget to pay off both Cap 1 cards
• The total due on these 2 cards is £1900 (:eek:)
• So this would take a little over 3 months to get all the debt moved
• The card is 0% on purchases for 15 months
• After moving the debt, I'll have 12 months left to repay it before interest kicks in

Now, here's the part I could use some advice with. My plan was to divide the total due by 12 (months) and set up a direct debit for that amount (£160- ish) so it was getting paid off in equal installments.

However, there is no point doing that when the other 2 credit cards and my overdraft have high rates of interest.

So, do you think I should pay the minimum amount for, say, 6 months, allowing me to throw more at the higher interest cards. Then divide up the total due by 6 to get it paid off in full 6 mths before the interest starts? Would it make a difference?

If they give me a credit limit of £200 none of this will matter. :rotfl:Need to wait 'til the card arrives in the post.

Any thoughts/advice about this gratefully received.

I'm away to put it all in my snowball and see what it says.