A Thread for After Debt?

JulieGeorgiana

Soarsie she was very much worth the wait, she's so perfect

Dizzy not the tractor... my Opa (grandad) used to give me rides in his... I loved that old tractor... then again he did have a farm

£124.82 I think it was... its going in my ISA tomorrow.

QueenB.

Hello everyone, I have been very grumpy over the last few days as I just can't get MSE to work on my lappy so am forced to use the main computer which is normally being used by others, plus seat uncomfortable so a new computer chair has gone down on my wish list. The other problem is that all my spreadsheets and lists are on my lappy and can't email them over due to other complications so feeling very choatic at the moment:(

Thankfully January has now ended. It had been a bad month in the Queenie household and it ended with one of my cats passing away:( It was the old one and she was nearly 17 but it wasn't as peaceful as I would have liked and its upset everyone, OH keeps filling her bowl with biscuits as he keeps forgetting:(

February needs to be better. Not feeling very in control of everything with all the computer problems but I did make a monthly menu and did a two week shop on Monday. Stocked up on lots of items such as tin toms and coconut milk and worked out how much vegemince and quorn pieces we need so actually the two week shop was kinda a monthly shop........does that make any sense? Should just have to pick up fresh and basics each week so hopefully will be able to save on my grocery budget this month, Plus half term means I won't need to buy my monthly bus ticket saving me around £20. Still not happy with the way Februarys budget is looking so I still need to work on that especially as I want to get as many of DS1 birthday pressies as possible but not sure its workable after Januarys unexpected bills.

Using some left over chillimince to make puff pastry parcels for dinner tonight and any left over puff pastry will make nice apple tarts.

JulieG How are Eliza and DS? I hope they both get better soon, its always such a worry when kiddies are ill.

BIB Great news about the pay:)

Rising Stocking up is a good idea, any news re the job situation? I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Well I have so many threads and information to catch up on so most gobut just wanted to add that I think I have a little MSEer in the making with DS2. He watched the first episode of superscrimpers with me when he was of ill and now he won't let me watch it wothout him as he really enjoys it:rotfl:So we are watching the second episode together tonight......hes 10 going on 30

backinbusiness

Queen B - sorry you've had a rotten Jan, hope things pick up this month.

It's been similiar in our house - just a month of things going wrong - nothing in itself major but a cummulation of a lot of wee things. Hopefully Feb will be better.

The pay thing is a good sign I hope. I had a small victory with the AA this lunchtime too. After recent (and expensive) car trouble I upgraded to their Relay service for (I was told) the best price of £35.17. When I opened my mail today lo and behold an "Extend your cover for only £20" invitation. Took me about 5 mins only on the 'phone, (polite and firm - not cross) to get a refund of £15.17. Not much, but a little victory for the consumer v company.

Just to finish - the weather here is truly glorious. When we are sitting enduring the wettest place in Britain over the long, dark and wet winters we sometimes wonder why we don't move (to Barbados!). A day like today reminds us why we don't.

Hugs to all that need them - a kick up the bum for all that need one of those - and back to work I go!

BiB x

JulieGeorgiana

So today I managed to sort out my FD Regular Savers… I got my interest and most the savings in my ISA now… and re-opened a new RS account

Update of Financial Goals:

• To fill my ISA to the limit by April 5, 2012 £4905/£5340
• To fill my ISA to the limit by April 5, 2013
• To re-start my Regular Savers Account Done!
• To start DH a Regular Savers Account
• To have £15k in the house deposit fund (ISA and RS) by April 5, 2012 £13,870/£15,000
• To have £20k in the house deposit fund by April 5, 2013

Plus I have sorted my food shopping list, and menu! My MIL would like to stay for a week… so we are letting her stay over half term from Wednesday onwards! So I need slightly less ‘cheapy’ meals which are still simple enough to make and serve! I’m so lucky (sense the sarcasm)!

We got good news today, DH finally got his security clearance for his new job (8 months later) and he has finally handed in his notice and starts in his new job in March Financially most the money he earns will go into his pension… and the rest will cover petrol for commuting until we move, once we move it’ll pay for the bigger house! So no extra money, but a bigger house with an extra room!

So today Eliza is much more herself, and I am so pleased about it… Friday (before we noticed the infection) she hadn’t been eating properly and had been sleeping A LOT! So it’s just nice to see her alert again (not as much as before yet, but she’s tired from the stress of taking the medication) only 2 doses to go!!!

DS is just fine, he gets pains around his heart when he has a virus for the last 18 months… I went to a new Dr yesterday who spoke some sense and we no longer have to ‘get it checked’ unless he get’s symptoms which could be a sign of an issue. It has been agreed by 3 Dr’s that it’s swollen muscle tissue around the heart causing the issue. All his ECG’s have been clear and checked by a cardiologist so I am happy

QueenB I know what you mean, January has been one of those months… I think I’ve had £200 unexpected extra expense!!! The best thing that happened was Eliza

I’m sorry to hear about your cat ((hugs))

I do the same thing with my food shopping list, I do 4 weeks and work out how much pasta/rice etc I need to make those meals, so I don’t over buy

BiB Well done, I love fighting back… did the same with mothercare yesterday, they charged me for a cancelled order and tried to refund me less the postage! They never posted it!!! So I told them how much I expected back!

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi all, well into Feb at last - I will also be pleased to see the back of Jan.....

QueenB so sorry to hear that your cat's passed (((hugs))):sad: it really is so devastating when they have to leave and nothing anyone can say will make it any better, I just hope it helps a bit to know we understand xx

Unlikely to hear anything on the job front until mid/end Feb and poss into March which is a bit unsettling and doesn't make planning any easier!

JG great to hear Eliza's on the mend:) & huge congrats on DH's new job:j



Me .... well, I've had a difficult day. On the drive to work I passed what I thought looked like a dead dog on the side of the road - couldn't stop as was in a queue of traffic (but it was def deceased).

Eventually managed to speak to the Dog Warden as I was really worried that someone was out looking for their pet and thought they may contact the DW if so ..... I know if it was me, no matter how devastating, I'd rather know..... (one of the girls on the Petcare board lost her dog on Bonfire Night and he's still not been found - it's really awful and the "not knowing" is so hard to deal with).


Anyway, that kind of set the tone for the day ..... have been to the beach to try to unwind, but it just made me think of Ben and I got really upset (maybe partly due to what I saw this morning and thinking of how the owner will be feeling when they find out).

Popped to Mr T (needed rolls for lunches for the rest of the week) and got a couple of bags of pasta to tuck away into the stash pile:) and a couple of other bits - only spent £7 so that's a big improvement on usual for me:)

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

QueenB.

Thanks guys for all the kind words, I really feel a bit exhausted both emotionally and physically after January and need to get my focus and mojo back:cool:.

JulieG good news about Eliza and DS and great news about your DHs job.

BIB Congrats on your AA victory I hate the way companies bend over backwards for new customers whilst taking whatever they can from their other customers, hopefully with more people trading loyalty for savings that will change.

Rising ((((hugs)))) that was an awful start to your day, I hope tomorrow is better for you.

It is so cold down my way, so i have had the heating on most of the day:( I have been stocking up my meter so not too bad but I hope the icey weather doesn't stay too long.

I am not too happy with my S*ntand*r account so I will be looking into a new one maybe the FD one a few of you talk about but is there an amount to meet every month?

Little_bit_dizzy

QueenB. wrote: »

It is so cold down my way, so i have had the heating on most of the day:( I have been stocking up my meter so not too bad but I hope the icey weather doesn't stay too long.

I am not too happy with my S*ntand*r account so I will be looking into a new one maybe the FD one a few of you talk about but is there an amount to meet every month?

It's bitterly cold here too - but we don't have central heating :eek:
We have a (ONE!) night storage heater in the hallway and an open fire in the lounge but its quite a long bungalow so the heat doesn't spread as far as the bedroom... We had double glazing fitted summer 2010 so at least we don't get ice on the inside of the windows anymore :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Sorry to hear sad news and thinking of everyone at QueenB towers, it's always such a sad loss when a [STRIKE]pet[/STRIKE] friend is no longer there. I still miss and talk to my old hup-diddy (horse) and he's been gone nearly 8 years. They're always there in a very special way.

For FD 1st Account you need to have £1500 deposited each month otherwise you pay a monthly fee, unless you have another 'qualifying' account which includes an E Saver or ISA. They are also offering £100 for switching to them.

JulieGeorgiana

Rising ((((hugs)))) poor you x

QueenB FD charge £10 a month, unless you deposit £1.5k a month. If you cant meet that then you need a qualifing product (i have a e-saver with £1 in it). If you can meet the £1.5k a month then they'll pay you £100.

Talking of heating... I've got my room closed off and the oil filled radiator on to keep it at a steady 18 degrees (for Eliza). I stockpiled my credit, and since I monitor my useage weekly I'm hoping we haven't used more then what i allocate as maximum. As long as it doesnt last more then a few weeks it'll be fine. I had budgeted for 6 weeks though

Little_bit_dizzy

Rising, what an awful thing to begin the day with. I hope that February is kinder to you tomorrow. Well done on the Mr T shop though! I always think exiting a supermarket and parting with less than a tenner is a result.

Wonderful news for your DH, JG. His job that is, not MIL visiting :D Good luck meal planning that one. Good to hear that you've had a better GPs opinion with DS too

Bib, consumer victories, regardless of size are to be celebrated. You clearly have excellent negotiating skills and are 15 quid to the good!!! Better in your pocket than in the pocket of the AA

Not had a bad day here, stuck to the diet (back on S/W) and weigh in day is Friday... fingers crossed! Had a yummy tea as my chickens have laid me some eggs at last *dances with excitement* so I had 2 of them tonight. :T

rising_from_the_ashes

Aaaaaarrrrrgggggghhhhh Dizzy I'm afraid your wishes haven't come true:(.

Put the car in for it's service this morning - first hiccup was the insurance co wanting to charge a £48:eek: admin fee to switch the insurance over for the courtesy car (which I declined & got put on the garage's instead for £10....).

Really p'd off about this as was with the same co last year & there was no charge & nothing mentioned at renewal time - the guy in the garage said a lot of them are doing this now to raise extra money:mad:.

Anyway, service was £220 but I need new tyres:( - I knew they would need done this year & have incl an amount for them in this year's budget but had expected them to last a bit longer ...... only have enough in the car pot (after the payment into it at the end of Feb) to cover the service & breakdown cover which are on this month's cc bill (tax was paid in cash out of the pot last week).......

Emergency fund has just struggled it's way back to £75 & household overpayment fund is being used this month to cover last month's unexpected extras Arrrrrrgggggghhhhhh

(phew, feel better now:o)