here's my soa - would appreciate help / comments

mrslawrence2003

lynzpower wrote:

hiya!

From your travel card costs, Im thinking are you in zone 5? only it does seem a lot? if you are that far out im fairly sure you can get a cheaper rent too? We have just got a 2 bed cottage in zone 3 for 733pcm - gorg area.

Also everytime you are delatyed on the tube for 15 mins, you get £4 back. but you must fill out the forms called customer charter you can get from tube stations. Get a stack- and keep a few in your handbag, fill em in on the tube, and job done, they send you a credit you can take to the tube station when you buy your tickets ( eg for OHs it was £4 for a single) Do this on every tube journey and you might find that your travel card end up being half price!

hi lyzn - thanks your reply - travelcosts are for two of us. my oyster card is £105.99 and hubby has a bus pass. we're in zone 3 - had quite a good look around last year and after working out cost of moving etc decided to stay put but our contact is up for renewal in may so will start to have a look for other flats in march.

Chevalier - gas and electric - we switched suppliers in Dec to the cheapest supplier.

Life insurance is for two of us. contents insurance - will certainly have another look at that.

vodafone contract - just renewed for 18 months. i'd like to go PAYG but cant because i have to use my mobile for work (involved frequent international calls) but i'm sure there must be something i can do there as it's a big expense at the mo. as for the o2 insurance, mobiles are def not covered. i will cancel this but i wanted to check if it covered me for cancelling my mobile contract early, so that i could switch to something cheaper.

food - already meal plan and everything is cooked from scratch. one major problem is that we dont have a freezer so altho i batch cook as much as poss (eg stew 2 nights running) i cant do it too much without giving hubby food poisoning. also due to frequent allergic reactions etc trying to stick with organic food as much as poss. (was brought up on homegrown organic fruit and veg and everything farm fresh but since moving to london and stopping this i have had problems with allergies. could be pollutants in the air, but could also be pesticides etc used in food).

already do pigsback/quidco/surveys.

not poss to get a second job as am on call 24/7 and both our jobs are demanding. any ways that i can make more money online i'm happy to have a go at. am trying to ebay as much as poss but i dont get very much spare time!

have both tesco and nectar card - tesco paid for a couple of peoples xmas presents this year!

sorry i hope the above isnt too negative. i am open to suggestions and willing to make sacrifices where possible and feasible!

mrslawrence2003

lynzpower wrote:

hiya!

From your travel card costs, Im thinking are you in zone 5? only it does seem a lot? if you are that far out im fairly sure you can get a cheaper rent too? We have just got a 2 bed cottage in zone 3 for 733pcm - gorg area.

Also everytime you are delatyed on the tube for 15 mins, you get £4 back. but you must fill out the forms called customer charter you can get from tube stations. Get a stack- and keep a few in your handbag, fill em in on the tube, and job done, they send you a credit you can take to the tube station when you buy your tickets ( eg for OHs it was £4 for a single) Do this on every tube journey and you might find that your travel card end up being half price!

also lynz thanks for the tip about delays on tubes. i only have to go two stops on the tube but the number of times i've sat there waiting 20 mins for one to turn up or sat on the tube in the tunnel is just too many to count!

lynzpower

[not poss to get a second job as am on call 24/7 and both our jobs are demanding. any ways that i can make more money online i'm happy to have a go at. am trying to ebay as much as poss but i dont get very much spare time!/QUOTE]

have you tried amazon & green met for books? Only they are much quicker to list as you dont need pics etc - yopu can list a stack of books in minutes on GM!

Moving might not be a bad idea you know. Weve saved hundreds through doing it, and its fairly painless if you are moving from rented to rented

mrslawrence2003

lynzpower wrote:

[not poss to get a second job as am on call 24/7 and both our jobs are demanding. any ways that i can make more money online i'm happy to have a go at. am trying to ebay as much as poss but i dont get very much spare time!/QUOTE]

have you tried amazon & green met for books? Only they are much quicker to list as you dont need pics etc - yopu can list a stack of books in minutes on GM!

Moving might not be a bad idea you know. Weve saved hundreds through doing it, and its fairly painless if you are moving from rented to rented

i tried amazon briefly but didnt get much interest on the books. but it really doesnt hurt to try again and it is very quick to list. will get a load done this weekend.

you're right about moving. i LOVE my flat at the mo tho - 2 bed, 2 reception room, garden, decking, huge cellar with well etc. but still, have seen some gorgeous looking flats near enough to us for a bit less. plus who knows how much i might be able to negotiate again this year?

thanks your replies - all appreciated!

Skint_Catt

If you don't havemuch time for eBay try downloading Turbolister. It's a lot quicker - you can do one a night, then upload them as and when you want!

S_C

Skint_Catt

Double post bloody computer!

flowerofscotland

mrslawrence2003 wrote:

O/draft - interest rate was 16.9% - i asked Lloyds to reduce my interest rate or i would defect to A&L, pointed out had been a customer of lloyds for 12 yrs, always run accounts in exemplary manner etc. imagine my surprise this week when i discovered that not only had lloyds failed to reduce, but they had actually increased it to 18.9%!!!!!! have applied and been accepted for A&L interest free o/d but not sure what the o/d limit will be. have also just applied for M&S card for their LOB offer but not heard back yet.

When I applied for an A&L account around Sept 06 the offer was that they would match your current overdraft so long as you could prove what it was - by supplying a bank statement for example.

Did you go through Quidco or Rpoints or similar to open the A&L account? If not you may be able to get a "refer a friend" bonus - have a look at the referrers board on here where some posters will also split their referral bonus with you.

mrslawrence2003

flowerofscotland wrote:

When I applied for an A&L account around Sept 06 the offer was that they would match your current overdraft so long as you could prove what it was - by supplying a bank statement for example.

Did you go through Quidco or Rpoints or similar to open the A&L account? If not you may be able to get a "refer a friend" bonus - have a look at the referrers board on here where some posters will also split their referral bonus with you.

yes i went through quidco so that will be a handy £50 when it eventually comes through. luckily my account is now finally struggling into credit each month so that shouldnt be a problem!

mrslawrence2003

!!!!!! - just got turned down for the M&S credit card. not really surprising altho it is the first time i've ever been turned down for a credit card!