Keeping up appearances.......

triple_choc_chip

Ooh, just dipping in to say I read about the same sort of thing in another thread this week where that person was charged for the previous shoppers food. Anyway they kicked up a stink and were offered double the difference so you could come out of this £50 up.

Found it but never done a link before so I don't know if this will work. Anyway it was T3sco. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4725992

Double ooh! it does work, learned somegthing new and now I'm feeling EPIC...

HappyNow

Grrr, stupid internet. We can only get mobile internet here, so we have the maximum possible 15gb per month via Three. Normally that's loads, but the kids have been watching Youtube etc while they're home and we ran out ten days before the new allowance started. It's re-started now, but I've missed it so much!

triple_choc_chip wrote: »

Ooh, just dipping in to say I read about the same sort of thing in another thread this week where that person was charged for the previous shoppers food. Anyway they kicked up a stink and were offered double the difference so you could come out of this £50 up.

Found it but never done a link before so I don't know if this will work. Anyway it was T3sco. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4725992

Double ooh! it does work, learned somegthing new and now I'm feeling EPIC...

Hi Triple choc chip, thanks for dropping by with that info and well done with your epic link-posting . That's a good story and I WISH it had been a Tesco garage with us. Sadly it was a tiny, backstreet affair and they were unco-operative to say the least! They dragged their feet as long as possible, but once we involved our bank they finally agreed to give us our £50 back. We were eventually refunded the £50 - all in £1 coins :rotfl:! I think they would have given it us in one penny pieces if they'd had them . Anyway, we got it in the end and we won't be filling up there again.

Now for the really really good news! Our cheque has arrived and has now cleared. We got £7231! I have paid £6490 off our credit cards - enough to clear the two highest interest ones and knock over £1K off the next highest. The rest has been used to catch up on shortfalls, buy my mum a replacement carpet washer and put a small emergency pot to one side. Signature updated and snowball to follow .

Supposed to be working now so can't update further, but I will be back soon.

Fortune_Smiles

So glad to hear your good news Happy.

Fortune x

HappyNow

Thanks Fortune, it has been such a lift. On the other hand, getting such a huge lump of cash and then realising it only reduced our unsecured debt by 10% really showed me how dire things still are !

Still struggling to get on here because the kids are home from uni, but I did manage to complete my new snowball. To achieve the planned unsecured debt-free date of Feb 2019 I have to chuck £1020 at our debts each month . I now finally have a £500 emergency pot, so I should be able to manage this most months. That's assuming I can get through the next five and a half years without any major disasters or without having to replace a car - neither of which are particularly likely based on past performance . But each month we do manage it is one step closer.

What hit me most about the snowball is the amount of interest I am paying each month. All the five cards are on a good rate, the lowest being 0% (but with transfer fees every time it expires) and the highest being 6.9%. It still comes out at around £300 each month on interest and averaged transfer fees . That includes the overdraft interest which is always around £32 monthly. According to the snowball I should repay the overdraft first, but I've decided against that so I can't be tempted to pay it off and then build it up again. I bet when I first started this I was paying nearer £400 per month interest - I'm soooo glad I didn't realise that at the time, but it does explain the slow progress so far. Anyway, the highest cards are now cleared so things are on the up, and the interest paid will get less and less each month. Hurrah!

kerri_dfw

Happy, what about reducing the OD instead of just clearing it. I reduced mine by £50 each month until it was gone and by Jove I feel loads better knowing I'm in the black each month and can't go overdrawn.

poohbear59

Brilliant news on the money Happy. It must be a huge weight off your mind having the two biggest debts paid off.
We will have some money coming to us in the next few months and I am already thinking about how to best use it. I am thinking of paying off the highest interest first, and the greatest in need. I owe DB a lot!!

HappyNow

kerri_dfw wrote: »

Happy, what about reducing the OD instead of just clearing it. I reduced mine by £50 each month until it was gone and by Jove I feel loads better knowing I'm in the black each month and can't go overdrawn.

I've been thinking about this Kerri. While I was thinking though, V1rgin credit card have removed my rolling 0% offer which has been on for years! I daresay M&NA will be next as they are the same bank. I don't know why they've done it because I've never missed a payment, and maybe it will appear again once they see my debt reducing. For that reason I have decided to chuck all my debt repayments (apart from the minimums on the other cards of course) at getting these two paid off. I just can't risk having to pay standard interest on either of these two as the APR is stupid. If I can pay £500 each month to those two (in the right order of 0% expiring) I think/hope/pray I will get away with it. And then the overdraft will be next!

poohbear59 wrote: »

We will have some money coming to us in the next few months and I am already thinking about how to best use it. I am thinking of paying off the highest interest first, and the greatest in need. I owe DB a lot!!

Congratulations Pooh. Hope it's a big chunk and makes a real dent in those debts. Your plans for highest interest plus greatest in need sound spot on .

So, I haven't been around much for the last few weeks. Same old reason - kids home from uni - but there has also been extra pressure in that both my dad and Mr Happy's mum are ill and relying on us more for a bit of help and care. MIL has now been admitted to hospital, which is a relief, but when she is discharged she is likely to need even more help. Social Services will be putting in a small home care package, but there will still be lots needed from us. Obviously we're happy to do it, and the main thing is that she is happy and recovering, but I can see it taking over our lives for quite a while .

grannyx2

Sorry to hear of family health issues, hope they recover soon. Hope you a good summer in spite of this with yoyr dc x

Granny x

specialkaye

Hello,

I've just spent most of the day reading every single post - so compelling. I was trying so hard not to look at your sig but failed halfway through.

I must say I thought that it was going to be the Mortgage protection that had come through - did you ever get a yes/no answer from them?


I don't currently have any debt apart from nearly £30000 in student loans and about to take on a £45000 mortgage. I will be starting a diary in the next few weeks once (fingers crossed) it all goes through.


Really enjoyed reading *subscribes*. Gone a bit square eyed!

HappyNow

grannyx2 wrote: »

Sorry to hear of family health issues, hope they recover soon. Hope you a good summer in spite of this with yoyr dc x
Granny x

Thanks Granny. My dad is doing OK now, but Mr Happy's mum looks likely to be in hospital for a while yet and she is hating it! She's 93 but has always been desperately independent and is struggling to accept that things are changing . Other than that though, summer has been good .

specialkaye wrote: »

I've just spent most of the day reading every single post - so compelling. I was trying so hard not to look at your sig but failed halfway through.

I must say I thought that it was going to be the Mortgage protection that had come through - did you ever get a yes/no answer from them?

I don't currently have any debt apart from nearly £30000 in student loans and about to take on a £45000 mortgage. I will be starting a diary in the next few weeks once (fingers crossed) it all goes through.

Hi specialkaye. Wow at reading this entire diary - you deserve some sort of perseverance award! Here - have a beer :beer:!

The mortgage protection claim was refused. I knew it was a long shot because of the time lapse but it was worth a go. I thought they wouldn't be able to locate any of the documents after all these years, but actually they sent me a big fat envelope containing photocopies of all our signed paperwork, along with four typed pages of A4 explaining why it wasn't mis-sold . Comprehensive isn't the word! Ah well, it was worth a shot and if I hadn't tried I would always have wondered.

I most definitely 100% recommend you start a diary, either here or with the Mortgage-free Wannabes. When you do, I will subscribe to cheer you along. Good luck with the move .