Conquering Debts Once and For All...

grannyx2

Box_of_Fluffies wrote: »

I'm stoked. I have been given a new shift at work. Not the one I wanted but it does mean that Mr F and me can car share. :j That also means we should save about $150 per month on fuel. :j:j Plus I get to be home earlier which gives me more time at home. :j:j:j Win win all round.

This week is turning into once of the best I've had at work. I'm really loving life at the moment.

That's great news and so happy that life is going well.

Box_of_Fluffies wrote: »

I've managed to have 3 NSD this week, which is always a bonus. Will have to spend tomorrow though as need some milk and cash for the boys school bus fares.

Well done on the nsds, I've given up for Feb but will start next month as I mean to go on.

Box_of_Fluffies wrote: »

I had a good Skype conversation with my dad too; although the Skype connection recently has been pretty dire and so we usually end up with one or the other of us turning off our video. :mad: At least we do still get to talk and see each other once a week though.

Pain that the video side of this is still causing trouble but good that you got to talk.

Box_of_Fluffies wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone can answer a couple of bank questions for me? How much does the bank charge to stop a cheque? How much do they charge to do a BACS Transfer?

My dad sent me a cheque to my UK bank account but it's been about 10 days and so far it hasn't turned up in our account.

It depends who he banks with. If he does online banking the details may be on his online site. If not he can contact the bank and ask them direct.

Granny x

Box_of_Fluffies

It depends who he banks with. If he does online banking the details may be on his online site. If not he can contact the bank and ask them direct.

We're going to give it until Monday and if the cheque hasn't shown up in our bank account dad will contact the bank to cancel it. I'm a little worried about it as it's quite a lot of money. My dad is a star. He's sending us some money so we can have our floors insulation. We're in a wooden villa style house, raise off the ground and it gets quite cold in winter. If we have it insulated the government will subsidize some of cost.

Amy2510

I just wanted to de-lurk to say "hi" as I live in New Zealand too. I'm up in Whangarei these days, but grew up in Te Kuiti down by you. Moved home last year after 10 years in the UK.

Anyway just wanted to give a bit of advice re. money transfers. The best thing I have found for sending money backwards and forwards is a site called orbitremit. £7 to send money this way or $12 to send back to the UK( 1st transfer free), only takes a couple of days and they email you at each step of the transfer. Cheapest I have found with the added peace of mind that IRD uses them for student loan repayments so I figure they must be pretty safe.

Box_of_Fluffies

Hi Amy and thanks for stopping to say hi. Have been through Whangarei a few times on our way up North.

Thanks for the advice re money transfers. Unfortunately my dad is 91 and doesn't do internet banking, so he has to post the cheques to our UK bank account and we usually do transfer through Hifx from there. I'll have a look at orbitremit though, might be better than Hifx.

Box_of_Fluffies

Well, that's the weekend over with. I don't feel like I have done much but it has gone so quickly. We did a little shopping yesterday, a couple of work dresses for me and cardigan. We also bought a stock pot (which was half price), a casserole dish with lid ($10), a salad bowl ($5) and a bathroom mirror ($8). All things we have been needing for a while and we got them at bargain prices! :money:

Today we went food shopping and while I made some homemade tomato chutney (with our excess of tomatoes from the garden), Mr F got on with painting some doors. We aim to have all doors, frames, skirting boards in the hallway (that's 8 in total) painted white before Mr F's mum comes to visit mid April! :eek:

Still have a gluttony of tomatoes so in the next day or so have another tomato relish recipe to try. Have all other ingredients. Certainly putting the new stock pot to good use.

That's me for today, here's hoping I can sleep it's 11.20 p.m. and it's still 16 degrees with 91% humidity! :cool:

Box_of_Fluffies

More tomato relish made tonight. 1 large jar, 1 medium jar and one small jar. Not as thick as I would have like but tastes yummy.

Work is going well this week, although yesterday I had my first abusive phone call (swearing). :mad: I asked him politely to stop swearing or I would hang up on him. That seemed to do the trick.

My crocheting is going well, have made a couple of boobie beanies, an owl hat and a pair of owl boots. They are so cute, even if I do say so myself.

Still no sign of the money from dad although he was supposed to be speaking to the bank yesterday. Might need to wait until tomorrow night to speak with him.

Had DS2 at home today with headache, sore throat and upset tummy. I think he was also running a bit of a temperature. He seems fine tonight, so hopefully back at school tomorrow.

Box_of_Fluffies

Can't believe it's been nearly a week since I last posted. Where has the time gone? Haven't felt the greatest for the past 3 days, stuffed up nose which is being helped by the extremely high temperatures we're having at the moment. 30 degrees again today. When Mr F and I got in the car to come home at 5.15 p.m. it was 46 degrees inside the car and 36 outside.:eek: 5 North Island regions (including ours) have been declared drought zones with more expected to follow soon.

On the money front, dad ended up cancelling his cheque and sending another, which now appears to have made it into our bank account. :j Just need to transfer it to NZ and we can book our insulation install.

Had my performance review at work today. It went really well. It doesn't guarantee any kind of pay increase but I stand more of a chance of getting one because of a good review.

Mr F and I have been suffering tomatogeddon this summer.:rotfl: We have now made 3 pots of relish and 3 pots of chutney and still have more!

Will try and catch up with diaries tomorrow as absolutely shattered and in need of my bed.

Night all x

PinotGrigio41

Mrs F, I haven't caught up with you for so long. Just read the last couple of pages and things seem to be going really great for you am so pleased. ( Other than your cold that is )

Listen to you with your high temperatures, we have snow today ! :rotfl:

How lovely of your Dad to send you the money, its great that you are still getting to speak to him regularly.

Hope the boys are doing well at school, I have no time to catch up on everything I have missed xx

brizzledfw

Hi there Mrs F

Good to see you posting again...yes your talk of hot weather is not going down well here:rotfl: absolutely freezing. With the wind chill it feels like Moscow at Christmas!

Pleased you're so perky though and properly settling in and being valued...really nice to hear:D

Bit of a worry re the cheque...I'd chase for info sooner rather than later...

Brizzle x

Box_of_Fluffies

Listen to you with your high temperatures, we have snow today

Good to see you posting again...yes your talk of hot weather is not going down well here absolutely freezing. With the wind chill it feels like Moscow at Christmas!

Hamilton was the hottest place in NZ today. In all honestly, I'm so over it. I don't deal with heat very well and my garden is looking pretty miserable. Moscow at Christmas, now there's an idea! :rotfl:

Bit of a worry re the cheque...I'd chase for info sooner rather than later...

All sorted now Brizzle. Dad stopped the first cheque, sent another and it cleared within 4 days. Money now winging its way to NZ.

In the words of the Pointer Sisters, "I'm so excited and I just can't hide it". I sold my first item from my Etsy shop. :j:j I haven't decided what I'm doing with any money I make from selling my crochet, so for the moment it's sitting in my Paypal account. Will probably move it into savings towards becoming NZ citizens at some stage in the future.