Edinburgher gets cracking!

ammonite

Sorry about the job They don't know what they are missing! I'm on a mission for a new ISA anyway so you've inspired me

Hope the shopping went well!

edinburgher

The shopping went very well, although I am now skinter than all skint analogies rolled into one and then robbed at gunpoint.

Had a lovely day with Mrs E, although spent £140 on eating, drinking and being merry :eek: Quick trip to the pub, followed by pub lunch, followed by fancy fish restaurant for dinner.

Worth it, as it was 'one of the best birthdays ever', but I really need to add a budget line for it next year.

We even managed to pick up a few Christmas presents, thankfully those *have* been budgeted for.

£5 into the OP Pot and the EF.

edinburgher

I'm finding myself very unimpressed with the quality of the Philips LED lightbulbs we put in to the light fittings in our kitchen at the start of the year. Much as our electricity bills are falling through the floor, 3/10 have crapped out since then. At £10 a pop, that's not so hot.

On the plus side, I used the Amazon chat tool and got a very helpful advisor, took her less than a minute to create a returns label. For the first time in I don't know when, I completed a customer satisfaction survey and left glowing feedback.

I think I need to do some research into more reliable bulbs, sigh. It's not easy being green

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

edinburgher wrote: »

The shopping went very well, although I am now skinter than all skint analogies rolled into one and then robbed at gunpoint.

Skinter than a skint thing in a skint place?!

HelenDaveKids

HB did loads of very cheap energy saving light bulbs, also is there any freebies of freebie forum, as light bulbs do tend to do the freebie rounds. I have loads of them (OH electrician and he cant help himself when sees cheap ones)

edinburgher

Skinter than a skint thing in a skint place?!

I'm so skint Rhianna is singing a song about finding skint in a skintsome place :rotfl:

also is there any freebies of freebie forum, as light bulbs do tend to do the freebie rounds

Thanks for that - I've switched out from energy saving bulbs (CFLs) because they contain mercury and are still considerably less efficient than LED bulbs. I guess I'm a canny hippy? That said, the CFLs are a lot more reliable than the newer bulbs, which is bugging me a little. Lidl had an offer on similar bulbs (2 for £10), so I may give them a shot once I get my Amazon refunds.

I have been redonkulously productive this afternoon:

• Phoned First Direct - Mrs E and I now have a joint account. I will pay my salary in for the £100 welcome bonus and we will both open the 8% regular savers to cover the cost of a new kitchen and or a mini E next year. I'll keep my Halifax account open for the free £5/mth as well
• Listed 14 items on eBay - a combination of unwanted aquarium goodies and kitchen gizmos
• Listed 3 CDs on Amazon Marketplace
• Arranged for the return of 2 faulty Amazon items
• Arranged for the return of an accidentally duplicated Amazon item
• Updated my driving licence online, as the current address is wrong
• Went grocery shopping to Lidl

Next on the agenda is relaxing with my new atlas of tropical fish that arrived this afternoon :j

Mrs E also had a generous contribution towards driving lessons from her parents and they have also hinted that we may get a free used car once we pass!

HelenDaveKids

Yes, very productive.

nattypants

Exciting stuff re potentially being gifted a car edinburgher - what an incentive to pass:T

I am so lazy with bank accounts, despite reading all the good FD feedback and knowing about the Hal £5 per month freebie, I am still with the same bank (for 30+ years!):o

HelenDaveKids

me too, been with same bank since i was a kid and my grandad set me an account up.

edinburgher

I am so lazy with bank accounts, despite reading all the good FD feedback and knowing about the Hal £5 per month freebie, I am still with the same bank (for 30+ years!)

Before I was a MFW, I was a DFW and the one thing I've learned is that banks and retailers aren't loyal to their customers. In turn, I don't feel any loyalty to my bank

Thanks to the launch of the 3% cashback credit card from Aqua, Mrs E and I are effectively paid £260/year for our banking (£200 from Aqua, £60 from Halifax). Also considering the possibility of a Halifax credit card for another £5/mth (if you spend £300/mth), but I honestly don't think we spend the £9k a year required to fully cash out from Aqua and Halifax :rotfl:

The plan for all our 'actual' banking, however, is to stick with FD forever. They are seriously good - I got through this morning to a person within a single ring of the phone. I was inundated with information, the chap on the other end of the phone was friendly and cracked jokes and I like the fact that their website is more honest than some (i.e. they point out the downsides to offset mortgages etc.)