Finally I have a mortgage I can start to pay off!

themadvix

89p TT made today to OP fund. Haven't yet rung Santander to establish whether I really can pay small amounts off or not (I'm not taking the word of one person on that - my money might disappear into a 'holding account'!). Will OP a chunk on the 15th of August instead (at this rate of TTs it might not be much anyway!

Hen do cost £70 so was pretty pleased with that and we had a lovely time - I have a beautiful flower arrangement in the kitchen (away from cats!), that I'm really pleased with. DH ferried me around, so no money wasted on public transport/taxis.

Have sold a couple of tiny things on the bay of E and several more are on there awaiting new homes - £2.49 to OP fund (plus postage, am using old stamps!). Took a pair of denim shorts back this morning - put them on Saturday morning and noticed one leg was long than the other! Also sent dresses from HoF back - none of them were right, so the search continues.

Opened a joint TSB account on Saturday morning- really impressed with their service, definite focus on the customer, which is very refreshing! Have put our treat fund in there but as it's only £200-odd we'll top the account up before we open an RS. Must update money movements instructions so I don't forget to cycle the money in and out.

Have £3 in PC, but their website is down for maintenance, very annoying! Have a little extra S&S survey to do, so will do that in a sec - an extra 500 points. DH has a MB to place this evening

Spent this morning teaching two friends how to sell on Ebay.... Neither had PP accounts and one didn't have an Ebay account.... I don't understand how this is possible (school friends, so we're the same age!)!! They seemed very impressed at what I knew (I consider myself an experienced amateur), and were amazed at what you could sell.... bless!:o Will be on hand to help with any queries as the process moves on. Also hadn't heard of cashback sites... as one is a SAHM (thinking about returning to work because of money) and the other has been made redundant, I think a MSE seminar is called for!;):D

Hmm... have just checked Stdr website and it seems that they've received my OP but the balance is showing the same as before the OP.... I'll check again in the morning and if it's not changed I'll ring them (good motivator for getting answers to other questions!).

themadvix

Discovered that I messed up a piece of work yesterday - got up early to make amends and was halfway through doing it when they client realised they'd sent me the wrong file too!! So, I'm cross with myself and cross with the agency now... won't get paid for what I did yesterday. Also realised I missed putting one of the dresses back in the HoF box. Will have to ring them now and see if I can send it back separately.... grr.... Apparently yesterday was not a good day, even though it felt okay at the time! I blame the heat!

A million other things to do today, so better crack on. Having lunch with a former colleague, so that will be a nice break.

themadvix

Been too hot the last couple of days, combined with getting ready for Brownie holiday at the weekend and clients deciding that they'd like to send me work.... right when I don't need it! (I mean, I need it, but couldn't they have sent it two weeks ago when I didn't have Brownie hol to prepare for?!)

Feeling more on top of things today. Rang Santander as they'd received OP but hadn't applied to the balance :mad: Lady was v helpful and said it was due to the OP form arriving on the same day and it had been overlooked - they would apply payment on day received so no interest built up - phew! Also clarified that I can OP as little as I like, but they will reduce monthly payment if it's less than one month's capital - so basically minimum OP is £410. It's annoying, but at least it makes sense. She kindly informed me that I'd used £1800 of my £11200 'OP allowance this year'.... I responded with 'I don't think I'll be using all of that! :cool: Lovely though it would be to be sub-100K this year, I can't see it happening, short of a miracle!

However, DH bailed from his company sharesave, so cheque for £1500 has just arrived - to be split between holiday fund and OP fund!

Have managed to do a few surveys/comps this morning, so after a few days of feeling out of MF control, things are improving! Received £10 voucher code from Gfk for TV surveys - will OP when I use it.

Back to to-do list and work now... I have a plan! (And it's cooler!)

themadvix

Forgot to mention a 55p TT.

Have now paid cheque in

Used TSB card for contactless, to earn cashback... will now transfer to ensure I'm not losing out on interest AND then do another TT from main current a/c!

ETA: Most money spent was Brownie money, so free cashback! :D

themadvix

Now back and recovered from Brownie holiday. It went well but is always exhausting - I'm going to sound really old now, but children these days are much harder work than they used to be!! And the number who can't use a knife and fork in any way properly is shocking....

DH off work this week doing odd jobs - serviced his car yesterday and mine today :T Unfortunately servicing his car threw up some issues, so he's spent a bit of money on parts (e.g. the fan has apparently never worked on normal speed, so new resistor needed, or something...). At least he does all the work on the cars, saves us a fortune.

We've both read a post by Westielass on Tilly's thread (back in 2014) about their journey to retirement by 45 that's really inspired us - so DH spent yesterday afternoon finding things in the garage to put on ebay. He's also been busy MB - profit up to £280 now and more coming soon. I'm not sure at what point we get to OP any of it though! :cool:

I've been working today - and doing various surveys as I go along. 1P up to £7.60, SB at 740 (have been shockingly lax recently) and PC at £9, I think.

Will list bits on the bay of E this evening. Off out for the day tomorrow - a much needed break and some seaside hopefully! Will be a spendy day as visiting the King's Lynn beer shop - need a present for the groom at the upcoming wedding (he got DH one, so returning the gift), some homebrew equipment (barrel has cracked, we need for wedding beer; I want some wine-making 'juice' as have decided to get back into winemaking) and no doubt we'll top up our beer selection. Lunch and ice cream will also be involved, oops!

Have been looking at hols this afternoon - still haven't booked anything but plans are slowly formulating. Westie's post has reinforced the idea of travelling on the cheap, so have been investigating prices... no that we ever have a big budget for normal holidays (max £1300).

That's all for now, I think.

themadvix

Best to gloss over spends in King's Lynn, but had a lovely day out in Norfolk and paddled in the sea! Lunch was excellent and saved me having dinner (despite it being a large sandwich). Ice creams were shockingly expensive (£5 for two) and not as good as hoped... will opt for cheaper Mr Whippy next time. Did find £1 on the floor though Added to the pot, of course.

Bits selling nicely on Ebay, have got rid of a few already as BINs. Bids on one other item and a few watchers too. Just need people to buy!

Have been using TSB contactless for a couple of small expenses, transferring money straight over when I get home so as not to lose interest. Will add a few pennies hopefully.

Emptied money bank and transferred that to OP fund - £5.53 - will have mortgage paid off in no time! With sharesave money, ebay, surveys etc., fund to OP this month is a healthy £570ish.

Have had that 'holiday feeling' this week with DH off, so haven't been as good at food savings, but remedying this now with bread in the oven and a vague meal plan for a couple of days (am being inspired by Tilly and her recipe books - have found some yummy recipes in my books, need to try them out!). It's definitely more difficult to plan with a veg box, but hopefully I'll be able to do a week at a time if I get my act together.

One of our cats has been a bit off-colour this week - didn't eat his dinner a couple of times (which is *unheard* of for him). Was a bit worried we'd have to take him to the vet (both because it worries me and because of the money), but he's feeling much much more like himself now and eating us out of house and home again (sneaking suspicion it was because we'd run out of the dry food he likes, so he decided not to eat anything!).

Have been comping, having been reading about GG's successes (back in 2013 - I'm catching up slowly!) and have just put tax savings for the year so far into premium bonds. They were earning 0.25% where they were, so hoping for a better rate of return!:rotfl: Will top up each month until 1st payment on account due/new tax year.

themadvix

Money all shuffled this morning and I seem to have more left over than I was expecting! :T Am suspicious and think that something has gone wrong... account has big discrepancy between balance and available balance as premium bonds money still awaiting departure, while cheques paid in on Thursday haven't arrived yet.... Will wait until everything is cleared and cheque money sent to CC bill before I make OP, so I can make sure I've not forgotten anything!

If I haven't, OP will knock at least two months of capital payments off

Listed loads of [STRIKE]junk[/STRIKE] treasure on the bay of E at the weekend - another small item gone this morning, so need to post that.

DH back to work after a week off today, so I have a long to-do list and feel like the hols are over... but we're going away in September, so not long now! Still not sure where yet though!:eek:

Now things back to normal, I'll make a more concerted effort to post every day - it helps keep the focus! Am still ploughing through Tilly's and GG's diaries. Off to catch up wit some more current diaries now

themadvix

Realised what the too much money was about - DH's car insurance needs to come out of it still So not as much as I thought!

In more :eek::eek::eek: news, had an email from Nest (pension provider) this morning saying that I'd reached my contribution limit and they weren't going to take the DD on the 6th.... What DD???!! Turns out I'd set one up before I decided to simply make a lump sum payment - it has been taking £200/month out of my bills account for the last 4 months :eek: Don't really understand why, because I thought I'd put all the money in there that I could this year anyway (there's an annual limit this year - being removed next year :j). As I'm writing I've just remembered that I had more to put in there that I had set aside, so I think money troubles averted - will just take the £800 out of that - phew!:o

That means I can make proper OP tomorrow!

Have been doing 1P and SB surveys. Rhubarb and almond cake in oven now, trying to use up glut of rhubarb (it's a bit of a triffid....). Quiet workwise, although stuff in the pipeline, so off to help mum with some Ebaying shortly (with cake).

themadvix

Money all sorted - can afford to go on holiday again, have invested more in pension earlier than expected, so probably a good thing, and was able to make OP this morning of £824.80!:j Wish it was sustainable at this level, but as it includes £500 from Sharesave scheme next month I will probably not be able to make an OP (as Santa want a full month's capital at once, approx £400). Will put the money aside for following month. Aim to pay off equivalent of interest each month (£280 (actually £278 now:T). This will largely (and hopefully all) come from my income, after I've filled my TSB RS. Then will add extras from surveys, ebay, etc. on top of this. Obviously depends on income each month though!

YG 50p survey complete, 1P at £9.30 (a few this morning), SBs....slowly getting there but failing to qualify for surveys that meet my specifications. Maxi is slowly going up again - looking forward to another JL voucher and already know I'm going to splash £10 of it on a candle - mum has one and it's soy wax (not petroleum) and jasmine fragrance smells lovely!

Ebay parcel to send today - only £2.50 for pot, but it all helps. Helped mum to list two things yesterday and she's been left with instructions on how to list two bigger items on FB. Will chase her later to check she's done it. Her house has a lot of clutter and she could make a fortune (and is a minimalist, so is quite happy to - I'm not forcing her! ).

DH reinstalled Windows on lappy last night as I don't like any of the new lappys available and it's working much faster now, but not got any of my Internet monitor thingys on it - need to get these redownloaded so I can get back to earning those points!

Have picked up some office admin work for event venue later in month - really pleased as not my friend getting in touch (and as friend is likely to be leaving soon, good to know I'm valued by others!). At least 4 days and possibly more if I want it. Have a project arriving Friday for quick turnaround and another in short term pipeline. US clients sent work last night, but when I log on I can't see the files, so awaiting further instructions! :rotfl:

Have finally finished catching up on GG's thread (Tilly's still ongoing!), so will head over there now to say hi.

gallygirl

themadvix wrote: »

Have been comping, having been reading about GG's successes (back in 2013 - I'm catching up slowly!) and have just put tax savings for the year so far into premium bonds. They were earning 0.25% where they were, so hoping for a better rate of return!:rotfl: Will top up each month until 1st payment on account due/new tax year.

We have over 5k in bonds and have won nothing for six months but Mr GG just has small win on his holdings :T. Good luck