PigginSkint's DFW Diary

PigginSkint

Hi All

Well, it’s great news on the balance transfer front. I phoned up last night to transfer my balance from Egg card back to my LTSB card (0% for 6 months) and there was no problem at all! Yippee!!! :j :j As before I did not transfer the same amount back again as I had transferred off it in case they spotted it was the same balance going back again – the original amount was £3839.03 and the amount I transferred back again was £3800. The balance transfer fee was 3% which I think, if my maths is correct, will be £114. As I said ages ago, I have decided that any fees that I incur while doing balance transfers I will use the money in my savings account to pay off – giving me a level playing field. I shall also use some money in that account to pay off what’s left on my Egg card after the balance transfer goes through. Anyway, this means it will be another 5 months before I have to think about shuffling again. Yippee! :j

An interesting point occurred to me last night – I am now paying a higher interest rate on my mortgage than I am paying on any of my credit cards. This is good news for my credit cards but not so good for my mortgage! I did look into moving my mortgage but I don’t think it’s possible at the moment because of how much other debt I’ve got. Shame really! I think I might wait 12 months and then look at it again – by which time the level of my other debt will have dropped (meaning a mortgage company will lend me more) and the outstanding amount on my mortgage will also have dropped so then hopefully I might be a position to re-mortgage. Thinking out loud here, but what I might do in the meantime is contact my current mortgage lender (Halifax) and see what they might be able to do for me. You never know!

Had a good (and calm!) talk with OH last night, just to reiterate the points I have been trying to make for a while – that I need more help with the housework and that when his income drops (not a particular issue currently – luckily!) he needs to do other work to supplement it because my income is lower than my outgoings so his income is important!

I have to say, OH came up trumps last night – I had asked him to have a bit of tidy up yesterday…and he did it! :T He loaded the dishwasher and wiped the work surfaces down in the kitchen and he tidied, hoovered and polished the living room. It looks so much nicer now!

We finally got our new suitcases yesterday and very nice they are too. Unfortunately there should have been 6 pieces to the set but there were only 5 – the smallest one (a toiletry bag) was missing. I shall email them about it today. If they will send the missing part out, all well and good. If they want me to return the rest to be replaced, sorry but I just can’t be bothered! If it was one of the suitcases that was missing it would be a different story, but it is only the toiletry bag and I’ve got loads of those!!

Last night I got DS to try on his outfit for the wedding tomorrow with the 2 shirts I bought him – the one with the short sleeves actually looks better. However we have noticed that the trousers and jacket don’t fit him perfectly any more! :eek: We have advised him (a) not to do his jacket up (it’s a wee bit on the tight side when buttoned – although the sleeves are still long enough), (b) not to tuck his shirt in, because (c) he needs to wear his trousers on his hips rather than round his waist because they are too short. :rotfl: I also had a look at his school shoes and they are in a shocking state and I didn’t even realise (bad mother guilt alert!) – they have even got holes in the toes. Major panic because I thought, when on earth am I going to get chance to buy him some before Saturday morning?! Anyway, luckily OH is only working this morning so I have asked him to take DS out as soon as he gets back from school to buy him some.

PigginSkint

We had a lovely time at the wedding on Saturday – and the weather was kind to us, hooray!! :j Unfortunately we had to spend rather more money that we were hoping to because not much drink was actually provided – a glass of Pimms when we arrived and 2 bottles of wine between 10 people for the meal – and the bar was really expensive! Oh well, it’s not as if it’s every day is it?

On Friday I stopped umming and ahhing and bought a digital camera. I reserved one from Argos (the cheapest decent one they had in stock) and picked it up on the way home – it cost £79.99 reduced from £99.99. There were 3 reasons why I finally decided to go for it: (1) I have been saving my £2 coins for the last year and nearly had enough (£68) (2) Argos have got a sale on (3) the day before a wedding (the first of 3 this summer) seemed an appropriate time to buy one. I should add that another reason for buying one is so that I can start selling stuff on ebay.

I paid for it on my credit card (because, if I remember rightly, there is more consumer protection) and this morning I have transferred £80 from my savings account to my current account and have arranged for a payment of £80 to go to my credit card tomorrow. Tomorrow I shall pay all the £2 coins into my savings account.

Talking of Argos, I have still got to take the non-functioning fryer back – I was too tired yesterday to even contemplate it! Mind you, I still haven’t found the receipt. (I have got my credit card statement, though) Anyway, I am considering not actually replacing it (how money-saving is that?!:money: ) because since it has not been working I have been using a much healthier method to make some – tossing them with a little oil in a bowl and then putting them in the oven. Not having one would also mean that I would have more space in my kitchen.

OH bought DS some shoes on Friday as he desperately needed some - £36! Eek! :eek: Hopefully at that price they might last him a while! I never asked him whether he used the credit card or not – I shall have to find out!

One thing I did last week, which I think I forgot to mention, is order my first delivery of organic fruit and veg from Abel and Cole. I set up an account ages ago but haven’t used it yet. This is really a trial to see if it is worth doing on a regular basis. The reason I have decided to place an order this time is mainly because I am getting very bored with having the same stuff all the time. Also, I can’t seem to find a lot of stuff in the shops – there does not appear to be much variety. Another reason is that I really need to eat more fresh vegetables as I have put on an awful lot of weight recently (all the weight that I lost post LBM I have put back on again) so I feel that I need to eat more healthily to try to get my weight down again. This will be good for me in more ways that one (1) I need to lose weight anyway because technically I am clinically obese as my BMI is over 30 (2) I should be able to breathe better (I have asthma) (3) my knee won’t hurt as much (4) my sciatica will improve (I keep losing the feeling in my right leg – not good!) (5) I will have more energy (6) I will feel much much happier (at the moment I am feeling quite down).

This month is going to be an expensive one, one way or the other. Next month will be as well, come to think of it. This month the payment for the renewal of my membership with the Camping and Caravanning Club is due – now before anyone shouts at me about this, let me just say I have cancelled many subscriptions etc since my LBM but this is one I am not prepared to give up. I absolutely love camping and if I couldn’t go at all this would make me really miserable. Also membership means I get reduced rates at Club sites and information about good non-club sites. There are also added benefits, most of which I haven’t taken advantage of yet but I plan to look into, such as good deals on insurance. There is also the fact that camping makes a cheap holiday!

Also due this month is renewal of my family railcard – as we don’t have a car the benefit of renewing this speaks for itself. Next month I shall also have to renew my membership of the Vegetarian Society – this is worth it because I get a discount in Holland & Barratt, which pays for the membership fee on its own! I haven’t done it this year, but I plan to open some piggybanking accounts to save up for next year’s round of renewals.

I think that’s all for now.

PigginSkint

Hi All

Not much to report today really except that I finished doing my Avon deliveries last night which means I can get the rest of the money paid in now – I paid most of it in at the end of last week. Of course I have forgotten to bring it with me today – doh! :doh: And I was going to bring the £2 coins with me to pay into my savings account, and I have forgotten those as well! Doh! :doh:

Something occurred to me last night and I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. I have mentioned in previous posts about the finance I have for my windows and that I am not sure what the APR is but I think it is 22% (or it might be even more!). With this finance arrangement I pay a minimum payment by direct debit every month (which increases every time the interest rates go up) but I have the option of paying extra every month of up to double the minimum payment by sending them a cheque for the additional amount. Up until now I haven’t paid any extra – I was going to start because I realised how much more quickly it would be paid off if I did. However, I have been in the process of drafting a letter to them to find out what the score is with this – I was going to wait until I had had a reply before doing anything.

I am going off on a tangent a bit, but what I realised last night is that some of my credit card issuers have been sent me special offers on balance transfers and credit card cheques and that I could have been using the cheques to pay extra off this finance. Even on a standard rate APR on the credit cards I would be paying less than on the finance arrangement and if I used a promotional one I would pay a lot less and pay it off a lot quicker. Why didn’t I think of it before?:doh:

I’ve still got one on my Virgin card I could use – O.K. I will probably only be able to do 1 or 2 months maximum before the offer expires. But that would definitely shave a bit off my DFD and, of course, considerably reduce the interest I would be paying on the amount that I move. And as time goes on and other deals come up – as they do – I could do the same again.

If I let the finance run its course it will take about 7 or 8 years to pay off. If I overpay by the maximum every month it would be paid off in 18 months! Obviously if I use credit card cheques to do this it would take more than 18 months to clear the actual debt but it would be paid off a lot sooner that 7 or 8 years and it would cost me a lot less. This is definitely something I need to keep in mind when I get offered these deals in the future.

Well I’ve got loads to do at work today but I will at least be doing one of my pet loves – spreadsheets! Yeah! I have an Exam Board to prepare for and I need to prepare the spreadsheets for all of the different results to be entered into. So I should have a fairly enjoyable day.

PigginSkint

Hi All

I had a bit of a worrying moment this morning when I realised that my Tax Credit NHS Exemption Certificate has expired and I haven’t received a new one. I was going into panic mode about surely I don’t earn too much that I am no longer exempt? Anyway I had Physio this morning – I normally claim back the travel expenses – so I took my award letter with me, hoping it would be suffient. Luckily it was.

It does make me wonder though about whether I will get a new exemption certificate. It will be quite frightening if I don’t – I have severe asthma, also hayfever, IBS and am prone to chest and throat infections so I get through a fair amount of prescription medication. :eek:

The meeting that OH went to last night went on and on. It started at 7:30pm and he didn’t get back until after 11pm – he was not best pleased and neither was I! Especially as some people couldn’t be bothered to turn up – grrrr!!! :mad: It might lead to an interesting development career-wise so let’s hope it was worth it.

I’ve got lots to do today as we should be collating the marks for an Exam Board on Monday. However, now that I have done my preparatory work there is not much else I can do until the Programme Lead arrives. I hope he comes soon as it will quite a long job and I don’t want to be too late leaving today – we are planning to go and see the Harry Potter film tonight. We rarely go to the cinema these days (being good MSE’ers) but I am afraid that in our house Harry Potter is a must-see! Also the books are a must-read – I reserved my copy at the Waterstones on campus months ago with the intention of collecting it when I am back at work on Monday. Unfortunately I don’t think I am going to be able to wait that long so I think I shall be having a trip over here on Saturday morning – it’s lucky I have a season ticket really so I have won’t have to pay any extra for the train.

I never got round to getting my money ready to pay in, so that will have to wait until tomorrow now.

That’s all for now. Byeee!

PigginSkint

Hi All

Well I am a rather subdued Piggy today, not least because I have got a really bad headache.

OH went to a feedback meeting yesterday about the play that he is doing – they have finished rehearsals and have recently done the first performances. They have terminated his contract! We are in absolute shock and totally gutted. OH phoned me at work yesterday afternoon to tell me and I was sat crying down the phone. We thought he had guaranteed income until November and that has just been snatched away from us. Anyway, he is now considering his options at the moment so I will update more about this when I know more.

OH came over to where I work and we travelled back together. We were planning to go and see Harry Potter last night so that’s what we did. Because we didn’t have a lot of time to eat before going out to see the film we decided to go to the chippy on the way home from the station. I think we needed it.

Anyway, loads of work to do today so I had better get on with it, even though I don’t feel up to it today.

PigginSkint

Hi All

Well OH is very down at the moment, as can be expected. He is feeling very stressed and I am rather worried about him because when he has felt like this before it has made him ill. The warning signs are there because he doesn’t appear to be sleeping very well. He is working today but I’ve told him he needs to take it easy at the moment and not try to do too much. It has been a terrible shock and will take him a while to get over it.

I am hoping to leave work a little bit early today (I don’t whether it will happen though because I have got loads to do) because the ex will be picking up DS tonight because it is the last day of term today. After today I won’t see DS for 3.5 weeks – we split school holidays 50:50. It also means I have only got 3 weeks until I am off – and I’ve got so much to do in that time it’s untrue!

Anyway, I suppose I had better get on. The quicker I get my work done, the earlier I can go home!

Have a nice weekend everyone.

huxley

Hi, sending :grouphug: because it sounds like you could do with them, dont know if its the same certificate but our one HC2 for full help with health costs, says that we have to fill in a form to renew it. First time dealing with these, in the past we have bought prepaid certificates because of sooooo much medication (I have brittle asthma and a collection of other ailments and DH has a lung condition) but due to big change in income now entitled, so not sure if thats of any use to you.

PigginSkint

Hi All

I didn’t have time to do an update yesterday because I was just soooo busy! Got back very late last night so we had a not-very-DFW trip to the chippy on the way home (it was after 9pm after all!).

Now I think I will whisper this very quietly because I don’t want to tempt fate but since his disappointment last week I think OH might be in the process of having his lightbulb moment. He is very very down at the moment and thinking long and hard about his future career and may be on the threshold of a very momentous decision. I will keep you posted!

Loads to do today but I do feel that a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders now that we have got yesterday’s vivas and Exam Board out of the way. Also today I will finally get hold of my copy of the Harry Potter book – yippee! I had planned to go and collect in on Saturday (I have reserved it from Waterstones on campus) but with all the flooding I was worried that the trains might be affected – the line that I travel on is one of the ones that was flooded and there has been a lot of disruption to the services. I left early on Friday and by all accounts I left just at the right time because they closed the station not much later than when I left and I would have been stuck!! Anyway because of the vivas etc yesterday I couldn’t go and get the book yesterday but I can go today – I have got to go down onto campus anyway today.

I think that’s all for now. No doubt I will have forgotten something so I will update again later.

PigginSkint

huxley wrote: »

Hi, sending :grouphug: because it sounds like you could do with them, dont know if its the same certificate but our one HC2 for full help with health costs, says that we have to fill in a form to renew it. First time dealing with these, in the past we have bought prepaid certificates because of sooooo much medication (I have brittle asthma and a collection of other ailments and DH has a lung condition) but due to big change in income now entitled, so not sure if thats of any use to you.

Thanks - I really appreciate it.

In previous years my new card/excemption certificate has just come through automatically, even before I have sent my tax credit update form. I will wait and see but might pick a HC2 anyway just in case.

PigginSkint

Hi All

My darling OH is poorly again – he went to the Drs this morning and he is now back on anti-depressants (he had a NB a few years ago). At least he recognised the signs and got himself to the Drs quickly so hopefully he has nipped it in the bud. He had a relapse once before (about 3.5 years ago) but got through it, so we are hopeful he will be well again soon.

On moneysaving topics (seems weird to be talking about them at the moment) I will be doing my Avon order tonight and I paid the rest of my money in this morning. I have double checked whether there will be enough to cover what I need to pay to Avon tonight and the Capital One payment on Friday – there is. Phew! Only 5 days to go until payday!

I took my non-functioning fryer back to Argos on Sunday. I didn’t have my receipt but I had my credit card statement. They refunded my money – no quibble! I think we shall see how long we can manage without buying a new one. If we do one I think we will go for a very small and cheap one instead which will make it last longer because we won’t use it as much and which I won’t mind chucking once it gets knackered because it was cheap anyway. It will definitely be healthier if we don’t use one for a while!

I sold another book through Amazon the other day so I posted that yesterday. Oh and of course the big news is…I have finally got my copy of the Harry Potter book. I have read about 80 pages so far and it is calling to me from my bag!!

My Student Loans stuff came back again – they actually want proof this time of my Tax Credits and Child Benefit. They have never asked for them before. Anyway I have photocopied the relevant documentation so I just need to post it off now. I will try and do that tonight but I have a lot to do tonight – collect Avon books in, check all my orders, do my main order online.

Feeling very tired today and just want to go home! Oh well, only about and hour and half to go.

Bye all!