Caz counts it down

cazmanian_minx

Everything got done yesterday apart from the lawn and since we've got some torrential rain here at the moment, that's going to have to wait. I was still painting when Mr Minx got home, but got the ceiling finished and then dashed out to the field to move the horses down a field and put Finn's rug on him before the rain came. Did the pony want to be caught? Did he heck! I know you should never let them get away with something like that, but after quarter of an hour I was in danger of being late for dinner and I still had to have a shower and wash all my paint freckles off, so he got left out naked last night and I was expecting to find a shivering pony this morning but amazingly he's warm enough - the linseed must be starting to work its magic and put some oil back in his coat. I won a lightweight turnout rug for him on eBay last night for £8.00, so if he does need his drying rug on again he'll have something thinner to go over the top of it.

It's the tooth fairy loan payment today, so that's another big £250 bite out of the debts - just £750 left to pay on that now And I got another refund from NatWest over their computer problems, which I was surprised about but am not complaining!

Right, got to get today's orders packed and away and all the masking tape removed from the dining room before the carpet fitter arrives. He has a job out in Talmine this morning, which is even further west than we are, so I'm not expecting him until lunchtime.

cazmanian_minx

Morning! Had an UNBELIEVABLE day with the business yesterday and took just over £1,000 which is unheard of outside the Christmas season :j:j:j:j:j So the chains are now on order from Hong Kong, production will start tomorrow and they should be ready to ship in 35 days. Add on shipping time and I should have them about the last week of October, just in time for when sales go nuts in November And since the amount waiting to disburse in Amazon is now up to £1650, it looks like I'm going to be able to pay at least £1000 off the horrible-interest-rate-Barclaycard as well

I've been a bad horse owner though Because we've had high winds and heavy rain for a couple of days, I put them further down the hill so they had more shelter. I wondered about bringing them back up last night after the thunderstorm had passed, but left them just in case we had more rain, knowing I was going to bring them back up first thing this morning anyway. Seems it was just that bit too long on richer grass for poor Merlin, as he's feeling his front feet this morning He has very slight pulses in the fronts and he's a little bit careful walking, but fingers crossed I've caught it in time - his backs are fine, his crest (what there is of it, he's not overweight) is soft and he's standing resting a back foot so his fronts aren't *too* sore. He's back on the bare field, I'm keeping an eye on him and if he gets any worse he'll go in on deep shavings with last year's hay. Just shows how rich the grass has got with all this rain and heat, he's never shown the slightest signs of laminitis before Finn seems fine apart from a bit of a runny tummy.

cazmanian_minx

Aaaaaand today it's £50 - the swings and roundabouts of retailing

The horses are both feeling much better thankfully. I took Finn out for a gentle bimble around the village this morning, it's the first time I've ridden in over a month thanks to being ill, so we just went down to the surgery and back. (OK, we probably would have gone further, but I'd forgotten the Scottish schools go back today and didn't fancy re-mounting after the cattle grid gate in front of 8 teenagers waiting for the bus, especially because Finn tends to walk off the moment he feels my foot in the stirrup - need to work on that). Merlin, who spends half his life bossing Finn around and nipping him on the bottom, went nuts when I took Finn out, but after four high speed laps of the field screaming his head off, did eventually settle down. Shows his feet are feeling fine this morning though and both their stomachs have settled down again.

The horrible-rate-Barclaycard statement has been generated and this month's interest is £137.45 which is still pretty horrible but not as bad as at its peak when I was paying £201 a month. If I take absolutely no more money at all this month, I've still got another £400 to throw at it, but I need to wait for the Amazon disbursement to do it. I've paid off the interest plus £250 this morning and I'm hoping to pay off another £1000, which would bring the balance down to £7500. If I didn't have to pay for this Hong Kong stock I'd be able to get that down to £5500, but it's that old balancing act of keeping enough stock coming in to generate the profit to pay the bills.

Just one more statement to come this month and that's Tesco, due on Monday.

MessyMare

Well done on your great sales the other day That must feel fantastic!

cazmanian_minx

Happy Friday everyone! Scores on the doors....

(last week/this week/ + or - amount)
Business
Overdraft: -£3228.00 / -£4497.98 -£1,269.98
Barclaycard: -£8750.00 / £8500.00 +£250.00

Business total: -£11,987.00 / -£12,997.98 -£1,010.98

Personal
Overdraft: -£2764.00 / -£2810.00 -£46.00
Tesco card: -£2024.98 / -£2023.00 +£1.98
Egg card: -£3368.91 / -£3367.00 +£1.91
Dental loan: -£1000.00 / -£750.00 +£250.00
Post Office card: -£780.00 / -£780.00 no change

Personal total: -£9,937.89 / -£9,730.00 +£207.89

Grand total: -£21,915.89 / -£22,727.98 -£812.09

Before you all start going "CAZ!! That's two big increases in two consecutive weeks, get a grip woman!!!", let me explain. I paid the Hong Kong stock bill this morning, which was £2022. Had I delayed that transaction until this afternoon, the numbers today would have shown a debt decrease of £1,210 and the numbers next week would have another week's sales plus the Amazon disbursement (now up to £1800) in them, so would have been more or less flat. However, I paid it first thing this morning, so it's in today's figures and next week should show a big decrease

Mr Minx and I had a long chat about money last night. I wrote an awful lot about it, but have just deleted it as being too personal to go on a public forum. Let's just say I hope he's had another mini-lightbulb moment, but I fear it's going to be the same as previously and nothing will change

cazmanian_minx

Afternoon all We're having one of those weird weather days where it's raining on one side of the house and not the other - the joys of coastal living.

I booked flights yesterday I'm going to Edinburgh for the weekend in November to meet up with a group of friends and I was going to take the train, but the advance tickets were released on Friday and I looked at the prices, looked at the times and then checked what flights would be with my Airline Discount Card (it's a free card that people resident in the Highlands can use to get large discounts off flights from remote airports like Wick to main hubs like Edinburgh). There was less than a tenner in it and it saves six hours each way, so I thought it was worth splashing the extra cash.

I was only saying to my neighbour a couple of weeks ago that I thought Merlin's fly sheet would last me another year. Famous last words - he was having a scratch on the gate on Thursday afternoon and managed to rip the lower clasp on the front right off the rug - I found it dangling from the gate, still done up! He then had a big roll and ripped it even further, so I'm not sure if it can be repaired, but I'll give it a go. Got my eye on a couple of possible eBay auctions for a replacement, but with the midges so bad I may have to bite the bullet and fork out for a new one. It's still usable, but most of his chest is uncovered.

cazmanian_minx

Wow, we have sunshine! I spent two hours this morning very carefully sewing the lining of Merlin's fly sheet back together, got about 2/3rds of the way through and then realised that there was little point in spending another 4 or 5 hours doing the rest if it was going to rip again the first time he rolled in it. So he's wearing it now and I'll have an inspection tonight when it comes back off. The first thing he did after I put it on was go and have a scratch on the gate and I heard something rip, but I'm pretty certain it was the velcro on the chest coming open. Fingers crossed.

cazmanian_minx

I've been checking the Tesco Finance website for the past couple of hours, but the statement hasn't generated yet, so I've PADded the overdraft instead.

Good news on the fly-sheet front: my sewing held up, so on the next midge-free day I'll try and repair the rest of it. They're really, really bad today, I actually got bitten for the first time this year - normally they give me a very wide berth, much to Mr Minx's annoyance as he only needs to set foot outside the back door for a swarm to descend all yelling "LUNCH!!!!!" :rotfl::rotfl:

Business cash is still flowing nicely in an inwards direction. There's just shy of £2k waiting to disburse from the Amazon account now and that *should* be transferred tomorrow. So together with the £770 still available before I hit my overdraft limit, that's wages, phone bill, card processing charges, web shop fee and eBay fees all covered for August with £800 spare and I don't have a supplier bill due until 17th September, so I reckon I might make that £1000 off the horrible-rate-Barclaycard

I'm actually thinking of giving myself a bonus scheme, because I've got quite lazy over the last couple of months. I have Sage Instant Accounts to look after the business finances, but I also have a business file set up on YNAB. It's an easy way for me to keep an eye on expenses and cash flow, as it doesn't report in a way that I can use for accounting purposes - the 'income' has had things like Amazon and PayPal fees taken off it and includes VAT. I normally pay myself £1500 a month. I'm thinking of increasing that by £50 for every full £1000 the YNAB income is above £7000. It won't do the business any harm and might motivate me to get off my backside and sort a couple of roomfuls of stock out

cazmanian_minx

The Tesco card statement generated overnight, so I've paid it this morning and that's all the debts dealt with for this month. So, how much interest have I paid?

Horrible-rate-Barclaycard: £137.45
Post Office card: £11.38
The-Barclaycard-Formerly-Known-As-Egg: £45.42
NatWest overdraft: £53.95 less £3.66 computer problem refund = £50.29
Tesco card: £25.98
RBS business overdraft: unknown, billed quarterly.

Total: £270.52:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
Worryingly, it was only £236.42 last month, but I definitely owe less - must be something to do with the shift in payment dates or calculating in arrears I suppose. It's the NatWest OD and TBFKAE that have gone up and both those balances are down on last month.

cazmanian_minx

Dear cazmanian_minx,

We initiated a transfer to your bank account (last three digits 047) of £2088.84 on 21/08/2012.

Funds usually arrive within 6 to 10 working days, but times vary by bank.

To see more information about transactions in your seller account:
1. Log in to sellercentral-europe.amazon.com.
2. Click the "Reports" tab and then choose the "Payments" option.
3. Use the drop-down menu on the left to see past disbursements.

Thank you for choosing Amazon.co.uk.

Seller Support

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D