Onwards to freedom!

SuperSecretSquirrel

Thank you both for posting 🙂

Humdinger, that's nice saying with more than a ring of truth to it! I also like "the harder I work, the luckier I become"...

SC, the sun is up and the roses are being smelled a little more already 😁 Having that money to back you up is priceless. It can have some small downsides, but the upsides are totally worth it in my mind.

My streak of great PB wins has come to an end. £25 won this month, better than a kick in the teeth, but not by much 😂 Here's hoping for next month 🤞 

In other financial news, my S&S ISA transfer experience has been awful. Over two months in and not much has happened. Fid have really been getting up my nose. I have over 65k with them, which to me is a lot, and to them is like copper coins down the back of the sofa. They have been consistently poor throughout the process and it sometimes makes me feel like they are being deliberately obstructive. Truth is more likely ineptitude or possibly simply not caring. I'm hoping it'll eventually complete and I can leave them for dust…

Instant access savings just bumped up to 3.55%, joint savings sat at 3.25%, regular savers at 7%, PB official rate 3.3%. None are anywhere near matching inflation, but I think we're doing about as well as we can with cash balances for now (given our limited appetite for hoop jumping).

I think I said I'd only be posting detailed financials once a year (in January) from now on. I still do my own quarterly check, and I'm pleased to say that this past quarter has been positive across the board. Not sure if we're talking real term gain here, my gut says no, but for now all the numbers marching in the right direction is enough to be classed as good news. A positive January 2024 update would be nice…

The days are getting longer and brighter now, the weather is improving, windows are being left wide open for longer, the heating rarely kicks in, we're heading out for more regular and pleasant walks… Yeah, I'm a fan of spring 🙂 Not been brave enough to don the wetsuit yet, but it'll soon be time!

Now on to my adventures in grocery shopping… I had some time to kill recently so decided to perform another grocery shopping experiment. We always meal plan then go on to build our shopping list from there, we've done this for years. This week I spent some time noting prices against each line for Ald, Mr A, and Mr M, highlighting the best value shop for each (all prices available online and a job that can be done while half watching tv). Then, on my way past and quite on a whim, I decided to brave waitflower, list in hand. I expected to leave empty handed, however I was shocked to initially find most items at the same price as the other shops. Once I had finished with the fruits and vegetables, though, there was nothing else of value there. I then did the lion's share of the weekly shop at Mr M, which I think has a reputation for being quite pricey, but we find their meat to be excellent quality and well priced (there are many other good product lines there but the heavily inflated big brand stuff is best avoided). Picked up a few more items from Mr A, some bits from Lid, then got the last few outstanding things from Ald. I spent £4.52 at waitflower, £24.03 at Mr M, £8.64 at Mr A, £4.45 at Lid, and £9.35 at Ald. Getting all the shopping from any single one of those shops would have cost more than the £50.99 I paid.

I quite enjoyed my tour of the shops, so I think whenever I have time (it takes about 2 hours to do a tour, a single shop would be done in under 1 hour) I'll keep it up. I've resurrected my loyalty card so I will start the morning off at waitflower, pick up the clearly price matched fruits and vegetables, then enjoy a free coffee on my way out. On to Mr M for the main part of the shop, then finish off at Ald. If I really have time to kill I'll stop off at Mr A and Lid too. There's very little to be gained adding in those two, but the Mr A app can earn a little discount, and Lid do have a small handful of items that are better quality than can be found at other shops at similar prices (their chilli con carne and pesto jars and tiger bloomer bread in particular).

If in a rush, Ald is still the best "one stop shop" for us. A lot of the lines are similarly priced elsewhere (else the spend at waitflower, Mr M, Mr A, and Lid would have been minimal), but those that aren't can be vastly more expensive elsewhere (breakfast cereals, biscuits, etc).

I knew I'd find some way to gamify daily life, but didn't really expect it to be via the grocery shop! 😅

South_coast

Santander have got a 4.25% cash ISA fixed until 01/10/24, if you wanted somewhere to park some cash for a bit? You have to pay in by 30/04/23 and there's no withdrawals without forfeiting 120 days of interest, so it really is a "park and leave" option, but you could put in the balance of this year's ISA allowance today and then anything else you'd be happy to tie up before the end of the month? Not sure where you already have accounts and whether that would constitute hoop-jumping for you, but I bank with them anyway and it was opened instantly for me. 

trix-a-belle

I love the food shop tour experiment. I sometimes do similar though its not as thought out or logical its more for availability of specifics & cashback app offers (I think I can officially say i'm stocked up on plant milk for the year at vastly less than it should have cost). Just to throw a curve in Mr T has lots of things price matched to the Ald & clubcard only prices can often be a steal so if you have one of them nearby to your grandtour route....

edinburgher

You should make a complaint to the provider and follow up with the Financial Ombudsman Service. You're looking at something for your inconvenience + any lost gains. Far too slow!

savingholmes

Best of luck with sorting out the supplier. 

Meanwhile sounds like things are going well overall still. Happy Easter!

SuperSecretSquirrel

Thanks for stopping by SC, Trix, Ed, and SH 👋

PBs back on form this month, £225 win. That takes me to a total of £950 won so far this year, an annualised return of 4.56% if I'm not mistaken 🙂 I had been toying with the idea of withdrawing some PBs to boost my S&S ISA before the draw, but this win means the full balance is safe for a little while longer.

On the subject of the ISA, my transfer finally completed. What should have taken a month took over three months, and included a very nerve wracking 9 days where the balance in one account dropped by 65k and the balance in the other account remained static 😰 Pleased to say the transfer did eventually complete, and the numbers were exactly right. Since it was a straight transfer of invested funds from one platform to another (all VLS80) there was no time out of the market, and no real cost other than perhaps a couple of months of slightly higher fees charged by fid. Not something I think is worth a formal complaint, but thanks for the suggestion Ed. I'm just happy the funds are all together now and I can see a single (bigger) number when I login 😁

Thanks for the heads up on the cash ISA SC. I'm happy keeping a decent balance in PBs, and the remaining cash doesn't really amount to all that much, and I do like to keep it in easy access accounts. I'm now getting 3.71% on my own pot, and we're still getting 3.25% on the joint pot. We've never had a joint savings account before, but when our joint current account provider launched this account it seemed a no brainer to shift the excess in. It needs to remain in easy access accounts to pay for things like summer holidays and possibly some home improvements. My own easy access cash might get blown on a car replacement, but more than that I use it pretty much as an interest paying current account to cover any annual expenses that crop up (fast transfers out to real current account then pay). The amount I lose in possible interest doesn't amount to much, and I feel it's not worth it for me at the moment, but thanks for the suggestion, it might have been useful for someone else reading along 👍

Absolutely right on the MrT front Trix, and yes I have experimented there too. I'll buy price matched and special card price items there, but very little else. If I have the time I'll shop around, if not Ald wins. Tend to find myself doing MrM+Ald most weeks now.

Taking a leaf from your book SH we got away for a nice relaxing break of a few days over Easter. Some nice meals, a few beers, a lot of lazing around, and activities like swimming and cycling with the children. Looking forward to a lot more of that kind of thing (from home) over the summer. We've also booked our first european holiday in many years so looking forward to lots of fun in the sun there too 😎

savingholmes

Glad you had a relaxing holiday. Lovely to have another to look forward to as well.

Karmacat

Squirrel, you're doing so well!  You sound so relaxed about it all, from accepting the slightly higher charges for a few months, to the Easter holiday you just had, to the European one you have booked.  Wonderful!

I find the shopping around supermarkets experiment interesting too - it's not something I personally do, as I get deliveries only, but OTOH I want to try starting to buy frozen veg at Iceland, at RT's suggestion, and that will depend entirely on the price per kilo.

In the meantime, I hope you have a good long weekend this weekend, even if you have rain (as I do, and half the country does, from the sound of it) 💧🌨🌩💧

SuperSecretSquirrel

Thanks for posting SH and KC 👋

May was truly excellent. We've all had a decent amount of time off work and school, some lovely days out, lots of hiking and swimming, no central heating needed, lots of line drying, a very rare night down the pub with good friends, a trip to the theatre for OH and I, lots of delicious healthy salads, lots of delicious unhealthy ice creams and burgers ☺️ It really is my time of year 😁 Overspent the fun pot a little (if you can call doubling the budget "a little" 🤣), but I tend to underspend in the winter so a case of swings and roundabouts really, and totally worth it regardless 🙂 Managed to drop down two notches on my belt which was a pleasant surprise, not intentional, just through being bit more active and eating a little better. Could do with dropping another notch, maybe two if I'm honest…

To top it all off I was sent a £75 apology for the isa transfer delay (I didn't ask for anything and was happy to just let it be), and I won another £100 on PBs yesterday 😁

I am well aware that right now is the sweet spot, and I'm about to go from complaining about the miserable weather to complaining about the heat, but right now the weather is perfect for my liking 👌

A simple domestic day today, paddling pool in the garden, maybe a walk to the park, maybe a spot of gardening, maybe I'll wash the cars… I definitely won't be doing all of the above! I think tomorrow might involve a walk around some used car forecourts and maybe a drive down to the beach with some buckets and spades and a picnic 😎

savingholmes

Accidental weight loss is great. Enjoy your weekend