Tales from the city

ani*fan

Well I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with MFW plans and thinking seriously long term. It's all good.
I had an odd text from my bank today telling me I was over my overdraft limit and would be charged. This was totally untrue and I phoned them up, they apologised and that was it. Very odd though, I thought these things were computer generated? Anyway, while I was on the phone they told me about their linked saver account at 5%, exactly what I was looking for, so I just opened one there and then. This is where some of the wedding fund will live and should make £65 over the year. I'm very pleased with that. £200 paid in and £200 per month thereafter.
Have to say, I feel very sensible.
It's a beautiful day here today. Long may it last.

ani*fan

A lunch date that OH and I had planned for the weekend has been cancelled due to the train strikes. We were being taken out for lunch but still wanted to contribute in some kind of way for drinks or something, so a saving there, but a bit of disappointment too.

I had a day off work yesterday and feel much better for it. I didn't spend anything and just rested up and pottered about at home. The dreadful holiday feeling is slowly melting away.

While I have pensions in mind, I looked up two small pension pots I have with previous employers. I was going to ring them but realised it can now all be done online. One is sitting at £4.5k and the other I'm still not sure about but have emailed to request a special password. I'm thinking, is it better to keep several different pots or to combine them? Does it make any difference? I quite like the idea of the diversity; if one doesn't do very well maybe the others will make up for it. Obviously my main one will be my current employer but there's no harm in having somewhere else to squirrel away money for the future once the debt is gone.

I've worked out a way to reduce work expenses today. I know I always get them paid back but being out of pocket annoys me. Better to not spend at all. Come the end of August I won't have these expenses and I'll be glad for that.

Also, anyone had any experience of stoozing? Apparently it's not meant for people in debt, because you may need a good 0% credit card to balance transfer at some point so shouldn't make too many applications. However, the thought of taking out cash for free for a year, putting it in a high interest savings account, then paying off the card at the end while having made some cash is quite tempting.

Me and OH have finally spotted a house we would like to buy. Not that we're in a position to do that, but property up here is very odd and we didn't believe such a thing existed in the area we want to be in. i.e. where we are now but not renting. So our dream house is now on the market, just to torment me and have me imagining 'what if?' (we won the lottery, got a big cash drop, etc etc) It's my favourite daydream right now and is keeping me motivated on the debt front.

Have a great day everyone.

hiddenshadow

If all the pensions have the same fees, then there's no harm in keeping them where they are for diversification purposes. If not, though, I'd consolidate to whichever one has the lowest fees.

Re: stoozing, it depends on whether you want the hassle (tracking minimum payments, making sure the balance isn't spent, etc) for the reward. We've stoozed 2-4k before and if you put the money into a 5% account you could make £100-200/year, which is decent but perhaps not worth the trouble. Also worth considering whether you'd get the best options...0% no-fee balance transfer cards are pretty rare and we've gotten them but then the 0% period ends up being only 6-9 months as they only have to offer 18-24 months to 51% of successful applicants. (Not sure if they also only have to offer 0% to 51% of applicants or if it's just the length of the deal that's adjustable.)

ani*fan

I just checked on the target credit card and the balance stands at £4,425.84

I'm getting a little worried about it. This is a huge amount to pay off by November and what with the new pension payments (me and OH) our wages have reduced a wee bit.

My Spanish bank have increased my overdraft automatically by £300. Interesting move on their part, I thought. I just did a check on here to see what the graduate deal is given I'm in my final year. It turns out the overdraft will remain interest free for 3 years after graduation. This is very good although obviously I'll want it paid off before then.

So, I've decided to move that £300 to the target credit card. My overall debt won't reduce, but it will take the heat off me a little bit in terms of getting this thing paid off in time. I really don't want to be looking around and hoping for a 0% balance transfer before November. And I definitely don't want to pay any interest on anything. Ever.

I bought something online for OH the other day. It arrived and all is well but I can't remember which card I bought it with and no payment showing anywhere. Once that is paid, I'll do the transfer.

Happy debt busting everyone.

ani*fan

Thanks for the info about stoozing Hidden Shadow. I'm still mulling it over but realistically, I'm not in a position to be doing that yet. I do love the idea of getting free money from the CCs and banks though.

ani*fan

I mentioned a couple of pages ago that I had an expensive thing to sell that I hoped to get £2k for. Well, I cheekily advertised it for £3k, and I had an email chat with a potential buyer who eventually said she only had £1k but would buy it for that. Think I should try to push her up to £1.5k and keep my fingers crossed? While it sits in my house it's worth nothing, I can't use it any more.

Any advice gratefully received, as always.

joeyjimbles

I think they're pushing their luck personally to offer 1/3 of what you wanted, even if you were being a bit cheeky. Why not counter with £2.5K or £2K but think very hard about what really is your bottom line.

How would you feel if you let it go for £1.5K and they sold it for £2.5K in a few weeks, for example?

ani*fan

Thanks joeyjimbles. I'm now in an email conversation with this buyer and to be honest, she sound like she would love it, and use it well, and I like the sound of that. I've told her £1.5k is my bottom line and am waiting to here back from her. If she can't stretch to that then fair enough, back to the drawing board.

The cash situation is in shambles this month. It was OH's birthday which cost much more than I'd anticipated. I can't even look at the accounts for fear of what I'll see. We had a good time, but I'll need to count up the damage at some point today.

Is everyone watching misstara's thread? Isn't it exciting? Almost debt free, a few months to go, c'mon misstara, you're doing it!!

joeyjimbles

Well that sounds like a decent offer, and she would be getting a bargain and you would be getting money when you need it. I hope I didn't sound harsh, I just wanted you to think about what you really wanted to get from the sale. I have occasionally kicked myself for letting stuff go too cheaply on eB@y and have been caught out when the seller resold the item for a lot more which they have a perfect right to do when it belongs to them.

misstara

ani*fan wrote: »

Is everyone watching misstara's thread? Isn't it exciting? Almost debt free, a few months to go, c'mon misstara, you're doing it!!

Thanks ani can't believe I'm almost there!