Finally have a mortgage now to try and get rid of it asap

egoode

I really need to get into a habit of updating this at least on a weekly basis. Although work the last couple of months has been super busy which hasn't helped!

I've had a bit of disaster lately. I forgot to pay off my credit card in time so have been charged interest on this month's statement this is quite a rare occurrence for me as I usually pay it off in full each month, however I do have a direct debit to pay at least the minimum required so at least no late fees were charged.
I then forgot to sign a cheque to kick off the process with the council to by the freehold to the building of my flat and they had asked for a new one. So I thought I better cancel the old one which cost me £12 and literally minutes after I hung up from the bank I saw the old cheque was actually in the envelope they sent the letter in and I just hadn't noticed
I've also been not feeling great lately and gotten back into some old habits like getting taxis and ordering takeaways. However I'm hoping I'll at least be able to start cutting back more on takeaways as I've just order a Thermomix. A few friends have them and rave about them and after looking into it for a few months and trying some recipes out on friends machines I've taken the plunge and ordered it. It's meant to be arriving today and from what I've seen it's great as for a lot of it I can just put the ingredients in and set and forget until it's ready which is how I prefer to cook. It is quite expensive but I have a small kitchen and it does multiple different things that usually you would need separate machines for so seems to suit me for what I need and I did have money set aside for kitchen items so it's coming out of that budget.
However on top of all this I'm now having major issues with HMRC and they are demanding quite a lot of money from me for previous years tax returns as I stupidly signed up to a contractor scheme years ago that's now being chased as part of their anti-avoidance drive to get additional tax money. I actually didn't realise at the time it was considered an aggressive avoidance scheme and was mainly attracted to it as it meant a lot less paperwork for me. Also it was when I first arrived in the UK and I remember just being constantly confused with how the tax system worked here as it was quite different to Australia's and everyone I asked for recommendations on what to do as a contractor recommended schemes like this. I'm not entirely sure what the total will be in the end but it's definitely going to be in the 5 figures range. Feeling really stupid now for ever signing up to it.

Feel I need something positive after such a depressing post. So here goes, I have some lovely friends and caught up with some of them last night where we had Pimms and snacks in their back garden and enjoyed the lovely weather we had yesterday. I've heard the weather's meant to be really good for the next week so going to make the most of it and get outside as much as possible.

Pushkin

Hi Egoode - so sorry to hear your woes although I have to admit to being partly reassured that it's not just me that that has annoying things happen!

Don't assume being born and bred Brit means we understand the tax system - don't they make it deliberately complex?

As for the Pimms - I'm a big fan too - we had a jug last weekend although I was shocked at how expensive a bottle is. Have you ever tried any of those own brand alternatives? Saw one in S@insburys last week for about a third of the price but I was a bit wary to try it.

katep23

Own brand pimms - can recommend the Lidl one Jeeves, it's really lovely and £6 / £7 a bottle :beer:

egoode

Hi Pushkin,

I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't understand the tax system after 10 years here I'm still to work out what a tax code is and why they keep sending them to me! My biggest worry is just not knowing how much they are expecting from me and when I finally do get the bill I'll get only 90 days to pay it. I'm just hoping I have enough in my emergency fund for it and I don't need to get a loan.

I haven't tried any of the homebrand Pimms. I very rarely buy alcohol from the supermarket as I have a rule not to drink at home alone and usually catch up with friends in pubs and restaurants as we don't live that close to just head around to each others places. Although I'm trying really hard to make local friends by joining some groups like the WI.

Katep23,

thanks for the recommendation on Jeeves if I get the urge to invite some friends around I'll look into it. I just never think my flat is much fun to visit as I don't have a garden to sit outside in and only a small living area.

egoode

So a quick update I finally manage to do something I've been thinking about for months. I have sky movies with my virgin media subscription but to be honest I only use it every couple of months and I recently discovered it costs me £20/month. So I called up to cancel and they tried to have me keep it by reducing my monthly cost by £2. Not sure how they thought that would be attractive at all. So I've now cancelled it an will be paying £20 less per month.

I figure if I have an urge to watch a movie I can always subscribe to Now TV for a month at only £10/month (I even mentioned this to the virgin call centre person and still didn't get a better offer1) and there's no minimum contract or pay for one of the virgin movies.

egoode

Nothing major to report money saving wise at the moment but have updated my company accounts and sent them to my accountant so hopefully will hear soon what dividend I can take this quarter then will update all my figures. Have quite a few big bills to pay this month especially my tax payment on account so not sure I'll have anything I can save in my offset account.

I've also been having fun experimenting with my Thermomix, I've made quite a few meals in it now and the only thing that didn't really work out well so far was chocolate mousse which is probably better for my waist line although I did do a few of the steps wrong so I'm not surprised it didn't work out well. I think my favourite to date has been doing poached eggs although they are actually cooked in the shell so maybe they should be considered slow cooked boiled eggs but they taste just like poached eggs and were so simple to make.

egoode

Well I didn't have the best day yesterday as I finally saw some of the figures HMRC are asking for and it's really massive. However they also included how they worked out the amount and it's clearly wrong as I would have had to work about 6 days a week for 52 weeks which I know I definitely did not do and don't even earn that amount now and I'm on a higher daily rate now than I was then.
However there's also been other good news on the HMRC front as I don't need to pay it within the next 90 days as I initially thought as there's some Judicial Reviews underway which if they win means HMRC can't request the money before it's gone to the tribual to decide if the tax is actually owed. At least this may give me some time to get the money together in case I do need to pay it. I've set up a new category in YNAB to put as much money as possible aside just in case.

I think moving forward I just need to plan for the worst for the HMRC issues but try not to stress too much about it as this could take years before it is resolved.

I'm a little late this month but have updated my signature and worked out last month I was paying £18.30/day in interest. I'm really hoping to keep this under £20/day.

egoode

Well I realised the other day I started my diary over a year ago and having a quick look at my online banking I've apparently saved myself £1,123.58 in interest thanks to my offset account and a 58 day term reduction. I think that's not too bad a start.

I'm still sorting out some of my issues with HMRC I did actually pay them some of it this month as I just want to get it sorted out and not have to think about it anymore. The rest of it can't be paid yet as their figures are completely incorrect so currently pulling together all my details to prove they have the figures wrong then I've heard it can take them 3-6 months to review and respond.

The HMRC issues mean my original plans to extend the loft and redo the kitchen have to be put on hold for the moment. I had hoped I'd have the money available to get it all done next year but I think it will now be 2-3 years away unless I look at increasing my mortgage when the fix rate runs out next year but not too sure I really want to add to my debt.

In money saving news I've been really good at cooking at home and in the last 2 months have only had one take away. I've also been working at home most days so that means no buying lunches which I usually do when in the office.

I've also had some movement happening on buying the freehold. The council (they are the freeholder) have agreed to sell us the freehold we are now just waiting on a valuation to be done. At least then I'll have an idea of exactly how much it's likely to cost me. I've budgeted £10,000 but I think it will be a lot lower than that from what I've seen online. It's been a bit difficult to work out as my downstairs neighbour bought her place via right to buy so her ground rent is only £10/year whereas mine was sold at an auction and the ground rent is £250/year. However our leases are over 120 years. So I'm not sure if they base it on a combination of our ground rents or only the higher or lower figure. We first inquired about buying the freehold back in November but it's taken awhile to reach the top of the queue so we are hoping now things will start to move quickly with it.

That's about it for me for the moment it's looking lovely outside so think I'll head outside for a walk and enjoy the sunshine while it's here.