The Road to Financial Security

Pushkin

Well, welcome to the weekend!

Busy day at work today and definitely have Friday fatigue, was tempted to indulge in an alcoholic drink to celebrate the end of the working week but fear it will mean I'm asleep by 8 which I just can't have on a Friday!

Thanks for the feedback Bookwork & Wirenth - reassuring to know my random ramblings are read!

Will search out a slow cooker recipe so I can test it out either Sunday or Monday. I am probably too excited about a domestic device (DH did point this out to me yesterday evening - rather unkindly I thought!). However anything that means I can put less effort into cooking is great by me!

The asbestos situation I think is finally sorted, we have managed to remove the guilty panel and dispose of it without involving the double glazing company and for a fraction of the cost. Now I just need to ensure we get the deposit back - we paid them initially to remove it. They took the money within one day however a week after cancelling the order we are yet to receive it back - interesting that huh!

On other frustrations of dealing with big companies I have a tale to bore with regarding a certain national Energy company (BG ) if you need to clue!

About 3 weeks ago I changed our tariff with them (duel fuel) which was resulted in about £40 month reduction in our direct debits. Looked today at the web site only to see the payments due at start Oct hadn't changed at all - i.e. no reduction.

Rang them up and they sorted it but I still don't understand why it took a phone call in addition to doing it on line.

Then I also asked them about stopping payments on the monthly boiler maintenance given that we had our new boiler installed yesterday which comes with maintenance free for 12 months.

They seriously suggested I pay next month's payment and then claim it back and they would send me a cheque!!! So I err politely suggested it would be more efficient if I just cancelled the payment.

So half an hour and 3 departments later I think I achieved my goals and am expecting to pay BG £60 less next month.

I do wonder why everything is always so flipping complicated.

Well best go and do dinner - I do apologise for the overlong update - I seem to have the typing equivalent of verbal diarrhoea!

Wirenth

Yes, we're reading your thread. Hope you enjoy that glass of wine/beer, if you do decide to have one.

On the slow cooker front, there was a wonderful board guide called Squeaky on the Old Style board. He indexed a lot of useful information, about all sorts of things. One of his gems was the slow cooker thread: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=1332010#post1332010

Large companies / government departments - I'm continuously amazed by the sheer incompetent efficiency of these bumblers. Well done for getting the results you wanted from BG and hope you get similar results from the window company.

shala_moo

Pushkin wrote: »

Am hanging out for pay day this Thursday and will need to nip to the shops at the weekend as I am nearly out of moisturiser. Am thinking about downgrading from my usual Cl1nique (@ £27 a bottle) to something a lot cheaper. Can't hurt to give it a go.

Hi Pushkin..

Sorry for replying to an old post but I used to use Clinique too (usually got it for Xmas pressies, that was my excuse :rotfl:) it was the yellow moisturizing gel one - £30 a bottle! :eek:

When I ran out, I spent an age in Superdrug one day reading all the different moisturisers, yes I looked a bit weird:D, and settled on Simple day cream, about £5. I honestly can't tell the difference so definitely recommend trying a cheaper one..

Pushkin

Thanks Wirenth - I'll check out those recipes - first time I use the slow cooker it will be from the recipe book that came with it - I am very cautious!

@ Shalamoo - thank you for the moisturiser tips. I have used clinique for about 20 years now but as I have been honing my money habits over the past couple of years (my LB moment has been gradual) have been looking for something cheaper.

I am however always really overwhelmed when I look at the moisturiser shelves in the chemist - there are blinking hundreds of them! In the past I have just reverted back to clinique - better the devil you know. Tomorrow however I will be stronger and will definitely check out Simple so thank you for the tip.

Pushkin

Am really frustrated by the unseasonably warm weather as this has meant the heating hasn't kicked in since we have had the new boiler fitted - there's no pleasing some people huh!

The Hive technology looks amazing - I really am a bit of a gadget nerd - have lived with DH so long his ways have rubbed off on me.

We can now control the heating from our ipads - how cool is that. I will be able to turn the heating up/off without getting up off my fat bum!

Oooh one other thing I wanted to share- I had to order new EHIC (the new E1111 NHS medical cards) for us this week. Typed it in google and filled in the details for us all. Was then told the charge was £10 and prompted to enter in payment details.

Something in my brain questioned this so I did another google check and lo and behold although the site I was on looked totally like a government/nhs one it wasn't. Found a bona fide nhs site and ordered the cards for free.

I wonder how many people get caught out like that - something the government really should crack down on I think - these sites that look so similar to theirs. Difficult I guess.

Busy Day today - list is:

Drop DS at drama club
Trip to C0stco (aim to keep cost under £100) :rotfl:
Pick DS up drama club
Drive to Kent so see some friends
Return home and watch Strictly which is being recorded
Bed

Oh I don't seem to have any time for any domestic chores - shame :T

Pushkin

The Good
I went for 01l of 0l@y moisturiser - £6 5.99 instead of £27 so big saving there - Shalamoo - only didn't opt for S1mple because it was dearer. Will see how I get on
I also bought 3 Christmas presents while I was shopping :T Toiletries from B00ts which were on buy 3 get the cheapest free. So feel like I'm off and running. The hard part is thinking of what to get not the buying!

I also nipped to W1lk0 which is somewhere I don't go often enough and picked up some cotton buds and 2 toilet brushes for £3 total - I wouldn't even dare class those as 'sexy spends' but they are cheap thats for sure:D

The Bad
Have done very little housework today and despite sitting here feeling lazy and guilty I am still sitting here. Hmm

The Ugly
Did the C0stc0 shop went err a little over target budget - £170 instead of £100 :eek: We bought a lot of meat as I want to start trying out the slow cooker. Think we have enough to last til Christmas and I certainly need to be very cost conscious with the weekly Mr S shops this month now.

katiegizmo

Just caught up with your thread Pushkin, you are doing so well :beer:
I've been thinking of a slow cooker, let us know how you get on. My issue is space, we seriously have the smallest kitchen I've ever seen! But I've wanted one for a few years now....decisions decisions....

there are warnings on this site about the EHIC websites - total rip off and shouldn't be allowed!

Pushkin

Hi Katiegizmo - thank you for saying I'm doing well, not feeling it today so the comments really cheered me! I managed to sell a toy on eB@y for the princely sum of £1.50 and when I went to post it the postage cost £0.40 more than I had estimated & charged ain the auction. So after that and the fees to eB@y I have probably made less than £1.00 - the brown paper, tape and petrol to get to the post office probably absorbed more than that - must do better!

I am using the slow cooker for the first time today - chicken & mushroom casserole that I made before work today. The house smells wonderful so I just hope it tastes as good as it smells.

The slow cooker I bought is made for 2-4 people so is quite small - don't know how many people are in your family KG but maybe worth looking into a smallish one? There are only 3 of us so it seems a good size.

So other MSE efforts, last night I downloaded You Need a Budget to give the 34 day trial a workout. I think if I am doing this properly I need something more organised than my haphazard spreadsheets. I'm still trying to get my head round it but I figure a month is long enough to see if it's worth buying - does seem quite dear though so we'll see.

katiegizmo

I think being on a MF journey is like being on a diet, some days you are buzzing some days the motivation is right out the window! You just have to plod on - all the little victories add up.

I have had tons of e!ay sales like that, I figure at least I am cleaning clutter if nothing else. Though it's a shame your po is a drive away. If I can't get to mine which is only a walk away OH is sent on his lunchbreak (he loves me!!!)

How was your casserole? We are 3 soon to be 4 but I cannot stress how diddy our kitchen is. Sometimes I see a property programme and they mention how poky/small/ridiculous the kitchen is and it'll be 2-3 times the size of ours!:rotfl: Original plan was to knock through/extend but we just haven't had the money yet. Also, we eat veggie at home and a lot of the benefits to a slow cooker are cooking meat. I will have to borrow a veggie receipes for slow cooker book from the library and see how much scope there is. I do have a bnread maker which I love, sadly neglected at the moment as lo wants to take it apart all the time which is pretty dangerous!!

I did not know YNAB wasn't free. I always assume apps are free. That seems a bit weird that it isn't. How much is it?

Pushkin

@ Katiegizmo - good analogy comparing MFW to dieting - actually when put like that I wish my dieting was half as successful

The slow cooked meal was a big hit!! Very simple to do, just browned off some chicken with onions, mushrooms & garlic, added some chicken stock and put in the slow cooker for 8 or so hours. It fed the 3 of us, I had some more for lunch today and there is a portion left for tomorrow.

There are a couple of veggie recipes in the book that came with the machine - we eat meat but I do make a conscious effort to eat veggie at least 2 nights per week.


The pan from the slow cooker can be used on the hob (like a saucepan) so it's quite multi functional.

I hear what you are saying about small kitchen, ours isn't too bad but I get really frustrated with all the clutter out on the worktops - we are quite the opposite of minimalist.

YNAB is about £34 I think :eek: the free trial lasts for 34 days. I'm not getting on too well with it but am hoping it's a lot of effort to set up then it's a lot easier to maintain once its up and running. Tomorrow the monthly direct debits start so I'll be using it in anger then.