Statement of Affairs

Spirit_2

I was horrified today when my Visa statement arrived and not only was the payment I had made not credited to it I had also born an interest charge.

A little bit of investigation has shown up a large credit balance on my husbands Visa card. In my haste to put my snowball into action I had made a payment to a card with no balance on it. Ouch.

Does any one know how to get it back?

It has been an annoying day, one way or another. OH has told me that whilst we are on holiday it is very likely he has to attend a meeting elsewhere in Europe, so mid holiday I shall have an unexpected (and unwanted) day or two to myself.

mae

If you ring the credit card they should pay it back into your bank account if that is the way you paid. They will be open 24 hrs probably so you could still ring tonight. I shouldn't have thought they would rush to pay though they may take up to a week or so sorry.

Seaxwyn

HI Spirit. How infuriating about the c*ck up with the Visa cards. I had to laugh but it was a sympathetic laugh because I can so easily imagine doing that myself. I really hope you can get it sorted quickly. Definitely your best bet is to phone asap, and perhaps they can do a balance transfer to the other card.

Sympathies re the holiday too. Where will you be? Why not post a question on the Travel board here asking for DFW things to do wherever it is, you might get some good ideas you wouldn't have thought of.

I'm envious of your new Waltons episode life. My life more often feels like an episode of The Simpsons.

Spirit_2

I started posting when we had a holiday coming up and I fully expected to increase our debts because of it. Well we are back and the total debt is smaller.:j Unbelievable! A reprise of the month:

• OH on board
• Grocery spend was less than half of previous (uncontrolled) month.
• Meals were better planned and more wholesome.
• Joined Freecycle (thanks Chevalier) did not get a kettle but did find a new home for our sofabed.
• Bought a kettle (plain non brand cheap)
• The horsetrailer is now renovated and once OH has checked the lights it will go on Ebay. (DD not exactly happy)
• The birthday of 'things money can't buy included a "night with the stars" on August 13th when there was a meteor shower. If anyone is interested https://www.seasky.org has an astronomy events calender for 2007.
• I did plan to gaze at the stars with OH whilst sipping hot chocolate after having fed him a good filling meal (including suet pudding). The meal happened but I then blew it when I went to have a little sleep and turned the alarm clock off rather than getting up at half past midnight, so he saw the shooting stars on his own.
• We have eaten suet pudding more than once this month.
• The fruit & veg box does help to keep me and OH out of shops.
• I have found it hard to keep the planning and motivation up at times.

We have some financial challenges coming up this month:
A long weekend away (booked long before LBM but it does give a clue to where the money has gone recently) which I will try to do in a DFW way as the accommodation is not yet booked and secondly paying for house maintenance.

Spirit_2

I only intended to add to my thread once a month (a kind of record of actions and progress) but we have had a really good week on the DFW front and I just have to update it now and make some thankyou's.

The trailer sold for more than 1500 pounds! This is about 600 more than I thought we would get. As soon as this is in the account it is going straight off our debts. FANTASTIC. When it has gone through I will be able to update my Signature.

Cash flow is very tight as we have scraped together 1100 pounds for the house maintenance. This may mean having to use Barclaycard to get through the month but we will pay it off as (it has a deterent Apr) I am not taking on anymore debt.

In earlier posts I was in a quandry about our endowment, some of you advised getting rid of it but I was not that brave. It has taken a few weeks but our attitude has fundamentally shifted. We have decided, we are surrendering it, and OH has contacted Standard Life to get this underway. This will halve our debts. It is a huge step for us, the reservation has gone and I feel very excited. :j

I love this site, it is amazing. It has given me the confidence to get us out of debt, which is the building up from the baby steps and Old Style so many of you wisely pointed me towards. DFW's and their diaries are inspirational, creative, kindness personified, clever and witty. Old Style has been a revelation; it suits me down to the ground and is like a wise and wonderful friend. Thanks to all who have replied to my posts and to those who post their diaries.:beer: Without you I would not be tackling this.

I now just have to get life cover for me so I am off to the insurance board.

thecornflake

Just read through your thread and I would be feeling extremely proud of myself if this was me.

I also laughed a couple of times at your humour - especially regarding suet pudding.

I recently looked back at my original SOA and it's amazing how far we've come in a year, although it's still hard work to be in credit at the end of the month.

Well chuffed you've managed to reduce your food bill by that much.

Old Style is indeed a fantastic board. You should also check out the freebies, as it can give you a little luxury now and then when you get samples of expensive bath stuff etc. Even better when you know you haven't paid for it!

Spirit_2

Thanks Cornflake. May I ask what you have done to make such a staggering reduction in your debt?

chevalier

Well done on keeping going, and I am glad you found a good use for freecycle!
chev

dawnybabes

Before you cash it in - have you got a price for selling it ?

Spirit_2

Dawneybabes - I have asked a couple of endowment traders to quote but as it is due to mature next May one has said they are not interested and the other has not bothered to reply. we took that as meaning there was no value in it beyond what we can surrender it for.

When trying to get life assurance today I spoke to an IFA as I am going to find it tricky and expensive to get cover so need help. The IFA wants to discuss the SL endowment so I am going to meet them tomorrow.

If you have any advice or experience I would love to hear about it. Thanks.